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Subaru B9 Tribeca: Problems & Solutions
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Comments
-Brian
Doug
-Brian
But it's a dry heat.
-juice
I love my Tribeca, however I was hoping to go a little longer before it started to break. Purchased in July - now has 5,025 miles on it...this is two quick to have problems. I guess the bright note is that my engine isn't blown (sorry Sheila, couldn't resist).
The last new model I bought was a 99 Honday Odyssey - drove it until July, had 160,000 miles when I traded it, and outside of a few emissions problems it was a perfect vehicle. Hoping the Subaru proves to be the same.
-David
taking to the dealer on Saturday. but wondered if anyone else had the problem before.
But since you didn't read the manual, page 3-27, BTW, you will never know that.
:P
Press it & it brings up briightness & contrast setting for the screen,
I found helpful for adjusting the screen for better readability at night.
Hope that helps.
1. On mp3 CD play, random function deactivates after each ignition cycle. To restart, you have to push random once (for random-folder), pause a second or two, then push random again for random-disc. I'd like the random to stay on its last setting.
2. When on random (mp3) CD play, the previous track button restarts the current song only. I'd like it to play the previous song (or another random song) if you press the previous track button again after restarting the current song.
3. Steering wheel control for radio seeks up and down. I'd like it to switch between my presets.
4. Fog lights turn on with daytime running lights. I'd like them to turn on with headlights, so I can leave the foglights switch on at all times and only have them turn on when the headlights are also on.
5. All the DC power ports turn off when the ignition is off. That means I can't leave something plugged in to charge (like a cell phone or iPod) when I am away from my car. My last car had a battery-switched DC port, and I know they don't drain the battery too much.
6. Low fuel light is obstructed by the steering wheel. It just needs to be a little higher.
7. Driver's door does not auto-unlock. If the door is locked, and if I try to open the door, I want it to open. Also nice would be auto-locking doors when the car is shifted to drive, but I can live without that.
4. Fog lights turn on with daytime running lights. I'd like them to turn on with headlights, so I can leave the foglights switch on at all times and only have them turn on when the headlights are also on.
My foglights only come on when head light is on. And I leave the switch on all the time. If yours operates differently, get that checked out by your dealer. They may get wired wrong.
However I have to disagree with the last item regarding auto door unlocks:
7. Driver's door does not auto-unlock. If the door is locked, and if I try to open the door, I want it to open. Also nice would be auto-locking doors when the car is shifted to drive, but I can live without that.
If you are talking about the doors automatically unlocking when you take the car out of gear, then from a woman's perspective, this is not a safe option, and probably a bad idea. Since I drive alone and in the city most of the time, I really don't want the doors unlocking as soon as I put it in park. I make it a point to grab whatever I am taking with me, look around first, and then unlock/get out when I am ready. Too many carjackings take place when doors are unlocked or left unlocked.
However, I do think one of my car's (my Forester, maybe?) had a handle pull mechanism that did unlock the door when you tugged on it. This would be a nice feature.
-Karen in AZ- (where it's wet and cool today for a change!)
However, a better solution is to have the doors lock when you shift into gear.(which unfortunately Subaru does not do), then the outside & inside handles are disconnected.
When you stop and put the car in park, the outside handle still will not open the door (unless you manually press the unlock switch) but the inside handle will now allow you to open the door and exit the vehicle.
The way things are now - if you forget to lock the door you are totally vulnerable.
On my Tribeca, when I get to this screen the list button is not an option. It seems I must type in a name to get the list button lit up. It was a real issue for me in Manhattan last week when I needed gas. I ended up trying every gas station brand name I could think of until I found one close to me. Anyone have a better solution?
Is it possible that Subaru saved a few bucks by limiting this feature?
They told me they have a new Forrester with the same issue and are "working with Subaru" to correct it. Has anyone heard of this Seat Rail rattle?
Meanwhile, I miss the car and hope this does not become an ongoing problem.
I was given an Outback Loaner which has helped. The Service staff are pleasant enough, however don't have a lot of detail. I am also concerned now they have Subaru involved, but maybe thats a good thing. Any thoughts?
:confuse:
I doubt it's really on back order, they probably just don't have spare parts stocked up yet since it's a new model.
SoA supplies the parts so it's good that they are involved.
Just try to look at it this way - you're putting miles on a loaner instead of devaluating your car.
-juice
When the fuel level reached a critical level, a chime would sound and the nav screen would automatically put up a list of staions with the first on the list being the closet. Just selct the one you want and it would direct you there. A real no brainer.
Don
Goto the map screen. Tap the screen twice and you should seee a POI button on the bottom. Press that and select gas station and it will show you gas station on the map as icons.
Hope that helps
Yeah, I guess you could say that. Though ultimately I was hoping that I was missing something on some of the things and that some of the "problems" could be fixed. Computers are so involved in cars these days, so I think some of these things could be fixed by a simple upgrade in the future. And I'm not that car-savy... perhaps there are fixes to some of these things that I don't know about. I guess if I knew what I was doing, I could hard-wire one of the DC ports directly to my battery, but there might be an easier way.
The thing with the mp3 player not remembering that I am on random seems easy to fix, because the player continues the songs where they left off (as opposed to starting the song from the beginning each time the ignition is turned on). It clearly "remembers" something...
As for the automatic doors, I can live without auto lock and auto unlock when you shift into drive and park, respectively. All I want is the ability to open my door whether or not it is locked or unlocked. In a panic, when my door is locked, (and maybe the car power is out), I want to pull the handle and have the door open. Plain and simple. The argument that SOA is concerned about people unintentionally opening the doors while the car is moving is baloney, because the doors don't lock automatically now.
And with the fog lights staying on when my headlights were off, I don't know what I was doing before, but they are now working correctly. I think I was getting my headlights confused with the DRL....
The transmission has a "learning" feature and that's probably what you are describing; hesitation to shift may be the transmission computer holding the gear in anticipation of acceleration or to aid in slowing down. Holding gears in turns is good, provides the torque to exit the turn without hunting for a lower gear. If you drive you B9 hard most of the time, the trnsmisn will stay that way, if you baby it, you'll notice quicker shifts earlier in the RPM band and will return to normal parameters.
I haven't had any coolant smell problems: what would be nice is when B9 owners have problems lets also put up mfg. dates for the vehicle as well, maybe we can isolate problems or find our own trends...
AKA Pearl White 7psgr LTD NAV DVD MFG DATE: 08/05
I am guessing they all operate the same. there must be a way to initiate the sensor reprogramming.
if the car is not centering it self it may be your toe on the alignment is out or in. that would affect you both directions. or camber I think is the the other angle. thats where your tires are pointing together.
no coolant smell and I have 5k on the B9. but did not undercoat mine. I haven't done that to my last 3 cars with the new coated metals used... the undercoating may even void the rust thru warranty ... I read that in one of my previous car rust thru warranties.
Also can someone who has used MP3s, please comment on the amount and quality of the BASE playing MP3s vs anything else (CD/Radio/DVD)? I think there is something wrong in the CD player circuitry of the B9. the sound is filtered on the high and low end somehow. Even using the equalizer settings for BASE and TREBLE , the sound from an MP3 song is about 25% more BASE then any other source. I have not tried the Audio IN jacks yet to compare.
Thanks :shades:
Yes, I did noticed bass booming on MP3. I think it is probably intentional by design. I always wondered if my subwoofer is really connected. Now I know it's working.
-juice
well its into the dealers tonight anyway for the rattle in the front right dash area. sounds like a wiring harness is loose up front and over bumps is smacking the plastic somewhere loudly. So will have them check it out anyway...
Exactly what I thought about the subwoofer not working until I played MP3s. the CDs should be just as strong in the BASE level. Its gotten to the point where I do not want to listen to my standard music CDs and only play the MP3s. :mad:
This is DVD player dependent. I have no experience with in-car player. But most DVD players I own can allow you to select what kind of audio range you want.
well its into the dealers tonight anyway for the rattle in the front right dash area. sounds like a wiring harness is loose up front and over bumps is smacking the plastic somewhere loudly. So will have them check it out anyway...
Let's know what your dealer find out. I think I had the same issue.
Subaru Roadside Assistance was no help other than to offer to tow the car to nearest dealer and call me a cab at my expense.
They put me in touch with a dealer they thought was open but the first question was "did you buy the car here?".
After discussing malfunction with the sales manager at my dealership, who thus far has been very helpful, it became apparent that Subaru dealers have no desire to take care of the customers who don't buy from them. He suggested I get the car back to them and that it was probably OK to drive.
It appears we are not Subaru customers, we are customers of the dealer from which we bought the car. You would think a car company that has a limited number of dealerships would stress the importance of taking care of its customers no matter where they bought the car.
Your right, warranty & service work is what keeps most dealerships alive.
The roadside assistance program is run by a 3rd party, so they won't pick up the tab. Give SoA a chance and they might not disappoint you.
-juice