Faults:

Underbody wash got into transmission electronics and totally destroyed it. It was replaced with one from the wreckers.

Aerial broke, was replaced with semi-working aerial from wreckers.

Chrome grill fell off, plastic protector held it in place.

Many Coolant leaks of varying intensity since 2003.

General Comments:

Mazda's parts are ridiculous. They suggested twelve thousand dollars to replace one of the worst gearbox's ever made.

Transmission is a piece of JUNK. Very high first gear, low second gear, MASSIVE jump to third gear, and ridiculously high fourth gear (despite terrible fuel economy anyway). This means the transmission hunts between third and fourth at any speed over 60 constantly, and shifting into second at highway speeds is violent and very very loud. First gear makes acceleration slow as well.

The car weighs 1600kg (200-300 less than competitors) and other applications of the engine, and still manages much worse fuel economy (12-14 litres/100km). Bad gearbox.

The engine has an amazing exhaust note, should be in a sports car. Rev's beautifully throughout the rev range and always has power.

Suspension is tight but comfortable, but the car still tends to roll as it's an SUV. Better than other SUVs though.

Interior is practical and comfortable, but not particularly stylish.

Column shift amazing, the later model floor shifts are hard to reach and eat into leg space.

Back seats impossibly uncomfortable. Front seats a bit hard but leather makes them nice.

On-demand 4WD nicely done, takes care of front-spin on gravel roads very quickly.

Faults:

Transmission

Front struts

Sunroof

Gearshift

Transmission (again)

Front discs

General Comments:

I have had this 2001 since new. It was a dog from day one.

I developed a 'knock' in the transmission when you put your foot down. Dealer could not find a problem until I get a mechanic to sit in the car with me and floored it. Then we said 'oh that sounds bad'; new transmission.

Front suspension started to squeak badly, then bottom out when I went over speed bumps. New struts after that.

Lots of small mechanical issues that all got fixed under warranty. Now it's out of warranty it's getting sold and no more Mazda's for me. I'm going for a BMW.

Faults:

86,000kms gearbox blew.

88,000kms cooling system reservoir split.

90,000kms second gearbox blew.

91,868kms ignition coils failed.

General Comments:

I bought this car 2nd-hand in July 2005 with 77,000 kms on the speedo. It was purchased from the dealer that sold it new and had dealer stamped log books, showing no major faults occurring. So far, so good. At 86,000kms in February 2006 the gearbox collapsed. The reason for buying it was to get my 15’ half-tonne aluminium boat out of slippery and sandy boat ramps, using it approximately once per month. The weight was well inside the Mazda’s towing limit of 1.6 tonne. It was well outside the statutory 3-month warranty period, but I took it back to the dealer I purchased it from to have a bit of a complaint about a gearbox failing after such a short time. The dealer asked Mazda NSW to come to the party and I paid $800 for the entire job of replacing the gearbox with one Mazda reconditions from a Melbourne specialist. This job was worth at least $3,400.00. Mazda NSW had come to the party with the cost of the gearbox; the $800 was to pay the dealer’s mechanics.

At 88,000 kms the cooling system reservoir bottle split and the car started overheating. Luckily I stopped before any major damage occurred. At least the temperature dial worked! Once I was stopped and the engine cooled sufficiently to check fluid levels, no leak could be seen, but the coolant had gone somewhere? Back to the dealer where a $56.70 part ended up being a $228.70 total fitted cost to get the car back.

About 90,000 kms the car’s gearbox all-but gave up the ghost again. Luckily we were returning from a 200km trip down South and it happened 10 kms from home on a Sunday afternoon. We managed to coax the car into our driveway only to find no reverse gear left. Morning saw me calling the dealer again and them agreeing to see the car immediately – if I could get it there! Started the engine, more on spec than anything, selected reverse and it went in! Must have been because the gearbox was cold, but I don’t really know why. Drove slowly to the dealer and parked in his service bay inside the building. They came over and asked me to move it as it was blocking their entrance. I handed the mechanic the keys and said; “You try”. Three mechanics got it going – pushing it. The second gearbox was replaced under warranty at no cost to me. Thank you Mazda, although I lost the car for a week while they shipped a recon gearbox up from Melbourne.

In early September 2006 at 91,800 kms, the car started shuddering at take-off and again at 78 km/hr and thinking this latter speed was a change point, I suspected the third gearbox was on its way out. Not happy Jan! Anyway, the Mazda dealer’s mechanics also suspected the gearbox and got to work diagnosing it. They eventually found it was failing ignition coils on the spark plug leads. Mazda NSW again provided assistance and I ended up paying a total of $101.65 out of a potential $1,000.00. Thank you again Mazda NSW.

So the car is a dog, drives well, but mechanically suspect. I recently bought an old Mitsubishi Pajero to tow my boat, as I cannot trust the Mazda. The wife drives that now with a full roadside assistance package paid for. The Pajero hasn’t missed a beat.

Faults:

The vehicle has developed a clunking noise in the front end when turning sharp right usually at slow speeds (such as turning into a driveway with uneven surface). Took it to my dealer who said it was worn bushes on the right lower control arm and the whole unit would need to be replaced (expensively). This I did and guess what, the clunking is still there so now I still have the problem and no faith in the dealer to fix it.

Also the vehicle is not well sealed against dust which leaks in when on gravel roads.

General Comments:

Enjoy the on bitumen performance and comfort of the Tribute compared with my old diesel Hilux, but for reliability give me the Lux any day.