Fault File
All models / All cars / Saloons & estates / Polestar 2

Polestar 2

All generations and engines together · 6,774 MOT tests in the 2025 data

Reliability verdict
BBy miles

Graded against its peers

Better than most saloons and estates per mile driven. Watch corrosion and lights & electrics. A solid used buy, provided its MOT history has no repeating corrosion advisories.

First-time failure at 50-60k miles
14.5%
Across 862 tests. The average for saloons and estates is 16.8%.

What owners report

Reported

Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press, with how well each report stands up. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.

Infotainment freezing and glitching

Emerging

The Android Automotive infotainment screen is reported to freeze, lag or glitch, sometimes needing a reboot to get climate or navigation back. It has cropped up across model years rather than one bad batch, and Polestar pushes regular over-the-air software updates that seem to settle some cars and not others. No formal recall or TSB covers this specifically, it is treated as a known software quirk rather than a hardware fault.

Reported at any age or mileage · sources: Honest John, Auto Express long-term test

Software fault cutting drive power

Confirmed pattern

Early cars had a software bug that could cause a sudden loss of propulsion while driving, essentially the car cutting out. Polestar issued a recall covering around 4,500 cars in Europe in late 2020, with a further US recall confirmed in March 2021, both fixed with an over-the-air software update at no cost to owners. Worth checking the car's update history shows this was applied, since a used example bought privately may not have had every OTA fix confirmed.

Fixed free via OTA update from late 2020 · sources: Auto Express, contemporary recall reporting via NHTSA/Carscoops coverage

Reversing camera failure recall

Confirmed pattern

A rearview camera fault, where the image can fail to display, was significant enough to trigger a US recall covering around 27,800 cars from 2024, and a second recall followed in 2025 after the first software fix failed to resolve it for every car. This is documented mainly through US NHTSA action; UK owners should still check the car's MOT and service history for any related recall work, since the fault is a software/camera issue rather than one confined to one market.

Recalls opened 2024 and 2025 · sources: NHTSA recall coverage reported by Reuters and Carscoops

Harsh, fidgety ride on the standard chassis

Disputed

Reviewers and owners disagree on whether this counts as a fault or just the car's character. Auto Express called the ride 'intolerably firm' on UK roads, and it is a recurring theme in long-term test notes, with bigger alloy wheel options making it worse over sharp ridges and expansion joints. It is not something a warranty claim will fix, so it is really a buying consideration: drive the exact wheel size and chassis you are looking at before committing.

Present from new, worse on larger wheels · sources: Auto Express, Honest John

What to check on this car

Ranked from this model’s own MOT record, then from what owners report.

Saveable checklist

From this model’s MOT record

The physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.

Rubber boots and gaitersRuns high on this model On full steering lock, look in behind each front wheel at the concertina rubber boots on the driveshafts and steering rack. Splits, or grease flung around the arch, mean dirt is getting into a joint that costs far more than the boot protecting it.Recorded on 2.1% of tests at age 3-5 · class average 0.1%
Lights and horn walkroundRuns high on this model With a helper, run every light: dipped, main beam, indicators, brake lights including the high-level one, reverse, fog, and the horn. On newer cars a dead LED section can mean replacing the whole lamp unit rather than a bulb.Recorded on 1.0% of tests at age 3-5 · class average 0.1%
Dampers Look for oil misting on the damper body behind each wheel, then push down hard on each corner of the car. It should settle in one bounce. A floaty or crashy ride on the test drive is the same fault felt from the driver's seat.Recorded on 0.7% of tests at age 3-5 · class average 2.1%
A binding brake After the test drive, hold the back of your hand near each wheel hub. One wheel running much hotter than the rest is a sticking caliper. A car that slows itself down when you lift off on a flat road is saying the same thing.Recorded on 0.4% of tests at age 3-5 · class average 0.3%
Warning lights on ignition Turn the ignition on without starting the engine and watch the dash. Every warning light should appear, then go out once it is running. Be more suspicious of a light that never comes on at all than of one that stays on; warning bulbs have been known to vanish before a sale.Recorded on 0.4% of tests at age 3-5 · class average 0.1%

Worth doing on any used car

These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.

Tyres, all four Check the tread across the full width of each tyre, inner edge included, and look for cracking and mismatched brands. A set of decent tyres is £500 or more on most cars, which makes this the easiest money to take off a price. If the pressure warning light is on, budget for sensors too.Recorded on 21.6% of tests at age 3-5 · class average 16.6%
Pads and discs Look through the wheel spokes at the brake disc. A pronounced lip on its outer edge, or a rusty and scored face, means discs and pads are due all round, a few hundred pounds on most cars. A haggling point rather than a reason to walk away.Recorded on 8.5% of tests at age 3-5 · class average 7.0%
Windscreen and wipers Scan the glass in daylight for chips, especially in the driver's line of sight where even a small one can fail the MOT. Run the washers and check the wipers clear without smearing.Recorded on 1.9% of tests at age 3-5 · class average 1.4%

Because of what owners report

Drawn from the reports above rather than the MOT data. These are the model-specific ones.

Reverse into a space and check the rearview camera image is sharp and appears instantly. A delayed, frozen or blank image points at the camera fault behind the 2024-2025 recalls.
Check the infotainment screen through a full boot cycle, and try navigation and climate menus. Freezing, lag or an unresponsive screen is the known Android Automotive glitch, not a hardware write-off but worth knowing about before you buy.
Ask to see the car's software update and service history, or check with a Polestar dealer using the VIN. Confirms whether the 2020-2021 propulsion-loss recall and later camera recall were actually carried out.
Drive it on a rough B-road, not just a smooth test route, and note the wheel size fitted. A harsh, fidgety ride on 20-inch wheels is normal for this car, not a fault, but it should factor into whether you want to live with it.
Pull away from a stop a few times during the test drive, including from cold if possible. Any hesitation or unexpected power cut is worth flagging even though the known software bug should be long fixed by now.
Check the DVSA MOT history for advisories, even though most Polestar 2s are still young enough to have had few MOTs. Repeated electrical or software-related advisories suggest a car that has not had its recall work done.

Open the saveable checklist, tick it off at the car

The MOT data

Measured

Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.

How this model wears

Polestar 2Class average, all tracked models

What testers flag

Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.

Faults with the car itself

The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 6,774 tests in this band.

A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc
Fail
2.1%class 0.1%
An obligatory rear fog lamp missing, or a front or rear fog lamp inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source m
Fail
1.0%class 0.1%
A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage
Advisory
0.7%class 2.1%
A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot severely deteriorated
Minor
0.5%class 0.2%
Excessive fluctuation in brake effort through each wheel revolution.
Advisory
0.4%class 0.3%
An SRS malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) indicates a system malfunction
Fail
0.4%class 0.1%
A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage
Fail
0.3%class 0.3%
A wheel badly distorted or wear between wheel and hub at spigot mounting
Advisory
0.3%class 0.4%

Wear, upkeep and luck

Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.

Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements
Advisory
24.8%class 18.8%
A tyre seriously damaged
Advisory
14.3%class 13.1%
Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured
Advisory
8.5%class 7.0%
A tyre seriously damaged
Fail
6.8%class 2.3%
A tyre cords visible or damaged
Fail
4.0%class 1.3%
Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt
Advisory
2.8%class 2.1%
Nail in tyre
Advisory
2.2%class 1.7%
Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view
Minor
1.9%class 1.4%

Others in its class

Same segment (Saloons & estates), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.

Audi A88.6%Porsche Panamera9.4%Lexus IS9.6%BMW 7 Series10.0%Mercedes S-Class10.8%Jaguar XJ12.9%See all Saloons & estatesreliability ranked