2009 Subaru Tribeca problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Service Brakes (2) · Structure:body (1) · Service Brakes, Hydraulic (1)
Safety recalls (8)
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2018-01-09 · campaign 18V012000 · 64,179 vehicles
Defect: Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2009-2013 Legacy, Forester, Tribeca, WRX and Outback vehicles, and 2009-2011 Impreza vehicles 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 air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag
Risk: An explosion of an inflator within the passenger frontal air bag module may result in sharp metal fragments striking the front seat passenger, driver or other 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 on February 9, 2018. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783. Subaru's number for this recall is TKA-18.
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2018-01-09 · campaign 18V013000 · 93,209 vehicles
Defect: Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2009-2010 Tribeca, Impreza, Forester, WRX, Legacy, and Outback vehicles 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 with certain air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenge
Risk: An explosion of an inflator within the passenger frontal air bag module may result in sharp metal fragments striking the front seat passenger, driver or other 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 on February 9, 2018. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783. Subaru's number for this recall is TKB-18.
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2018-01-09 · campaign 18V014000 · 72,150 vehicles
Defect: Subaru of America, Inc. (Subaru) is recalling certain 2009 Tribeca, Impreza, Forester, WRX, Legacy, and Outback vehicles 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 assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag m
Risk: An explosion of an inflator within the passenger frontal air bag module may result in sharp metal fragments striking the front seat passenger, driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: Subaru will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflators, free of charge. The recall began on February 9, 2018. Owners may contact Subaru customer service at 1-800-782-2783. Subaru's number for this recall is TKC-18.
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 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.
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 (48)
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 48 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2015-02-16 · Service Brakes · 52,010 mi“the car was started in the driveway on a very cold day. the brake pedal was initially able to be pressed, but then became rock hard and could not be pushed down. after 10 minutes of letting the car warm up, the brake pedal was able to be pressed, but then seized up again 1 minute later. this could cause a crash if it occurred on the highway. *tr…”
2015-01-08 · Service Brakes · 52,000 mi · 💥 crash“i was going around a bend and the brake pedal locked. i was unable to utilize the brakes. due to this brake failure, i drove up on a hillside and smashed into a telephone pole. feel that this is a mechanical defect in the car which caused the accident as the brake pedal was locked into place. the car had no known mechanical issues and was inspecte…”
2014-10-10 · Electronic Stability Control (Esc) · 118,000 mi“driving car and it jolted, shift gear lights went out and all lights came on dash board, att-oil temp, cruise control, check engine light, and slippery when wet light, car lost power down to 2-5 miles per hour. thought it was transmission had it looked at twice by capitol transmission in hartford, they found nothing wrong with the transmission. t…”
2014-06-05 · Structure:body · 107,800 mi“while driving my car i rested my left foot on the "footrest" of the drivers side floor and the heel of my shoe went right thru the floor of my 2008 subaru tribeca. i had to take my foot out of the shoe to get the shoe "unstuck". i thank god i was not driving on the expressway and could pull over when it happened. when i took the shoe out i could se…”
2012-03-26 · Service Brakes, Hydraulic · 15,000 mi“#1 the vin # is correct. #2 the brake travel is to excessive for proper response time. this has been noted when the vehicle was purchased with 15000 miles. lither suburu in white bear lake mn was requested to check this out for another service maintenance. they would not check it because it was not under recall such as the 2011 legacy model. since…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.