How many miles will a 2008 Mazda Tribute last?
Half of the 169 NHTSA owner complaints on the 2008 Mazda Tribute that list mileage came after 81,000 miles, and 1 in 10 after 178,000 miles. NHTSA's complaints file of November 11, 2026 holds 202 complaints on this model year; each mileage is the odometer when an owner reported a safety problem, not how long the vehicle lasted.
Buying this 2008 Tribute? Enter its VIN.
Complaint figures describe the model year, not one vehicle. The decode is free; the original ClearVIN PDF is $14.99 one time, with no account: odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for that VIN.
Title brands · Odometer records · Auction history, where reported
No subscription. No charge to check the VIN. Report contents vary by vehicle; applicable tax is shown at checkout.
See what the paid report includes →Of the 169 complaints on the 2008 Mazda Tribute that list mileage, the middle half came between 50,000 and 124,000 miles; 61 (36%) came after 100,000 miles, 24 (14%) after 150,000 and 8 (5%) after 200,000.
Check the records on file before you buy
VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a used 2008 Mazda Tribute.
One VIN. One $14.99 history report.
For $14.99, VIN Lookup delivers an original ClearVIN vehicle-history PDF for the 2008 Mazda Tribute VIN you enter: title brands, odometer readings, accident and auction records on file. ClearVIN is on the U.S. Department of Justice’s list of approved NMVTIS data providers; VIN Lookup sells that original report. The records returned vary by VIN.
The VIN decode is free. No card is needed until you choose to buy; applicable tax is shown at checkout. A missing record is not proof that an event never happened.No account · Refund reviewed if not delivered, unopenable or wrong VIN by our error · Sold by VIN Lookup (SH LLC, Sheridan, WY)Original provider PDF
One time, no subscription
How many miles will a 2008 Tribute last?
The 169 mileages owners gave run from 2 to 278,000 miles. A quarter are at or under 50,000 miles, half at or under 82,000, three quarters at or under 124,000 and nine in ten at or under 178,901; 61 (36%) came after 100,000 miles, 24 (14%) after 150,000 and 8 (5%) after 200,000.
These mileages say when owners reported a problem, not when a 2008 Tribute wears out. NHTSA's file holds only vehicles whose owners complained; one that ran without a problem never appears in it, so it gives no lifespan and no cutoff, and how a vehicle was maintained matters more than any one odometer reading.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Lowest mileage listed | 2 miles |
| 25th percentile | 50,000 miles |
| Median (50th percentile) | 82,000 miles |
| 75th percentile | 124,000 miles |
| 90th percentile | 178,901 miles |
| Highest mileage listed | 278,000 miles |
| Complaints after 100,000 miles | 61 (36%) |
| Complaints after 150,000 miles | 24 (14%) |
| Complaints after 200,000 miles | 8 (5%) |
Every model year together: Half of the 1,386 NHTSA owner complaints on the Mazda Tribute that list mileage came after 82,000 miles (NHTSA complaints file of November 11, 2026). How many miles will a Mazda Tribute last? →
Common problems with the 2008 Tribute
NHTSA's file holds 202 owner complaints on the 2008 Mazda Tribute. Owners named steering most often: 94 complaints, and half of the 72 that list a mileage came after 100,000 miles. A complaint can name more than one component.
| Component (NHTSA category) | Complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steering | 94 | 72 | 100,090 |
| Vehicle Speed Control | 53 | 47 | 60,000 |
| Power Train | 25 | 23 | 72,000 |
| Electrical System | 15 | 11 | 90,000 |
| Service Brakes | 10 | 8 | 130,000 |
Of the 202 complaints, 6 report a crash, 1 reports a fire and 6 report an injury (12 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Is the 2008 Tribute a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2008 is a good or a bad Tribute: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2008 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file.
With 202 complaints, the 2008 ranks 4th of the 10 Mazda Tribute model years from 2001 to 2011 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2001 (563). The fewest: the 2011 (14).
Recent model years have had less time to collect complaints, so their counts are still growing. No year is ranked by mileage here, because a year's median mileage mostly follows its age.
| Model year | Owner complaints | Listing mileage | Median mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 Tribute | 563 | 233 | 68,538 |
| 2002 Tribute | 384 | 210 | 68,214 |
| 2003 Tribute | 199 | 150 | 74,351 |
| 2004 Tribute | 157 | 130 | 100,000 |
| 2005 Tribute | 377 | 312 | 101,000 |
| 2006 Tribute | 135 | 111 | 77,000 |
| 2008 (this page) | 202 | 169 | 82,000 |
| 2009 Tribute | 36 | 30 | 85,200 |
| 2010 Tribute | 39 | 30 | 57,000 |
| 2011 Tribute | 14 | 11 | 39,000 |
Every Tribute year compared on NHTSA’s complaints and recalls: Mazda Tribute years to avoid →
2008 Mazda Tribute recalls
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 5 recall campaigns that name the 2008 Mazda Tribute (4 vehicle campaigns and 1 equipment or tire campaign that names this model year, often for aftermarket parts). A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
| Campaign | Report received | Component |
|---|---|---|
| 15V677000 | Oct 19, 2015 | POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:LEVER AND LINKAGE:FLOOR SHIFT |
| 15E045000 | Jun 3, 2015 | SUSPENSION:FRONT:WHEEL BEARING |
| 14V552000 | Sep 10, 2014 | HYBRID PROPULSION SYSTEM |
| 14V282000 | May 29, 2014 | STEERING:ELECTRIC POWER ASSIST SYSTEM |
| 12V357000 | Jul 27, 2012 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:CABLES |
What these figures can and cannot tell you
- Complaints are owners’ reports to NHTSA. NHTSA publishes them without verifying them: a complaint is an allegation, not a defect finding.
- The mileage is what the owner wrote on the complaint; NHTSA does not check it against the odometer.
- The make, model and model year are the ones on the complaint. NHTSA records them as filed, so a few complaints sit under a model year the name was not sold in.
- They are not a lifespan study. The file holds only vehicles whose owners reported a problem, so these figures do not say how long a typical 2008 Tribute lasts.
- A complaint count rises with how many vehicles were sold and how long they have been on the road, so it is not a rating of the 2008 Tribute.
- Nothing here describes one vehicle: its title brands, odometer readings, accidents and open recalls are in the records for its own VIN.
- 33 of the 202 complaints on the 2008 Mazda Tribute give no usable mileage (blank, zero, a filler such as 999999, or over 500,000) and are left out of every mileage figure.
- NHTSA names counted: TRIBUTE and TRIBUTE HYBRID. NHTSA files some vehicles under several names (a series name and a trim name, for example); this page counts only these.
- Recall-file names matched: TRIBUTE and TRIBUTE HYBRID.
Primary sources behind this page
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- NHTSA complaints flat file (FLAT_CMPL.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Complaints file field layout (CMPL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recalls flat file (FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.zip), downloaded November 11, 2026National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls file field layout (RCL.txt)National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- NHTSA recall and complaint datasets: scope and documentationNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Recalls Lookup by VINNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NHTSA’s complaints file was downloaded on November 11, 2026 (FLAT_CMPL.txt, dated 2026-11-11 10:15, 2,265,416 rows), with its recall files (FLAT_RCL_PRE_2010.txt and FLAT_RCL_POST_2010.txt, dated 2026-11-11 08:02). Each complaint is counted once, by its NHTSA number, with the model year and mileage of its first row; a model year has a page only with 10 or more complaints. The collection script and its rules are in scripts/collect-nhtsa-model-year-longtail.mjs.
2008 Mazda Tribute questions
How many miles will a 2008 Mazda Tribute last?
Half of the 169 NHTSA owner complaints on the 2008 Mazda Tribute that list mileage came after 81,000 miles, and 1 in 10 after 178,000 miles. Of the 169 complaints on the 2008 Mazda Tribute that list mileage, the middle half came between 50,000 and 124,000 miles; 61 (36%) came after 100,000 miles, 24 (14%) after 150,000 and 8 (5%) after 200,000. These are mileages at a reported problem, not a lifespan: the file holds no 2008 Tribute that never had one.
What are the most common 2008 Mazda Tribute problems?
NHTSA's file holds 202 owner complaints on the 2008 Mazda Tribute. Owners named steering most often: 94 complaints, and half of the 72 that list a mileage came after 100,000 miles. A complaint can name more than one component. Of the 202 complaints, 6 report a crash, 1 reports a fire and 6 report an injury (12 people reported injured). These are owners' reports to NHTSA, not findings.
Is the 2008 Mazda Tribute a good year?
Complaint counts cannot say whether the 2008 is a good or a bad Tribute: they rise with how many were sold and how long they have been on the road. They show how the 2008 compares with the other model years in NHTSA's file. With 202 complaints, the 2008 ranks 4th of the 10 Mazda Tribute model years from 2001 to 2011 with 10 or more complaints, counting from the most. The most: the 2001 (563). The fewest: the 2011 (14).
How many recalls does the 2008 Mazda Tribute have?
NHTSA's recall files of November 11, 2026 list 5 recall campaigns that name the 2008 Mazda Tribute (4 vehicle campaigns and 1 equipment or tire campaign that names this model year, often for aftermarket parts). A campaign covers a production range, not every vehicle of the model year: check the VIN with NHTSA's free recall lookup.
How do I check a used 2008 Mazda Tribute before buying?
Take the 17-character VIN from the vehicle and compare the odometer with the readings on file for it: title transfers, inspections and auction sales record the mileage on the day. VIN Lookup (free-vin-lookup.com) sells the original ClearVIN PDF for $14.99 (3 reports for $29.99, 5 for $44.99): odometer readings, title brands and auction records on file for the VIN. Check the VIN before buying a used 2008 Mazda Tribute.