Volvo’s camera fix became a brake recall

An analysis of NHTSA and Transport Canada records. The campaigns apply to specified vehicles; individual recall status must be checked by VIN.

A reversing-camera fault should be a contained problem. In Volvo’s 2025 recall history, the software remedy for one safety defect became the origin of another. That sequence is documented by the United States’ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which traced a brake defect to an earlier camera-recall update.^[1]

It is a particularly concrete reliability concern: the repair itself became part of the problem. The public record also shows why an owner needs more information than a general assurance that a vehicle has been updated.

First, the camera

Transport Canada published recall 2025-233 on May 1, 2025. On certain vehicles, software could prevent the rearview-camera image from appearing when reverse was selected. The regulator identified reduced rearward visibility and an increased crash risk. The listed vehicles included specified EC40, EX40, C40, XC40 and other Volvo models; the list did not mean every example of those models was defective.^[2]

The planned correction was a software update, delivered wirelessly to eligible vehicles or installed at a Volvo dealership. A physical workshop visit was therefore an alternative to an over-the-air installation.^[2]

Then, the brakes

Volvo’s filing for U.S. campaign 25V392, identified internally as R10329, traced the brake-control issue to software version 3.5.14, released on April 25, 2025. The report describes a defined downhill-driving condition in which pressing the brake pedal could remove braking functionality entirely. The proposed remedy was another software upgrade.^[3]

In its July 17 warning, NHTSA explained the condition: an affected vehicle in B-mode or one-pedal driving could lose braking capability after coasting downhill for at least one minute and 40 seconds without pedal application. The agency said one serious incident had already occurred and urged affected owners to complete the recall immediately. It explicitly connected the defect to the over-the-air remedy for camera recall 25V282.^[1]

Canada had its own notice. Published June 12, recall 2025-319 described a software problem that could cause a loss of brakes on certain plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles. The listed model years included 2025 and 2026 EC40s and EX40s. The Canadian instructions were to avoid B-mode and One Pedal Drive until repair, with a dealership update to the brake-control-module software.^[4]

The camera needed another recall, too

On December 23, 2025, Transport Canada published camera recall 2025-718. Its notice expressly replaced 2025-233 and said vehicles repaired under the earlier campaign also required the new repair. Again, the stated symptom was a rearview-camera image that might fail to display in reverse, and the correction was software delivered over the air to eligible cars or through a dealership.^[5]

That later camera campaign is a separate entry in the record. The notice establishes that an earlier completed camera repair did not remove the need for the replacement campaign. It does not establish that every vehicle in the camera population experienced the brake defect.

What a useful service response should establish

For an owner, the important questions are specific. Which campaign applies to this VIN? Which remedy was installed, and on what date? Are there temporary driving restrictions? Does a later campaign require another appointment?

A useful service response would put those answers in the repair record. The sequence above makes that precision worthwhile: an installation that completed successfully could still be followed by a new campaign. An owner needs the campaign status, the installed remedy and any remaining restrictions in writing.

Volvo provides a Canadian VIN lookup for the vehicle-specific check.^[6] An affected-model list is a starting point; an individual car’s repair record is what establishes whether the required work has been completed.

Sources

Sources checked October 26, 2026. Recall instructions and completion status depend on the individual vehicle and market.