Total Complaints
6 filings
SUBARU TRIBECA · model year
6 NHTSA complaints, 1 crash report, and 9 active recalls for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 2009SUBARUTRIBECA carries 6 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 1 crash, 0 fires, 0 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 2009 TRIBECA is service brakes with 2 filings, followed by service brakes, hydraulic (1) and structure:body (1). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability. This model year has 9 active recall campaigns, which means the manufacturer is obligated to remedy the covered defect at no charge for the life of the vehicle — the full NHTSA campaign numbers are listed below.
NHTSA currently has 14 investigation files overlapping the 2009 TRIBECA. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.
Total Complaints
6 filings
Crashes Reported
1 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| SERVICE BRAKES | 2 |
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC | 1 |
| STRUCTURE:BODY | 1 |
| ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) | 1 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 1 |
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
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 equippe
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
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,
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
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
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
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, Ha
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC)
SUBARU IS RECALLING 5,130 MY 2008-2009 TRIBECA PASSENGER VEHICLES. THE VEHICLE DYNAMIC CONTROL (VDC) G-SENSOR WAS IMPROPERLY INSTALLED. THIS SENSOR IS DESIGNED TO BE MOUNTED IN A FORWARD FACING DIRECTION BUT MAY HAVE BEEN INSTALLED BACKWARDS DURING PRODUCTION.
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
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, Am
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
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, O
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
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 J
STRUCTURE:BODY:HOOD
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.
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
Mileage: 52,010
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 INSPECTED IN JULY 2014. *TR
Mileage: 52,000
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. THEN THE LIGHTS WENT AWAY DROVE IT AGAIN FOR A WEEK IT JOLTED AGAIN AND LIGHTS BACK ON AGAIN. TOOK IT TO GABE'S TYRE (COUSIN) HE REPLACED THE OIL PRESSURE GAGE THINKING IT WAS THAT SINCE THEY HAD ANOTHER ISSUE WITH A SUBARU SIMILAR WITH MY ISSUE, AND THAT DID NOT CORRECT THE PROBLEM WITH MY CAR. HE SUGGESTED I TAKE TO THE DEALERSHIP. COULD NOT DRIVE TO THE CANTON SUBARU TOO FAR SO DROVE IT TO PREMIER SUBARU IN WATERTOWN, CT. THEY HAVE HAD MY CAR SINCE SEPT. 9TH. THEY HAVE SPOKEN WITH SUBARU OF AMERICA TO HELP THEM TRY TO FIGURE OUT THE ISSUE WITH THE ELECTRICAL SHORT, THEY HAVE REPLACED THE 2 DIFFERENT BIG EXPENSIVE PARTS COSTING ME $2, 3
Mileage: 118,000
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. THEN THE LIGHTS WENT AWAY DROVE IT AGAIN FOR A WEEK IT JOLTED AGAIN AND LIGHTS BACK ON AGAIN. TOOK IT TO GABE'S TYRE (COUSIN) HE REPLACED THE OIL PRESSURE GAGE THINKING IT WAS THAT SINCE THEY HAD ANOTHER ISSUE WITH A SUBARU SIMILAR WITH MY ISSUE, AND THAT DID NOT CORRECT THE PROBLEM WITH MY CAR. HE SUGGESTED I TAKE TO THE DEALERSHIP. COULD NOT DRIVE TO THE CANTON SUBARU TOO FAR SO DROVE IT TO PREMIER SUBARU IN WATERTOWN, CT. THEY HAVE HAD MY CAR SINCE SEPT. 9TH. THEY HAVE SPOKEN WITH SUBARU OF AMERICA TO HELP THEM TRY TO FIGURE OUT THE ISSUE WITH THE ELECTRICAL SHORT, THEY HAVE REPLACED THE 2 DIFFERENT BIG EXPENSIVE PARTS COSTING ME $2, 3
Mileage: 118,000
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 SEE A BLACK WIRE IN THE BACKGROUND AREA. I KNOW THIS IS NOT NORMAL OR SAFE AND I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF IT HAS HAPPENED BEFORE AND HOW I CAN GET THIS REPAIRED. *TR
Mileage: 107,800
#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 MY WIFE DRIVES THE VEHICLE SHE IS NOT KNOWLEDGEABLE AS TO THE DISTANCE THE FOOT PEDAL SHOULD TRAVEL. I HAVE SPENT YEARS IN AUTOMOTIVE AND HEAVY EQUIPMENT AS A SERVICE ENGINEER SO I FEEL QUALIFIED TO SAY THAT THIS IS A SAFETY DEFICIENCY. I HAD ANOTHER ENGINEER DRIVE IT TO VERIFY MY CONCLUSION. *TR
Mileage: 15,000
Occupant Detection System (ODS) Failure
Passenger Front Air Bag Suppression
Front suspension control arm failure
FUEL PUMP LEAKS
FUEL LINE LEAK
Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.