I was selling cars at Mazda as they phased out the Tributes for the incoming CX-5's. They were sold at pretty heft discounts I recall so cheap models should be plentiful. There are 0 differences, hell the spares in the parts department were shipped in Ford boxes.
Leather will be easier to find in the Fords as it was a standalone option with the seat heaters, you had to go to a Tribute GT for that stuff I think.
I liked them, they felt cheap but then again they were; much cheaper than the CX-7's we had in the showroom next to them, and they still looked like an SUV. I never heard any major complaints out of the service department with em, and we had customers on their second or third models. I almost bought one when I left the dealership. The 4-banger should be fine unless you're towing or really loading it up.
With the stick, have you driven one? I absolutely hated that truck with a stickshift. Weird shifter/clutch combo, compared to the rest of the Mazda line at least, but then again this was a Ford unit. Shifter was notchy and the clutch very abrubt. OK on the move but from a start was annoying. Maybe once you got used to it. Stick was only available with FWD, at least with the Mazda's.
