Every time it rains really hard or there's flooding in the streets the car starts showing the battery light like it is going to die on me and as a precaution I try to pull out of the street to any place and while turning the steering wheel the car looses power and the wheels won't turn. Driving no more than 5mph while slowing down from a normal 35mph without warning my engine shut off and I lost power to my steering wheel and brakes. I was able to get the car to off the road after applying all my weight to the brakes and steering wheel. I missed an oncoming car and a tree by an inch. I decided to do some online research and it seems I am not the only one with this problem with a mazda tribute 2003. I am very worried because it hurricane season here in fl and the rain is not something I can predict, besides it seems absurd that I would even have to watch the weather to see if I should or not drive the car. This is an accident waiting to happen!! I drive my 2 year old every day and it is not right that mazda would have cars with this issues out in the street. If feels like by signing a purchase contract on it. I had signed a death with it. Please do something. I haven't found that there is a recall for this issue.
2003 Mazda Tribute brakes complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 32 of 32, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 mazda tribune. The contact stated that while braking to a stop, the brake line failed. The brake line fractured and all of the fluids leaked out. The vehicle was towed to a local mechanic who repaired the brake lines. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The VIN was unavailable. The failure mileage was 150,000.
My 2003 mazda tribute was recalled in may 2007 for ABS voluntary safety recall. I took it in that same month and the dealer determined module connector did not need to be replaced. On march 15, 2012 ABS light came on for no reason and stayed on for an hour. Took it to have it checked on march 17, code could not be determined. Upon inspection everything looked fine. I was instructed to take it to the dealership should the ABS light come on again. Two days later, on march 19, 2012 I had been at work for an hour with my car parked when I was notified that my car was on fire. The car was totaled due to the fire. According to the recall of may 2007, an electrical short could cause an ABS malfunction which would illuminate the ABS light and could result in "burning odor, smoke, and/or fire. This could occur either when the vehicle ignition switch is in the off position or while the vehicle is being operated." my car was off when this occurred. I believe that had the module connector been replaced in 2007 when I took it in under the safety recall, this fire wouldn't have occurred.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 mazda tribute. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked in a residential garage when the contact heard an explosion. The contact then noticed that the vehicle was in flames and the fire department was contacted to extinguish the fire. The vehicle was not diagnosed for the failure and declared as destroyed. The contact referenced the federal safety agency campaign id number: 07v157000 (service brakes, hydraulic:anti lock:control unit/module ) in which the contact had experienced similar symptoms as that which was described in the recall but the vehicle was not included in the recall. The VIN was not available. The failure and current mileage was 100,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 mazda tribute. The contact stated that anti-lock brake fluid was leaking onto the wiring. The contact could also smell a burning odor from the engine when driving. The battery and the ABS warning lights would illuminate sporadically. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who was unable to diagnose the failure, but the contact had the brake fluid cap replaced. The dealer and the manufacturer were notified of the failure, but denied any assistance with repairs to the vehicle. The contact referenced the federal safety agency campaign id number: 12v005000 (service brakes, hydraulic:antilock:control) but did not confirm if the vehicle was included in the recall. The failure mileage was 82,000 and the current mileage was 89,000.
Brake line failing, during a normal stop one of the brake lines rupture. Two others had to be replaced due to poor conditions.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 mazda tribute. The contact was driving at an unknown speed when the vehicle began jerking abnormally. The contact stated that the failure would only occur in cold temperatures and when there was snow on the ground. In addition, the alternator had failed and was replaced three times by the local dealer. The vehicle would also abnormally accelerate and exhibit an unusual increase in engine rpms to 4000. The contact believed the vehicle to be involved in the federal safety agency campaign id number: 04v583000 (vehicle speed control: cables) and the federal safety agency campaign id number: 07v157000 (service brakes, hydraulic: antilock: control unit/module) but was informed by the manufacturer that the vehicle was not included in either recall. The vehicle was not. The current mileage was 175,000 and the failure mileage was unknown.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 mazda tribute. The contact received a recall notice for the federal safety agency campaign id number 07v157000 and took the vehicle to the dealer. The dealer kept the vehicle for over four days. The contact was informed that the parts for the repair were unavailable and would arrive the following day. The dealer also stated that they would not provide a rental vehicle because her warranty was expired. The dealer removed the ABS wiring harness, but could not install it back into place. The vehicle has not been repaired. The VIN was unknown. The failure and current mileages were less than 86,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 mazda tribute. The contact stated that his VIN was not included in the federal safety agency campaign id number 07v157000 (service brakes, hydraulic:anti lock:control unit/module). He was experiencing issues with the ABS. The modular connector had to be replaced because it lost connection with the computer and locked the braking system. While driving between 35-45 MPH, the front passenger side wheel froze and slowed down the vehicle. A mechanic repaired the failure because the wheel would lock and cause the vehicle to spin. The contact called the manufacturer to inquire about a recall, and was informed that they would not process a reimbursement because he did not take the vehicle to an authorized dealer for repair. The failure mileage was 40,000. Updated 12/30/08.*lj updated 01/05/09.
2003 mazda tribute, purchase new. Abs light keeps blinking and then stays on and then goes off. Three separate trips to white plains mazda at a good cost to us and telling us it was corrected - drive a 1/2 mile from the dealer and the light goes on again. Corrected again and a week later it goes on again! Additionally, we have an incident in a parked position with motor running (10/13/08) where the car's RPM jumped to 7,000, the car rumbled and completely shut down. Car could not be restarted. Had to have it towed at a substantial cost to me including a separate charge to try and jump the car and now is at mazda white plains again. Please contact me. I have called customer service number and they are to be in touch with my dealer. Please advise.
Bought mazda tribute 2003 from carmax on 06/26/08. Mother was driving truck w/my daughter (6), when the brakes failed and collided w/van in front of her. Two hrs after the accident, took the truck to the local carmax. Explained to them what happened and asked were there any recalls on the truck. The lady in the service department said she did not know and gave me the toll free number to mazda. I called from their facility and found out that there was an open recall for the ABS module. I explained that to the service person. The manager came out to speak with me and said that I would have to take it to my insurance company. Because I had geico insurance, the manager said that there was an adjuster across the street from their bldg. By this time it was 17:45. I rented a vehicle to get my family home and called the carmax that I purchased the car from. I spoke with laurie doolittle, the manager of carmax in charlottesville, virginia, she advised me there was nothing that she could do but she would check with someone higher than her. She called me back around 1805 and said that it is unfortunate what happened, however "the ABS module has nothing to do with the being drivable". I was in shock. Me and my family could have been killed! We only had the truck 5 days! I called that morning before accident to get a 2004 mazda tribute with lower miles and lower price transferred in to the carmax in charlottesville! After several calls to carmax's customer svc (headqrtr) repeatedly hearing that I was at fault for the accident because I did not register the vehicle with mazda. Went to chville carmax to speak w/laurie doolittle in person. I asked her to rebuy the car. Laurie said no. I had an application from consumer affairs and started to fill in the blanks and noted the time and date of the request to rebuy the car due to the recalls that were on my VIN. (07/07/08 time 17:05) today 07/08/08, geico still working on it!
I purchased a 2003 mazda tribute on june 26, 2008. The car was wrecked today 7/1/08. The brakes failed to operate and ran into the back of a van in front of us. I took the vehicle back to the auto dealer, explained what happened ( I had a 5 day return policy) I was told the vehicle is no longer able to return because it was wrecked. The dealer also said that they were not liable for any factory recalls. The dealer gave me the toll free number to call mazda. It turns out that there was a recall on ABS brakes for my vehicle and it was never brought in to be serviced. I'm thankful no one was hurt. I had driven 500 miles prior to the accident at speeds from 5-70mph. We could have been killed!!!!!!!
Whenever I drive my vehicle for any extended amount of time it smells as though something is burning when I stop. The smell seems to be coming from around the front wheels. The smell is especially strong on the drivers side. I received a recall notice earlier on this year for a faulty brake/ABS switch. I took the vehicle in to a local mazda dealer who said there was nothing wrong with the vehicle hence they replaced nothing. I am filing this complaint as there might be others having this same problem.
Mazda tribute 2003 only 30,300. Miles took in for general service to be informed my brakes & rotors need to be replaced at once could be a safety issue. Rotors had unusual wear pattern & pads were worn smooth. I understand the two materials are not working together and pads are harder than rotor material. This is a safety issue which could result in brake failure or fire.
At 38,800 miles, I had to replace my brakes pad and rotors, now at 49,785 I will need to replaced my rotors again. I believe these rotors are defected. Please investigate this issue.
I have had my front brakes replaced 3 times and rotors once in 50k miles. It started around 15k miles with load rubbing noise when brakes applied.
2003 mazda tribute 2wd v6 - brakes worn and and roters worn and rippled beyond repair at 30,000 miles. Per dealer rep, they have seen this problem on many mazda tributes. Dealer rep stated if not replaced, high potential for brakes heating and causing fire. Vehicle is driven about 60% city driving and about 40% highway driving.
During a routine maintenance visit, I requested that the front disc brakes be inspected and serviced if deemed necessary on this vehicle. The mileage at the time was 38,400 and the vehicle had been serviced on multiple occasions by the mazda dealership from which it was purchased. The service advisor called me to inform me that the brake rotors were worn and would have to be replaced to ensure the vehicle remained safe to operate. They refused to replace the brake pads alone. When I retrieved the vehicle (without the brakes being serviced), I inspected the rotors to find a very unusual wear pattern on the rotors. The pads (which had several thousand miles left to go) had "cut" a perfectly smooth/flat groove into the rotor surfaces across the entire width of the pad surface - leaving a raised edge on the inner and outer edges of both sides of the rotors on the driver and passenger sides. It appears that the brake pad material is harder than the rotor material and the wear on the rotor was equivalent to the wear of the pads.
Catastrophic front disc brake failure on 2003 mazda tribute after only 56,651 miles, requiring complete replacement of both front disc pads and both front rotors. Dealer indicated that they were seeing excessive wear, and frequent replacement on front disc brakes, which indicated that they were under designed by mazda or that mazda was using inferior quality brake pads.
Parking brake failure, passenger seat heater turns itself on, cd player failure, radio failure.
While driving about 45 MPH on the highway and without warning the vehicle shut down. Steering locked/ brakes failed, and headlights were flickering on and off. Driver lost control of the vehicle, and went into a fence, causing a collision. Upon impact, air bags failed to deploy. The driver's side air bag did not deploy. Driver suffered injuries, and was transported by ambulance to the hospital.
When the brakes were applied the pedal went down to the floor.
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