If your Polestar tells you to stop
A red warning or a message to stop safely means pull over somewhere safe and switch off. If you see smoke or smell burning, get everyone well away from the car and call 000.
What Polestar's manual says about servicing
The owner's manual for the Polestar 2 is direct. Follow the service programme in the Status and Warranty booklet in the glove compartment. Contact a workshop authorised by Polestar for service and maintenance. Inspection and repair work is for an authorised workshop designated by Polestar. And if you don't follow the booklet's specifications, it says, the Polestar warranty will be invalid.
Australian consumer law adds another side. The regulators' guide says an independent repairer can service a vehicle without affecting the consumer guarantees, and that a warranty requiring dealer servicing may be anti-competitive conduct. Servicing a Polestar with a qualified independent mechanic, to the maker's schedule and specifications, doesn't by itself void the new car warranty.
Those two positions sit awkwardly together. While yours is under warranty, get Polestar's answer in writing before a scheduled service goes anywhere else.
How long a Polestar is covered
carsales lists the Polestar 2 with a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, plus eight years or 160,000 km on the battery. CarExpert shows the same five years for the Polestar 3. Variants can apply, so your booklet is the one to trust.
What a Polestar still wears out
The Polestar 2, 3 and 4 are battery-electric, so there's no engine oil, no spark plugs and no timing belt. The rest of the car is still a car.
Tyres. An EV is heavy and its torque arrives at once, so tyres can go sooner than you'd expect. Ask about rotating them, and watch the inside edges.
Brakes. Regenerative braking (the motor slows the car and feeds the battery) spares the pads. Brake fluid still ages, and discs that rarely work hard can rust.
Suspension and alignment. Weight is hard on rubber bushes and ball joints, and a kerb strike can throw the alignment out.
The 12-volt battery. A small ordinary battery runs the electronics. If it goes flat, the car can refuse to wake up with a full drive battery. See flat battery help.
The Volvo link, and what it means
Volvo bought the brand in 2015 and made it a standalone electric car brand from 2017. Volvo Cars and Geely are still among its main owners, and it has no factory of its own: its cars come out of plants those two control. The Polestar 3 is related to the Volvo EX90.
So a mechanic who knows Volvo EVs may have a head start. It's still a Polestar, with its own booklet and schedule, so ask what they've worked on.
Which mechanic suits which job
Tyres, alignment and suspension suit a good local mechanic who's set up for heavy EVs. Anything on the high-voltage side, including the orange cables and the drive battery, needs a mechanic trained and equipped for it. While the warranty runs, that belongs with the authorised workshop.
Independent mechanics can buy the same service and repair information as dealers, though not every workshop has it for this make, so ask. Tell us the model and what's going on. A local mechanic who specialises in your car.
What you can do on your Polestar
You can
- Read the Status and Warranty booklet in the glove compartment.
- Set the tyre pressures before a drive, when the tyres are cold.
- Note any message on the screen, with a photo if you can.
Leave to the mechanic
- Scheduled servicing and stamping the records.
- Brake fluid, suspension and wheel alignment.
- Anything electrical. The manual says detached cables or components are for an authorised workshop.
Where we'd start
While the car's under warranty, we'd leave the scheduled service with an authorised workshop and get any question about independent servicing answered in writing. For a worn tyre, a suspension knock or an alignment job, we'd happily use a local mechanic who works on EVs. Once the warranty's over, the choice is wide open. Keep every record either way.