Subaru B9 Tribeca (B9X)

ateixeira

Wait 'til you have a couple of baminos in the back seat, I bet they'll have the very best color-coordinated child safety seats.

There was an episode of Overhaulin' where they did that, it was so cool! They covered the child seats with fabric that matched the interior of the car they had overhauled. It was awesome! :shades:

ktpkloss

I need to replace wipers, I understand that mounts are non-standard (?) do you guys know what brand will fit? Bosch? Michelin? anything better than these two? thanks

paisan

Haaa, not my kids, they'll be in the crudest hooptie I can find! You know the whole, I had to walk uphill to school, both ways...

-mike
Motorsports and Modifications Host

ateixeira

... in the snow!

volkov

The Four Yorkeshireman Sketch. An absolute classic, and dearer to my heart since that's where I was born and the entire extended family lived. For a good laugh, I was recently tying up my sons' skates amid various complaints after we drove to the outdoor ice oval , and caught myself telling them, "When I was your age I walked half a mile to the outdoor rink, put on and tied up my own skates in sub-zero weather and then walked home in boots that were freezing cold from sitting there for an hour."

robr2

I find myself saying thing like:

Do I look like I own the electric company, gas company, telephone company?

Do we live in a barn?

There's no reason for a 20 minute shower.

et al!!

Ah the joys of children!!!!!

xwesx

Do we live in a barn?

I will have to be careful using this one with my children - they will probably come back with "no, but we do live in a garage!"

paisan

Do I look like I own the electric company, gas company, telephone company?

I couldn't use this. I work for the Gas and Electric Company and own company stock. Haaaaaa

-mike
Motorsports and Modifications Host

xwesx

Hahahah. Man, Rob, are we shooting your sails here or what?!

robr2

Nah - I got plenty of them.

Do you see a money tree in the back yard?

I'll give you something to cry about!!

Just wait until your mother gets home.

xwesx

Just wait until your mother gets home. :surprise:

occking

Well, after 18 months of owning 06 Tribeca, putting on 55k miles (got it as a demo Aug06) it was time to move on.... Generally was very pleased with the vehicle. Had some front end issues which were taken care of under warranty, replaced OEM tires at 45k, front brakes 52k, rear brakes 55k. During the time I have the vehicle probably averaged about 20,5 mpg, slightly less than the trip computer indicated.

I loved the styling, especially the "pug" nose. Nothing else like it out there. Although some have complained it was a little "underpowered" after coming out from a 05 Outback with 4 cylinder, this car seemed like a jet to me.

However, I have become increasingly concerned with gas mileage so ended up trading the other day for a 08 Altima Hybrid, loaded with tech package, sunroof, etc.
I fully expect to get the gas mileage promised, 35 city, 33 highway. Actually purchased a second one for my wife, two in one week. What helped a bit was that there is still a $2350 Govt Tax rebate on each vehicle. Plus, I got in trade for my Tribeca $15,500l also will get back around $350 balance for unused extended warranty I had purchased with the Tribeca.

The biggest complaint I had with the Tribeca was the extremely rough ride over anything but smooth surfaces. Even after I had the front end work done under warranty, the ride never really improved that much.

If anyone is interested to see how the Nissan Altima works out for me, catch me on that board.

Steve

ateixeira

Congrats on the new hybrid, Steve.

Drop in and say hi once in a while.

njjuliano

I havent seen anything that fits, though someone had one where it was modified to fit.

Incidentally, the wipers are covered under warranty.

lenasboys

Steve - How many miles did you put on your Subaru?
The reason why I am asking is because their is a gentleman on the NASIOC
forum that is looking to buy a 5 pass. Tribeca with beige interior and it has about
58,000 miles, Just curious to see if he is looking at the one you traded in, if that is the case - What a small world!
We will miss you on this forum enjoy your new Altima!
Lena

occking

No, Mine had 65,000 miles, 7 passenger. Extremely well taken care of new brakes not too long ago, on second set of tires, rear view camera had been installed, etc., etc. Got 15,500 from Nissan dealer. KBB value for "good" condition was up to $17,000 but it was obvious to me I would not get even close to that unless I wanted to sell private party, and I had no interest in that. Heck, you can get a good deal on a demo with around 10,000 miles for loaded one probably for no more than $24,000 and a new 5 passenger (without Nav) for maybe $26,000 or so.

PF_Flyer

March Madness beigns, but we won't let that stop us. Besides, I signed up for the thing where I can watch the games online :P Don't forget the snacks tonight!

The Subaru Crew Chat is on tonight. The chat room opens at 8:45PM ET Hope to see YOU there! Check out the schedule

ateixeira

Drum roll please...

Tribeca!

It won for the entire CUV segment. :shades:

x5killer

link please

edit:
found it. alg.com

dont know how much stock i put into that award considering the Luxury CUV award goes to the Range Rover which is known have the worst depreciation, be the most over prices and have the most problems.

I trust strictly consumer reports.

ateixeira

I saw the CR started calculating TCO. Forester got "Much Better than Average" for ownership costs, but I don't recall the Tribeca's score.

Do you have the annual auto issue handy?

ALG's numbers are important, though, because they influence lease residuals, so they have a real-world impact.

hypnosis44

"...but I don't recall the Tribeca's score. "

It placed third in the top five just behind 4Runner V6 and Hyundai Sante Fe; virtually tied with Murano and Edge who took fourth and fifth.

ateixeira

Cool. :shades:

jerrys2

Has anyone had the wipers replaced under warranty? My warranty will be up in July and I would love to have them replaced, they don't show a lot of wear but they don't function as well as they once did.

robr2

Wipers are a wear item typically covered for 12 mos/12K miles by most manufacturers.

cptplt

from SOA website for 06 Tribeca

Wear Item Limited Warranty
Wear item coverage is 3 year or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first. Items covered are brake pad/shoe linings, clutch linings, and wiper blades.

ateixeira

Really? 3 years?

I change my wiper blades every year regardless. I'm surprised.

jeffmc

Yeah, with all the rain we get here, my Subarus' blades have always been replaced the first time under that warranty. (They limit the wear items to one-time replacement, AFAIK.)

schow1

I have 07 Tribeca 5 pass limited, bought it on Jan 07. I drive a lot (from work to home, vice versa) and I live up in the mountain (about 2000ft elevation). This Jan., we had some snow, very thin layer, and I was stuck. At that time, I had about 26000 mileage on this car. The next day, I went to change all four tires to Bridgestone tires. I guess the quality of the tires (good years) that came with this SUV weren't great at all.

I don't know if anybody has this problems. The material (leather)for the door panels are not great either. My dogs' nails pierces thru it easily. I also put some biscuit boxes on the front seat and the boxes lean toward the panel, now I have two "dented" areas and it didn't "bouce" back.

I also has problem going up hill, feel like the car was strained. I think my next car will be Forester.

ericclamage

I replaced the Goodyears with another set - got 60K out of them and not an issue. On the flip side, same experience with the door panels except my rear seat looks like a couple of rabid monkeys with a razor knife were turned loose in the back of the car. Same dog - not an issue ever with my Forester. I miss my Forester and am sorry I traded it in on the piece of junk I now a stuck with.

schow1

I went to check on Forester last week, the car has the hard panels, more suitable for people with pets that have nails. The leather of the rear seat needs some " ironing".

morey000

t's been universally agreed that the stock Goodyears are mediocre at best. The high performing AWD system on the Beca makes them look good. They last a long while, but aren't the best for traction.

Which Bridgestones did you put on? And please give us a report on them; i.e. ride quality, handling, traction, noise.

As far as easily scratched interior surfaces- I've only had problems with the hard plastic sides in the doors and especially in the rear compartment (where you PUT things). This scratchability issue was reported pretty early on in this forum. Such is life. It's an annoyance, but hardly a big enough issue to make me trade in an otherwise great vehicle.

schow1

Scratches, I don't mind, but it punches holes, destroy the leather. Too bad can't show you the pictures.

Anyway, I will let you know what kind of tires next week, I need my receipt.

schow1

Dueler HL Alenza

So far so good. Only have them for 5 months. The goodyear tires came with the car only lasted1 year at 27000 miles.

flgirlaol

How can this be? I read in the Miami Herald that the Hummer H3 gets 14 MPG in the City. Well, my 2007 Tribeca is only getting 16 MPG most of the time!

How can a big behemoth like a Hummer get almost as good as gas mileage as my Tribeca?

ateixeira

The short answer is it doesn't.

If you're getting less than the EPA numbers for your Tribeca, odds are you'd be getting les sthan the EPA numbers for any other car.

Come to think of it, many Hummers don't even have to post EPA numbers because they're so heavy that they are exempt from posting it.

My guess is if you're getting 16mpg in a Tribeca, a Hummer would get 10 or 12 in the same circumstances.

morey000

also, the H3 is the little one. Weighs probably about the same as the Tribeca. Granted, it's not as aerodynamic- but for around town driving, weight has a lot to do with your mpg.

I'm getting 21mpg (but in Tucson, the boulevards are wide and long between lights)

ateixeira

Good point, and most of them are the little 5 cylinder model. The Tribeca has a bigger displacement engine with more power.

flgirlaol

I have never used regular unleaded but I have heard that it is OK and it won't hurt the car unless one has a high performance car. Can I go ahead and use regular unleaded in my 07 Tribeca? I can afford the super unleaded but I would like to save the money.

Please help. I don't want to hurt the car.

volkov

16mpg is bang on the EPA for city driving in the Tribeca. As said above, the H3 is actually smaller inside than the Tribeca.

ateixeira

When the H6 first came out Subaru actually published 212hp with super and 208hp with regular. So basically it will retard the spark timing a bit and you'll give up some power, probably more than 4hp since it's more tuned nowadays.

It should be fine, though, in fact premium fuel is recommend but not required by Subaru.

mel247mom

I have a old town tandem kayak- built very similar to a canoe,does anyone know if it will fit on Subaru kayak holder before I purchase it. Thank you.

rafid

Hi
I imported a 2008 5 seats LTD Tribeca from USA to Israel.
I received the car few days ago and I am very happy with it! The car is awesome!!!

I have two problems that I cannot find a solution for and I will be very happy to get some help:

1 The FM radio stepings are fit to american standarts which means stepings of 0.2 I need to find a way to changes it to european standrats which means steping of 0.05
I gave the radio to a technitian and for the moment He cannot find the way to do it
If any one has expriens with that or maybe even has a digaram of the radio circuits board it will be very helpfull since the radio is usless for the moment

2 All the electronc meters in the car show frenhit and miles. Does anyone kows how to chnge to Kilomters and celsius?
I tried to find some settings option but did not find any

Help will be very appreciated !

Thanks

Rafi.

paisan

I think you'll need to order the european radio and info display to get the proper stations and the C temp.

-mike

ttentelh

that is correct, you cannot fix a radio to European and Asian standards you have to buy from your local Subaru dealer.

ateixeira

I'll be he can get it to display Celsuis, though. I would look in the index of the owner's manual. It may differ for models with/without NAV.

markrherr

I'm new to this forum. My daughter just bought a used Tribeca (2006). Is it true that it uses only premium gas? I saw some discussion about the poor headlights. Was there any improvement to them in the '06 model year?

ateixeira

Premium fuel was recommended by Subaru, but not required. She'll probably give up 5hp or so using lower octane, and the ECU will likely retard the ignition timing to compensate.

The model came out in 06, and the headlights did not change until the 08 refresh. US models never got HIDs, so I think they're all projector beam halogens, basically. I felt there were fine, to be honest.

morey000

Premium is only about 7% more than regular, and I find I notice the difference in low end torque. I haven't proven it yet, but you'll probably get 7% better mpg using the premium gas, so it's really a wash.

I haven't had any problems with the '07 headlights. While there may be better ones on the '08's, it's not as if there's a problem with the earlier lights.

mikejl

I have had a 2006 Tribeca since June, 2005. I just turned 90,000 miles last week. I use premium gas virtually 100% of the time. About the only exception is if I'm filling a tank that is still 1/2 full. I sometimes add regular in that case.

I learned early on that the Tribeca runs smoother, accelerates faster and gets better gas mileage with premium gas. I believe those benefits more than make up for the 20-30 cent price differential.

I have never had a problem with the headlights, but I did install SilverStar bulbs as replacements and I do like them better than the original bulbs.

ateixeira

I had one for a week and I was impressed with the lighting in the Tribeca, too.

I pay attention to that sort of thing. FWIW my 98 Forester had good lights, but our 2002 Legacy had lousy ones.

My 93 Miata was also lousy but I replaced them with E-codes and H4 bulbs. Originally they had some awful sealed beams you could barely see with.