Let me describe my recent service experience with Polestar (Volvo) Palo Alto, CA, USA.
I leased a brand new 2024 PS2 LRSM in May of 2024. As of today, the car only has ~8,500 miles on it.
Aside from the “normal” software glitches, including lagging cameras, Bluetooth connectivity issues, slow user experience, random resetting, there have been no mechanical issues with the car. But this is by no means a claim on its reliability. I think a car should hit at least 100,000 miles to gauge its spectrum of reliability.
Anyway, about 5 months ago the maintenance icon started showing up in the dashboard and via the emergency light, and eventually it would not go away. So I called to book a routine service appointment, and was told that the closest service center is in Palo Alto, which is about 27 miles away from where I live in Oakland, which in the Bay Area is a minimum 1 hour drive, and much worse (1.5-2 hrs easily) during commute hours. Additionally, I was told the earliest I could book was in April, and the only available appointment was 8:00am, otherwise I would have to look at June. The call center employee also confirmed my mileage among other needed information.
So the day comes, I drive 1.25 hrs, bring the car in, and was told that they would be unable to perform the routine service, which is supposed to be free as it’s a lease, as my mileage is too low, and I haven’t yet hit the 2-year time period. While they reset the software maintenance schedule clock so the annoying red icon went away, they graciously offered to do the service if I elected to pay for it. Really? Why was I not told this when I was booking? Why did I have to drive 3 hrs to get a stupid software reset? Of course, I received no answer other than “yeah, Polestar outsources its call center to an offshore service, so, sorry.”
So, due to a locked in lease, here I am, stuck with a pointless, required service appointment coming up in June that I need to plan for, due to Polestar’s own inadequate service. It’s pathetic when Kia and Hyundai offer better service than a so-called luxury brand like Polestar. It’s ridiculous when we normalize receiving “lemons” as a luck of the draw for these cars. This is what happens when a Chinese holding company takes over. Polestar can go eat rocks. I am counting down the days until I can give this car back and move on to a better option like Rivian or Lucid.
May all of you have better luck than me.