2012 Volvo VHD Problems & Complaints

Few complaintsabout as many complaints as a typical year of the VHD at the same age

NHTSA has no owner complaints on file for the 2012 Volvo VHD yet, but there are 11 recalls. 11 recalls cover this model year.

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11recalls
0crashes
0fires
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0deaths

Volvo VHD complaints by model year

’00’01’02’03’04’05’06’07’08’09’10’11’12’13’14’15’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’261333221
Owner complaints per model year, Volvo VHD. Colour = our verdict for that year (red: avoid, orange: caution, green: better than average, blue: too new).

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2012 Volvo VHD recalls (11)

Exterior lighting

NHTSA recall 18V-766 · Oct 30, 2018 · 4,625 vehicles

Volvo Trucks North America (Volvo) is recalling certain 2004-2019 Volvo VHD trucks equipped with snow plow lamp preparation kits. The snow plow headlights can be turned on without other exterior lights, and high beam indicator will not work when the snow plow high beams are on.

Remedy: Volvo will notify owners, and dealers will update the software related to the plow lights, free of charge. The recall began December 19, 2018. Owners may contact Volvo customer service at 1-800-528-6586.

Suspension › Front › Control arm › Lower ball joint

NHTSA recall 16V-735 · Oct 13, 2016 · 4,177 vehicles

Volvo Trucks North America (Volvo) is recalling certain model year 2009-2016 VHD trucks manufactured from April 7, 2008, through December 9, 2015, equipped with USK non-greasable drag links. The ball joint seals may be compromised, which can allow water and other contaminants to enter the ball joints.

Remedy: Volvo will notify owners, and dealers will replace the drag links, free of charge. The recall began on December 2, 2016. Owners may contact Volvo customer service at 1-800-528-6586.

Power train › Automatic transmission

NHTSA recall 14V-739 · Nov 18, 2014 · 6,234 vehicles

Volvo Trucks North America (Volvo) is recalling certain model year 2012, 2014-2015 VHD, 2012-2015 VNL, and 2014-2015 VNM trucks manufactured June 16, 2011, to August 18, 2014, and equipped with the Eco-Roll option. The affected trucks may fail to re-engage the vehicle drivetrain after using the Eco-Roll feature.

Remedy: Volvo has notified owners, and dealers will update the Eco-Roll software, free of charge. The recall began on December 10, 2014. Owners may contact Volvo customer service at 1-800-528-6586.

Visibility/wiper

NHTSA recall 13V-349 · Aug 13, 2013 · 17,824 vehicles

Volvo Trucks North America (Volvo) is recalling certain model year 2011-2012 VAH, VHD, VNL, and VNM trucks manufactured February 1, 2010, through September 30, 2010 and June 1, 2011, through November 30, 2011. The windshield wiper motor may fail.

Remedy: Volvo will notify owners and dealers will replace the windshield wiper motor, free of charge. The recallbegan on December 6, 2013. Owners may contact Volvo at 1-336-393-2000. Volvo's recall number is RVXX1304.

Power train › Clutch assembly

NHTSA recall 13V-268 · Jun 26, 2013 · 23,056 vehicles

Volvo Trucks North America (Volvo) is recalling certain model year 2007-2014 VAH, VHD, VNL, VNM, and VT models. The affected vehicles were built without a redundant clutch disengagement switch.

Remedy: Volvo Trucks will notify owners and dealers will inspect and repair the vehicles if necessary. The recall began on August 26, 2013. Volvo's recall number is RVXX1303. Owners may contact Volvo at 1-336-393-2000.

Parking brake › Conventional › Air

NHTSA recall 13V-152 · Apr 22, 2013 · 701 vehicles

Volvo Trucks North America (Volvo) is recalling certain model year 2011-2013 VHD and VNL vehicles manufactured December 13, 2010, through July 17, 2012. These vehicles are equipped with an MGM Type 24 J-series piston parking brake chamber.

Remedy: Volvo will notify owners and the brake chambers will be replaced as needed, free of charge. The safety recall is expected to begin on, or before, June 17, 2013. Owners may contact Volvo at 1-336-393-2000.

Show 5 more recalls

Electrical system › 12V/24V/48V battery › Cables

NHTSA recall 13V-102 · Mar 21, 2013 · 5,207 vehicles

Volvo is recalling certain model year 2012-2014 VHD, VNL, and VNM trucks, manufactured from April 18, 2011, through March 14, 2013, and equipped with a horizontally mounted remote battery disconnect switch. The remote battery disconnect switch was manufactured with incorrect hardware allowing the cables to loosen.

Remedy: Volvo will send owners an interim letter and dealers will replace and relocate the remote battery disconnect switch. The recall began on May 7, 2013.

Seat belts

NHTSA recall 12V-510 · Oct 18, 2012 · 1,496 vehicles

Volvo is recalling certain model year 2002-2013 VHD and VN trucks, manufactured from August 4, 2000, through June 22, 2012, and equipped with bench passenger seats. The seat belt d-ring weld may not be sufficient enough to meet the seat belt pull test.

Remedy: Volvo Trucks of America will notify owners, and dealers will replace the suspected d-ring, free of change. The safety recall began on May 10, 2013. Owners may contact Volvo at 1-336-393-2000.

Service brakes, air › Supply › Check valve

NHTSA recall 12V-036 · Feb 1, 2012 · 21,625 vehicles

Volvo is recalling certain model year 2011-2012 vhd and model year 2011-2013 vnl and vnm vehicles, manufactured from December 2, 2010, through January 18, 2012, and equipped with bendix atr-6 traction relay valves. In extremely cold conditions, these bendix relay valves May potentially develop internal leakage.

Remedy: Volvo will notify owners, and provide a temporary repair until bendix develops a permanent remedy. A permanent remedy has been developed and notification to owners began on April 27, 2012.

Power train › Driveline

NHTSA recall 11V-294 · May 20, 2011 · 341 vehicles

Volvo trucks is recalling certain model year 2012 vhd, vnl, and vnm trucks equipped with a meritor driveline. The tubing used to assemble the drivelines has a nonconforming seam weld with insufficient bonding of the material.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the drivelines free of charge. The safety recall began on July 25, 2011. Owners May contact Volvo trucks at 1-800-528-6586.

Service brakes, air › Slack adjusters

NHTSA recall 11V-265 · May 3, 2011 · 2,765 vehicles

Volvo trucks is recalling certain model year 2011-2012 vhd, vnl, and model year 2012 vnm trucks manufactured from October 15, 2010, through January 31, 2011, and equipped with gunite automatic slack adjusters.

Remedy: Volvo trucks will notify owners and dealers will replace the subject slack adjusters free of charge. The safety recall is expected to begin on or about August 12, 2011. Owners May contact Volvo trucks at 1-800-528-6586.

NHTSA defect investigations

Federal safety investigators have looked into 2 possible defects involving the 2012 Volvo VHD:

Stop Lamp Switch Signal

NHTSA investigation PE13002 · opened Feb 7, 2013 · closed Jul 3, 2013 · led to recall 13V-268

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) received Early Warning Reporting (EWR) data from the manufacturer that indicated some number of subject vehicles equipped with the subject automated manual transmission had allegedly experienced a condition where the clutch failed to automatically disengage the transmission from the engine as intended.

Discrepancies in Required CFR Reporting

NHTSA investigation AQ18005 · opened Oct 22, 2018 · closed Aug 4, 2023

On October 22, 2018, an Audit Query (AQ18-005) was opened to assess the completeness and timeliness of Volvo Group's early warning reporting, safety recalls, and communications submissions to the agency.NHTSA's investigation determined that Volvo Group failed to recall vehicles in a timely fashion and to comply with other recall and reporting requirements, including notifying owners of recalls and reporting death…

Frequently asked questions

How many recalls does the 2012 Volvo VHD have?

There are 11 recalls for the 2012 Volvo VHD, the most recent from October 30, 2018 (exterior lighting). Recall repairs are free at any authorized dealer — check whether yours has been done with the VIN recall check.

Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.