2003 Mazda Tribute problems
Owners have filed 266 complaints with NHTSA about the 2003 Mazda Tribute. Cruise control is the most reported problem area, at 15% of complaints. Next are brakes (14%) and air bags (14%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 266 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Cruise control 15% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 22 and 11
- Injuries and deaths
- 20 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 77,000 miles 205 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 31 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 24 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 24 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 28 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 23 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 22 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 12 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 15 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 9 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 17 |
What the data shows
Of the 205 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 77,000 miles. For cruise control specifically, the median reported mileage is about 61,000 miles (30 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 22 complaints mention a crash; 11 complaints mention a fire; 20 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2003 ranks 4th most-complained-about out of 9 model years of the Mazda Tribute with enough data (113 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 6 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
After the vehicle was involved in a collision, the engine compartment caught fire due to leaking gasoline on the manifold.
Just bought a 2003 mazda tribute from toyota of nicholasville 3 weeks ago. Went out to the garage to start it this morning and the thing caught fire. Put it out with fire extinguisher. The air filter area is burned and melted. My wife no longer feels safe driving this vehicle(isn't repaired yet), with our young child strapped in the car seat. I sustained small burns to my hands putting the fire out.
When accelerating the vehicle first hesitated and then accelerated. The dealership was notified but did not resolve the problem.
My front side passenger subframe must have been rotted as opposed to rusted. Please voice your complaint if anyone else has had a similar issue. My previous complaint was the same issue as ... Date complaint filed: 02/15/2013 component(s): structure date of incident: 11/14/2012 NHTSA id number: 10498267 all products associated with this complaint vehicle makemodelmodel year(s) ?mazdatribute2003 details 0 associated documents ?crash:no ?fire:no ?number of injuries:0 ?number of deaths:0 manufacturer: mazda motor…