Betty Mausser – Putting Her Equinox Vehicle Safety Rating to the Test

How do you think you’d feel after being in a car that rolled over 5 times going 70MPH? If you’re Betty Mausser and her Chevy Equinox, you’d be feeling just fine. Betty is a wonderful customer of Runde’s and her salesman, Tim Meyer. She recently had (what should have been) a devastating accident. Read on to learn more about Betty and how she made out so well in such a terrible crash.

Hello Betty, what brought you into Runde’s today?
I bought a new Chevy Equinox last December and last Friday I was in a car accident. Someone pulled out in front of me and I hit her car then my car rolled about 5 times down the highway. I was going highway cruising speed [about 70MPH] by the time she pulled out in front of me and I had about 2 car lengths to react and I just swerved to miss her, hit her front end then went into a roll. I ended up landing on my tires in the median of the highway between traffic and took a little ambulance ride just to make sure everything was ok.
The ride up on the board from the ditch to the ambulance was almost as scary as the rollover! I ended up with some bruises but had no injuries.

So despite being quite a large accident, you ended up pretty much in perfect shape?

I never blacked out or lost conciseness or anything. And as soon as I stopped rolling OnStar was right there saying they saw I had an impact and asked me if I was ok and offered to make the phone calls to my family and EMT’s. I was really glad I had the OnStar, the lady really kept me calm and just hearing her helped me relax and think everything was going to be ok.

Wow, looking at you now I would have never had guessed that you were in a 70MPH accident where you rolled 5 times, you look great… that’s amazing.
When Tim sold me the my Equinox he told me it had an excellent safety rating. In fact, after the guys from the EMT told the people at the emergency room that I rolled my vehicle five times they were asking me what kind of car I was driving. They were really impressed that I had no injuries besides some bruises.

Tim Meyer (Betty’s Salesman): I got up Saturday morning and I saw Elizabeth Mausser on the third page of the newspaper with the story about the accident and my heart just sank because she was one of my great customers and I sold her that Equinox. So I called some of her relatives to make sure she was ok. Betty called me a few hours later and was telling me she wanted a new Equinox!

I knew what I wanted and I knew I needed a new Equinox. In fact, the lady that I hit found out that her car was totaled the next day and started looking at new Equinox’s because she was so impressed with how well mine held up. Even the people around me at the accident were all impressed and were wondering what I was driving.

Are you from the area?
My husband and I have lived out in Epworth, IA for the 40 years we’ve been married. 

Where do you work?
I work at McKesson in Dubuque. Actually, just a couple of weeks ago I needed an oil change on my old Equinox and I was thrilled because Runde’s came and picked up my vehicle from my work, did the oil change and brought it back to me. That was a service I’ve never had before and I really appreciated that.  

I’m glad you liked your service, it’s our goal to satisfy our customers.
I also appreciate the fast response that Tim took to get me in a new Equinox and having everything lined up and good to go for me. Jen in the finance office was great to work with as well, she took all the stress out of the insurance and finances involved.

Have any kids?
Yep, two children. Jolene and her husband Craig and my younger daughter Melanie. Jolene and Craig live near Farley, IA. Melanie is a singer/songwriter and she lives out in Los Angeles. I wish I could put her in a Chevy Equinox. She drives around a Chevy Malibu in LA Traffic… knock on wood, she’s doing fine though.

What do you like to do around the area?
I used to do a lot of golfing but not so much anymore. I like to garden. My husband likes stock car races, flying remote control airplanes, model trains, going on car cruises… he has a Monte Carlo… he has a lot more hobbies than I do…

If you were to rank your experience at Runde’s on a scale of 1-10, what would you give it?
Absolutely a 10+ I am just thrilled to work with you guys over here.

How about your salesman, Tim Meyer?
Definitely a 10 as well. He’s gone above and beyond anything that I could even imagine a salesperson could do for me. Jen in finance had done an awesome job for me both times I bought here as well.

Any Pets?
We have a cat in the house… it’s not my cat!  It’s my husbands.

Favorite restaurants?
We don’t go out to eat a whole lot but when we do we like to go to the local bars a lot. If we are in Dubuque we like to go to Los Azteca’s and maybe Olive Garden every once in a while.

Any trips or vacations planned?
I’m a Mary Kay consultant so next month I’m going up to Dallas, TX. For the big Mary Kay seminar.
Last summer I flew out to Los Angeles and rode with Melanie on a road trip through Las Vegas, Utah  and Wyoming. She was going to a Music Festival and I was helping her out as a Roadie, selling her CD’s and carrying around her equipment!
My daughters and I also took a train trip in Arizona and that was awesome. That was really fun.

That’s all the questions I had for you Betty, if you had anything else to add you’re more than welcome to.
There’s no doubt in my mind that I’ll be back here to buy any new car I want to buy and I’m sure it’ll be another equinox.