Buyer Research

2023 Volvo S60 — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $28,000–$40,000. This is one of the more reliable vehicles in its class — here's what to watch for anyway.

Deciding between model years? Compare the 14 Volvo S60 years we've written up →

Kestrel Take

A 2023 S60 is a B5 mild hybrid or a T8 Recharge plug-in, both still inside Volvo's 4-year/50,000-mile warranty for most of 2026. NHTSA matched only the B5 row for this year and it holds three complaints and no recall, so there is almost no public record to read; two of the three are the rear camera going black in reverse, and one owner says a recall software update did not cure it. That is all we can say from the file, and it is not a reliability rating either way. Buy it the way you would buy any nearly new car: run the VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup yourself, have a Volvo dealer confirm the warranty and any open campaigns, and test the camera, the screen and the brakes properly rather than trusting the short list here.

What we checked

Checked against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 3 owner complaints for the 2023 Volvo S60, and 6 recall campaigns.

That is too small a record to read a pattern from, so we are not going to pretend otherwise — with numbers this low one owner moves the percentage by a lot. What has been filed is grouped under back over prevention (2). Treat those as things to look at, not as the vehicle's known weaknesses. A thin file usually means few of these were sold or few owners filed. It is not evidence the vehicle is trouble-free, and the issues below are our own research rather than a reading of this record.

6 recall campaigns cover this model year. Recalls are repaired free, for any owner, with no time limit on most safety campaigns — but only if someone books it in. Ask the seller to show it was done, or have any dealer check the VIN; it takes them a couple of minutes and costs nothing.

Counts come from the NHTSA complaint and recall database — free, public, and worth checking yourself.

Known Issues for the 2023 Volvo S60

Ranked by wallet impact. These are documented, recurring problems — not freak accidents. How we decide that.

Rear camera shows a black screen in reverse, and a software fix did not hold for one ownerMedium

Both substantive complaints on this year are the same thing: put the car in reverse and the camera view goes black. One owner had received a recall notice for the camera, took the software update in August 2025 and still gets the intermittent blackout. Our pull shows no recall on this trim row, so check the VIN yourself on NHTSA's lookup rather than taking either our file or the seller's word. At the car, shift into reverse five or six times from cold and from warm and watch whether the image comes up every time and stays up.

Repair cost (estimate): $0–$500 for a software update or, if it persists, a replacement camera

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under back over prevention (2).

Google-based center screen can freeze, reboot or drop the phone connectionLow

The 2022–2023 cars run Volvo's Android-based infotainment, which arrived with bugs — screens that lock up, spontaneous restarts, Bluetooth and CarPlay dropping mid-call — that Volvo has been patching with over-the-air updates. The record for this year does not show it, and a car that has been kept updated may show nothing at all. Sit with the screen for ten minutes, pair your phone, run navigation and climate together, and ask the seller whether updates have installed automatically.

Repair cost (estimate): $0–$300 for a dealer software update

Source: not yet checked against public records.

Rear brake pads wear quickly on this platformLow

Not in this year's record, but the same car in earlier model years drew complaints of rear pads and rotors finished by 25,000 miles, because the stability and auto-hold systems lean on the rear brakes. A 2023 with 30,000 miles may be close to its first set. Look at rear pad thickness through the wheel spokes with a flashlight and ask whether rear brakes have been done; it is a few hundred dollars and a fair negotiating point.

Repair cost (estimate): $400–$900 for rear pads and rotors

Source: not yet checked against public records.

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗Rear camera goes black or lags when shifting into reverse
✗Center screen restarts or freezes during a ten-minute sit in the car
✗Rear pads visibly thin through the wheel spokes
✗Seller unable to confirm remaining factory warranty

Good Signs

✓Camera comes up instantly in reverse on every one of six tries
✓Volvo dealer confirms the warranty and shows every campaign closed against the VIN
✓Over-the-air software updates shown as current in the settings menu
✓Rear pads and rotors replaced with an invoice