Autos
– Ford plans to sell the Lincoln MKZ sedan, MKX crossover and Navigator through Amazon.com. Prospective customers can click on the Lincoln page where they can select options, price their vehicle and connect with a “personal assistant” who will act as their go-between with a the closest traditional dealer. “This is patently absurd. The logic eludes me,” Oakland University marketing professor John Henke tells The Detroit News. “This isn’t something you can buy on the Web. You’re going to want to test drive, to sit in it. The personal interface on a high-priced product is extremely important.”
Recalls
– Chrysler is recalling 127,928 2005-06 Pacificas with fuel-pump modules and powertrain-control module software that may allow the engine to stall under certain conditions. Dealers will reprogram the powertrain-control module and replace the fuel-pump module.
– Chrysler is recalling 2,258 2007 Sebring sedans to replace a latch part that may break and allow the hood to open while driving.
– Ford is recalling 422 2007 Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis sedans to properly secure the windshield to the body.
– Chrysler also has begun mailing an owner’s manual addendum to owners of 18,245 2007 Jeep Compass SUVs it include required warning information about the higher risk of rollover in an SUV.
Air
– Smokers thought the Central Illinois Regional Airport at Bloomington-Normal could be an oasis with ashtrays when neighboring central Illinois cities launch new indoor smoking bans next year. Airport commissioners had voted to allow smoking for at least a year despite the city bans. They maintained the airport has its own governing body. But Bloomington City Atty. Todd Greenburg says the airport can’t exempt itself from the city’s smoke-free ordinance.
FYI
– Chicago’s winter parking restrictions took effect at 3 a.m. Friday. Parking is banned on 107 miles of main priority routes from 3 to 7 a.m. daily through April 1 regardless of weather conditions. Violators face a minimum $150 towing fee plus a $50 ticket. Parking on another 500 miles of city streets is banned at anytime at least 2 inches of snow has fallen. Cars in violation can be ticketed and relocated nearby.
– A New Mexico resident has discovered an unadvertised option in a used car he recently purchased in Hobbs: 22 pounds of marijuana. The weed, valued at $28,000, was under the back seat, police say. Lea County Drug Task Force Cmdr. Allyn Pennington says an investigation is under way and declined to speculate about why the drugs may have been in the vehicle.
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Quick Trips are compiled from the notebooks of Jim Mateja and Rick Popely, and from Tribune news services.
