10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 6 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
The steering wheel wandered which caused the vehicle to change lanes at high and low speeds. Ph. the emission light illuminated and the problem was repaired twice. The steering problem was repaired 6 times.
- Clearfield, UT, USA
Owned my Tribute for a year before the problems began. On 3/15/02 I took it in because the low coolant light kept coming on. The dealership couldn't find a problem, but I had them do a 30K mile service and check everything from front to back. Had a rental for two days. On 6/10/02 I took it in because it suddenly started stalling dead at stops and yields. I almost wrecked due to this. Cause: Internal failure. The dealership replaced the control unit, idle air valve, coolant fan relay. I had a rental for three days. On 8/5/02 it had to be towed because the ignition switch completely locked up and wouldn't turn. Dealership put in a new ignition switch and cylinder. My keys had to be reprogrammed. I had a rental for two days. On 11/13/02 I took it in because the check engine light kept coming on and the engine did not idle smoothly. The dealership could not duplicate the problem and I used their rental for three days. On 12/24/02 the engine light came back, the engine idled rough and the entire vehicle was visibly shaking. The dealership told me that one of the six coils was bad and needs to be replaced or one wrong spark could ruin the whole engine. Looks like I have the rental for at least a week. It just went over 50K miles, so my basic warranty is up, however the emisions conrol system (engine) is warranted until 80K miles. It seems a shame that Mazda would put out such poor quality and problematic vehicles to their loyal customers. Maybe they should add that to their "zoom, zoom" commercials.
- The Woodlands, TX, USA
Consumer states the cause for the second engine stalling was a mass air flow sensor failure and it was replaced. The third engine failure was caused by throttle body and was replaced. The third replacement was done on 09/23/02 and the mileage was 19247
- Smyrna, GA, USA
There is a fuel odor coming into the cabin of the vehicle through the vents. It seems to get stronger as I run the air or heat and eventually gets to the point of smelling so bad, I have to roll the windows down to get fresh air. I have researched this problem and it seems several people are also experiencing this problem. It occurs everytime I use the vehicle. I have gone by the dealership and reported this issue and they said they can find nothing wrong. They said it might have been caused by taking my vehicle to other places to have the oil changed and they may have spilled oil on the engine. This is not the case. Seems like this is a valid complaint since there are so many others with the same problem. It gets so strong sometimes, I get a headache from the fumes. This can not be good to breathe in these fumes. I hope someone can get this issue resolved soon.
- Memphis, TN, USA
- Belton, MO, USA