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Living only an hour away from Detroit for 30 out of 32 years of my life, I’ve made a few trips with my friends across the United States-Canadian border several times during those years. The only problem is that authorities detained me about 90 percent of the time. The first time was because I forgot my ID. We just decided to go check out Canada on a whim and I wasn’t driving, so I didn’t have my wallet. The customs officials kept us waiting for about an hour while they “checked out” our story.

A few years later, authorities stopped us for some unknown reason. When they asked if I’d ever been stopped before, I said, “No,” forgetting about the previous incident. That just made me look more suspicious.

I’m bringing these incidents up because I recently read an article that Mercedes-Benz requires you to have a Letter of Admissibility if you want to import one of their vehicles from the United States to Canada. But it’s not every MB model that falls under this regulation. The automaker provides this list to let you know which vehicles involve the letter requirement.

If you want to take your Mercedes-Benz across the border, fill out this request form and you’ll get an actual letter in the mail to show to the border agents. Just don’t do what I did and forget your ID. In today’s post-9/11 world, you might not make it back to the United States any time soon.

The talk has been building up for months. The Ford Motor Company has been wanting to shed the two luxury brands that just weren’t making much money for the automaker. And last week, it finally happened.

Ford inked the deal with Tata Motors, India’s largest auto company, to sell the two brands for more than $2 billion. That sounds like a lot, but it’s only about half of what Ford paid for the two brands when buying them a few years ago. But it isn’t just a clean break for Ford. The automaker agreed to put nearly $600 million into the pension funds for employees of each brand as a great “going away” gift to make up for any shortfalls occurring as a result of the sale.

This isn’t Tata’s first acquisition of a United States-based company, though. The India-based company has been buying many North American companies and brands in the last few years to take advantage of the weakening dollar.

The irony is that Ford acquired Jaguar because the British brand was faltering under its current company in 1989. As a result, Ford beat General Motors to the punch and acquired the luxury name. Ford planned to triple the production of Jaguar, but ended up cutting jobs and production instead. A decade later in 2000, Ford bought Land Rover from BMW for around $3 billion, but the same thing happened there, too.

Although the automaker shed itself of these two luxury brands, you can still get a beautiful Lincoln or other high-class vehicle at your local Ford dealer. See what you’ve been missing out on today!

Yesterday we discussed three good reasons to love the exclusive Sync system available at your local Ford dealer. But one post isn’t enough to cover all the benefits.  Here are four more reasons to love this handy hands-free gadget available as a standard feature in many models.

4. No Monthly Fees
Many navigational systems these days charge you a monthly fee for the convenience of the gadget. But Sync is different. When Ford installs Sync as part of the original vehicle purchase, you can enjoy everything it has to offer without that extra bill each month.

5. Texting
Instead of looking at your cell phone trying to decipher the texting lingo, you can have the Sync system read it aloud to you. With an extra piece of software, the system will even translate your spoken replies into text messages that you can send to your friends.

6. Capability of 12 Phones
You can connect up to 12 phones to your Ford Sync system, and it will recognize each one when you connect it. All you need is an easy-to-remember six-digit passkey, and changing phones takes only a few seconds.

7. Customization
Much like your cell phone, your Ford Sync offers personalized ringtones. You can even set it up so there is a different ringtone for each person on your phone list. That means you can decide if you want to take the call without even looking at your phone. It just doesn’t get much more convenient than that.

We’ve made it through seven reasons to absolutely love your Ford Sync. Tomorrow we’ll discuss the final three reasons. If you have some reasons of your own, we’d love to hear them!

The high-definition craze is making its way into your vehicles. And with the help of Mercedes-Benz, it might soon be a popular feature on many more models.

Last week, the German automaker made the announcement that it will offer HD radio in several of its new SUV models as an extra option. The R320, GL320 and ML320 are the three eco-friendly models that will have HD radio as an option in addition to Sirius Satellite Radio.

It’s going to be like a symphony to your ears!

But it doesn’t stop there. You can also get a voice-control system if you purchase one of these three models of SUV. That means you won’t even need to take your eyes off the road when you want to switch the radio from the new Britney Spears song to one of your old classic rock favorites. An optional surround-sound system is also available from Harman Kardon Logic7 as an option to help you get the full HD radio experience. As a bonus, you can even hook up your MP3 player to the speaker system so you can enjoy your favorite playlist if listening to the radio is just too spontaneous for your liking.

Look for the HD radio option in the diesel SUVs at your local Mercedes-Benz dealer later this year. Your hearing is a precious sense. Pamper it with the beauty and quality of high-definition sound.

Mercedes-Benz recently announced a new line of vehicles that provides a better fuel economy for drivers. Thanks to a few minor modifications, this “Blue Efficiency” line of luxury cars optimizes every drop of fuel you put in the tank.

And the fuel optimization doesn’t even compromise any luxury or comfort that you’ve come to know and expect from a Mercedes-Benz.

You might be wondering how the German automaker accomplished such a task. Engineers will say it was easy. They just did a few tweaks and modifications to the already efficient engine. Instead of drivers worrying about ways to save gas, such as coasting to a red light or using other inconvenient methods, the engine has “built-in” efficiency. So even if you don’t care about getting more mileage out of your tank, you will anyway.

One major modification to the Blue Efficiency line of Mercedes-Benz models is the weight of the vehicle. With a lighter body, the car is more fuel-efficient because it takes less fuel to move it. The engineers also made some slight modifications to the bodies of the vehicles to make them more aerodynamic. In addition, the windshields are thinner, part of the front grille is blocked and some components that stick out (mirrors, door handles and so on) are closer to the car to reduce air resistance even at higher speeds.

You can test-drive one of the Blue Efficiency models by visiting your local Mercedes-Benz dealer today. See the new technology that the company offers to help you get the most from your driving experience each time.

When you visit your local Ford dealer looking for a quality new vehicle,  the Sync technology exclusive to the Dearborn automaker will definitely impress you . But you might not know everything this handy little gadget can do. Here are ten things the system can do that will make you love it even more.

1. Sync Is Affordable
You would think that with all of its features, the Sync system would be out of your price range. But Ford is providing the system as a standard feature in 12 products, including Mercury and Lincoln, starting this fall. As an extra right now, it costs less than $400. That’s a steal for everything it can do!

2. Talkus Non-Interruptus
Isn’t it annoying to talk on your cell phone and then have to hang up when you get in your car so you can hook up the hands-free feature? With the Sync, you can switch from your handheld cellie to the hands-free, voice-activated feature with the push of a button. You can still tell your overly talkative aunt that you have to hang up, though. It’ll be our little secret.

3. Browse Music with Your Voice
Not only does Sync allow you to hook up your MP3 media device to the speaker system, but it also lets you browse through your collection by using your voice. You can choose a preset playlist, a particular genre, your favorite band or your favorite songs. You can also stream Internet radio stations for some unexpected surprises beyond your normal options.

So there are the first three reasons out of ten to love Ford’s Sync. Come back tomorrow for three more.

If you’re like me, you get a tad  excited whenever a company changes its slogan. The company has drilled the current slogan into your head so much that it’s almost like white noise when you hear it in an advertisement. I realize the ad execs know what they’re doing by creating a slogan that a company can stick with for years, but new slogans also bring more attention to a brand or a product.

That’s exactly what the Ford Motor Company is hoping to do with its new slogan. Instead of the current “Built Ford Tough” mantra, you’ll soon be hearing three new words in Ford advertisements. Are you ready for this one? The new slogan is:

Ford. Drive One.

I don’t know about you, but I like it. Slogans should be simple yet effective. And I think these three words serve both goals for the automaker that has experienced financial problems in the last decade or so.

The new slogan also follows the tradition of past Ford slogans. Does anybody remember the “Job One” slogan from several years ago? Or does the “Have you driven a Ford lately” slogan ring a bell? And if you’re a hardcore Ford fan, you might even recognize the less successful slogans, like “No Boundaries” and “Bold Moves.”

The automaker is also asking its many Ford dealer owners to echo this new slogan for customers coming through the doors of their facilities.  According to officials, the simple slogan will bring back once-loyal customers who have fallen away due to issues with quality in recent years.

Combined with all of the other strategies that Ford is planning, it should have a great impact on sales. Hopefully, it will just be one of the many things that brings Ford back to its lead role in the automobile industry.

How many times have you been annoyed by the fact that you need to check your oil every couple of weeks? You’re all dressed up for an important event when you stop to fill up your gas tank and realize it’s been a while since you checked the oil. So then you lift the hood and pull out the dipstick, only to get oil all over your fingers and your dressy tan pants. The night is ruined.

But the engineers at Mercedes-Benz are working to avoid such inconveniences in the future. With the automaker’s new oil monitoring system, you can see exactly what’s going on with your oil from a dashboard indicator. In addition to the oil level, the system will also detect the quality to let you know precisely when you need to get an oil change. So far, the system has extended oil change intervals by about 25 percent because drivers know exactly when the quality has deteriorated to the point of needing this service.

This monitoring system will be especially useful for those who own fleets of vehicles for their businesses. Knowing the best time to change the oil reduces downtime for the workers and the vehicles with fewer oil changes.

This new oil monitoring system should be available in vehicles at your local Mercedes-Benz dealer pretty soon. The automaker will likely offer it in the S-Class models first and then incorporate it into the full line of MB vehicles after that.

Have you ever dreamed of owning a luxurious Mercedes-Benz but you just can’t afford it? Well here’s your chance. On April 12, you can be the proud owner of a classic Benz. The only thing you have to do is enter a raffle with 25 dollars that helps the homeless.

The organization sponsoring the event is Homeward Bound, a shelter for the homeless in Grand Junction. All of the proceeds from the 25 dollar tickets help the shelter pay its bills, including water, electricity and heating. Homeward Bound is one of the largest shelters in the area and provides food and comfort to more homeless people than any other organization around.

Here’s some information about the car that you can win. It’s not a brand new Mercedes-Benz, but it’s a classic car that anybody would love. In fact, it’s a 1973 Mercedes donated by Jon Wickre, a former member of the shelter’s board. He could have traded it in for another vehicle, but he decided to “do something meaningful with it” instead of benefitting from it personally. It was his idea to auction it off to help the homeless and the less fortunate families in the community.

The shelter can use all the help it can get. According to one Homeward Bound official, the operation costs for the shelter continue to go up every year. Combined with declining contributions from the government and others, the shelter sometimes has barely enough money to cover its bills. If enough people are interested in this auction, the shelter will have enough money to pay its bills for the next few months at least.

You can help the homeless in your own community by contacting one of the local shelters, too. They’re always willing to take donations or contributions from caring community members.

Last week was the deadline for more than 50,000 Ford employees to choose a buyout option or continue working for the Dearborn automaker. Iit’s a difficult decision for each individual employee to consider, but the huge buyout program serves long-range goals for the Ford Motor Company.  
With the struggling economy and the flailing demand for domestic automobiles in the last two years, Ford sees these buyouts as an ideal way to cut its workforce to match the dwindling demand for its products. The automaker reported more than $15 billion in losses in the last two years, and this forced Ford to close factories and cut its workforce by one-third. According to Ford officials, the automaker is conforming to a new business approach, a “leaner and meaner” way to do things. Ford’s plans must be flexible enough to change and thrive in a shifting global economy. For right now, that means massive downsizing for thousands of current hourly employees.

Offering retirement benefits, scholarship programs and other generous enticements, Ford and the UAW agreed on the available buyout packages in an effort to be fair to employees without making stockholders angry. Some buyout packages even offered ways to help employees get their own businesses up and running so they can still create viable incomes for themselves and their families.
Those who chose to continue working for Ford may have missed their chances at future buyouts. There aren’t any plans in the works to offer anything like this any time soon, if ever. Let’s hope the workers made the right decisions for their futures as well as the company’s future.