POLESTAR POLESTAR 2 · model year

2023 POLESTAR POLESTAR 2

136 NHTSA complaints, 3 crash reports, and 4 active recalls for this specific cohort.

NHTSA overall rating

5 / 5 ★

New Car Assessment Program

The 2023POLESTARPOLESTAR 2 carries 136 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 3 crashes, 0 fires, 6 injuries, and 0 fatalities. For crash performance, NHTSA's New Car Assessment Program gave this cohort an overall 5/5 rating, with 5/5 front crash, 5/5 side crash, and 5/5 rollover scores derived from standardized barrier and dynamic tests.

Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 2023 POLESTAR 2 is back over prevention: sensing system: camera with 77 filings, followed by unknown or other (11) and visibility/wiper (7). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability. This model year has 4 active recall campaigns, which means the manufacturer is obligated to remedy the covered defect at no charge for the life of the vehicle — the full NHTSA campaign numbers are listed below.

NHTSA currently has 1 investigation file overlapping the 2023 POLESTAR 2, and 1 remain open. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.

136
Complaints
3
Crashes
0
Fires
6
Injuries
0
Deaths
2023 POLESTAR POLESTAR 2 — NHTSA crash-test profile NHTSA NCAP crash-test star ratings for the 2023 POLESTAR POLESTAR 2. Overall composite: 5.0 of 5 stars across 3 safety dimensions. Front CrashSide CrashRollover 5.0 NHTSA NCAP of 5 stars
  • Front Crash 5.0 ★
  • Side Crash 5.0 ★
  • Rollover 5.0 ★
NHTSA overall 5.0/5 stars, with front-crash, side-crash and rollover ratings from standardized NCAP barrier and dynamic tests.

Total Complaints

136 filings

Crashes Reported

3 reports

Source

NHTSA ODI

Federal complaints database

Complaints vs. fleet median (215)

At or below the fleet median complaint volume.

NHTSA NCAP overall: 5/5 — Top NCAP rating · Front: 5/5 · Side: 5/5 · Rollover: 5/5

Complaints by Component

ComponentCount
BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA77
UNKNOWN OR OTHER11
VISIBILITY/WIPER7
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM7
BACK OVER PREVENTION: REARVIEW SYSTEM BRAKING5
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM4
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL4
BACK OVER PREVENTION: WARNINGS3
SERVICE BRAKES2
POWER TRAIN2
EXTERIOR LIGHTING2
STEERING1
SUSPENSION1
BACK OVER PREVENTION1
SEATS1

Recalls (4)

24V47700026/06/2024

EQUIPMENT:ELECTRICAL:INFOTAINMENT:SOFTWARE

Polestar Automotive USA, Inc. (Polestar) is recalling certain 2021-2024 Polestar 2 vehicles. The Infotainment Head Unit (IHU) software may prevent the rearview camera image from displaying. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number

25V28000025/04/2025

BACK OVER PREVENTION:SOFTWARE

Polestar Automotive USA, Inc. (Polestar) is recalling certain 2021-2025 Polestar 2 vehicles. The rearview camera image may not display when the vehicle is placed in reverse. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 111, "Rear Visi

25V61500015/09/2025

BACK OVER PREVENTION:SOFTWARE

Polestar Automotive USA, Inc. (Polestar) is recalling certain 2021-2025 Polestar 2 vehicles. The rearview camera image may not display when the vehicle is placed in reverse.

23V47600012/07/2023

SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER BALL JOINT

Polestar Automotive USA, Inc. (Polestar) is recalling certain 2023 Polestar 2 vehicles. The front left lower ball joint may have been incorrectly installed, allowing the control arm to disconnect from the steering knuckle.

Recent Complaints

20260212VISIBILITY/WIPER

When put into reverse, display just shows Camera is temporarily unavailable. This is after the OTA update 4.2.13 that was supposed to fix the issue. Rear cross traffic braking is also unavailable at this time.

20260212BACK OVER PREVENTION: REARVIEW SYSTEM BRAKING

When put into reverse, display just shows Camera is temporarily unavailable. This is after the OTA update 4.2.13 that was supposed to fix the issue. Rear cross traffic braking is also unavailable at this time.

20260211POWER TRAIN

Constant camera issues. The rear camera only works half the time and when it does go it, it'll just cut off while driving in reverse. It's completely unreliable and dangerous. New update has affected the cars acceleration. Now when its below a certain degrees outside they changed it so the car can no longer accelerate at its normal speed and instead, barely responds when you hit the gas causing a multiple second delay before the car moves. It's incredibly dangerous and makes it impossible to move out of the way if needed in an emergency. Issue was reported and was told that just how it is now and there is nothing they can do about it. This is dangerous and not the vehicle I purchased.

20260211VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL

Constant camera issues. The rear camera only works half the time and when it does go it, it'll just cut off while driving in reverse. It's completely unreliable and dangerous. New update has affected the cars acceleration. Now when its below a certain degrees outside they changed it so the car can no longer accelerate at its normal speed and instead, barely responds when you hit the gas causing a multiple second delay before the car moves. It's incredibly dangerous and makes it impossible to move out of the way if needed in an emergency. Issue was reported and was told that just how it is now and there is nothing they can do about it. This is dangerous and not the vehicle I purchased.

20260211ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Constant camera issues. The rear camera only works half the time and when it does go it, it'll just cut off while driving in reverse. It's completely unreliable and dangerous. New update has affected the cars acceleration. Now when its below a certain degrees outside they changed it so the car can no longer accelerate at its normal speed and instead, barely responds when you hit the gas causing a multiple second delay before the car moves. It's incredibly dangerous and makes it impossible to move out of the way if needed in an emergency. Issue was reported and was told that just how it is now and there is nothing they can do about it. This is dangerous and not the vehicle I purchased.

20260205BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA

Rear backup camera continues to not function reliably, even after updating to the latest firmware 4.2.13

20251228VISIBILITY/WIPER

After multiple software OTA updates due to previous NHTSA recalls, the rear backup camera consistently has issues to where the image of the rear of the vehicle cannot temporarily be displayed.

20251228UNKNOWN OR OTHER

After multiple software OTA updates due to previous NHTSA recalls, the rear backup camera consistently has issues to where the image of the rear of the vehicle cannot temporarily be displayed.

20251204BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA

Despite a recall, rear camera does not activate when putting the car into reverse. This poses immense safety risks as the rear of the vehicle is poorly visible from the driver seat and mirrors when backing up. I have previously noted this instance a few months ago after the recall for this issue, and yet the issue is persisting. There are no warnings or indicators of an electrical or other problem. I have not taken this in for servicing for this problem. But this issue is reproducible every time getting into the car and putting it into reverse, on the center display where the cameras would display, an error message appears, again, exactly as occurred prior to the recall. In summary, despite recall, rear view cameras/backup cameras do not properly work when putting the car into reverse to reverse.

20251204BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA

Car rear camera constantly freezes, doesn’t appear or just stops during vehicle usage

20251201BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA

An ongoing issue with Polestar 2 vehicles has been its unreliable rear camera. When reversing, the rear camera does not always engage, leaving either a blank space on the dashboard screen or sometimes the phrase “Rear camera currently unavailable”. This continues to occur despite software updates from the manufacturer.

20251112BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA

-The rearview camera fails intermittently when gearshift is placed in reverse and when the car drives in reverse. -Passengers and pedestrians are at risk of collision due to restricted view around vehicle. -I have not reported the problem to the dealer or manufacturer because they are well aware that this problem exists, although they claim it was remedied by software updates. -I have not had my vehicle inspected by anyone to date, but will do so if the problem is not effectively addressed soon. -There is a warning message at the time the vehicle is placed in reverse that the rearview camera is temporarily unavailable. -The problem, and the error messages, have been recurring for months. -In addition, as a result of the software changes, the vehicle radio and Google maps fail intermittently.

20251014BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA

The back up camera repeatedly fails, and does not work, when I put my car into reverse.

20251010ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Infotainment system continues to be intermittently unresponsive. Today, the system was totally frozen which made it so heat/air conditioning could not be controlled, no sound for turn signals were present, and backup camera was not functioning.

20251001UNKNOWN OR OTHER

Rear camera does not work quite often and I get a message that the system the rear camera is unavailable. This is a safety hazard when reversing the vehicle. Polestar stated that the new software they released a few months back would fix this but it did not fix it at all (software version 3.6.4)

20250925BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA

I received the NHTSA Recall No. 25V-280 and had the vehicle updated to Software 3.6.4 in July 2025. Following this update I still have issues with the rear camera while the vehicle is in reverse. This includes 1) the camera not available with the system showing this error, 2) the camera not available with the screen continuing to show content not related to the camera, and 3) when the camera is available there are refresh issues that cause interrupted visibility concerns.

20250910BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA

The rear view camera does not always work when putting the car into reverse and gives a "Camera Unavailable" error. My car is on the latest software revision which was supposed to resolve this, but it is still occuring. With the very small rear window, having a 100% working rear camera is imperative.

20250825BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA

The reserve camera shows unavailable after the recall software update. My car is on 3.6.4 and camera unavailable happened twice in one day.

20250820UNKNOWN OR OTHER

A recall was issued April 25 because the rear camera fails. It is supposed to be addressed by OTA software update. I have NOT received an update, and I've been unable to get an appt to have it installed by Service. It's been 4 months, and I'm told there are no appts for several more months. This seems very dangerous...

20250802BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA

Backup camera becomes unavailable. This is after the latest update supposedly to fix the issue.

Compare 2023POLESTARPOLESTAR 2 to Similar Vehicles

NHTSA Investigations 1 Open

Frequently Asked Questions

How many complaints does the 2023 POLESTAR POLESTAR 2 have?
The 2023 POLESTAR POLESTAR 2 has 136 NHTSA complaints, 3 crashes, 0 fires, 6 injuries, and 0 deaths reported.
What is the safety rating for the 2023 POLESTAR POLESTAR 2?
The 2023 POLESTAR POLESTAR 2 received an overall NHTSA safety rating of 5/5, front crash rating of 5/5, side crash rating of 5/5, and rollover rating of 5/5.
Are there any recalls for the 2023 POLESTAR POLESTAR 2?
Yes, the 2023 POLESTAR POLESTAR 2 has 4 recall(s). The most common affected component is EQUIPMENT:ELECTRICAL:INFOTAINMENT:SOFTWARE. Recalls are issued by NHTSA and manufacturers must provide a free remedy.
What are the most common problems with the 2023 POLESTAR POLESTAR 2?
The most-complained component for the 2023 POLESTAR POLESTAR 2 is BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA with 77 complaints. Other frequently reported areas include UNKNOWN OR OTHER and VISIBILITY/WIPER.
Is the 2023 POLESTAR POLESTAR 2 safe to buy?
Review the complaint history, crash and fire reports, safety ratings, and recall status on this page to make an informed decision. The 2023 POLESTAR POLESTAR 2 has an NHTSA safety rating of 5/5. Compare with other model years using the links above.
Where does this data come from?
All complaint, recall, and safety rating data is sourced from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Complaints are filed by vehicle owners through NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation.

Vehicle Safety Guides

Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.