2004 Mazda Tribute Problems and Recalls (155 Complaints)
The most-reported problem on the 2004 Mazda Tribute is Suspension (23% of 155 owner reports). There are 7 safety recalls. Check the VIN and inspect Suspension — this is the NHTSA file, not a score.
NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Snapshot 2026-09-07 155 complaints · 7 recalls
What problems show up on the 2004 Mazda Tribute?
36 of 155 filings named Suspension (23% of the file). That is what owners wrote, not a shop diagnosis of the vehicle in the driveway.
Second is Cruise / speed control (30 reports).
There are 7 official safety recalls on this year. They were filed about Cruise / speed control, Brakes, Body / frame, and Suspension. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov — a campaign on this page can still be open on a specific truck.
The 2003 has 195 reports on file; this year has 155. A smaller lifetime total is not a clean bill of health. If you need a fairer comparison, use the equal-time view.
What owners reported
System named most often: Suspension 36 complaints · 23.2% of the file
Crashes, fires, injuries and deaths in those filings:
- Crashes 15
- Fires 3
- Injuries 15
- Deaths 2
NHTSA Consumer Complaints Snapshot 2026-09-07 Open source record Read our complete data methodology →
Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.
Which systems owners named
Share of owner complaints filed against each vehicle system. These shares are not adjusted for how many vehicles were sold.
“Unclassified NHTSA leftover” is not a car part. It is a filing bucket and always sits last.
View component data as a table
| System / Component | Complaints | Share of Reports | Safety Reports (Crashes / Fires) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension (SUSPENSION) | 36 | 23.2% | 0 crashes · 0 fires |
| Cruise / speed control (VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL) | 30 | 19.4% | 7 crashes · 0 fires |
| Body / frame (STRUCTURE) | 23 | 14.8% | 0 crashes · 0 fires |
| Airbags (AIR BAGS) | 19 | 12.3% | 6 crashes · 0 fires |
| Transmission / driveline (POWER TRAIN) | 12 | 7.7% | 0 crashes · 0 fires |
| Engine (ENGINE) | 10 | 6.5% | 0 crashes · 1 fires |
| Brakes (SERVICE BRAKES) | 7 | 4.5% | 0 crashes · 0 fires |
| Wheels (WHEELS) | 5 | 3.2% | 0 crashes · 0 fires |
| Electrical (ELECTRICAL SYSTEM) | 2 | 1.3% | 0 crashes · 0 fires |
| Unclassified NHTSA leftover | 63 | 40.7% | 7 crashes · 1 fires |
NHTSA Consumer Complaints, NHTSA Safety Recalls, and NHTSA Defect Investigations Snapshot 2026-09-07 Open source record
Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.
When reports and recalls showed up
When owners filed reports, and when recall campaigns showed up.
- Campaign 04V583000 was reported 394 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
- Campaign 04V605000 was reported 407 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
- Campaign 07E023000 was reported 805 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
- Campaign 07V157000 was reported 817 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
- Campaign 14V174000 was reported 3,185 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
- Campaign 15E045000 was reported 814 days after the first earlier complaint mapped to its component.
View timeline records as a table
| Date | Record type | Count | Record identifier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-Q4 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2004-Q1 | Owner reports | 4 | |
| 2004-Q2 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2004-Q3 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2004-Q4 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2005-Q1 | Owner reports | 4 | |
| 2005-Q2 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2005-Q3 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2005-Q4 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2006-Q3 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2006-Q4 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2007-Q1 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2007-Q2 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2007-Q3 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2008-Q1 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2008-Q2 | Owner reports | 5 | |
| 2008-Q3 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2008-Q4 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2009-Q1 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2009-Q2 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2009-Q3 | Owner reports | 4 | |
| 2009-Q4 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2010-Q1 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2010-Q3 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2010-Q4 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2011-Q2 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2011-Q4 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2012-Q1 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2012-Q2 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2012-Q3 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2012-Q4 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2013-Q1 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2013-Q2 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2013-Q3 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2013-Q4 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2014-Q1 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2014-Q2 | Owner reports | 6 | |
| 2014-Q3 | Owner reports | 3 | |
| 2014-Q4 | Owner reports | 4 | |
| 2015-Q1 | Owner reports | 10 | |
| 2015-Q2 | Owner reports | 4 | |
| 2015-Q3 | Owner reports | 8 | |
| 2015-Q4 | Owner reports | 5 | |
| 2016-Q1 | Owner reports | 6 | |
| 2016-Q2 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2016-Q3 | Owner reports | 5 | |
| 2017-Q1 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2017-Q3 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2017-Q4 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2018-Q1 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2018-Q3 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2018-Q4 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2019-Q2 | Owner reports | 2 | |
| 2019-Q3 | Owner reports | 4 | |
| 2020-Q3 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2021-Q1 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2021-Q3 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2022-Q4 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2023-Q1 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2023-Q2 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2024-Q3 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| 2025-Q4 | Owner reports | 1 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 04V583000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 04V605000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 07E023000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 07V157000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 12V357000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 14V174000 | |
| Recall campaign | 1 | 15E045000 | |
| Defect investigation | 1 | DP09003 | |
| Defect investigation | 1 | RQ09002 | |
| Defect investigation | 1 | EA10002 | |
| Defect investigation | 1 | DP12005 | |
| Defect investigation | 1 | PE12019 |
Safety Recalls (7)
Official campaigns. Each one says what could go wrong and what the dealer was told to fix.
In short, these campaigns were filed about Cruise / speed control, Brakes, Body / frame, and Suspension.
-
Recall campaign 04V583000
Cruise / speed control
- Report date
- Component:
- Cruise / speed control (VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL)
- Consequence:
- AN UNEXPECTED INCREASE IN ENGINE IDLE SPEED MAY INCREASE STOPPING DISTANCE AND MAY RESULT IN A VEHICLE CRASH.
- Remedy:
- DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE ACCELERATOR CABLE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON JANUARY 28, 2005. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT MAZDA AT 1-800-222-5500, OPTION #4.
-
Recall campaign 04V605000
Safety recall 04V605000
- Report date
- Component:
- Unclassified NHTSA leftover
- Consequence:
- IF THE LIFTGATE IS LEFT UNLOCKED, THERE IS THE POTENTIAL THAT IT MAY OPEN DURING A CRASH.
- Remedy:
- DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE REAR LIFTGATE LATCH RELEASE ROD, THE RELEASE ROD ATTACHMENT CLIP AND THE DOOR HANDLE RETURN SPRING. THE RECALL BEGAN ON MARCH 31, 2005. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT MAZDA AT 1-800-222-5500.
-
Recall campaign 07E023000
Brakes
- Report date
- Component:
- Brakes (SERVICE BRAKES)
- Consequence:
- LOSS OF BRAKE FLUID CAN RESULT IN POOR BRAKING PERFORMANCE, POSSIBLY RESULTING IN A VEHICLE CRASH.
- Remedy:
- CARDONE WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND OFFER TO REPURCHASE ANY DEFECTIVE MASTER CYLINDERS. THE RECALL BEGAN DURING APRIL 2007. OWNERS CAN CONTACT CARDONE AT 1-800-777-4780.
-
Recall campaign 07V157000
Brakes
- Report date
- Component:
- Brakes (SERVICE BRAKES)
- Consequence:
- AN ELECTRICAL SHORT MIGHT CAUSE AN ABS MALFUNCTION THAT WOULD ILLUMINATE THE ABS WARNING LIGHT, AND IN SOME CASES, THE MODULE MAY OVERHEAT RESULTING IN BURNING ODOR, SMOKE, AND/OR FIRE. THIS CONDITION COULD OCCUR EITHER WHEN THE VEHICLE IGNITION SWITCH IS IN THE OFF POSITION OR WHILE THE VEHICLE IS BEING OPERATED.
- Remedy:
- DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE WIRE HARNESS CONNECTOR TO THE ABS MODULE FOR MISSING OR DISLODGED WIRE SEALS, AND REPAIR OR REPLACE THE HARNESS CONNECTOR AS APPROPRIATE. THE DEALER WILL ALSO INSPECT THE CONNECTOR ON THE ABS MODULE AND REPLACE IT IF IT IS FOUND TO BE CORRODED OR DAMAGED. THE RECALL BEGAN ON MAY 9, 2007. OWNERS MAY CONTACT MAZDA AT 1-800-222-5500.
-
Recall campaign 12V357000
Safety recall 12V357000
- Report date
- Component:
- Not available in the source record
- Consequence:
- A stuck throttle may result in very high vehicle speeds and make it difficult to stop or slow the vehicle, which could cause a crash, serious injury or death.
- Remedy:
- Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will repair the vehicles by increasing the engine cover clearance, free of charge. Remedy parts are now available. The safety recall began on September 13, 2012. Owners may contact Mazda Customer Assistance Center at 1-800-222-5500, option #6.
-
Recall campaign 14V174000
Body / frame
- Report date
- Component:
- Body / frame (STRUCTURE)
- Consequence:
- A separation of the lower control arm can result in a significant loss of steering control, increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy:
- Mazda will notify owners, and dealers will install a newly designed reinforcement cross-brace, free of charge. The recall began on May 29, 2014. Owners may contact Mazda at 1-800-222-5500. Mazda's number for this recall is 7514D.
-
Recall campaign 15E045000
Suspension
- Report date
- Component:
- Suspension (SUSPENSION)
- Consequence:
- Use of an incorrectly sized wheel bearing can adversely affect the braking and steering of the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy:
- Timken has begun notifying distributors who will offer purchasers replacement wheel bearings, free of charge. The recall began on May 21, 2015. Owners may contact Timken customer service at 1-866-984-6536.
Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.
What owners actually wrote
Short excerpts from the public NHTSA file. Look for the same symptom repeating.
Data: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation · snapshot 2026-09-07
Showing 10 of 155 complaints · page 1 of 7
CrashFireInjuryDeath
I am submitting this formal complaint regarding a potential recall failure involving a 2005 Mazda Tribute driven by my fiancé, [XXX], who died following a crash on [XXX]. Mazda has opened Case #[XXX] in response to my inquiry, and I am requesting federal oversight of this investigation. Joey’s vehicle may have been affected by NHTSA Recall 12V357000, which addresses throttle body malfunction and unintended acceleration. Service records show that a dealership performed a recall service, but the parts used may have been ineffective or incomplete. The crash sequence—rear-ending a stopped vehicle followed by veering into oncoming traffic—matches known symptoms of this defect. I am requesting: •A formal review of Mazda’s handling of Recall 12V357000 •Verification of Joey’s VIN-specific recall compliance •Investigation into the dealership’s repair actions and part quality •Oversight of Mazda’s internal case (#[XXX]) and its findings This issue raises serious concerns about manufacturer accountability and public safety. I am submitting supporting documentation and service records for review. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
CrashFireInjuryDeath
The driver air bag light on the instrument panel has been illuminated since 2004, repair had been attempted several times but has failed. A bulletin has been sent by the manufacture to the dealership regarding steering wheel airbag light being illuminated giving a false warning, due to defective electrical wiring that cannot be repaired.
CrashFireInjuryDeath
The contact owns a 2004 Mazda Tribute. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, there was an abnormal rattling sound detected. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stopped and noticed there was rust on the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the rear shock had detached due to rust. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 203,350.
CrashFireInjuryDeath
The contact owns a 2004 Mazda Tribute. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the air bag warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 212,900.
CrashFireInjuryDeath
rear passenger side wheel well ,shock tower mount ,and sub frame .shock tower mount broke fell off hit the cement , chipped my rim and crushed my break lines i took it to lafountaine mazda and they have done an estimate for repairs and damage
CrashFireInjuryDeath
The contact owns a 2004 Mazda Tribute. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle would accelerate unintendedly, and the brakes would fail during the unintended acceleration. The ABS and check engine warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, but the code reader was not able to read any codes. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but informed the contact that the accelerator and brakes were repaired years prior and would not cover the cost for repair. The failure mileage was 189,000.
CrashFireInjuryDeath
I WAS DRIVING DOWN THE HIGHWAY WHEN I HEARD A NOISE LIKE THE ROOF WAS BEING RIPPED OFF. WHEN I PULLED OVER TO INSPECT I NOTICED THAT THE GLASS FROM MY SKYLIGHT WAS GONE. APPEARS THE GLUE DETERIORATED LETTING WINDOW BECOME LOOSE AND THEREFORE BLOWING OFF. GOOD THING DIDNT HIT ANY OTHER VEHICLES.
CrashFireInjuryDeath
DRIVING ONE DAY, THE CAR VEERED SUDDENLY INTO THE ONCOMING TRAFFIC LANE. FORTUNATELY NO CARS WERE THERE. I TOOK IT TO MY MECHANIC WHO TOLD ME THE FRONT SUSPENSION WAS CRACKED AND THE CAR'S FRAME WAS RUSTED SO BADLY THE CAR COULD NOT BE JACKED UP.
CrashFireInjuryDeath
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 MAZDA TRIBUTE. WHILE DRIVING 65 MPH, THE VEHICLE MADE AN ABNORMAL THUMPING NOISE. THE CONTACT LATER NOTICED THAT THE REAR PASSENGER WHEEL WELL WAS RUSTED OUT AND THE SHOCK MOUNT WAS FRACTURED. THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE LOCAL DEALER WAS NOT CONTACTED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED, THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED AND PROVIDED CASE NUMBER: [redacted]. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 181,000.
CrashFireInjuryDeath
I OWN A 2004 MAZDA TRIBUTE FROM NEW. IT CURRENTLY HAVE AROUND 94000 MILES, MECHANICALLY AND COSMETICALLY MAINTAINED. JUST RECENTLY I STARTED HEARING A BANGING NOISE FROM THE PASSENGER REAR AREA. I HAVE SOME STUFF IN THE CARGO AREA ON THAT SIDE SO I FIGURED IT WAS BOUNCING AROUND. SO I REMOVED EVERYTHING AND STILL HAD THE BANGING. UPON FURTHER INSPECTION I DISCOVERED A PASSENGER SIDE REAR WHEEL WELL AND SHOCK TOWER ROTTING AWAY...THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE...IT PRESENTS MUCH DANGER TO ALL OCCUPANTS AND OTHER VEHICLES OCCUPANTS!!! THIS SHOULD NEVER BE AND SHOULD BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY BY THE MANUFACTURER BUT IT IS NOT. LOTS OF 2001 TO 2010 MAZDA TRIBUTES, FORD ESCAPES AND MERCURY MARINERS, ARE AFFECTED BY THIS PROBLEM. PLEASE HAVE THE MANUFACTURER MAKE GOOD ON THIS DEFECT.
Frequently asked questions
What are the most common problems on the 2004 Mazda Tribute?
Owners named Suspension most often — 36 of 155 reports (23%). That is the NHTSA file, not a diagnosis of every vehicle.
Are there recalls for the 2004 Mazda Tribute?
NHTSA lists 7 safety recall campaigns. They were filed about Cruise / speed control, Brakes, Body / frame, and Suspension. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov; a campaign on this page can still be open on a specific vehicle.
What should I inspect before buying a 2004 Mazda Tribute?
Look up the VIN for open recalls. Listen for clunks over bumps and look at tire wear for alignment issues. Then skim owner filings for the same symptom and take that list to a mechanic.
Does a high complaint count mean I should skip this year?
No. Counts are reports people chose to file and they are not adjusted for sales volume. YearTell does not publish scores or a list of years to skip. Inspect the vehicle.
Estimated Ownership Cost
EPA fuel economy ratings and annual operating cost estimates
Data: US EPA Fuel Economy Guide · snapshot 2026-08-21
Adjacent Model Years
Immediate preceding and succeeding model year records
Complaint counts reflect self-selected reports and are not normalised for production sales volume. We publish no reliability scores, superlatives, or vehicle rankings.
Methodology & Data Integrity
Source: NHTSA ODI / recalls, snapshot 2026-09-07. YearTell is not a government agency.