2008 Subaru Tribeca problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Air Bags (5) · Steering (2) · Suspension:front:wheel Bearing (1)
Safety recalls (8)
Electrical System:ignition:switch 2019-04-11 · campaign 19V297000 · 511 vehicles
Defect: Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2009-2013 Forester vehicles, 2008-2011 Impreza vehicles, 2008-2014 WRX vehicles, 2005-2014 Legacy vehicles, 2005-2014 Outback vehicles and 2006-2008 Tribeca vehicles equipped with a mechanical key ignition switch installed as a replacement part. The ball spring inside the switch may break, reducing the strength of the ignition switch. If this occurs, the weight on the key ring and certain road conditions could cause the ignition switch to m
Risk: The engine turning off unexpectedly can increase the risk of a crash. If a crash occurs under this condition, the air bag may not deploy, increasing the risk of injury.
Fix: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the ignition switch, replacing the ignition switch, if necessary, free of charge. The recall began May 10, 2019. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-844-373-6614. Subaru's number for this recall is WUF-91.
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2017-01-11 · campaign 17V026000 · 69,529 vehicles
Defect: Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2005-2006 Baja, 2009 Forester, Legacy and Outback and 2006-2009 Impreza (including WRX and STI models) and Tribeca vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. These vehicles are equipped w
Risk: An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger front air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began March 6, 2017. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783. Subaru's number for this recall is TKB-17.
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2017-01-10 · campaign 17V014000 · 53,480 vehicles
Defect: Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2005-2006 Subaru Baja, 2006-2011 Impreza (including WRX and STI models), 2006-2012 Tribeca, 2009-2012 Forester, Legacy, Outback, and 2012 WRX vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These vehicles are equipped with certain
Risk: An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began March 6, 2017. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783. Subaru's number for this recall is TKA-17.
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2017-01-10 · campaign 17V016000 · 62,764 vehicles
Defect: Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2005-2006 Baja, 2006-2008 Impreza (including WRX and STI models), Tribeca, and 2006 Saab 9-2X vehicles, originally sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. These vehicles are equipped with certain air bag inflators asse
Risk: An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Subaru will notify their owners. General Motors will notify Saab owners. Dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began March 8, 2017. Subaru owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783. Saab owners may contact the Saab Customer Assistance Center at 1-800-955-9007. Subaru's number for this recall is TKC-17.
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2016-05-25 · campaign 16V358000 · 302,127 vehicles
Defect: Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2003-2004 Legacy, Outback, 2009-2011 Legacy, Outback, Forester, 2006-2011 Impreza, Tribeca, 2003-2006 Baja, and 2006 Saab 9-2x vehicles originally sold or that have ever been registered in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands, or "Zone A." These vehicles may be equipped wi
Risk: An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Subaru will notify their owners. General Motors will notify Saab owners. Dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began August 26, 2016. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-856-488-8500. Saab owners may contact GM at 1-800-955-9007. Subaru's number for this recall is TKA-16.
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2016-05-25 · campaign 16V359000 · 146,010 vehicles
Defect: Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2003-2004 Legacy, Outback, 2006-2008 Impreza, Tribeca, 2006 Saab 9-2x, and 2003-2006 Baja vehicles originally sold or that have ever been registered in Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, or "Zone B." These vehicles may be equipped
Risk: An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Subaru will notify their owners. General Motors will notify Saab owners. Dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began August 24, 2016. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-856-488-8500. Subaru's number for this recall is TKB-16. Note: This notice is only for vehicles that were not covered by 16V-358 for Zone A.
Latches/Locks/Linkages:hood:latch 2016-02-03 · campaign 16V060000 · 77,017 vehicles
Defect: Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain model year 2006-2014 Tribeca vehicles manufactured November 16, 2004, to January 27, 2014. Due to a possible malfunction of the hood safety system and hood lock system, the hood may open unexpectedly while driving.
Risk: If the hood unexpectedly opens while driving, it may interfere with the driver's visibility, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will complete this recall in two phases. Phase one will involve inspection, cleaning, and lubricating the hood safety and hood lock systems. If after this is performed the hood latch does not operate properly, it will be replaced with a new current style part. Phase two will involve installing an improved hood safety system and hood lock system. Interim notification was mailed March 4, 2016. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783. Sub
Exterior Lighting 2012-12-26 · campaign 12V602000 · 633,842 vehicles
Defect: Subaru is recalling certain model year 2010 and 2011 Legacy and Outback vehicles, certain model year 2006 through 2012 Tribeca vehicles sold before January 2012, and certain model year 2009 through 2012 Forester vehicles sold before January 2012. Up to 78,650 of these vehicles may have been equipped with accessory puddle lights that, when illuminated, brighten the area under the doors of the vehicle. A short circuit can develop when either the puddle light or connector are exposed to an electr
Risk: Over time, migration of the moisture into the circuit board and/or into the connector cavity, may result in a short circuit of the puddle light system. This may generate heat which may melt the plastic resulting in smoke or fire.
Fix: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will install an additional fused-harness, free of charge. The recall began February 19, 2013. Owners may contact Subaru at 1-800-782-2783 for more information.
Service bulletins (52)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Air Bags 2023-12-28 · TKA-17R, TKB-17R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
subaru of america, inc. has determined that a defect, which relates to motor vehicle safety, exists in certain subaru vehicles listed, equipped with a non-desiccated takata-sourced passenger side frontal airbag containing the propellant phase stabilized ammonium nitrate (certain specific vehicles on
Latches/Locks/Linkages 2023-08-01 · 01-168-09R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
the purpose of this bulletin is to provide replacement key and immobilizer information along with an overview of the subaru lock information web-site.
Equipment 2022-08-23 · 01-167-08R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this bulletin contains additional information for recommended materials listed in the service manuals for individual models.
Equipment 2022-08-23 · 15-302-22 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this bulletin contains illustrations of exchange components and their manufacturer as well as a description of the proper exchange procedure.
Electrical System 2022-03-18 · 15-192-22R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this bulletin has been developed to outline the steps for gathering basic essential information during diagnosis and repair of the infotainment concerns. (applicable to all models with harman or denso cp1 infotainment).
Engine And Engine Cooling 2022-03-07 · 09-83-21R · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this bulletin announces design change to the water pump assembly.
Showing the 6 most recent of 52 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2018-06-11 · Exterior Lighting · 134,000 mi · 🔥 fire“tl* the contact owns a 2008 subaru tribeca. while the vehicle was parked, the contact observed smoke coming from the front driver's side of the vehicle. there were no flames visible. the fire department was called to the scene, but was unable to determine the source of the failure. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic and it was diagnos…”
2018-06-10 · Electrical System“was driving and went to park my car, notice there was smoke coming from the passenger side where the seat is. i looked up for any recalls and there was a recall for my car 2008 subaru tribeca for exterior puddle light that may cause smoke or fire if the wiring is exposed to certain moisture. i entered my vin number in the recall and it's not listed…”
2017-07-09 · Steering“this car was shaking at a speed of 60 miles. after taking it to check in seattle's carter subaru washington five times, the car became vibrating at a speed of 40 miles. a day after it departure, it was shipped to tampa florida because of my university. upon receipt the car was oil-free, and all the safety lights were caught. the car started to vibr…”
2017-06-23 · Air Bags“tl* takata recall. the contact owns a 2008 subaru tribeca. the contact stated that the recall notice for nhtsa campaign number: 16v358000 (air bags) was received in june of 2016. after contacting the dealer (palm springs subaru in palm springs, california) and the manufacturer on multiple occasions, the contact was informed that the parts needed fo…”
2017-02-14 · Air Bags“takata recall - i received notice august 2016 that my passenger side takata airbag was being recalled. in the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the front air bags, these inflators may rupture due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling. an inflator rupture may result in me…”
2016-12-28 · Air Bags“tl* takata recall. the contact owns a 2008 subaru tribeca. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 16v359000 (air bags); however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. the contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. the manufacturer was notified. the contact had not exper…”
2016-08-09 · Air Bags“tl* takata recall. the contact owns a 2008 subaru tribeca. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 16v359000 (air bags); however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. the contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. the manufacturer was notified of the issue. the contact …”
2016-08-02 · Structure:body“tl* takata recall. the contact owns a 2008 subaru tribeca. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign numbers: 16v359000 (air bags) and 16v060000 (latches/locks/linkages, structure); however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. the contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. the m…”
2016-01-29 · Unknown Or Other · 70,000 mi“while driving at highway speed, the hood spontaneously opened, smashing the windshield and completely obstructing my view. the main latch and secondary safety latch appear to have been stuck, keeping the hood closed but not securely locked.…”
2014-03-11 · Service Brakes · 95,000 mi“when the outside temperature dips below 20 degrees f, the brakes fail to work. this has happened 5 times now in the year 2014. this has happened each time my car has sat out in the cold temperatures (<20 degrees) for 8 hours (while at work). when pulling out of my space in the outdoor parking garage, my brake pedal becomes hard and i am unable t…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.