Mazda Tribute Owner's Manuals

The 2011 Mazda Tribute is a renamed Ford Escape that looks more like a traditional SUV than a crossover. And without the Escape’s high-tech features, this SUV can’t match the new generation of compact crossovers.
The 2011 Mazda Tribute must be tough on the family. Like a redheaded stepchild, this compact crossover stands out like an oddball among its Mazda counterparts with its dapper profiles, powerful fender extenders and wide-mouthed grilles. That’s because the Tribute was “from a different family.” Remove the badges from the Mazda Tribute, and you get a Ford Escape, save for many of Ford’s attractive high-tech features.
The Tribute and its Ford twin date back to the turn of the millennium, and you can tell that this car’s blocky shape and upright driver position are indicative of the truck-based SUVs that “ruled the car market” in 2000. Since then, the Tribute has been thoroughly updated with styling, vastly improved interior quality and more powerful engines, but the basic vehicle remains the same. That means it lacks new, now commonplace features such as a telescoping steering wheel or a reclining and sliding rear seat. And it rides like a truck, which feels very unlike a Mazda.
More importantly, try to answer yourself why someone would choose the 2011 Mazda Tribute over the Ford Escape, as the Ford can be equipped with an advanced navigation system, superior automatic parking technology and an innovative Sync electronic interface that includes cell phone and iPod connectivity as well as voice control.