About Us

Rob Cohen, Secretary & General Counsel

Rob Cohen started with Auto Advisory Services in 1994, was made Managing Partner in 2001, and he became President in 2006. Prior to becoming partner, Rob represented dealers in litigation for four years.  Rob specialized in the defense of consumer claims and represented licensees before DMV administrative hearings.  He developed a strong background inside dealerships by working as a car salesman and doing F&I during law school.  Rob has also served as General Counsel for a large automotive group in Los Angeles. Rob received his B.A. and M.B.A. from the University of California, Irvine and then went on to earn his J.D. from Whittier College, School of Law.

Rob currently serves as Vice President of the National Association of Dealer Counsel (NADC), is editor of Transmission (Auto Advisory Services’ monthly newsletter) and The Defender (the NADC newsletter), and has been published in Ward’s Dealer Business, Orange County Business Journal and F&I Management and Technology. He is a frequent speaker and trainer on a wide range of subjects pertaining to dealership sales and finance compliance. Rob co-authored the top-selling Automotive Dealership Information Safeguards Manual, the Automotive Dealership Identity Theft Guide, as well as the recently published Vehicle Finance and Compliance Documents Guide. 

Some of Rob’s recent seminars include: Common But Potentially Dangerous F&I Practices, NADC F&I Workshop, Baltimore, MD, November, 2006; Changes for 2007, Reynolds and Reynolds University Online, November, 2006; F&I Matters, NADC Member Conference, Chicago, IL, April, 2006; Car Buyer’s Bill of Rights Training, California (multiple sessions), May-June, 2005; Negative Equity Disclosure, NADC Member Conference, Atlanta, GA, April, 2005

Chon Gutierrez, Former Director, California Department of Motor Vehicles

Widely recognized throughout California State government as an innovator and visionary, Chon Gutierrez was appointed Interim Director of the Department of Motor Vehicles by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in November 2003. Governor Schwarzenegger charged Mr. Gutierrez with immediately rolling back the “car tax” and refunding overpayments made by Californians.

Within four days of his appointment, Mr. Gutierrez and his executive team completed the programming and rolled back the previously tripled car tax and directed refunds to those who had already paid the higher tax rate.  To assist the state’s car buying consumers in recalculating these new, lower fees, Mr. Gutierrez developed the on-line fee calculator. "In the election, Californians said they wanted action and not politics as usual," said Governor Schwarzenegger, "I have made sure the DMV implements the car tax cut in days, not months. The people of California deserve to know the correct tax amount and how much they've saved right away."  This online service, a first in the State of California, was used by 60% of customers and saved the State of California $1.6 million in administrative fees. Under the leadership of Mr. Gutierrez, the state returned $600 million to five million California taxpayers. "This is fantastic news for vehicle owners," said Governor Schwarzenegger. "My first act as Governor was to repeal the car tax increase. Today's refund completes one of my most important promises to the people."

Under Mr. Gutierrez’s leadership, the DMV created long term initiatives based on technology and innovation to reduce wait times in field offices and on telephones by more than 60%, piloted electronic salvage pool submissions, and expanded the Business Partner Automation program to enable partners to issue registration stickers directly to the trucking industry.

Under Mr. Gutierrez’s leadership, the DMV also eliminated credit card fees, piloted registration kiosks, and driver’s license renewal on the Internet.  The DMV effectively used a combination of innovation, technology, and people to improve service to the general public and industry it serves; and set in motion a framework for continuing this progress into the future.

Prior to his retirement in September 2005, Mr. Gutierrez had a long career of over 30 years in public service.  From 1986 to 1991, and again from December 2004 to September 2005, Chon Gutierrez served as Director of the California State Lottery.  During his tenure, the Lottery established records for highest sales of $2.97 billion in 1989/1990 and shattered that record in 2005 by selling $3.33 billion and positioning the Lottery to sell in excess of $3.6 billion in fiscal year 2005/2006.   He served as Co-Director of Governor Schwarzenegger’s California Performance Review.  Mr. Gutierrez has also held the position of Chief Financial Officer of the Business, Transportation & Housing Agency and held senior leadership positions at the Secretary of State’s Office, Youth & Adult Correctional Agency, the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, and the Department of Finance.

Steve Coleman

After graduating with a BA in 1974, Steve Coleman started his professional career as a certified public accountant with the accounting firm of Arthur Young & Company in Los Angeles.  He was promoted to a Tax Manager position in 1979. After leaving Arthur Young & Company in 1981, Steve received his MBA and joined the accounting firm of Klaiman, Bush & Coleman. Steve was Managing Partner of their Newport Beach, California office until 1986 when he entered the automobile business.

Steve began his automotive career as CFO for a large dealership group (Campbell Automotive Group).  During his tenure at Campbell Automotive Group, Steve assumed many roles including Body Shop General Manager, Dealership General Manager and ultimately President responsible for all day-to-day operations. Campbell Automotive Group owned and operated various franchises including: Ford, Lincoln-Mercury, Buick/GMC, Porsche, Audi, Volkswagen, Nissan, Mazda, Saturn and Saab.

In 1998, Saab USA awarded a franchise to Campbell Automotive Group.  Steve helped build a new facility in Santa Ana, California and subsequently opened up another facility in Mission Viejo, California.

By 1999, Campbell Automotive Group had sold all its dealerships with the exception of three Saturn dealerships and one Saab dealership.  In 1999, Campbell Automotive Group sold the remaining Saturn dealerships to Saturn Retail Enterprises (an entity formed by Saturn Corporation to purchase and operate Saturn Dealerships across the nation). Steve stayed on as Executive Manager, responsible for all day-to-day operations of the dealerships.

In September of 2002, Steve purchased both Saab stores and continues to operate them today.

Steve Coleman has received numerous awards and accolades for his work within the industry.  Those include: Time Magazine Quality Dealer Award (2006); Saab Unlimited Dealer (2001-2005); Saab National Top 20 in Sales (2002-2005); Saab National Top 20 in Certified Pre-Owned Sales (2003-2005); Excellence in Customer Satisfaction (2003)

Auto Advisory Services

Auto Advisory Services is the leading compliance consulting company in California. With a client base of over 600 franchised dealerships, Auto Advisory Services offers the most comprehensive sales, finance, advertising, and DMV compliance services available. Auto Advisory Services performs over 140 on-site compliance audits each month and the compliance hotline receives approximately 200 calls per week. Auto Advisory Services conducts industry workshops, publishes informative compliance publications and is a contracted second line business partner in conjunction with the California DMV’s Business Partner Automation program. more information