2001 Tribute rack and pinion and shaft broke into pieces making it difficult for consumer to steer. The master cylinder had to be replaced due to an irreparable leak.

- Miami, FL, USA

At 40000 mileage my rotors were replaced when the pads had to be replaced. The dealer said this was caused by hard pads. @ 65,000 my brake booster was replaced which I camplained for 1 year abouta high pitched noise. Three weeks ago the dealer had to replace that booster with another, becasue that booster failed. Now this past week the dealership had to replace the master cylinder because it failed. My rotors at 79,000 are worn out again but Mazda will not replace them this time. I feell that because the components were failing for a long time and there are other complains about this problem, Mazda should have totally rebuilt the braking system instead of bandaiding it. Also the district service manager will not approve replacing the rotors because of the mileage, yet I have had these continuing problems.

- Allentown, PA, USA

I was constantly having problems stopping on ice/snow. It seemed that no matter how I braked my ABS system would activate and the vehicle would roll through stop lights and stop signs. At first I thought it was the brand of tires that came with the Tribute, so purchase a new set of Goodyear snow and mud tires after only 12,000 at a cost of $300. But the problem persisted the next winter. That's when I decided to finally take it to my mechanic and was told that the master cylinder cap was cracked and that my rear brakes were not being used hardly at all. Nearly all of the braking force on my vehicle was being done by the front brakes. This would explain why I was having such difficulties stopping on ice and snow. To no surprise, my front brakes had to be replaced at only 26,000 miles and it cost me $130. I did get the master cylinder cap replaced under warranty, but you might want to watch this in the future. I hope you can see how this could cause a serious accident, especially if this is a problem with the manufacturing of the vehicle.

- Colorado Springs, CO, USA

New master cylinder was installed 7/24/2001, and still having brake failure/ABS light on.

- Henderson, NV, USA