general problems of the 2001 Mazda Tribute

2001 Mazda Tribute inside drivers door handle broke. Can not exit vehicle without climbing to passenger side.

Driver's side door on 2001 Mazda Tribute suddenly won't open from inside the car. All door locks seem to engage and disengage correctly and car door opens easily from outside the vehicle. As a result, I cannot get out of the car without having someone outside open the car, or I roll down the window to reach the exterior handle, or I climb through the passenger side.

Inside drivers door handle quit working. Door has to be opened from the outside.

I am an owner of a 2001 Mazda Tribute. Of all things to make plastic they made the inside door handle chrome plated plastic. This situation exist from 2001-2004. The part number is ec01-59-330p. On top of everything else the part cost nearly $100 for an injected molded piece of plastic that must really be worth less than a dollar. To top that, they want up to $200 labor to replace it. I believe this should be considered a safety issue and should be covered regardless of time or mileage.

Driver side door won't open from inside.

Drivers inside door handle will not open door. A critical part of the mechanism is cheap plastic. Mazda should recall this part because the problem has been reported by every Tribute owner that I know and frequently appears in on-line complaint forums. I have been through two handles since owing the vehicle.

Mazda Tribute 2001 - model ES v6 - fwd 1. The vehicle is 7 years old. The vehicle is extremely well taken care of. Mileage and gas fills, along with all maintenance records are meticulously kept. Dealer maintenance only. 2. Inside driver door handle is poorly crafted plastic coasted with silver overlay. Handle performs lock, release, and latch functions. The handle came completely apart under tension causing minor injury to wrist. Upon inspection of the handle, it appears to have cracked almost exactly upon a mold seem. This would indicate that the handle is not tested for strength to ensure compliance with proper exit entry of the vehicle. This potentially can result in problems extricating the vehicle in time of emergency. 3. Dealer maintenance is the only way to ensure proper installation and maintenance of the failed part. However, this is extremely cost prohibitive in most situations for a part of this quality to only be replaced with a part of the same quality. Plastic stamping inside the handle indicate 00 and 5.

Inside door handle on both doors has failed.

2001 Mazda Tribute driver's interior door handle broken. Can't get out of the car without putting the window down. Very bad safety concern if there is an accident.

I had a broken driver's side inside door latch break. I was charge over $300 to fix it. Now, the same thing has happened to the front passenger side inside door handle. I've never had so many door problems with other vehicles.

The inside mechanism that opens the driver's side door broke. I opened the door from the outside, and when I tried to exit the vehicle, the door wouldn't open. I got home, and opened the door handle area and found a small plastic fragment that was broken. It is plastic, and snapped where the cable and this mechanism come together to open the door from the inside.

I have a 2001 Mazda Tribute with the front doors not properly opening when the handle is pulled to open the door. I feel it is a safety concern because in case of an emergency it is hard to get out of the car. The problem started with the front passenger side about a year ago, and the driver side door started the problem about 2 months ago. I took it to the dealer today and they said it was going to cost over 200. 00 to fix, and they were going to have to order the part.

Door handles both driver side and passenger side on my 2001mazda Tribute are broken. This prevents me from entering my vehicle from the front of the vehicle. I replaced the inside handle but now the door latch assembly inside the door that opens the door from the outside is broken. This is not an isolated insident. Theres a lot more Mazda owners that have experienced this identical malfunction. There needs to be recall on this problem. In order for me to enter my vehicle I have to open the back door to open the front door from inside the vehicle. I guess some one has to be harmed because they could not get in their vehicle quick enough to escape harm. I guess recalls are only generated when there's bodily harm,then is to late.

Three of my exterior door handles are broken and do not work. The front driver interior door handle is also broken. Failure appears to be from poorly made door handles with sub standard materials. This is a high use item on the vehicle and is made from cheap, thin plastic. These parts are relatively expensive. I have never had issues like this with any other vehicle I have owned.

The driver side door handle failed, I was trapped inside the car on the driver side. I had to lower the power window, reach outside of the car and open the door. I purchased a handle and paid to have the door handle replaced on 6/29/2005. The passenger side door handle failed , leaving the passenger trapped inside the car on the passenger side. Passengers had to lower the power window, reach outside the car and open the door. I purchased a handle and paid to have the door handle replaced on 3/13/2006. Recently, every time I crank my car a large cloud of gray smoke comes from the tailpipe. Today, 6/16/2006, I went to put the key into the ignition and the key would not go in. After several attempts the key went into the ignition but, the key would not turn. I was unable to start the car. With assistance from a local mechanic, after numerous attempts, the key went in, turned and the car started. It was suggested to me, do not make any stops on the way home that would require turning the car off. Once I arrived at home I turned the car off and attempted to start the car again. The key will go in but, after several attempts, the key will not turn to start the car. With the Mazda being my only vehicle I feel this is a safety issue for my son and I. While driving the Mazda the rear glass on the hatch opened. I pulled over to close the glass and it would not close and latch. With the help of a local mechanic he was able to close and engage the latch on the glass door. We avoid opening the rear glass but on accident the glass door was opened and it was the same scenario.

The door latch on the drivers door won't open and I don't feel safe. If something happened and I had to get out, I would be in trouble. A friend recently taught me how to open the door by pushing the latch backwards. It has to be done by reaching across my body with my right hand and pushing the lock backwards (like you're pinching something). There are too many complaints on this website concerning this same problem. Why hasn't there been a recall on this problem??? the only benefit for this is if someone steals my vehicle and can't get out, resulting in being caught.

Unable to open doors from inside of vehicle. After 90000 miles driver and passenger doors became inopperable within 2 days of each other. Driver's side could not be opened from inside or outside while passenger side door could be opened by rolling down the window and lifting up on outside handle. Shop determined that handle(chromed plastic) inside door mechanism(Mazda part#ec01-58-330n)cracked. The handle has a 1/16th" raised catch that cracked off on both handles. The second incident happened just 10months later @109k once again both handles were involved but this time they were 1 week apart. The parts cost (as of 8/24/04) 52. 29 + labor each. I have old parts. No children used these doors only 2 adults. This is a serious situation due to the inability to open the doors from the inside in the event of an emergency or the need to exit the vehicle quickly. You must first roll down the window & reach outside or if the vehicle is off you must restart to open electric windows if you have power at all, if not you are stuck inside and unable to exit.

I bought a Mazda Tribute new and it wasn't a year old when the inside drivers door latch broke. I have noticed many others have had the same problem. This is just the beginning of my problems.

1. Normal use. 2. Broken door handles--within door. Front passenger can't open door from inside. 3. I am looking for a replacement part.