This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The driver door handle suddenly stopped working, I thought maybe because it's now considered an old car, but then just recently the same thing happened to the passenger door. I thought, hmmmm maybe I should look this up on the internet. Bam!!! many complaints of the same defect and no recall!! this is a safety issue. Someone could actually get killed from not being able to get out of their car. So, let's go through a scenario. I get in a car accident, the power does not work to open the windows, the car is on fire. I can't get out through driver door or passenger. So now, I am struggling to get to the back seat to open a door. But wait, that's if I don't catch on fire first. What is it going to take to get this to be a recall. Will it take someone actually getting killed. Because if it does, then all these angry people who had issues that you didn't listen too will totally be on your[xxx]! do something about this! information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
The inside driver side door handle of my 2001 Mazda Tribute completely stopped functioning. This was sudden, without warning, and permanent. The only way to open the door at this point is to roll down the window and open the door using the outside door handle. Thus, the driver is essentially trapped inside the vehicle unless they can access the outside of the car or exit using another door. This seems to be a very prevalent problem with 2001 Mazda Tributes based on a brief internet search.
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.
- Gansevoort, NY, USA
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We own a 2001 Mazda Tribute ES V6 [xxx]. since purchasing the vehicle in August 2001 there have been three incidences of the inside door handles becoming non-functional and creating a hazardous condition where the doors cannot be opened from the inside (someone must open from the outside or you need to open the window and reach out to use the exterior handle to open the door). This creates a dangerous condition should the car be involved in a fire or accident where the occupant must quickly exit the vehicle. The interior door handle places a great deal of shear force on a small plastic pin that connects the door lever to the latch/lock/actuator. The driver's side handle has broken twice since 2001 and the passenger side door handle broke this week. I looked at the drivers side and the handle is showing signs of fatigue (stress cracks) in the plastic pin, so I will need to replace that before it breaks during a potential emergency. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Drivers side front door handle stopped working, window needs to be down in order to open door. If in an accident or fire driver will need assistance in exiting car. This is proven by all other complaints to be common with this vehicle and in hazardous situations potentially fatal unless government steps in and demands recall. Dealer wants $300+ to fix, have already spent $3000+ at dealer on computer failures and left side driver door window assembly failure.
2001 Mazda Tribute - both interior door handles broke off completely within 2 weeks of one another. In the event of an emergency there is no way to exit without rolling down the window and reaching to the exterior handles.
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 to fix, and they were going to have to order the part.
Driver's side door handle broke off in my hand while trying to exit the vehicle. Had to roll down the window and open the door from the outside. Plastic door handles should not be used on any vehicle. This is a major safety issue and should have been on one of the many Tribute recall lists! the dealership wanted to charge double to replace the door handle and I had it repaired at a nationally known car repair shop for less than half of the cost the dealership quoted.
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.
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.
Description : driver's side outside door handle fails to work. Upon disassembly, we found that the part that connected the handle mechanism to the lock mechanism was a flimsy thin metal washer, which had broke in half. This component is definitely substandard for the constant use it gets. Upon conferring with other 2001 escape owners at escape-central.com (tech. Tips ), not only does this part fail, but the handle on the interior door eventually fails too, thus you cannot open the door from either the outside or inside.' The passenger side door also has this problem as posted by other owners. This creates the possibilty of being trapped inside during an emergency situation, such as a fire, accident, etc. These cars should be recalled and Ford should fix this problem with a more substantial part.
The contact stated about eight months ago the door handle on the outside of the driver's side would not work. About four months ago the door handle on the inside of the driver's side door stopped working. Two days ago the door handle on the inside of the passenger's side door stopped working. The only way the contact could get out of the car was to reach outside the car of the passenger's side to open the door from the inside of the car. If the electrical windows of the car stopped working he would be trapped in the car. He took the car to the dealer when he first started having problems, and the dealer said it looked like a grommet, cheap plastic piece, that connected the latch to the handle was broken. The warranty expired, and the dealer told him there was no recall. Updated 1/19/2006 - the dealer replaced the driver's inner and outer door handle and the inner door handle on the passenger's side.
Hatchback was opened during unloading. When truck was left alone with hatchback still open window emploded with cause unknown. Truck was parked at the time, and nothing struck the glass. Owner was concerned because of amount of shattered pieces of glass, and the distance ten feet of travel.
Right door is defective because door is not properly bolted onto frame of vehicle. Door is able to move around, and when opening door it will make noise. Also, door hinge bolt is halfway on. Contacted dealer and dealer is not willing to do anything.
My new car is currently in the garage/dealer while the service manager is trying to attain additional help to solve the problem of my vehicle not starting on a consistant basis. Originally the problem started when the dealer programmed a newly purchased spare key in December. Programming for the key had to be done more than once while my husband waited an additional hour and viewed the service personal push our vehicle back into the service bay. He was told there was a problem programming the new key. Later in the month, the car would not start (2 incidents-6 trys). On the next trip to the dealer to have other warranty work done, I waited five and a half (5 1/2) hours overall and was informed that they could duplicate the problem with all three (3) keys. Later I was told that the problem was corrected and I soon returned home. About one and a half (1 1/2) hours after the fix, the car would not start again for 15 hours (various trys). The dealer arranged a free rental car and was to have my car towed that Monday morning. The keys were left in the ignition over night and the car started the next morning. I agreed to try a temporary fix suggested to the dealer by Mazda tech support. Three (3) weeks later, the car started having the same problems and the temporary fix did not work. What did get the car to work was the opening and closing of the driver door or unlocking and locking with keyless entry. I recorded (35 witnessed) malfunctions. The car was taken back to the dealer last Monday for a new Mazda tech suggested reprogramming of the keys. Upon my return Thursday while waiting for the twice requested written documentation about the temporary fix and the new reprogramming the running car was brought to the service entrance. When tested it went dead again. Service manager and I both witnessed. The vehicle was kept and tested for electrical shorts-none found. In conclusion my car has not started consistantly over a span of three months.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Seattle, WA, USA