2008 Mazda TRIBUTE - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2008 Mazda Tribute 4-DR. w/SAB (Early release) has received a mix of safety ratings across different crash scenarios. It received a 3 out of 5 rating for the front crash driver side, and a 5 out of 5 rating for the front crash passenger side, as well as for both sides in a side crash scenario. However, the rollover rating is 3 out of 5. It is worth noting that this vehicle comes standard with electronic stability control, which can greatly enhance the vehicle's handling in emergency situations.

On the other hand, it does not feature the forward collision warning or lane departure warning systems, which could provide additional safety enhancements by alerting the driver to potential hazards. In terms of complaints and recalls, this model has had 198 complaints reported and 5 recalls issued. While the safety ratings are decent overall, potential buyers should take note of the lack of certain advanced safety features and the number of complaints and recalls associated with this vehicle.

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Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

198

Recall Count

5

Investigation Count

0

Safety Rating

Not Rated

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Safety Features

2008 Mazda Tribute 4-DR. w/SAB (Early release) Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2008 Mazda Tribute 4-DR. w/SAB (Early release)

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

Standard
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

No
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

No

2008 Mazda Tribute 4-DR. w/SAB (Early release) Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2008 Mazda Tribute 4-DR. w/SAB (Early release) Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2005 Score 2008 Score 2011 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated 3
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 4 3 2
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 4 5 4

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2005 Score 2008 Score 2011 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated 3
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 5 5 3
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating 5 5 3
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated Not Rated 3
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated Not Rated 3
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated Not Rated 3

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2005 Score 2008 Score 2011 Score
Rollover Rating 3 3 3
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result Tip No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated 4

Complaints for the 2008 Mazda TRIBUTE

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2008 mazda tribute. the contact stated while driving at low speeds and making a turn, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. the power steering warning light was illuminated. the contact veered to the side of the roadway. the contact turned off and restarted the vehicle, and the vehicle operated as needed; however, the failure recurred while making a turn. the contact stated that the failure had been recurring while driving and making a turn and had become a persistent failure after turning off and restarting the vehicle. the dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that he would be charged a fee for a diagnostic test. the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. the contact related the failure to nhtsa campaign number: 14v282000 (steering); however, the vin was not included. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 125,000."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2023-11-09
Complaint:
"the steering is very tight, and sometimes the wheel gets stripped out of your hands, vehicle has been brought to the dealer for a diagnosis"
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2023-12-09
Complaint:
"the contact's son owns a 2008 mazda tribute. the contact stated while her son was driving and making a turn, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. there was no warning light illuminated. the contact's son was able to veer to the side of the road by using physical force to steer the vehicle. the vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the power steering control module (pscm) needed to be replaced. the dealer informed the contact the vehicle was previously repaired under nhtsa campaign number: 14v282000 (steering), and any additional repair was at the owner's expense. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 150,000."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2023-12-10
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2008 mazda tribute. the contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel was shaking uncontrollably. there was a lot of tension in the steering wheel. while driving approximately 45 mph and making a turn, the steering wheel jerked but went in the other direction. while driving at high speeds, the tires were riding roughly. the tpms warning light was illuminated. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who stated that the failure was due to the brake pads. the contact called the local dealer who informed her about an unknown steering wheel component replacement. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was contacted and stated that the vehicle was previously repaired under nhtsa campaign number: 14v282000 (steering) but no additional assistance was provided. the approximate failure mileage was 180,000."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2023-01-02
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2008 mazda tribute. the contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel became difficult to turn. there were no warning lights illuminated. the contact called the local dealer but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 218,100."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2023-10-04
Complaint:
"driving my car pulling out of driveway when power steering cut out and steering became very difficult had car brought to mechanic and he found there was a recall on steering torque sensor. mazda said that was replaced on 8/10/2016 but the part they replaced it with failed just like the original recalled part did. they refused to fix it again saying they completed the recall on this car. wouldn’t even have a next level supervisor call me to talk about fixing the safety issue"
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2023-09-01
Complaint:
"it just hard and cant really drive it"
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2021-05-12
Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2008 mazda tribute. the contact stated that while driving at 70 mph, the power steering failed which caused the steering wheel to shake. the vehicle became difficult to steer. the vehicle was taken to the dealer and diagnosed that the steering shaft torque sensor malfunctioned, there was an open or short in the power steering control module, and an internal failure with the torque sensor. the vehicle was not repaired and remained at the dealer. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure but informed the contact that there was a recall repair for the electronic power steering performed in 2014, and that was a one-time recall repair. the failure mileage was 167,968."
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2023-01-06
Complaint:
"powe steering has went out & i can hardly turn the steering wheel after i stopped it & tried to go again"
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2022-06-10
Complaint:
"i was driving my car to the store as i turned a corner a beep went off i looked on my dashboard and saw the wrench light on a few minutes later the beep went off again i felt a tightness in the steering i drove approx 4 more miles to the parking lot reviewed book noticed it said it was a power train issue. i went in store got my groceries came out upon starting car it seemed as if it did not want to steer at all. after a few days leaving it there we got it to the shop they said its a dealer issue we researched the problem called dealer they state the epas system was replaced under recall in 2016 when we took it in for an ignition key problem that we paid close to 500 for i did find the receipt and yes it was replaced then however we had no problems with it it was the ignition switch we took it in for. the dealer states they cant replace again for free they will examine car for 130.00 if we can get it to them 38 miles away. this is the dealer we purchased it from brand new it even had to have a replaced transmission at our cost when the car was only about 7 years old. we maintain the vehicle and i wonder if this replaced epas. although the receipts doesnt actually say replaced now that i read it it says it was updated to the latest calibration and codes were cleared according to recall 7614e. now i am hearing it may be 1500 to 2000 to repair ??????? bad timing for me to need another car. this car has had a lot of problems i wonder now after research if the transmission was a recall as well"
Components Involved: STEERING
Date of incident: 2021-06-09

Recalls for the 2008 Mazda TRIBUTE

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"mazda north american operations (mazda) is recalling certain model year 2008 tribute vehicles manufactured february 9, 2007 to april 22, 2008. the affected vehicles have had their cd4e transmission replaced with remanufactured one that was rebuilt between june 11, 2015 through july 15, 2015. these service repair part transmissions have a shift lever bolt that may not be properly tightened. as a result, the shift control lever could disengage from the transmission without warning."
Consequence:
If the shift lever disengages from the transmission, a driver may be unable to shift gear positions and the indicated shift position may not represent the gear position the vehicle is in. Should a disengagement occur while the vehicle is being driven, when the driver goes to stop and park the vehicle, the gear selection indicator may show that the transmission is in the "PARK" position, but the vehicle transmission may not actually be in the "PARK" gear position. If the vehicle is not in the "PARK" position there is a risk the vehicle will roll away as the driver and other occupants exit the vehicle or anytime thereafter. A vehicle rollaway increases the risk of injury to exiting occupants and bystanders.
Remedy:

Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the transmission and if necessary tighten the manual shift lever bolt or replace the manual shift lever assembly, free of charge. The recall began on November 30, 2015. Owners may contact Mazda Customer Experience Center at 1-800-222-5500, option#6. Mazda's number for this recall is 8815J.

Component(s) Involved: POWER TRAIN > AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION > GEAR POSITION INDICATION (PRNDL)
Date of incident: 2015-10-19

MAZDA Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

MAZDA ranks 16 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

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