Brake Disc Rotor Problems of Mazda Tribute

At 35,000 miles I brought my 2004 Mazda Tribute into firestone for a brake inspection. At this time, I was told that the rotors had worn below minimum specification, could not be resurfaced and would have to be replaced. I authorized this work to be completed and paid for the repairs. Subsequently I went to showcase Mazda dealership to request a refund for the amount I paid for new rotors. They informed me that rotors were a "wear" item, even though rotors are not listed in the warranty exclusions. I was told that because of the soft material these rotors are made from, they wear more easily. In my opinion this is "defective material" not a "routine wear item". The warranty states "worn brake and clutch linings" are excluded. A rotor is not a brake lining. I believe Mazda should pay for replacement of all worn rotors during the warranty period, including mine. Brakes are certainly a safety issue and rotors wearing out in 35,000 miles and even less as I've read at some autobytel. Com postings is not acceptable and should be fixed by Mazda at no charge to the owner.

See all problems of the 2004 Mazda Tribute.

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.

Brakes were shaking and making noise when being applied. There was excessive wear on the rotors when the vehicle was taken for inspection. Dealer will repair at consumer's expense.

The vehicle was taken to a repair shop for a routine inspection. The mechanic informed the consumer that both front rotors are severely out of round and needed to be replace. The dealer was not notified.

I have owned my vehicle for a little more than two years, it currently has 45,000 miles on it. I have had to replace the brakes on it twice now, and this time when I went to do the brakes there was no wear on the shoes and no grooves in the drums on either side. These are the origonal shoes. I had this problem with the grand prix. I have tested the brakes with the drums off and it looks as though they would assist, but by the amount of wear present I would have to say that all of my breaking is coming from the front. I took pictures of the drums and the shoes and it is clear there is no wear. There wasn't even any dust.

2005 Mazda Tribute developed a scraping and squeaking noise; the brake rotors were out of round. * answer required***. There was also a vibration in the steering wheel at high speeds. The vibration intensified upon application of the brakes.

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.

Front disc brakes - allegedly worn out at 22,000 miles and now at 34,000 miles. 2 different dealers have looked at problem and declined to make a warranty claim. Now being told by 2nd dealer that rotors are "throw away" and need to be replaced along with disc pads. I've never had to replace brakes on any car with less that 60,000 miles.

I own a 2002 Mazda Tribute and upon taking my vehicle in for the state safety inspection it was noted that my brakes and rotors would not pass. I then brought the vehicle to Mazda for inspection and they agreed that the brake pads were wor, yet not completely gone, but more seriously the rotors needed to be replaced. Our service rep stated that he has seen this problem on many Tributes, yet Mazda has not authorized them to repair the problem under warranty. In all my years of car ownership and with everyone I have talked to, rotors should not have to be replaced on a two year old car.

Front brake rotors have worn beyond repair before the brake pads. Since these rotors cannot be repaired, I assume that the brakes are unsafe. The manufacturer's service representative agreed to replace the rotors only if I purchase $500 worth of other services at the local dealership. This appears to me to be extorsion. They agree the rotors are defective, but refuse to replace them without my buying additional services (transmission and differential fluid replacement, etc. ).

At 50,089 miles, my transmission failed; more specifically, the torque converter malfunctioned resulting in total transmission failure. I have had numerous problems with this vehicle -- I had to replace rotors within the first year of ownership, and may have to do so again at 52,000 miles. The vehicle has trouble starting, the brakes aren't very responsive, and I've had to replace the ignition switch with an unattractive and impractical replacement, because the dealership reported that the type that came with my vehicle wasn't available. The rear window has leaked. Needless to say, the warranty expired just before my transmission failed.

Consumer called complaining about having problems with the engine. Vehicle completely stopped on the highway while driving at 35 mph. Dealer was contacted, and stated that vehicle was tested and some wiring had to be replaced. Also stated that she was having problems with the brake rotors. While driving she heard a real loud noise metal to metal noise, and when she took the vehicle to the shop the rotors were completely woren out. Dealer had no explanation as why it happened.

The rotors and brakes failed again for the 2nd time with only 75k miles on the vehicle. The dealer is going to replace the rotors using a dsa credit, I am going to have to pay for the brakes. Dealer said Mazda is aware that braking system is undersized for vehicle, but Mazda would rather replace rotors using a dsa credit than do a full scale redesign and recall.