Mazda issues recall on Tribute for corrosion, Ford issues same recall for Escape

Mazda has issued a statement and recall notice for 2001-2004 Tribute SUVs for a corrosion concern on the subframe. The corrosion could lead to lower control arm separation, which could result in loss of steering control.

Mazda says that about 109,000 vehicles will be affected, all of which are Tribute sport utilities sold in high-corrosion states. They report no known accidents or injuries due to the corrosion and affected customers will receive notifications in May.

According to Mazda: “Mazda has decided to conduct a safety recall on MY 2001-2004 Tribute vehicles for a corrosion concern on the subframe, which may lead to front lower control arm separation. In some affected vehicles, a corrosion-related separation of the forward attachment from the lower control arm from the subframe may occur when the vehicle is operated for an extended period in high-corrosion environments."

Meanwhile, Ford has issued a similar recall on the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner, which were developed in conjunction with Mazda's Tribute and are based on the same platform. The Ford recall is yet another in a long list of recalls for the automaker this year. This latest, which covers about 386,000 vehicles from model years 2001-2004, is along similar lines to the Mazda Tribute recall and involves the same issue.

Mazda discontinued the Tribute in 2011 when the two companies parted ways on collaboration for the SUVs, with Mazda releasing the replacement CX-5 and CX-7 on the new SKYACTIV platform while Ford re-eingeered the Escape around the new EcoBoost engine series. The 2001-2004 series of the Escape/Tribute/Mariner was the first-generation of the vehicle, with subframes and other components changing for the 2005 model year forward.