7 Passenger Seating is a Lie.
Written: Jun 05 '05 (Updated Jul 27 '05)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Reliability: |
 |
|
| Seat Comfort: |
 |
|
| Build Quality |
|
|
| Roominess: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Looks cool. Great cockpit for the driver.
Cons: Fake 3rd row seating and lousy cargo space.
The Bottom Line: Wouldn't buy it if you're looking for SUV cargo capacity. And 3rd row seats are a joke. It's great for the SUV "look" around town.
|
|
|
| dantematrix's Full Review: 2006 Subaru B9 Tribeca |
I was waiting for the Tribeca to come out so I can take a look at it. I was hoping to use it to replace my Chevy Venture. My requirements were cargo space and 7 passenger seating. And since it's a Subaru I didn't even bother worrying about handling and off road capabilities. (As an update, I'd recently test drove one again prior to buying a new Avalanche, the torque on this Tribeca leaves it sluggish in uphills.)
The pictures at Subaru's website of the Tribeca were heinous. In real life though, it looked kind of cool. But note, I like and own the 2001 Aztek (before they toned down the edgy look). I love the headlights, definitely is unique. One thing that popped to mind though was how small it looked from the outside. Than I looked inside and saw it was small inside too.
The driver console looks like a fantasy plane's cockpit. Really really neat. Fully functional but no head's up display which I had kind of gotten used to in the Aztek. Very roomy for the driver and front passenger.
The second row is ok. Just like any other SUV second rows. The third "row" though is a stinker. It's nothing more than a rumble seat. It's a bench that folds up from the cargo area with no leg room at all. I guess if you have really really tiny midgets for the back row you can call this 7 passenger seating. Otherwise, I call it a lie.
Cargo capacity also stinks. The second row seats only folds down once and than slides foward. It cannot be folded once more to provide cargo room. The seats are also not removable. Without a tape measure, a visual guestimate of the Tribeca's cargo capacity is about that of the Forrester. Definitely lacking for a "big" SUV.
Another minus for the cargo space is the "hidden" trays. Since the second row seats just folds down, the cargo area is raised to be level with the folded seats. This provides "hidden" compartments to store items in. The problem is the flimsy trays that goes on top of these compartments. I don't see them standing up to much abuse. And I load things like bricks in the back of my cars.
As an update, I finally decided on the 2005 Chevy Avalanche 1500 LT Z71. It guzzles a lot more gas than the Tribeca, but it has skid plates, 8.8" clearance (versus Tribeca's 6") and can carry cargo like an sUv (sports UTILITY vehicle) should. (Read my review on the Avalanche if you're interested.)
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 33,000
Condition: New
Model Year: 2005
Model and Options: Tribeca B9
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
dantematrix
|
|
Reviews written: 27
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.