1. Re-design the architecture of the site. It’s difficult to navigate and it doesn’t give people a lot to grab onto.
2. Publish at least 12 videos - that’s only 1 per month, so it really shouldn’t be that hard.
3. Boost daily unique visitors from nil (where it’s at right now despite my best efforts) to 500. This is going to be tough in such a competitive niche, but it’s time that this site starts earning some income (instead of just using my time). Don’t get me wrong - I’m not in it for the money - but considering all the other stuff I’m doing I should get paid for my time.
4. Continue to provide free, personalized auto advice via email. At this point, the number of inquiries I’m receiving aren’t too bad and I can handle the work load. However, as the site grows, I’m going to have to come up with some sort of way to handle the requests for help.

Faithful readers (all two of you!) please feel free to leave your own suggestions on ways I can improve this site. 2009 is going to be our year!

No? Neither would I, and neither would a lot of people, which is why Arizona dealer Rick Johnston (who runs Wildcat Mitsubishi in Tuscon and Ideal Automotive in Sierra Vista, Arizona) is in so much hot water right now.

For the time being Rick Johnston, along with his sons Beau and Heath, owns and operates two auto dealerships in Arizona. Yet in light of recent allegations directed at the Johnston family, it’s likely that the Johnston’s days or running car dealerships are running out. Just last month Fort Huachuca Army Base officially banned all of their military men and women from buying a car at either one of the Johnston’s dealerships. Army spokesperson Tanja Linton said, “We were concerned that our service members were being taken advantage of.”

Victims of illegal and/or aggressive dealership sales tactics are often reluctant to share their experiences, but U.S. Army soldier James Tuman has been speaking openly about his experiences.

Tuman had a motorcycle and SUV that he traded in for a used car from Johnston’s Ideal Automotive. After driving the car Tuman quickly learned it had several mechanical problems. When he tried to return the car, Ideal Automotive said that they would not accept his return or provide a refund. Instead, they offered to take back the car and sell him a different one. Tuman, unsatisfied, said he was going to make an official complaint instead. Ideal Automotive responded with threats, saying that they would declare the car “repossessed” if he didn’t fulfill his obligation. Since a repossession could affect Tuman’s security clearance (the military has rules forbidding soldiers with repossessions to hold high security clearance), Tuman was forced to accept the dealership’s mistreatment or jeopardize his career.

Tuman is not alone. Since 2005, the Arizona Business Bureau has reviewed 30 complaints against the parent company of these two dealerships, Johnston Shield, Inc.

The complaints against these dealerships range from refusing to return a deposit, selling trade-ins before deals were finalized, and incorrectly claiming that parts were covered under warranty. According to the Arizona Star there are also claims that the Johnstons sold damaged vehicles and even called the police on customers for what appear to be unfair reasons.

It’s not just the issues with the customers that have the Johnston’s under fire. In July the company filed bankruptcy stating the company owed more the $2.1 million to unsecured creditors including more than $1 million to the IRS and about $283,000 to the Arizona Department of Revenue for sales tax and payroll tax.

Other indiscretions include making finance deals without a license for two years. Although they now have a valid license, the dealership could face serious fines of up to $5,000 a day for each violation. The dealership is also getting heat from the Transportation Department for continuing to issue temporary license plates. There was an order in place to stop them from doing so because the dealer issued plates with the wrong VINs on five separate occasions. This violation will likely mean more fines.

With the mounting expenses, reduced customer base, and bad publicity, the future for Johnston Shields, Inc. is not so bright.

Just a quick search on the Web will turn up a variety of not so savory reviews. Including this one from MerchantCircle.com: “If I could give this business negative stars I would. This company (ran by ex-cons) have done numerous customers wrong and have violated a variety of laws in the process.”

To be fair there are positive reviews on other sites like Edumunds.com. I’m not about to say that everyone has had a bad experience at the Johnston’s dealerships, but from what I can tell most of those that are speaking up don’t have much nice to say.

The lesson? When car shopping, take the time to read online reviews of your local dealers. While every dealership is going to have negative reviews (it’s the nature of the business), watch out for dealerships with an inordinate amount of negative complaints.

Listen to this post.

I stumbled across a scam today that I just had to write about. Here’s the hook:

“Increase your gas mileage 20-90% by adding a supplemental hydrogen generator to your car! A supplemental hydrogen generator works simply enough - you put distilled water in a special canister in your car, and electricity from your car’s battery is used to separate that water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen is added to your car’s fuel because hydrogen burns very well (hydrogen is a very combustible gas), and it reduces the amount of gas you use! The oxygen is added to the air your car breathes in. Oxygen is needed for combustion, and more of it makes your car more efficient. One gallon of water is enough to provide oxygen and hydrogen for hundreds of miles!“

Here’s a nice graphic of the system.

The hook is followed by lines like “the secret the oil companies don’t want you to know” or “automakers and oil companies are working to keep this technology out of your hands”, etc. The websites (which I won’t link to because they’re a complete and total rip-off) even sell parts or entire mechanisms for adding a separator to your car. Unfortunately, there’s a problem with this idea. It doesn’t work! It’s impossible!

Here’s a summary of the system:

Step 1: Using electricity from the battery, the system separates water into oxygen and hydrogen. Keep in mind that the electricity in the battery is simple stored electricity from your engine. The engine creates electricity by turning your alternator, which powers your radio, headlights, turn signals, etc., with any extra charging your car’s battery.

Step 2: The oxygen from the separator is added to your air intake. More oxygen in the air makes for better combustion.

Step 3: The hydrogen from the separator is added to your fuel, reducing the amount of gasoline your car uses.

Step 4: Hydrogen and oxygen re-combine during combustion in your engine, releasing energy and making your car go. Unfortunately, the engine also needs to send electricity to your hydrogen separator in order to continue the process. That brings us back to step one.

At best, this would be a break-even process. While it is true that hydrogen can supplement gasoline, it’s important to remember that whatever energy you added to the water to get it to separate in step 1 doesn’t fall from the sky - it comes from your engine. Whatever power you gain in step 4 goes towards providing energy for step 1.

Here’s the ironic part - adding this equipment will probably reduce your gas mileage. You’re pulling energy out of the engine to break down water, but you’re going to loose some of that energy to electrical resistance in the alternator as it charges the battery, heat loss from the battery and the separator, and probably some combustion efficiency loss because the engine’s computer won’t understand what’s going on (the computer would need to be re-calibrated for the un-naturally high oxygen in the intake air stream, not to mention the hydrogen in the fuel).

There’ s a law called “conservation of energy” - whatever energy we put into something, that’s the most we can get out of it. We add energy to water to make oxygen and hydrogen, but whatever energy we get back can’t be more than we added.

In other words, it’s a scam.

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Mark Harvey

Mark began his automotive career in the 1980’s, when the car business was at its worst. Deceptive practices were common, and people were taken advantage of on a regular basis. While today’s car business is nothing like it was, Mark’s experience during those years showed him what can go wrong at a dealership.

Mark Harvey has done every job in the car business — service manager, salesman, finance and insurance manager, new car manager, used car manager, general sales manager, and even owned his own dealership. Here’s what he has to say:

“The problem with the car business is that salespeople and managers lose track of what’s really happening. Sometimes they pursue profits over everything else — even if it means misleading customers. While I’ve made sure that my staff and I behave ethically, there are still enough bad apples out there to ruin the barrel. My advice to anyone looking to buy a car is simple: do your homework. Know how a deal works, what you need to watch out for, and how to get what you want. Only then can you protect yourself from bad dealers.”

Jason Lancaster

Jason started his career in the car business in 1998. His inspiration? Beer money for college. That’s right, Jason started selling cars while pursuing a degree in engineering. After four years of working at the local Ford dealership and going to school full time, Jason graduated with a degree in civil engineering. Upon graduation, Jason was offered and accepted a position as Finance Manager at that same local dealership, and worked for almost 10 years in the car business. Jason started as a salesperson, became a finance manager, a new car manager, and finally a used car manager before leaving the business in early 2007.

What did Jason take away from his experience?

“Car salespeople and management staff are trained to get the most money out of a customer possible. While there is nothing wrong with a business trying to maximize its profits, most dealerships take advantage of people that don’t understand what’s going on. But if people do some research and get some good advice, they can’t be taken advantage of.”