Classics & Clunkers

©2009 Simon Revere Mouer III, all rights reserved

Things
 I love and hate

The Bad

The Ugly

The Good

Bad dealer - expensive repairs and something always fails shortly after every service.

Short warranty period

Clutch pedal fell off its hinge at 17,000 miles

Auto-adjusting clutch failed at 23,000 miles

Alternator failed at 54,000 miles

Power steering failed at 54,000 miles

Fuel Pump replaced at 72,000 miles 

$25 to change a front $5 turn lamp because the wheel has to be removed to access it.

No cabin air filter included, though receptacle for one.

All the many premature failures and irritations to the left makes this a poorly engineered car.  Still, if you buy it cheap enough, it might be a fairly good buy. 

It was wheezing, bucking and hesitating badly at just a slight pressure on the accelerator.  A new set of sparkplugs (NGK IX iridium) solved that, and now the car runs fairly smooth.  

Virtually every premature failure on this vehicle was a Ford part.  Just get rid of all the crappy Ford FoMoCo parts on this car as soon as possible. 

NEVER USE FoMoCo REPLACEMENT PARTS -- THEY ARE INFERIOR PRODUCTS,

2001 Mazda Tribute
4-cylinder, standard manual transmission

The Mazda Tribute came loaded with accessories as standard equipment, such as roof rack, alloy wheels, a/c, CD player, rear window washer and defogger (extras on sister Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner.)

Other pluses are spacious cargo (I put a 26 cu ft refrigerator in it), enduring design, and good mileage.

You can save money and get better service by avoiding the dealer, and taking the vehicle to WalMart or Pep Boys for service