Mazda Tribute V6 2,967

We have this vehicle in our "fleet". The reason for buying it? The performance. Yes the car is bad on economy but it is a v6 with 200BHP!!

Reliability - very good. I knew this was a Ford based unit (check the dipstick) and guessed that parts would be relatively easy to source.

Due to the excellent road handling and dizzy performance expect to need new tyres regularly. Brakes have been very good and reliable. Full leather inside looks the business but can be cold on the lower back some mornings.

Bad points - one repair so far is an oil leak on a driveshaft gearbox seal. That is it.

If you want a reliable SUV with awesome power delivery get it. If you hate paying for fuel don't!

I've purchased one of the first Mazda Tribute's built. It's been great. Sure it's had a few repairs along the way, but nothing major yet. It has 180,000 miles on it. I've done two tune-ups, two brake jobs, alternator, struts and shocks. It's been a great SUV. I am hoping it last another 50k miles.

The Mazda Tribute is a good, comfortable car that is ok for occasional off road use. Though I've not tried them I'd bet with good off road tyres it would be better. My own car is a 3L v6 which has plenty of clout, but gives about 15 mpg around town. Since I bought it, its been converted to run on lpg and returns(with my fiancee's lighter foot)the equivalent of 38mpg, but does suffer slightly on clout. I've not towed with it, so can't comment on that but it has a good weight to it. I would say to anybody thinking of buying this type of 4x4, it compares well with other cars of its type and all things taken into consideration would outscore them.

I bought the Mazda Tribute V6 2001 model. Within six months ther were three recalls. After 3 years (75,000k) the brake booster started to leak. At 95,000k front brake rotors has to be replaced. AT 90,000k transmission crashed. I learned from transmission specialist that this lemon uses Ford Mondeo transmission (car transmission on an SUV??). By the way, battery died after 75,000k.

Before the engine give up I decided to trade it with a new Camry. Advise to Mazda Tribute V6 owners, Get rid of this SUV while you still can. To those planning to buy it. Think twice. This car has been heavily influnced by Ford. No wonder it is rotten lemon.

VEHICLE: 2002 Mazda Tribute V6 Automatic - 54,000 miles. Purchased one year ago - travelled 8,000 miles.

REPORT: I purchased this vehicle from a dealer for £8,200. which included a Mazda extended warranty - normal cost £236.71, and four new wheels which were replaced under warranty. Accessories were difficult to source but eventually I discovered Mazda-Accessories.com and added rear mud flaps, boot liner, mats etc, to the vehicle - most at reasonable cost. New 235 tyres were listed elsewhere as being £72.00 each but I bought four new tyres off eBay for £200! Having previously owned a RHD 5.9 litre 1970's Jeep 'Cherokee Chief'I expected to be disappointed with this vehicle but the contrary turned out to be the case. The 'Tribute' was Mazda's Ford 'Maverick' (but re-badged of course) and the parts are 99% identical. The 'Tribute' undercut the 'Maverick' in price and so when Ford purchased a large shareholding in the Mazda company the 'Tribute' mysteriously disappeared from the U.K. market. Consequently it is now a rare sight on British roads wearing Mazda badges. The vehicle has 200 BHP and 200 pound-feet of torque from its 3 litre V6 engine and being only a medium sized SUV it is no slouch. Unlike my old Jeep it is not all drag power, and will cruise all day at 80 MPH. Higher speeds will rapidly reduce its average 21 MPG to much lower levels. The small fuel tank can reduce fuel stops to every 200 miles, but then who drives more than 200 miles without a break? The old pitch and roll problems of four wheel drives of 20 years ago have largely been extinguished and for most drivers this vehicle will perform just the same as most saloon cars. Even with my bad back the grey leather seating is comfortable for five hours of virtually non-stop driving, and the interior is pleasant, airy, and spacious. The split rear seats fold to total horizontal with the boot space, and the opening rear window is not only convenient for quickly loading small items of shopping but has proved very useful for my daughter's large paintings! Furthermore, the rear window opening design is spendid: No American style electrically operated sliding rear window with the usual problems of leaking seals and water ingress to the window motor - just a simple and effective manual lift. The vehicle is operated in optional 2WD drive mode with the option of 'permanent' 4WD for driving up muddy fields etc. A simple dashboard mounted switch enables the driver to switch between 2WD and 4WD, allegedly at any speed but I would not like to test this. This vehicle presents an opportunity for a shrewd buyer to obtain a quality SUV for a modest outlay. If petrol consumption is a problem then the 'Tribute 2.0' allegedly returns 30 MPG but expect cloth seats and a massive reduction in performance! The only fault I had was with an accessory - a tonneau (boot) cover - which Mazda persistently wrongly alleged was not covered by their extended warranty. Fortunately, as a retired Solicitor, I was able to argue their own terms against them and eventually they replaced this item at no cost to me. Their head offices's initial stance was simply not good enough and if repeated no doubt prevents many customers from successfully claiming. For buyers wishing to use this vehicle for towing then a single plug tow bar can be fitted for £147.00 by CDF Towbars, whom I have used for many years. If you are unfortunate to scrape any of the plastic trim on the bottom half of the vehicle then whilst these parts are immensely expensive a paint workshop can nevertheless re-spray these easily fitted parts for a modest outlay! I have no hesitation is recommending this vehicle. It is attractive, well built, reliable and extremely good value for money.