You’re too busy to get to the dealership to test drive a car – so what’s a savvy social networker to do? Just tweet, and Buick will bring the car to you, pretty much wherever you are.

Available in Chicago, you’ll be able to book a test drive using Twitter. The “Tweet to Drive” campaign will also make its way to Austin, Texas, in September and Philadelphia in October. If all goes well, more cities could be added in the future.

Here’s what you do: Log on to your Twitter account and follow @DriveBuickChi. Send them a reply complete with a location and destination for your test drive within the Chicago area.

You can schedule your test drive from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week in a 2010 LaCrosse or 2011 Regal for up to two hours, one way or round trip. They will pick you up anywhere within a 20-mile radius of downtown Chicago.

Hoping to reach a younger demographic, the object of this marketing program is to get more people to notice Buick. Over the past three years, the automaker has given its entire lineup an update and wants to raise awareness of the LaCrosse and recently launched Regal.

The “Tweet to Drive” campaign is already up and running, but will end for Chicago on October 31. If you live in Philadelphia or Austin, you can similar setups with different Twitter accounts.

You can check out the age limitations and other rules as well as insurance forms that need to get filled out by checking out Buick’s Facebook page.

[Source: Kicking Tires]

Recently Ford engineers drove a modified Fiesta concept car from Ann Arbor, Mich., to San Mateo, Calif., as part of a new technology experiment. Along the journey it was the Fiesta, and not the folks inside it, Tweeting about the trip.

Equipped with software called the “Auto”matic Blog, the Fiesta (named AJ) was able to send out tweets about its location, speed, acceleration and braking. It did this by tapping into the vehicle’s onboard telemetry, GPS system and ECU, even knowing when the headlights are on (must be getting dark) and when the wipers are being used (must be raining).

Connected to the internet, impressively, the software can even search real-time traffic info and weather conditions, commenting that it’s no looking forward to what’s coming up.

Once AJ even commented that he, she, it was joyful. When asked how a car can be joyful, Joe Rork, one of the IT brains behind the project commented that, “There’s no traffic, and it’s not raining and it’s enjoying a winding road.”

Incredibly, in order to pull off this stunt, Ford used mostly readily-available technology like a high-speed connection, Wi-Fi router and Dell computer with Windows 7.

According to Rork, the project is just an extension of Ford’s already high-tech vision for cars of the future. While Tweeting cars might not be around the corner, Ford will soon add Twitter feed capability to its SYNC-equipped cars later this year.

[Source: NYT]

Twitter is great for keeping abreast what’s going on in the lives of the people you follow. You can find out what’s going on in the world, learn what people are eating for breakfast and get the good news and the not-so-good news as it happens. And if you’re in California, chances are you’re going to tweet about the speeding ticket you just got.

Freeinsurancequotes.com has recently analyzed how many Twitter users take to Internet to complain about their traffic tickets. And the results are in: California leads the US in ticket tweets, with 14 percent tweeting about tickets. Not surprisingly, 44 percent of those Tweets came from Los Angeles. Following behind California is New York (8 percent), Texas (7 percent), Florida (6 percent) and Ohio (5 percent). Rounding out the top states at 4 percent are Colorado, North Carolina, Virginia, Illinois and Georgia.

We’re not sure what good Tweeting about your traffic ticket is going to do – venting, calls for donations, proclamations of your innocence. But we’re sure most Twitter users would agree that they are much more interesting to read than those about the cute things your cat is doing.

[Source: FreeInsuranceQuotes.org]

And don’t forget to follow AutoGuide on Twitter

BMW has launched a career information page on their Facebook fan page, allowing brand enthusiasts to seek out employment opportunities without having to navigate through a corporate website.

The Facebook page will also allow users to forward job openings to their friends using the “share” function. Job seekers will also be able to use a Twitter account the alerts them to job vacancies.

“Our activities in the field of social media aim to give users the opportunity to discuss career issues with us and at the same time allow us to tell them about our innovative and exciting projects,” said Christine Regler, BMW’s head of International HR Marketing.

With more than 400 million users worldwide, Facebook is able to reach enormous amounts of people, and BMW is hoping to leverage their substantial fan base to find a few good men and women to add to their ranks.

[Source: BMW]

Are you financially liable for statements made on Facebook and Twitter? Kalamazoo, Michigan’s T&J Towing says yes, by filing a $750,000 lawsuit against a college student for libel and defamation of character. Autoblog reports that the student, Justin Kurtz, simply started up the Facebook group, “Kalamazoo Residents Against T&J Towing,” after sharing stories with others in his area that T&J had been towing cars inappropriately from legal parking spaces. Kurtz invited others to join the Facebook group and share their stories. Many have, and after browsing the page’s wall, it doesn’t seem like Kalamazoo residents have many nice things to say about T&J Towing.

T&J management filed the suit, which strangely includes an exact dollar amount (libel suits rarely specify a figure), citing loss of revenue, which brings up to two points:

First, it a company really loses $750,000 in two months because of a Facebook Group, then every time a business screws with anyone, you should start a Facebook Group for (or against) that cause.

Second, towing companies are one of the few industries with totally involuntary customers. Sure, you “may” have to park illegally first in order to deal with a tow company, but how often is your car on a tow truck because you want it to be? Odds are, never. So why would a bunch of people talking smack on the internet have anything to do with loss of revenue? As long as the owners of those lots, the people requesting cars get towed are happy, why would the “victims” complaining about it cause loss of revenue?

As a legal professor explains in the video below, T&J has to prove that the libelous statements originated from Kurtz and that they aren’t true in order to win this case, but they probably just want to scare people away from talking smack on the internet, showing that they aren’t afraid to sue you for it.

[Source: Autoblog]

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In an effort to provide better customer support and head off problems before they get out of control, General Motors has created a new “task force” aimed at monitoring social media sites for complaints about GM vehicles and looking to find solutions.

A report in the Detroit Free Press highlights the story of one woman, Melissa Walker, who’s complaints about her 2001 Cadillac DeVille on Twitter were picked up by GM’s new team of customer service agents. GM wasn’t able to solve the problem, but Walker was left with a positive feeling about the experience, and Tweeted to say as much – exactly what GM is looking for.

Last July GM set up a team of 50 customer service agents to chat online with people about sales incentives and vehicle options. In November, five social media agents were added to hunt out complaints online and that team is set to be doubled in April.

Now if GM’s task force is doing its job, someone from the team will likely be reading this story. If they are, might be suggest they not only scour Facebook and Twitter, but the comments sections of news blogs, like our own. As an example, see the link below on a story we ran about an investigation into Chevy Cobalt steering issues, which got tremendous response before GM officially announced a recall.

Chevy Cobalt Being Investigated for Faulty Steering, Recall Possible

[Source: FreePress]

Last year Cadillac took a leap into modern times by offering its new CTS model with Wi-Fi. Now, Chevy has announced that it will offer a dealer-installed Wi-Fi service for seven models including the: Equinox, Traverse, Silverado, Tahoe, Suburban, Avalanche and Express.

The on-board system will transform a vehicle (as well as the area within 150 feet) into a Wi-Fi hotspot, letting users surf the internet freely. Passengers can check Facebook or Twitter and even watch YouTube videos thanks to a 3G network connection of up to 1.5 mbps.

In addition the system can support several devices simultaneously and with additional docking stations, the router can be moved from vehicle to vehicle.

Until December 31st, Chevy is offering the Wi-Fi as an option for $199.

Official release after the jump:

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Based on a new system to rate the fuel-economy of plug-in hybrids, Chevy announced yesterday that it’s Volt will get 230 mpg in the city. Using the same math, the folks at Nissan have determined that their upcoming electric Leaf will get 367 mpg.

The 367 mph rating was posted on the automaker’s Twitter page yesterday and is obviously somewhat less-than-serious, as rating a vehicle that doesn’t use gas in terms of its gasoline consumption is, to say the least, a stretch.

While the EPA has yet to release its rating system for measuring the fuel-economy of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, GM’s formula appears to be based on a 51 mile city driving cycle. As the Volt can travel 40 of those 50 miles on pure electricity using no gasoline, only the remaining 11 miles involve any consumption at all. What this means is that the Volt can travel 51 miles on 11 miles worth of gas, which works out to 230 mpg.

[Source: LeftLaneNews]

If you’re a car junkie, Twitter is the place to be today. Ahead of a webcast tomorrow morning by GM CEO Fritz Henderson, the General arranged for a select few media to meet with its PR folks and get a preview of what the New GM has to offer.

Many of those folks have been tweeting on Twitter and so we have a good idea of what’s going on. In a press release from earlier today, GM said that Fritz will unveil a new model during the webcast. The only problem is, the tweets cover so many new models that we don’t know which one it will be.

Some of the biggest stories of the day include a new Cadillac model named the ATS, which is aimed at taking on the BMW 3 Series (yes pulease)! And it would be offered as both a coupe and sedan. Other Cadillac news includes a story we ran earlier today about the new CTS Coupe and CTS-V Coupe coming in May. Tweets also covered a story we ran several weeks back about the DTS replacement being called the XTS and using the LaCrosse platform – meaning AWD will be optional.

As for the Buick brand, there will reportedly be a new model added to that lineup – a mid-sized sedan due out in the next 24 months. This will no doubt the the Chinese market Regal, a story we reported on several weeks back as well.

In Chevy news, those lucky enough to be at the General’s party today got to glimpse the 2012 Malibu, well ahead of its unveiling. Additionally Bob Lutz still isn’t done getting peoples’ hopes up, saying that the Pontiac G8 might still have a life at GM.

[Source: Twitter via Autoblog]

As General Motors continues to report record losses, there are still some small success stories to report. The reborn Chevy Camaro is one of them.

While plants are being idled and employees being let go across the company, at the Camaro assembly plant in Oshawa, Canada, workers can’t keep up with demand.

The Peterborough Examiner is reporting that workers at the Camaro assembly line will start working Saturdays through the summer to keep up with the popularity of the vehicle. The plant has even postponed holidays, which were scheduled for the week of June 29th, to continue manufacturing the popular new sportscar.

[Source: The Peterborough Examiner]

NOTE: AutoGuide will be driving the new Camaro and meeting with GM Canada’s PR boss George Saratlic tonight at 6 pm EST. Follow us on Twitter and we’ll bring you more on the car and this story.