Road Tests: Long-Term Test

Video highlights of this vehicle

Driving the Mazda Tribute for the month posed quite a quandary for Associate Editor Liz Kim this month. See, usually she's an ardent SUV critic, with their gas-guzzling ways and truck-based platforms that are, at least for her, at odds with pleasant driving experiences.

But while the Tribute swills unleaded like Peter O'Toole does Bombay Sapphire, at one point burning a gallon for every 15 miles driven, the raucous-but-peppy 200-horsepower V6 and its tidy dimensions which rival that of a compact car while still providing substantial cargo capacity made the transgression forgivable. Furthermore, a four-wheel independent suspension, unibody construction and a remarkably tight turning diameter of 36.8 feet all contributed to such a driver-friendly vehicle that she couldn't squelch the fondness that burgeoned in her heart. But she notes that those who prefer a soft, comfortable ride will mind the suspension, which is mucho harsho over bumps; cruising along on uneven pavement produced a series of teeth-jarring thwacks through the cabin. Its ability to remain relatively flat and composed through corners and twisties is the rewarding payback. And hey, how can you go wrong with an in-dash six-disc CD changer?

She also liked the looks of the truck, preferring it to the homeliness of its fraternal twin, the Ford Escape. She surmised that the Mazda Tribute and the Ford Escape are much like the Baldwin brothers; you know that they're from the same family, but, somehow, Billy's so much better looking than Stephen.

Miss Kim dropped off the Tribute at Santa Monica Mazda for its 7,500-mile service, which occurred a little late with 7,995 miles on the odometer. When she called to make an appointment, she was told that one wasn't necessary, and that she could drop it off at her convenience. She did so at 9 a.m., and also alerted the service advisor that a new foglight assembly, a driver-side mirror, clips for the tailgate panel, kick-panel screws and a wiper blade to replace an ill-fitting one had been ordered on January 2. He said that he'd look into whether they had arrived, and she was told that the car would be ready later in the afternoon.

At 5:30 in the evening, an antsy Kim called to see if the car was indeed ready and was told brusquely that they would require another day. Geez, thanks for calling to let her know beforehand, so that she could make arrangements. Luckily, she had another car to ferry her home; she surmised that if she were a normal customer and didn't have access to a fleet of company cars, she would be quite upset.

The next day, at around 10 a.m., she called again; a couple of more hours, she was told. At 1 p.m., she called once more and was overjoyed to hear the sweet words "It's ready for pickup!" She appropriated the services of Road Test Coordinator Neil Chirico, who had been a service advisor in a previous life, to drive her to the dealership. Luckily, he hung around. They dropped a dime in the meter, thinking that it would take no more than 12 minutes. It took much longer than that; Mr. Chirico tells the sordid tale of the Mazda pickup:

"We arrived at the dealer, after we called to confirm that the vehicle was ready for pickup. The real question was if the paperwork was completed, but shouldn't that have been a given?

"We were promptly greeted on the service drive by an advisor who told us that our guy was out to lunch and directed us toward the cashier window. The service cashier looked through her pending pile of papers, but could not locate our vehicle's paperwork. She told us it would be a few minutes.

"We waited while she ran to see what the holdup was on our paperwork. She came back by us on the way to one of the other offices, leaving the cashier window empty for the time being. After some time had passed, our paperwork was dropped off at her work station, although she was still not back. We waited and waited, until more time had passed and the person who had dropped the paperwork off came back to see if another person could complete it for us."

Twelve minutes had passed, so we ran to put in another dime in the meter.

Neil continues: "The other person working in the office then attempted to help complete the paperwork, but did not really seem to be making progress. More waiting. After a while the original cashier came back and was surprised that we were still there waiting, so she took over the job of completing our paperwork.

"She finally called us to the window, and we reviewed the charges. The first thing we noticed was that we were not charged for a foglamp, even though they had replaced it and charged us for the labor. Next we noticed that on two of the warranty repair lines, parts were special ordered (a driver side kick-panel screw and clips for the inside tailgate panel) for concerns that we had inquired about during the last service visit. Why did they have to special order parts again? Somehow, the windshield washer fluid that should be included with the 7,500-mile service was put on the wrong line. I asked about the special ordered parts and was referred to our service advisor, but the cashier did look into why we were not charged for the foglamp.

"After we waited some more, she called us back up, and we were told that the foglamp had been paid for on the last service visit. Since we were not present when the vehicle was brought in for the previous service visit, we did not know this. Chalk one point up for dealer integrity. She had also moved the windshield washer fluid to the correct line with the service items. We paid the bill and proceeded to our service advisor to ask about the special ordered items."

Twelve more minutes. Liz dug deep in her pocket and found a quarter, which gave them 30 whole minutes. Plenty, right?

"He had just returned from lunch, and we caught him off guard as he did not know we had been there and waiting," Neil says. "When asked about the special ordered items, he gave us a line about having to order more parts, which in service advisor speak means they forgot to order them the first time. I had also noticed that the original estimate given was for $155.00 but our final invoice said $175.00. I decided to ask the service advisor if he knew why there was a difference (the California Bureau of Automotive Repair does not allow changes to the estimate without prior written or verbal approval from the customer, to protect you from being overcharged)." Had Liz received any contact authorizing an increase in the estimate for the repairs? Nope.

"I then asked our service advisor if he could account for the difference in the estimates. He explained that it was the wiper blades for the $20.00 difference in the estimates, until I pointed out that they were a warranty item. Ah hah! He then proceeded to make changes to our billing. I told him I really did not need to have him change the billing; I just wanted to know why there was a discrepancy."

The thirty minutes had passed; in went another quarter.

"After getting back to the service cashier again, we were told we would receive a $6.02 refund back to our credit card. I then asked the cashier if I could have a copy of the original invoice, to see where the charges were changed. She explained to me that once she made the changes, the original was no longer valid. I then explained to her that I understood that, but wanted the paperwork back to compare the two. We went back and forth in this issue until our service advisor came over and intervened.

"I explained to him that I wanted to know what charges were changed. He told me that since it didn't matter as long as the bill was correct, I should not care. I then told him that with my background as a service advisor I was curious to see where the changes were made. I said that he either removed the difference from the labor for the foglamp or the labor for the 7,500-mile service. He admitted that he changed the labor on the service.

"Seriously, I wasn't trying to give him or the cashier a hard time. I was merely trying to discern whether he made a mistake on the original estimate or if the billing (sometimes when you buy a service package, like a 7,500-mile service, the service would cost more if you separated the individual items out as opposed to the packaged price). It turns out that he was just trying to make up for his mistake and the billing was indeed correct."

Well. An hour and a half, 70 cents in change and worn patience later, we finally left with our Mazda Tribute with more questions than answers. A person who didn't have the time or expertise to analyze the invoice would have merely assumed that everything was in order and left on their merry way.

Was the $6.02 worth it? Certainly not. Should they have gotten it right in the first place? Uh, yeah. Six dollars here, six dollars there; in the big picture of things, it's not a lot of money (especially since we have the luxury of expensing our cars' services), but it matters.

Not to mention the fact that we still have to return to install the special order parts.

Current Odometer: 8,727
Best Fuel Economy: 19.9 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 14.3 mpg
Average Fuel Economy (over the life of the vehicle): 18.3 mpg
Body Repair Costs: $75.00 (replace foglamp)
Maintenance Costs: $87.30 (7,500-mile service -- includes tire rotation, oil and filter change, brake inspection, 27-point inspection)
Problems: None