CTC Review: 2008 Subaru Tribeca

[CD_Editor]

Picture Gallery:  2008 Subaru Tribeca Day 1: Click Image to Enlarge Hey, more déjà vu!  Well not exactly -- despite the similarities in colour, price and the use of the same transmission, the Tribeca is nothing like the Legacy GT Sedan I drove last week.   My first impressions of the Tribeca are very positive; the interior and exterior design and build quality here are what all Subarus should be striving for.  More...

[Demosthenes X]

The new nose might be less offensive, but now it's guilty of being a little bit boring.  That aside, a very nice vehicle with a proper AWD system, starting at a reasonable price.

[airbalancer]

I talked a dealer once, he said he has never seen a Tribeca without leather
it will be on my list to look at when I buy next

[Minou]

"The price debate is always hot when I review a Subaru, so I will clearly point out the pricing of the 2008 Tribeca. Starting at only $41,995 and well-equipped the Tribeca may very well be one of the pricing stars for Subaru of Canada."

Are you kidding?  The Tribeca opens at US$29995..  That's an exchange rate of 1.40 in my books!

[carcrazy]

What is the price without freight/PDI?
What are the cargo dimensions: rear seats up and folded? How do the rear seats fold? Pictures?
Where is the parking breake?
How heavy?
Does the base model come standard with:
- fog lights (I see them in the picture)
- steering wheel audio controls
- leather steering wheel and shift knob
- auto on/off lights?
- Bluetooth?
Thanks Wing.

[sailor723]

"The price debate is always hot when I review a Subaru, so I will clearly point out the pricing of the 2008 Tribeca. Starting at only $41,995 and well-equipped the Tribeca may very well be one of the pricing stars for Subaru of Canada."

Are you kidding?  The Tribeca opens at US$29995..  That's an exchange rate of 1.40 in my books!

US 29995 equals around 31700 CAD at present exchange rate. So SOC.....where does the other $10,295 CAD go?

[wing]

Forget the exchange rate that is old news, equipment level compared to the competition IMO the Tribeca is priced fair.

carcrazy.
You can find most of your answers on Subaru's website.
parking brake is a foot pedal
everything I have is standard,
all subaru's have auto headlights they don't turn off you just turn on the switch and they go off with the ignition.
no bluetooth ... I dont' think

[sailor723]

Forget the exchange rate that is old news, equipment level compared to the competition IMO the Tribeca is priced fair.

I'm sure SOC and other CDN car companies would like us all to forget. The more the issue is raised the better chance there is that the car companies will be forced to end the practise. I see that even the mainstream media is starting to raise the issue(recent CBC report and some newspaper articles)

 I'm not trying to dump on SOC to the exclusion of the other companies but they do seem to be about the worst offenders when you look at price gouging as a percentage of US pricing. I'd love to see a CBC Marketplace reporter chasing a SOC exec down the street in a 60 Minutes type ambush asking "How do you justify charging Canadians $10,000 more for the same car from the same factory"?

[mdxtasy]

Blah blah blah blah....exchange rate is too high, we're getting ripped off.  Gee, that's like the movie of the week.  

Over and over, that's all some people can complain about.  Complaining and whining gets you nowhere, do something about it. 

[carcrazed]

Blah blah blah blah....exchange rate is too high, we're getting ripped off.  Gee, that's like the movie of the week.  

Over and over, that's all some people can complain about.  Complaining and whining gets you nowhere, do something about it. 

   let's all head down south and pick one up at C$32K, and sell them for C$40K to the people who doesn't want to/can't go there!

[sirAQUAMAN64]

Compared to a Murano it looks like good value. Applaud their updates to the engine.

I still find there's not enough height inside the cabin... I feel like I'm sitting too low, yet my head still grazes the headliner in front and 2nd row. Strange. Haven't sat in an updated one though.

[sailor723]

Blah blah blah blah....exchange rate is too high, we're getting ripped off.  Gee, that's like the movie of the week.  

Over and over, that's all some people can complain about.  Complaining and whining gets you nowhere, do something about it. 

Well...first off MD, it's got nothing to do the exchange rate being "too high" but rather it's about the pricing differential between the same vehicle in the US and Canada when expressed in the same currency.

I'm in the market for a replacement for my 03 Pathfinder this Fall and I've already talked to several dealers (still not sure what I want but that's another story) in Maine. I guess if there's not a radical change in the pricing of Canadian manufacturers or a major rally in the US dollar then I will be doing something about it.

[mdxtasy]

Good.  If you feel that strongly about it, you've got to talk with you money.  Otherwise it's just noise. 

[inco]

Same vehicle with a price spread of $12,000 is nothing to ignore. Why is it that we should shop Canadian?  I'm just kidding, but golly that's a lot of coin to give up.

[carcrazy]

carcrazy.
You can find most of your answers on Subaru's website.
parking brake is a foot pedal
everything I have is standard,
all subaru's have auto headlights they don't turn off you just turn on the switch and they go off with the ignition.
no bluetooth ... I dont' think

Thanks Wing. The Canadian site doesn't have the Tribeca specs yet, but I went to the US web site.

I didn't see the leather steering wheel nor audio controls on the 5-seat model. Do you have them on yours?
The headlights you are talking about aren't they in fact the DRL, mandatory on any new vehicle selling in Canada? I was asking about the actual headlights - if set to Auto mode, they turn on in the dark and turn off in the light automatically; just like you have them in your Mazda3. I didn't see it in the US sepcs.
Starting at $42,000, it's kind of expensive considering that it's about the same size and equipment level as a $30,000 Hyundai Santa Fe 3.3 AWD, without being a premium brand.

[wing]

carcrazy, all Subaru's have this same system, it isn't the DRL I'm talking about.  It is the headlights.  They do not turn on and off automatically when it gets dark, but you turn the light switch on and the lights go off when you take the key out.  So you can just leave it on forever and the headlights and taillights will always be on, day or night and you never have to remember to turn them on or off.  All subaru's do this.

[carcrazy]

carcrazy, all Subaru's have this same system, it isn't the DRL I'm talking about.  It is the headlights.  They do not turn on and off automatically when it gets dark, but you turn the light switch on and the lights go off when you take the key out.  So you can just leave it on forever and the headlights and taillights will always be on, day or night and you never have to remember to turn them on or off.  All subaru's do this.

OK, I gotcha. This setup is usually referred to as "Auto Off Headlights". The one I'm asking about is referred to as "Auto On/Off headlights" (this is what we have on the Mazda3) and it seams like the base Tribeca does not have it.
I don't think you are supposed to drive with your headlights on in the daytime. This is why all the new cars have the DRL. Plus, if you keep your headlights on in the daylight, your taillights will be on as well unnecessary.
Subaru's system (and many other manufacturers) is meant to manually turn on the lights at night, but the vehicle turns them off, as a safeguard, in case you forgot them on after you turned off the ignition (an ignored the audio warning).

[sailor723]

carcrazy, all Subaru's have this same system, it isn't the DRL I'm talking about.  It is the headlights.  They do not turn on and off automatically when it gets dark, but you turn the light switch on and the lights go off when you take the key out.  So you can just leave it on forever and the headlights and taillights will always be on, day or night and you never have to remember to turn them on or off.  All subaru's do this.

Our Nissan's have an "auto" setting on the headlight switch. The headlights (not the DRL's) come on automaticly when you start the car if it is dark out (or when you enter a parking garage for that matter) and switch off 60 seconds after you switch off the ignition. I've left my Pathfinder's lights on the auto mode since I bought the car in 02 and have never turned the headlights on or off.

[wing]

Nothing wrong with leaving your lights on all the time, did you know the Hyundai's daytime running lights include the rear tail lamps?  I believe Mercedes does this as well.  More lights are always better than less.

[carcrazy]

Wing, I don't know which Hyundai models are you talking about?