Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!

Subaru B9 Tribeca Transmisson Problems

13»

Comments

  • dadoffivedadoffive Member Posts: 5
    We took it in today. We took the serviceman for a ride and it did it twice in a quarter mile. He said its not normal. He told me he would try the computer to see of he could change the shift. I know this will not fix the issue it's just a patch fix. lets see how good the customer service really is. This car is brand new and has a bad trans. Buyer beware.
  • dadoffivedadoffive Member Posts: 5
    I have been repeatedly lied to by the subaru dealer. I have asked to talk with the owner and I have been told he was on vacation and he was in a meeting on the same day 10 minutes apart by two different people. They have not fixed the car they made it worse I get 5 mpg less since they have given it back it still bangs on hills and shifts later and the motor is working harder cause of the way they didn't fix the car. The back lift-gate is broken. This is crazy for a car that is almost a month old that has had transmission problems from the first week. I have spoken with numerous people asked for my money back. I cannot have a car that is in the shop more than out and is not dependable. I should not be getting 5-mpg less when it was getting 20 mpg after they have reset the trans to shift later. To cover up a bad transmission. It is making the motor work harder you can hear it and it is not shifting at the right rpm. I have been told today that the subaru rep. cannot make it til friday if he can make it. They have no non smoking cars available at the moment. So basically no one will address giving me my money back and No one will have the subaru owner Bill Stamps call me. Buying this car was a huge mistake with bad service and nothing but lies from service. I will be posting the bad service all over the internet and soon I will be showing up at the dealers to warn customers not to buy from subaru. This is just a stall not to fix a problem instead of making it right. The transmission has not been changed in this model year from last and someone else had three transmission put in. So you are aware you have a problem and you know you cannot fix it. This is the reason for the poor service. Instead of taking pride in it and fixing it right. This is a disgrace and a brand new 35,000 car with a bad transmission and you will not give me my money back. Along with other issues the car has.
    On Feb 1, 2013, at 2:40 PM, Subaru of America, Inc. wrote:

    Hello Lorraine,

    Please reply to this email to let me know if your husband took the vehicle to Colonial Subaru on Monday.

    Thank you,
    They will not fix the transmission stay away don;t buy this car it is a nightmare!!!
  • xwesxxwesx Member Posts: 16,756
    Sounds like you found out that the dealer's customer service wasn't what you had hoped. Do you have any other dealership options within a reasonable distance? The fact that you're in contact with SOA should help, but they work through their dealership network. If the dealership is not helpful, it hobbles SOA's response as well.
    2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100, 1976 Ford F250
  • sept2martinsept2martin Member Posts: 28
    You have discovered how poor the Subaru service network has become and how poorly Subaru deals with its customers. B9 transmission problems seem to be a recurring issue. I went through it ad-nauseam with Subaru Canada. Was told basically that I was crazy and there was nothing wrong with my car! They were really unpleasant and rude. I have replaced my Subaru with another make, as has my brother. I have nothing favourable to say about Subaru and have not recommended them to anyone. If enough of us complain, maybe they will eventually do something about it. Needless to say it does not help our financial loss, nor address the headache of having to drive 100 miles for each service visit I made.
    Subaru.....WAKE UP!
  • dadoffivedadoffive Member Posts: 5
    Exposure in numbers does seem to make a company either lose potential customers or have the government make them recall the problem. lawyers getting involved helps also. If I don't get my money back I will be using an attorney. The local news works doing a story for consumer fraud. It helps when you know someone that works at the station also. Which in a few days I will call and ask them to help.
  • hectorpmhectorpm Member Posts: 1
    edited February 2013
    I have a TRIBECA with 24000 miles on it, at 22k miles it started doing this jerking going up hill on slight acceleration, is like the transmission were not shifting speeds. Feels like an engine misfire but I'm sure it is a transmission problem.

    The dealer already changed the Torque Converter but the problem is still there.

    If several people is having the same problem we might have this guys to doing something real to fix the issue.
  • dadoffivedadoffive Member Posts: 5
    subaru said twice now they are sending it to a supervisor still no reply they were supposed to send a service rep to another dealer no reply.
    The car is falling apart daily. I bought this car with 7 miles on it.
    Here are the issues.
    Almost immediately the transmission while shifting into first gear would bang into gear. I would bang so hard that my wife and I though we might have gotten rear ended. They relearned the transmission which lessened the banging but created other issues. The car now gets 5 MPG less than when we bought it. It is winter here and the cooling fan for the motor comes on in 30 degree weather after only 10 min of drive time. The engine is running louder and when the car is at a red light it often just lurches forward for no reason. I talked with a friend who is a mechanic and he explained to me what they did. He said they changed the engine control unit to shift differently. He said by doing that it simulates like the car is towing something. This causes the car to run hot. We have had the car lurching forward at a red light and when trying to parking. We have the lurching, the louder engine noise, and the poor gas mileage. The weather strip is falling off over the driver's side rear seat passenger. The front end makes a banging noise when the wheel is turned fully to the right. The left is fine.
  • gailsljcgailsljc Member Posts: 1
    please help me. I have no idea why my tribeca shudders at an idle with the A/C on. does anyone have any ideas?
  • xwesxxwesx Member Posts: 16,756
    edited August 2013
    It's possible that the engine computer is not compensating for the additional load the A/C unit presents. What is the idle speed on the tachometer when this happens? Normal idle is 650 RPM without added load. A/C use will bump it higher to compensate.
    2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100, 1976 Ford F250
  • cbarsikhiancbarsikhian Member Posts: 1
    Hi, I have a customer in with a 2007 Tribeca, He currently has 207,000km on it, never really had any problems with the transmission, Never did an oil change either in that 207,000km. A few weeks ago he started experiencing a whining noise coming from the transmission when in Reverse or Drive while stopped.

    If you put it in Neutral or Park the whining goes away, if you accelerate the whining also goes away. Also somewhat jerky between shifts 1-2 and 2-3 and taking long to shift.

    I verified his trans oil level and it was full but it was BLACK like Diesel Engine Oil after 20,000km. I ordered 14L of the required ATF, drained the oil and filled with 3L of new ATF, ran for a few min and went through all the gears. Drained oil again and refilled with 3L, same procedure.

    I did the drain/refill 3 times. I then drain the oil again, removed the pan, cleaned out the pan and the filter screen, cleaned all the insides, re-installed the oil pan and put in 5L of new ATF, the color is now slightly darker than cherry red on the dipstick.

    The transmission shifts VERY smooth now and not jerking at all but still have the whining noise. I'm assuming it's the torque convertor or transmission oil pump. Anyone else experience the whining?
  • mobetter3mobetter3 Member Posts: 1
    Regarding losing power in a Tribeca, I have a 2006 with 162k miles on it. It's been a great car with very minimal issues. It has recently lost power while I was on the interstate 3 times. The first time it bucked and revved, but didn't totally lose power. The second and third times it totally lost power; it mimicked what happens when I run out of gas. Both times I had about 2 bars left on the gas tank, so it was low, but not empty. Unlike mikejl's car, though, mine would not restart and resume driving. Lights, radio, etc. would still be on, and it would start to turn over, but never actually start. After I had it towed back to my house, I tried to start it about an hour later, and it started (I can't remember if it was difficult to start or not, but it didn't require a jump. Since then, it has started fine and of course I can't recreate the problem. I have heard suggestions from replacing the alternator to the fuel pump to the ignition switch. I would appreciate any comments.
  • xanderv_xanderv_ Member Posts: 2
    I did have to replace an ignition switch on a 2006 model with much fewer miles. The switch would intermittently fail to close the accessory circuit when returning under the spring action from "Start" to "Run". The ignition circuit was not compromised. Replacing the ignition switch is not difficult (it's only the electrical switch, attached to the lock housing with two screws).
    mobetter3 said:

    Regarding losing power in a Tribeca, I have a 2006 with 162k miles on it. It's been a great car with very minimal issues. It has recently lost power while I was on the interstate 3 times. The first time it bucked and revved, but didn't totally lose power. The second and third times it totally lost power; it mimicked what happens when I run out of gas. Both times I had about 2 bars left on the gas tank, so it was low, but not empty. Unlike mikejl's car, though, mine would not restart and resume driving. Lights, radio, etc. would still be on, and it would start to turn over, but never actually start. After I had it towed back to my house, I tried to start it about an hour later, and it started (I can't remember if it was difficult to start or not, but it didn't require a jump. Since then, it has started fine and of course I can't recreate the problem. I have heard suggestions from replacing the alternator to the fuel pump to the ignition switch. I would appreciate any comments.

Sign In or Register to comment.