Hello Everyone,


First of all I do apologize for my English, this is my 3rd language.


I recently bought a 2008 (pre facelift 3.0) Tribeca here in the UK with full service history and 65k miles in the clock.

I read through all the history, check the maintenance guide before the purchase etc.


As I read on US forums a lot of 06-07 Tribecas suffered from head gasket issues but proper coolant flush and coolant fluid change prevent this problem.


I wasn't worried because my car have had two owners only and both gentlemen took the car to a main dealer.

The first was took it to the place where he bought the car obviously.


Coolant fluid needs to be changed in every 30.000 miles or 30 months (which comes first) on 06-07 Tribecas.

In april 2008 the factory changed the old green fluid to a new blue one (they call it to super long life as most of you know I guess. ) what needs to be changed in every 100.000 miles only.


I checked my car's VIN number and it was made in 2007.

Registered in the UK in april 2008

And bought by the first owner in February 2009


So the car was filled up with the green coolant fluid originally what needs to be changed in every 30k.

I checked all the history and I was surprised that the coolant fluid has never changed!


Than I recognized that the service book was made in 2008 and the maintenance chart says the fluid needs to be changed in every 100k only.

The dealership attached this chart to every invoice as well (it says: "3.0 litre models 08 model year onwards)


So basically when the dealership sold the car in February 2009, they took a 2008 service book off the shelf and just follow the maintenance guide what was inside.


My theory is that Tribeca was very rare and unknown here in the UK so the dealership didn't take that much attention to them and they weren't up to date.


I'm just hoping that the engine has not demaged. According to the milage the fluid should have been changed two times, but according to the age this number is 4.


The coolant temperature is fine (3 thin lines in the middle) all the time. The coolant level also good, no signs of leaking on the garage floor.

I checked the fluid as well, it's green of course, and looks very clean thank god.


The coolant will be flushed and the fluid will be changed next week obviously.


I was just wondering if all of those who bought a 2007 Tribeca in 2008 or 2009 is affected, or my car is the only exception.


I suggest to all owners to check the car's history if they bought a pre-facelift (3.0) Tribeca in 2008 or 2009.


This is my first Subaru so hopefully I'll be a happy owner after this little intermezzo.


Regards,

Peter

 

It's far more important that you have regular oil changes than coolant changes, and unless your garage flushes a number of times, there will always be some old coolant left in the system, as the thermostat will hold it in. Different coolant manufacturers use different colours of coolant, so go on type, not colour.
Main dealers aren't necessarily the best place to entrust your car to; I would choose a recommended Subaru specialist first every time.

 

For example, the oil service interval for an Sti in Japan is half what it is for the UK model, for my year. ... go figure that out!

 

Like other Subarus a Model Year (MY) 2008 Tribeca, as shown below, could be built between August 2007 (200708) and May 2008 (200805)
Allowing for shipping they could arrive in the UK say from about November 2007 to August 2008


All Tribecas were built by Subaru of Indiana Automotive (SIA) in the USA



To confirm if your Tribeca is a MY08 the 4th character of the Body model (as shown above) sometimes shown as the "applied model" on the VIN plate will be a letter C.
The 10th character in the VIN will be an 8 for MY08.

Below are the MY08 VIN options (EK being the European RHD destination code)

 

Thanks Don Clark,

Mine is made in 2007. The 10th character is 7.

 

Thanks for the hedgecutt.

Even if the coolant change is not a big deal or the shcedule is different in Japan, I think we can both aggree that the situation is annoying.
The schedule is 30k miles or 30 months while the car is on the road for 120 months and has run 65k miles.

 

Even if it was the 100,000 miles stuff I would still change at 50,000

 

Has anyone owned one of these cars? I'd like some advise if its worth buying one?