2012 Subaru B9 Tribeca

The 2012 Subaru B9 Tribeca has 6 recalls, the most serious being a defective passenger-side frontal airbag inflator that can rupture and send metal fragments into the cabin, putting front-seat occupants and the driver at risk of serious injury or death.

The airbag inflator issue accounts for five of the six recalls, all describing the same underlying defect. When the passenger frontal airbag deploys, the inflator can explode rather than inflate the bag normally, scattering sharp metal shards toward anyone seated in the front of the vehicle. Some of these filings specifically cover vehicles registered in high-humidity states and territories, including Hawaii, Florida, Texas, and several U.S. territories, where heat and moisture accelerate the degradation of the inflator material. Prior repair attempts did not fully resolve the issue for all affected vehicles, which is why multiple campaigns exist covering overlapping model years and regions. Regardless of where the vehicle has been registered, any unrepaired Tribeca with this defect carries a genuine risk every time the airbag fires.

The remaining recall covers the hood latch system. Both the primary latch and the safety catch can malfunction, allowing the hood to swing open while the vehicle is moving. At road speed, the hood rising into the driver's line of sight can block forward vision entirely, creating a crash risk with little warning.