2006 Subaru B9 Tribeca Limited 3.0 from North America
Summary:
It's a tank! Little slows it down
Faults:
Right front wheel bearing needed to be replaced.
Front anti-roll bar bushings had to be replaced.
General Comments:
We bought this car after the birth of our first child as our primary family vehicle. In the 8 years we've had it the only real failures were a wheel bearing (though the car may have gone for a shallow swim during its time with the previous owner - never definitively figured this out). The other failure was the front anti-roll bar bushings, which are a known thing with the Tribeca - the original ones wore to the point that you could her a clunk over uneven surfaces.
Subaru is all about all weather, and this car is no exception. With a set of winter tires on it, not much slows it down. Unlike a lot of its contemporaries, which use a viscous coupling or clutch pack to send power to the rear wheels, the Tribeca has a center differential with a clutch pack to accomplish torque split. So, it's ALWAYS sending power to all four wheels - none of this slip-then-grip stuff. As far as I am concerned Subaru has some of the best AWD on the market, and the 5EAT transmission in the Tribeca is about as good as it gets.
At the time of writing this review the car has just been rear-ended and we are waiting to see if it will be written off. The Honda Odyssey that that attempted to make a baby with ours was towed away and the driver taken to hospital. My wife just drove home in the Tribeca. It's a tank! This was not the first accident for this car; the previous owner had trouble keeping it between the lines and my wife pulled out in front of another car while trying to go around another car. I'll be sad to see it go. It wasn't the fastest CUV, nor the most fuel efficient, but it suited us well and took whatever we threw at it. Neither the engine or transmission ever skipped a beat - even when I used it to pull hedges out of the front yard... on grass... with the original, fairly worn and hard tires (Eagle LS2s).
When considering vehicles to replace the Tribeca, I'll consider a newer 2012-2014 model year of the same. If I can't find one, maybe a Venza or Highlander is in our future.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 30th October, 2017
30th Oct 2017, 21:26
Do you know for certain that, had the accident with the Odyssey happened in reverse fashion, you would have fared any better in the Tribeca?