plus 3, Automobiles : TRUCKS - Frederick News-Post

Automobiles : TRUCKS - Frederick News-Post
Toyota not alone in recalls; 16.4M autos affected in 2009 - Jackson Clarion-Ledger
People in the SJ: Dan Judy - Statesman Journal
As dad-son relationship thrives, so does North Jersey carwash business - NorthJersey.com

Automobiles : TRUCKS - Frederick News-Post

Posted: 28 Feb 2010 08:49 AM PST

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Toyota not alone in recalls; 16.4M autos affected in 2009 - Jackson Clarion-Ledger

Posted: 28 Feb 2010 07:30 AM PST

While Toyota faces growing scrutiny for its handling of several recalls totaling more than 8.5 million vehicles globally, 41 other auto recalls have been issued by various manufacturers this month alone.

They range from cars and trucks to school buses and motor homes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Those recalls haven't received the attention of Toyota's recall for sudden acceleration and faulty floor mats, but they illustrate the prevalence of auto recalls for safety and operational issues.

According to reports, the NHTSA said 16.4 million vehicles were part of 492 recalls from automakers in 2009.

It was the largest number of vehicles recalled in four years, those reports stated, although the number of recalls was the lowest in three years.

"What's different about this one is that it involves Toyota, which is known for its quality," said Michelle Krebs of automotive Web site Edmunds.com.

She said the wide range of models involved, the fact a fix wasn't immediately available and that sales of those vehicles were halted pending a fix also contributed to the high profile of the Toyota recalls.

With at least 3.8 million vehicles recalled in the U.S., the Toyota recall makes the Top 10 but isn't close to the 7.9 million Fords recalled in 1996 over concerns about short circuits in the ignition, NHTSA reports.

Recalls can be triggered in various ways.

An automaker may find a potential defect during testing of vehicles fresh off assembly lines, said Ron Atkinson, past president of the American Society for Quality, which tracks quality standards and performance in various industries.

NHTSA may find something in its own testing that an automaker didn't catch, he said. Problems could emerge through warranty records maintained by dealers. Or people may file complaints with groups such as NHTSA.

The agency says, typically, more than 70 percent of recalled vehicles in a given year are successfully fixed.

Toyota early last year supplanted General Motors as the world's top automaker. Thus, the company's recalls will draw more attention than those of other companies, Atkinson said.

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People in the SJ: Dan Judy - Statesman Journal

Posted: 28 Feb 2010 07:09 AM PST

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As a result, Dan Judy Automotive now keeps stock of ham radios and repair equipment.

"I couldn't buy what I wanted and I couldn't get it," he says.

Besides running his business, Dan also raised six children, now adults, as a single father.

After his divorce, Dan took care of his sons Ryan and Rory and daughter Breeanna. Then, his "adopted" children: twins Susan and Cory, 18, and Dani, 21. Dan had a relationship with their mother, for a time, but when the two separated, he decided to continue supporting those three.

He recalls some of the more hectic, challenging times: when the kids got sick at same time or trying to attend separate parent meetings at elementary, middle and high schools during one school year. There was also mischievous fun: battling with rubber band guns all over the house (Dan always cheated, he admits) or making tents with bedsheets with the children in the living room.

"I'd do it again," he says.

Besides those six kids, Dan also considers a whole other slew of kids as his own: his now-grown Boy Scout troops. Dan began with a group of 26 young Scouts and continued leading them until 14 of them became Eagle Scouts, including two of his sons. His daughter Breeanna earned the highest Camp Fire designation, Wohelo.

As adults, Rory and Cory both work for Dan. Ryan, now 31, works at Intel and lives in Portland. Breeanna, 27, works as a tour guide in Burbank, Calif.

Dan says he believes highly in disciplined youth programs such as Scouts, where children can learn about everything: gun safety, the outdoors, survival skills and civic engagement.

"I love to talk to young kids, and show them the right road," he says.

Now he is in a relationship with Anne Startin, who works as an operating room nurse at the Oregon Health & Sciences University hospital in Portland. She works remotely as the shop's bookkeeper.

Another "funny story": Anne and Dan had dated 20 years ago, but went their separate ways, as Dan was a single dad and Anne was a single professional. Anne traveled all over the country for her nursing career, but was back in Oregon getting her motorhome repaired by his shop when they reconnected.

Dan says Anne wanted more "foo foo" features in the apartment that he shot down. She did gain favor on one design feature: a slab of marble installed in the kitchen, prime for "rolling out pie dough."

The apartment is nearing completion. Details remain to be worked in the kitchen, the bedroom still is unfinished and appliances need to be hooked up.

The economy's been a setback, and he's made taking care of his mother a priority. But he looks forward to moving day.

"The original plans I started out with had one room," he says. "… and I got carried away."

rliao@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 589-6941

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As dad-son relationship thrives, so does North Jersey carwash business - NorthJersey.com

Posted: 28 Feb 2010 07:30 AM PST

A father's thriving business is not guaranteed to be successful once it becomes his son's.

But Jeremy Liebhoff has found that a gradual takeover of his father's carwash and detailing shops, the men's opposing but complementary personalities and their mutual respect have enabled him to grow rather than maintain the status quo.

After taking over his dad's first location, Jax Car Wash and Speedy Oil Lube of Maywood, Jeremy is now a partner in three other shops in Bergen and Hudson counties, and sales have doubled in each new venture, he said.

Steven Liebhoff never pressured Jeremy or his brother to take over the first shop, said Jeremy, and it wasn't part of the plan when he got a mathematics degree at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y.

A brief stint as a financial adviser dealing with nervous clients convinced him that working with his father was a better option. Jeremy, then 26, sat down with his father in 1999 and discussed a plan to take over the business.

"It was going out on my own and cutting my teeth a little bit that enabled me to come here with the right attitude," said Jeremy. Before then, he said, he had taken his father's success for granted.

Jeremy got his first experience with the carwash business at the Maywood shop in high school, doing payroll, oil changes and other tasks. The pair decided his first job would be running a new shop that Steven helped him buy in Lodi.

It went well enough that a year later, Jeremy's parents began going to Florida for vacations, leaving Jeremy in charge.

With four shops to watch over now — three of which he co-owns — Jeremy said he has had to manage differently than his father, who maintained control and didn't delegate.

To that end, he relies on technology. In his Maywood office, several flat-screen monitors display images from 16 security cameras installed at each location, and he recently added cameras and microphones in the oil change bays.

"If you do enough volume, from time to time you will have issues," said Jeremy, referring to employees and customers who might try to claim their cars had been damaged.

Additionally, every hour Jeremy gets text messages on his phone via computer software detailing sales and carwash numbers for his shops so he can decide whether to keep part-time workers, hire more or let some go.

While Steven had a problem relinquishing control, Jeremy sees delegating management as necessary and has added an overall lube oil shop manager to oversee the lube managers at each business.

"He's impatient and persistent; he wants everything done yesterday," said Jeremy of his father. But his dad also gives him a push if he does things too slowly. "We're complete opposites. It keeps the scale even."

Communication has been key to the transition, said Jeremy. With such different ways of running the business, Jeremy has learned to lay out his plans to his dad first. Now each has "a healthy mutual respect" for the other.

At the North Bergen location, Jeremy is trying out a carwash club where customers pay one monthly price. He also added new services at all shops, including transmission and engine flushes.

A fire in 2008 at the Lodi business gave Jeremy the chance to rebuild it with a truck wash after hearing about a new state law prohibiting municipalities from washing their own vehicles unless they had a special facility.

The $2 million location reopened in September 2009 with a 60-foot-by-20-foot truck wash that cleans garbage and dump trucks, ambulances and school buses. The facility cleans about 70 vehicles a week, said Jeremy.

For Maywood, Jeremy is planning a $400,000 upgrade including three or four new bays, a new waiting room and water guns that shoot colored soap at cars — for the kids.

He wants customers to come in two to three times more frequently and is working with a new Web site and e-mail marketing software. Coupons will draw customers to the site, and customers are encouraged to submit their e-mails. Then the e-mail system sends coupons.

"People start to develop loyalty to you," said Jeremy. "If we can create that atmosphere, and use the Internet to create it, that will help volume grow."

E-mail: lawrenceca@northjersey.com

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