Mazda Tribute: Not very satisfied with the performance of this car. Compare to price the performance is lacking. You will not believe it that it is brand new, les then a year old, under 10,000 K and we found water leaking under front seat. dissaopointing...

Drives like a car. Pretty smooth ride. Storage space in the back.

Leg room in the back. Gear shift in the way of radio dials.

Well let me say first, that I loved my Tribute!!! It was my first SUV and I brought it new.It certainly drives like a car. The gas mileage is around that expected of an SUV but I dont get why the gear shift is directly in the way of the radio dials! Things were going great until about 6 months into things. The battery light would come on for about 2 mintues, then go off by itself. About 3-4 months after that it gave me trouble starting. Took it to the dealer and they replaced the alternator...I asked them to replace the batter too (if the alternator was going I figured the battery would too), they wouldnt replace it, they said it was fine. A few weeks later needless to say..... the car stalled on me...the battery had went!! Took it back, and they replaced it. Whew, with the exception of all that I was happy with my SUV.

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Looks, Handling, Quality, Radio, Warranty (4 yr/50,000), Comfort

none that I can think of other than the gas mileage (19/21). But it's an SUV, so that is expected. 19/21 sure beats 16/18!!

Wasn't even going to test drive the Tribute, until saw pictures of Tribute on advertisement. Clicked on advertisement and was impressed with the SUV. Was only going to test drive the Jeep Liberty and Outlander (after eliminated the rest of the smaller SUV's). Did ALOT of research on the smaller SUV's in the $20k -$25k price range. I overlooked the Tribute in my research. (not sure why) The Tribute is the best of the smaller SUV's in it's class. My mom has a 2003 Toyota RAV4 and it's REALLY small and rides like a wagon. You feel EVERY bump. My brother and his wife each have a 2003 Xterra. They look nice inside and out, but they ride rough. The gas mileage is terrible on them 16/18. Test drove the Liberty Sport v6. Looks nice on outside but interior is REALLY small and consol was really cheap looking (like cardboard). The Liberty rides really rough, seats are uncomfotable, and the v6 is barely enough power for the truck. The gas mileage on them is a lot less than what Jeep claims. More like 14/16 rather than the 18/20 they list. (I've spoken to a couple Liberty owners) I test drove a Tribute a week later and was shocked at how much better the Tribute was in EVERY way. (It sh1ts on the Liberty) The room is incredible (I'm 6 foot and over 200 lbs) I have over a foot of head room. The seats are really comfortable. Leg room and shoulder room is great. The interior's quality is amazing. None of that cheap cardboard looking crap some other cars/suv's have. I got the standard radio with CD and I was pleasantly suprised at how great it was. The ride is amazing. I kept saying to the salesman during the test drive, "I can't believe how great this rides". This SUV truely rides like a car. It hugs the road. The Tribute I bought has eletronic 4x4 which comes on when it needs it. I already drove in 4 inches of snow and didn't slip once. (Haven't had a chance to drive it in deeper snowfall yet). I got the 4 cylinder which is adequate enough of power for this SUV. The 4 cylinder has much better acceleration and speed than the v6 Liberty! The cargo room is great too. The back seats fold almost flat and leaves you enough room to haul stuff. If you need extra room you can always open the back window. The warrantee is great. 4yrs/50000.I got a $3000 rebate as well. My Tribute is a blue-ish purple color. I get lots of compliments on how sharp it looks. (Blue was my 2nd choice). It turns a lot of heads. I am VERY happy I bought the Tribute. I know it will last longer than most of the other smaller SUV's out there. I HIGHLY recommend you AT LEAST test drive the Tribute and you'll see why it's better than the rest.

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2000 Oldsmobile Alero (previous car) GOOD Quality car 1996 Jeep Wrangler Was fun car but VERY BAD quality. 2003 Toyota RAV4 see notes 2003 Nissan Xterra see notes

Good looking Truck,Good trailer pulling for the size,good ABS brakes.

Poor interior build quality,not the best fuel economy

Looks good,Handles good,front seat cushion is to short,power drivers seat is loose has been to dealer they can't fix problem,to many cheaop ford parts:shame on you mazda, tires wear to fast, The rear brakes also sqeak when they are applied. If your looking for a small SUV look at the Toyota RAV4 or Honda CRV

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Toyota Sienna,Toyota Highlander

nice mid-sized SUV with nice amenities

DUMB controls for fan and A/C (no vent-only fresh air circulation without turning on fan; no fresh/recirculated selector separate from A/C switch); no power seat controls on passenger front; gear shift mounted on steering-wheel column gets in the way of operating radio

My first Mazda and first SUV. A good ride and fun to drive. BUT such a MAJOR disappointment in fuel efficienty and operating costs!! Just turning 30K miles and dealer says I need new front brakes -- and I should plan to replace the Tribute's "soft" rotors every other brake job to the tune of $400 ($300 parts). Planned obsolescence is not my idea of good car design, and I am so annoyed by this and the lousy mileage that I will sell this car at the first opportunity. Overall, the operating costs sour me on this car.

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Tried Honda and spent more repairing it than to buy it new. Very happy with two Corollas (200K miles and 10 years each). No more Mazdas for me!

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see above poor professionlism on mazda complaint dept and the local dealer's service dept.

this is a 2005 mazda tribute. trottle stuck about 2 1/2 months into service [4000 mi] car traveled for appro. 3 miles with daugther holding down brake and finally pulling hand brake to stop vehicle. when vehicle had stopped, all 4 wheels were still engaging to go forward. i told her over the phone to cut off engine, she was in a state of shock at this time with infant daughter in rear seat. sat at mazda dealer for 3 weeks while deciding what to do. after lawyer visit today, went to get vehicle since they had fixed it without owner's consent. madza had said to replace throttle assy and test drive 100 miles. after seeing assy today, what i thought was broken on my initial look see the day after problem, seems to still exist. plastic part where throttle cable is exposed still looks bent so it has to be made like that. have no idea what caused car to full throttle. drivers side tires had spun so much sitting still before turning engine off had damaged both tires which i pointed out myself today on the 11th after getting a letter on jan 7th that this along with the brakes had been inspected. yeah right. this throttle assy is more that a cheap pc of plastics' failure. we have to see and hopefully live through another episode of fear before we can sue with the lemon law in va. god be with us.

Performance, ride comfort, acceleration. My suggestion to anyone who purchases a Mazda product is to make acquitances with the service team at your dealership and persevere with them. These guys should now their product inside out so who better to get service from?

The 6 stack Cd player gave me some trouble and needed replacing to which my dealer did with no questions asked. I also had the radiator replaced at around 50 000kms and this was not any trouble to my service team.

After a long and extensive seach for what kind of car I would purchase I decided on the Mazda Tribute. I opted for the absolute top of the range model and this car has NEVER LET ME DOWN. I have done over 170 000kms in the harsh Australian outback and this vehicle has performed faultlessly. After 170 000kms it still goes extremely well and I still get around 13kms/100kms fuel consumption. The car is more than 3 years old now and I am extremely happy with the car overall. I would definitely buy another first run Mazda. I ahve not had any of the road noise issues that others have had, the wind noise even with roof racks is not noticable to me, I get excellent performance out of the brakes and tyres, the coolant system is probably due for an overhaul and the transmission has never given me any trouble.

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Range Rover 2000 model

Power is very good! Handling is above average for mini-SUV. Fuel Economy is pretty good. Good looks and roomy interior.

Quality. Not confident this car will last. Wind Noise is overbearing. Lots of noise from tires - this may be due partialy to the Firestone - Destination LE tires installed after 45k

Initial Quality was decent, materials were cheap feeling and excessive interior noise. Problems POST warranty: *Brakes/Rotors completly worn after 40k *Coolant level bottle & sensor replaced $140 *Mazda says front left wheel bearing is wearing and needs replaced $245. *Transmission seems to buck and have shifting issues when shifting into high gear. Mazda says my Torque Converter is going - $1,300 to replace. Bottom line - not impressed with quality, most likely last "Ford" product I'll purchase. Think I will take the advice from another post and contact Mazda about the failing Torque Converter, these parts typically last the life of the vehicle! Breaking down at 50k seems defective. If you are in the market for a reliable mini SUV, you may want to consider the Toyota RAV4, these seems to be much better built. Also impressed with all Honda products thus far.

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No other SUVs. Owned Infinity M-30 w/ 176,000 and void of similar reliability issues.

Good power and acceleration.comfortable seating

Noisy,Rides rough,too many levers on steering column

2003 Tribute w/V6 engine.

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Ford Explorer

good pick up...nice stereo

tranny,brakes,road noise

loved it until i hit 40,000 miles on it.then like every one else i started to have shifting problems, mostly when it shifted in and out of 3rd and 4th gear.mazda recommended a fluid change ...which i did. it worked for a while and then it started acting up again.this time they looked it over again and told me i needed a new tranny. mazda said they would pick up the tab for the parts since i was out of warrenty...but i had to pick up for labor...$925.00. they just put a remanufactured tranny in and so far so good.while they had it up on the hoist,they told me i needed new brakes...and guess what...yes the rotors needed to be replaced also ..$400.00.if anyone eles has problems with their tranny please call mazda and complain 1- 800-222-5500 maybe they will recall this problem and i can get my money back..

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