When did Volvo introduce the TG-81SC transmission

[downunder24]

I am considering buying a 2.0 litre petrol XC60 which was originally for the Japan market and re-exported as a used vehicle to New Zealand. I see from numerous warnings on various internet sites that the 6 speed Powershift transmissions have problems and should be avoided. Volvo apparently introduced the Aisin 8 speed transmission in later models, known as the Volvo TG-81SC.
Does anyone know in which year that was introduced for the BT4204 engines in the XC60 and how can I check to see which transmission is fitted? The car dealers I have spoke with here have no clue.
Thanks.

[Easington]

Can you test drive it, put it into "manual" and see if it has 6 or 8 gears?

[JGEM]

You could get the VIN number from the seller and then run it through a few of the VIN decoding sites and see what transmission they say the car has fitted. Having said that, you have to take the results with a grain of salt sometimes.

[PierreC]

Somewhere in the engine compartment is a decal stating what transmission is fitted - most likely attached to the transmission.

Download the owners manual for the model you are interested in and see where the location of the decal is.

[Tannaton]

Do you know if it's a 5 cylinder or 4 cylinder engine?

If it's 5 cylinder then a Volvo engine and will have an AW gearbox.

If it's a 4 cylinder then it may still be a Volvo engine, really not sure as that vast majority of XC60 in the UK are diesel powered.

But yes - the AW gearboxes are much preferred over powershift, especially in the heavier XC models.

You could try downloading that model year brochure?

[MikeGMT]

Model Year 2014 saw the introduction of the AW 8 Speed Geartronic. Not ever seeing a Powershift model I don't know if there is a visible difference from inside the car between the two transmissions. As already mentioned the easiest way to find out if it is a 8 speed is to manually shift during a test drive, the driver display will show which gear you are in.

The following info are Global press releases, so should be applicable to the cars you are looking at.


Volvo_XC60_-_model_year_2014 1 .pdf + XC60 .pdf

49102_Volvo_XC60_-_model_year_2014.pdf + XC60 2014.pdf

[JJJ]

2014.

Locally, the visible external differences between an early - old - and late - face-lifted - version of the 2014 model are the following:

Lower plastic trim all round black changed to body colour
Roof rails became integrated - almost invisible
Headlight design was changed from two units either side of the grill to one.

5-cylinder engines dropped, only 4-cylinder with various stages of boost/hybrid. T3 3-cylinder introduced.

The two transmissions - 80 (6 speed) vs 81 (8 speed) - are virtually identical externally. If you know what the 80 looks like from underneath, you will recognize the 81 straight away. The 80 was also used in the Freelander 2, which led to the demise of many of those vehicles here.

Fundamentally, nothing wrong with the transmission, only with both the LR and Volvo filled for life policy regarding transmission oil change at the time. "Life" being around 240k km. Sadly, sometimes sooner.

Locally, since 2014, Volvo has wisened up and updated their maintenance policy, changing the transmission oil every 60k km with a triple flush.

On the 3rd service of my 2017 XC60, they actually did.

[PierreC]

The TF80-SC has been replaced by a TF71-SC in the new (since around 2015) Volvo models that has a 6-speed AT .. e.g. the models with a T3 / D3 engine.

The TF71 is a backwards step from the TF80 6-speed as many complaints about shift quality on various forums (fora?) confirm. The TG81, however, seems to be built to the same standard as the TF80