Hi,
New to the forum here and possibly new to Mazda also. My wife is in the market for a SUV and Mazda seems to be the one she's looking at. Neither of us know anything about Mazda in general or the Tribute as well. We both have foreign made cars and trucks so going foreign is nothing new. I'm a die hard Toyota driver but have always heard good things abiut Mazda also. As I said we know nothing about them and hope some of you could shed some light on our shopping for a tribuute. I guess my first question would be, what is the correlation between Ford and Mazda? Does one design and the other make them? Were the first generation Tributes better in quality than the new ones now coming out? Will these SUVs be a good buy as compared to other foreign made SUVs?

Anything else that anyone could add would be appreciated, especially in the way of known trouble spots that have seemed to plaguge the Tribute for a while.

 

My wife and I bought a used Ford Escape. Had it for obout 6month and loved it so much that we decided to get either a new Escape or the mazda version which is the Tribute. We bought it from a Ford/Mazda dealership so we would be told the apple to apple story between the escape and the Tribute. The Tribute is basically the same vehicle. The items that were different we preferred on the Tribute and Mazda had such a great sale price at the time compared to Ford that we could have bought the Tribute normally at $20,300 for $14,999 compared to the Escape normally $20,200 on sale for $18,200. The dealership recommended the Tribute and we went with it. We bought it back in March and we love it. My wife refuses to drive our sporty type cars and by far preferrs the Tribute. It has a nice size and with 6 cyl. automatic would get 18 to 22 miles to gallon. Because of the high gas prices we went with the 4 cyl 5 speed and we get at least 24 miles to gallon. Have gotten as high as 28 miles to gallon. It has a great warranty and is a great vehicle. We are very very happy with it. If you buy one, you will be too.

 

I just bought an '05 Tribute in May. The only problem I've had was with the cruise control that I had to add after market because the Tribute "i" model (2.3L) doesn't have it standard. Something the installers did caused the throttle to stick open sometimes which was rather annoying and took 3 trips to the dealer to fix. I wanted this one because it is the only one with a manual transmission. I was originally looking at the Ford Escape and the dealer told me that the Tribute is essentially the same car (and it just so happened he had one sitting on the lot...). I see a few styling differences but they do look very similar. I also saw a Mercury Mariner in the parking lot the other day and it seems to be based on the same design as well.

When I was shopping I saw a lot of bad reviews of the older model Escapes (00-02) with a lot of electrical problems but they seem to have been ironed out for the most part. I was attracted by the MPG rating of mid to upper 20s although I have yet to see anything above 23. In its defense, I HAVE been driving somewhat aggressively and with the AC cranked most of the time. I imagine I will see an improvement once things start cooling off in the next month or two. Of course if you REALLY want good MPG you can get the hybrid version. I have heard that Mazda will be offering a hybrid version at some point in the future.

As for the car itself, I like it. Even the 2.3L engine has plenty of power for me. I actually unintentionally burned a little rubber on my test drive - it had been a while since I had driven a stick and the brand new clutch was pretty unforgiving I have seen some complaints about the factory sound system although my biggest complaint with it is that the front left speaker is mounted in the door right where my left leg tends to rest while not on the clutch so it is slightly muted. This might just be the way I sit but the air vents are slightly off for me. The steering wheel blocks all air blowing toward the lower half of my face and chest. Then there is the light warning dinger. I tend to leave the lights on since they automatically turn off after 30 seconds and a little extra light to get to the front door can be handy on dark Kansas nights. But despite the auto-turnoff feature the car throws a hissy fit if you open the door with the lights turned on. These are all pretty minor annoyances to me though and I figure any car I get will have a few of those. The Tribute drives nice and handles well although I must say that my only comparison is the 17 year old Buick I was driving before... But the steering is very tight and precise even at high speeds. I was able to avoid hitting a skunk on a pitch black highway going 90 without freaking out my mom who happened to be visiting at the time

I haven't been through any especially hard weather yet so I can't really say how well it handles under adverse conditions but ABS is standard now and the auto-sensing 4WD systems sounds like a good idea... Guess I'll know for sure within the next 6 months

I see 929woes posted while I was composing my post Glad to see you are getting good MPG out of your tribute. Guess I'll have to adopt better driving habbits - but I like feeling the power!

 

Just purchased 2005 Tribute S 4WD V6 myself after much research. The Tribute starts with the same Ford Duratec block in their V-6, but they use their own heads. The Tribute has slightly more horsepower than the Ford Escape. Also, the Tribute has a sportier suspension which is a bit stiffer than the Ford. I'd suggest driving the Tribute to the local Ford dealer and parking it next the Escape, or vice versa. When they are side by side, other differences are more perceptible. In keeping with Ford tradition, the Escape is more "boxy" than the Tribute. The Tribute's body panels aren't as "flat" as fords and in my opinion are much more attractive. This is particularly evident on the hood and front fenders. The Tribute also has larger head and tail lamps. The rear glass of the Trib is curved on the bottom, while the Escape's is cut straight across in typical Ford fashion. All things considered, the Tribute is the preferred choice between the two. To top it off, the Mazda warranty is superior to Ford's, and provides 48mo/60,000 mile coverage.

Before settling on the Tribute, we had driven Honda CR-V, KIA Sportage, KIA Sorrento, Hyundai Santa Fe, Suzuki Grand Vitara, Toyota RAV-4, Jeep Liberty, Chevy Equinox, and Saturn V6. Of all those mentioned, the KIA was the only true truck. It featured full four wheel drive (2HI, 4LO, 4HI) and a manual transmission, but woeful fuel economy and very suspect reliability. The Saturn had the best powertrain by far, and was equipped with a Honda V6 engine and transmission that produces an unreal 250 HP and a ton of torque. However, in the end is was still a Saturn, and we just don't like them. Although not as snappy in performance, we much preferred the profile, ride, looks and feel of the Tribute. It is one classy little SUV.

 

Seems like you tried every small SUV but the Subaru Forester, which is currently top-rated in its class.

 

"seems like you tried every small SUV but the Subaru Forester...."

No, we didn't look at any Subarus. The Forester is a fine vehicle, albeit a bit pricey, but highly rated. We've just never been Subaru enthusiasts. Our last four vehicles have been Audis, and we're just now beginning to find our way out of the Black Forest.