Inside

The interior's design has aged well over the years, with a smooth, curvy flow that wraps around front passengers. That's quite the feat considering it's essentially the same design used when this car was introduced as the B9 Tribeca for 2006.

However, the quality of the materials in there is far from the segment's best. There's an overuse of silver plastic that's meant to imitate aluminum — a cheap-looking trick. The dashboard and center console are carved out of the stuff, and they don't do the unique design any justice.

The most disappointing part of the interior, though, is the lack of a telescoping steering wheel, which is found in just about every other three-row SUV on the market. What may seem like a small oversight made it impossible for me to sit comfortably in the driver's seat. At 6-feet tall and with a slender build, I had to move the seat back pretty far to get a comfortable distance from the steering wheel. In that driving position, my elbows couldn't reach the armrest. Combine this with the Tribeca's high seating position, and I was not a happy commuter during my 90-minute drives to and from Cars.com's offices.

Fit, of course, will vary from person to person. Some people may not have any issues, but I was not the only editor to experience frustration over the steering wheel. And the front seating problem snowballed into issues for the second and third rows, too, partly because of the Tribeca's small size. Legroom is already mediocre in the second row, at 34.3 inches, but with the driver's seat where I had it positioned, the second row lost heaps of that space. Then, with the second row slid all the way back to compensate, the third row was left with literally no legroom.

Very few crossovers have enough room in their third row to make adults feel comfortable, and the Tribeca isn't close to breaking that mold. The seat is so close to the floor that my legs and thighs were positioned uncomfortably off the seat cushion.

    See also:

    Ignition switch light
    For easy access to the ignition switch in the dark, the ignition switch light illuminates when driver’s door is opened or when the driver’s door is unlocked using the remote keyless entry transmit ...

    Locking and unlocking from the outside
    NOTE If you unlock the driver’s door with a key and open the door while the alarm system is armed, the alarm system is triggered and the vehicle’s horn sounds. In this case, perform any of ...

    Vehicle symbols
    There are some of the symbols you may see on your vehicle. For warning and indicator lights, refer to “Warning and indicator lights” F19. ...