Plenty of room. Miss the outside temp gauge, but than again I know how it feels outside :) 3 young kids incl. carseat and plenty of room. I am not missing my expedition! Drove the Escape and the Santa Fe each for an overnight test drive, hated the blue lighting in Santa fe, and the Escape was a bit rougher ride. Overall very happy with the Tribute!

Overall, I have really loved my new 2008 i touring Mazda Tribute. The small SUV comes standard with so many options that other SUV's charge you for. The upgraded stereo sytem with the 6-CD changer sounds like you are at a concert. The seating is so comfortable, both the driver's and the passenger seating as well as the back seat. The safty rating's are excellent. I have had my new 2008 Tribute for about 3 months, no major trouble and the small to mid-size SUV handles like a dream. I test drove many other small to mid size SUV's and all of them came up short compaired to the Mazda. The emergency brake really bother's me, it should have been a hand brake. It is very uncomfortable to release the emergency brake, your face is smashed into the steering wheel to do so. The gas mileage is around 24-26 mpg overall and that is for the 4 cyl, not much pick up and go for passing but the mpg is decent. Love my new Mazda Tribute. I expect to see many of these on the roads. Overall rating on a scale of 1-5 would be a 4 1/2. Good job Mazda.

I never like the Tributes before and when I drove on the lot with my 06 Mazda3 and saw the new Tribute Iwas pleasantly surprised and bought one. Mine is black with the black/camel interior. Very sharp looking. We went to Gatlinburg, TN for Christmas and stayed at the top of Ski Mountain (very top) and this vehicle was amazing going up the mountain with only a 4 cylinder. I just could not believe how well it did. Anyway, I love mine and plan on keeping it for a long time.

after spending months driving the "sister" suv's (hyundai, ford, mercury) this was far more comfortable, and even the 4cyl has great pick up. Awesome suv for the money!

Great value for the money. Plenty of space and power (if you don' need to haul). For commuting to work and cargo is excellent. The power steering is very good. Is nice that traction control and vehicle stability control are standard in this 08 model. The dashboard have piano black finish with blue illumination which looks stylish. It comes with 16 in rims so I probably change that in the near future.

This is my second Tribute. The first one was a little rough around the edges and had to have 3 alternator replacements at $500. each.
First one had a harsh ride and not great cloth interior. Interior lighting was poor and controls were hard to find when driving. This 2008
handles fairly well and does not suffer from the bone jolting ride my other Tribute did. The body looks good. A lot like a mini 2004 vintage Navigator copy. The stereo is great and I like the printout of the songs.
My big complaint is that I wanted leather seats becasue I have dogs and instead found I got only leather trimmed seats. Just o.k.
Gas mileage seems about the same which is not great, however Mazda has dropped the price about 4 grande so it beats the competition. One amusing point is that the manual states that
the vehicle was manufactured by Ford for Mazda. So either Escape or Tribute doesnt matter.

Over all I have enjoyed my Tribute. It is a fun car. Need to have more Zoom-Zoom. Hall dealership was great to work with. Hope to have this car another 15 years. Usually only buy Volvo's.

What were they thinking - yellow inserts on an otherwise grey interior
Apparently lots of rethinking has already ocurred. June production now offers Greystone interiors (not bad) and November production will be offering black interiors (same as in previous models)

I shopped months for a Sport Ute and kept telling my wife "I don't wanna buy a Hyundai" (SantaFe) so I finally settled on the Ford Escape. Ford dealers were downright awful, so I gav eup and went to Wayne Mazda (NJ) and am much happier with the choice -- bought at end of month, quote request via Internet, very very good deal (2 salesmen left dealership on me by the time all was done, but heck, that's life). No particular trim problems, but the car was a bit scratched here and there on their lot. Not kewl. Beware the wheel locks -- they need to attach the right ones (Ford) or you won't be able to use the wrench that comes with the car when you blow a tire to get them off!

Look is great, not cute-ute-ish. I get 22 on average with mostly local driving, but HWY mix gives just slightly better. The I4 engine is peppy, loud-ish, and definitely not zoom-zoom. Tranny does a good job compensating, a bit slow to downshift uphill tho. Ride is really quiet, confortable, except on accelleration, but so what. The throttle is standard, not drive by wire. The radio stack is impressive, good sound with bass thumper. Car starts by just tapping the key on, neat -- balked twice, rough started, but did start. Can't wait to try the seat warmers. Leather is nice, strange choice of colors on dashboard. Dash plastic look is nice, but shows prints/dirt. Awesome storage in front arm rest, mediocre storage in glove box. Auto lights are good, but they go on too quick when driving through underpasses in slow moving traffic.

I definitely think Mazda got the short end on the accessories/options. The display shows spots for temp right next to the clock but there was no high-end climate control like the Ford. There is minimal storage in back under the carpet, although you've got to know there's plenty of space down there, just hard plastic in the way of using it right now. Waiting for the remote start accessory to arrive, winter is around the corner, so Mazda get it together.

Buy this car.

I bought my Mazda Tribute (LX) the first year they were out in 2001 and believe me they were hard to find! Now I see more and more of them. Much better head room than the Ford Escape and I like the arm rest in the Tribute - not in the Escape. I think the Tribute is a lot classier than the Escape. I only have 58,000 miles on my vehicle so I feel like I am just breaking it in! Interior is holding up great and I don't have any rust damage...so far so good. All around it is a great vehicle. Also very roomy for a small-size SUV. One other thing - I have the 6 pack cd player and it still works great. No complaints. I would highly recommend this vehicle.