2005 Mazda Tribute
Complaints about this year name rusted far more often than the model's other years — 36% of them, about 89× the usual rate of 0.4%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 383 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 39 |
| Involving a crash | 16 |
| Involving a fire | 4 |
| Recalls | 4 |
| EPA combined | 20 mpg |
Also unusual this year
- wheel well — 29% of complaints, 72× usual
- shock — 26% of complaints, 65× usual
- rusted out — 17% of complaints, 42× usual
What owners wrote
THE RIGHT REAR WHEEL WELL COMPLETELY RUSTED OUT AND LEFT THE SHOCK ATTACHED TO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
BOTH REAR WHEEL WELLS RUSTED OUT (PASSENGER SIDE MUCH WORSE) CAUSING SHOCKS TO COME UNMOUNTED. DISCOVERED BY HEARING THUMPING NOISE WHILE DRIVING.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 15E045000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
- 12V357000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
- 06V116000 SEATS Fixed free of charge.
- 04V605000 LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES
How this was worked out
Every year of the Mazda Tribute was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2005 Mazda Tribute? What happened to yours?
Loading comments…