We have been keeping our eyes on the Decorah eagles here at Runde Auto Group over the past 6-8 weeks on the Eagle Cam in anticipation of the hatching of the Eagle eggs.  Part of that waiting game came to a halt today as one of the three eggs hatched and a little baby Eagle worked his/her way into this world.   I think this whole online Eagle video camera thing has caused more anticipation than that proverbial bottle of Heinz ketchup.  But you just can’t shake an Eagle’s nest the way you’d skake a bottle of ketchup.  They’re saying that over 100,000 people are now following the Decorah Eagles Eye view of the nest.  People are watching it, emailing about it, texting others with Decorah eagles updates, blogging about it [...]

Buick’s most recent ad was derived from a poem called What will Matter… by Michael Josephson.  Upon hearing the eloquent words, I was moved to look up the full poem and here it is below.  If you haven’t heard it before, it’s an excellent read and perhaps a bit of an eye-opener to some. “Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else. Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed. Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear. So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do lists will expire. The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away. It won’t matter [...]

Nate Bremmer is a police officer from Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin and he just rated Runde Auto Group a perfect five out of five stars. When he found the truck he was looking for online he couldn’t believe what a deal it was. He came down to our PreDriven store and bought his truck from Al Kloft in our sales department. He was thrilled with the deal and with the way he was treated to the extent that he wanted the world to know about it by doing this interview. What brought you into Runde’s today? I was actually looking online and found a great deal on a truck so I ended up inquiring about it through email and then got a response from Al shortly [...]

If you’ve ever wondered how many miles per gallon the Chevy Cruze Eco gets, well then you’re in the right place as we’re attempting to try to answer that question today.  Over the past few years, the EPA has made changes to the way they test the fuel efficiency of vehicles.  They’ve tried to make their testing more accurate by putting the cars and trucks on “real world” road ways instead of the traditional track testing that they used to do.  Here at Runde’s, our sales associates field questions daily from customers who want to know what type of mileage all types of vehicles get … not just the Cruze Eco.   To be completely honest, it always comes down to what type of driving the customer does, where they live, and [...]

Matt and Jenna Rokes came in after doing some shopping for a truck and you’ll be seeing them in their new truck in the Quad Cities soon. For those who have never visited the Quad Cities, it’s a little bit south of Clinton, IA.  They were nice enough to sit down with me for a few minutes to share their experience and a bit about themselves. What brought you into Runde’s? We found the vehicle that we wanted with low miles, a Chevy Avalanche. What’s it going to be used for? Anything that we can use it for. We just bought a house and it doesn’t have any landscaping so we’re planning on doing a lot of that [...]

2011 officially marks the 100th year for Chevrolet and when you stop to think about it, 100 years of Chevrolet is quite a bit of time for any business to stay up and running. But boy, is it running smooth. Through the years Chevrolet has become a leader in the automotive industry and only shows signs of growing stronger. Lets take a look back to see how it all started. GM was started by automotive marketer William C. Durant in 1908. Through the years Durant took notice of the famous racer, Louis Chevrolet, as he set the land-speed record in 1905 for reaching 111 MPH in a special open race car. Durant hired Chevrolet to do big races and promotional drives for his company. Being cast [...]

Mankind has learned how to fly… this car is driving itself! Don’t throw out the “yep, crazy” card, yet, as Ford technology has transformed the most frustrating and feared part of Driver’s Ed into an every day driving a breeze. Parallel parking is forced to dethrone itself from the “champion of driving challenges” when facing the new Fords that come with Active Park Assist. Ford Park Assist is a hands free technology that uses an ultrasonic-based sensing system and electric power-assisted steering (EPAS) to position the vehicle for parallel parking, calculating the perfect steering angle and quickly steering the vehicle into a parking spot at the touch of a button. Here’s how you’ll be using it: You will activate [...]

I was walking past a computer here at Runde Chevrolet in East Dubuque the other day and saw something that really caught my eye.  The computer screen was displaying a live feed of an eagle in a nest.  I was a bit perplexed.  We’re a car and truck dealer and here is a video of a bird on a screen so of course I had to ask the people around that monitor, “What’s up with the bird?”  This was met with a response from my coworker who simply said, “mmm, Eagle Cam,” as he was munching on some crispy carrots during his lunch hour. You’ve “seen” them everywhere; The Seal of the President of the United States, on the back of [...]

Dave and Patricia Opperman are a hardworking couple from Wadena Iowa and they’re also fans of Chevrolet – Chevy trucks in particular. They took some time out of their hectic and always busy farm life to pick up a vehicle and do a little interview with me. How did you end up coming to Runde’s? I was on AutoTrader.com and found a nice used Chevy Silverado that looked good and decided to give it a try. I came to Runde’s and talked with Al and ended up buying it. On a scale of 1-10, what would you rate your experience here? Oh a 10, I loved the place there were no problems. How was Al Kloft, your salesman? He’s a very interesting guy, very good. [...]

At the 2011 Chicago Auto Show Suzuki took the Suzuki Kizashi and one of its ridiculous competitors and brought it for the crowd to physically and personally compare the two. It turned a lot of heads and had people wondering what the heck a ’70’s sofa was doing at an auto show? A sofa has never seen this much attention since the friend who said he’d “only-stay-for-a-week-and-would-just-bum-on-your-couch” and-ended-up-staying-for-a-year, scenario happened. The bad boy sofa was fully operational, and seemed to go pretty fast… for a sofa. Here’s some official specs (from Suzuki) the sofa offered to show off to curious inquisitors: “This 1970s-era sofa commissioned by American Suzuki retains its original synthetic trim finished in a fashionable tan and brown plaid motif. The sofa is complete with small tears and frayed stitching to meet Suzuki’s overall design intent. The sofa also features a variety of loose coins, cookie crumbs and pocket lint resting just beneath [...]

Recent customers from Epworth, Sharron and Merrill Wiskus, are not people who jump on a deal without a lot of thought and consideration. But when they saw the Envoy that had all the specifications they were looking for at an unbelievable price, they couldn’t help themselves. Sharron was in this morning to do a few touch up’s to the Envoy and while she was in she decided to have a nice chat with me about her experience at Runde’s. Hello Sharron, what brought you into Runde’s this morning? I bought a vehicle on Saturday and I brought it back just to get a couple more things done to it.

The new Chevy Camaro is sweet. From looks to performance it’s apparent that Chevy put a lot of careful thought and consideration into the Camaro to make it as Bad*** as it is today. How do you make something sweet even sweeter? Pour more sugar on it, baby. Chevy is grabbing the sugar bags and pouring on the already awesome Camaro to make the new 2012 ZL1 Camaro even sweeter that you could ever imagine.  I know everyone at Runde Chevrolet is excited for this new muscle car to roar onto dealer lots. Making it’s debut appearance at the 2011 Chicago Auto Show, the ZL1 flexed it’s muscles for all to stare at. And while the numbers aren’t set in stone as of yet, it is expected that the supercharged 6.2-liter V8 engine in the Camaro will get 550 horsepower and 550 pound-feet of torque… nice! “official estimates of the car’s capabilities will be released [...]

Chevy Customers from Sandwich, IL Purchase their new Silverado HD from Runde Chevrolet   Chevy customers from Sandwich, IL Troy and April Hutson drove a long way this past week to come and buy their new truck from Runde Chevrolet.  In the time between signing paperwork and starting out for home, they gave us a little extra time to ask some questions about their lives and about their recent experience at Runde’s. What kind of vehicle did you buy?  We bought a new 2011 Silverado 2500 HD.   You’re Chevy customers from Sandwich, IL right?   How far is that from Runde Auto Group? It’s about 180 miles and it took us almost three hours to get here. Have you always lived in that area? Troy:  I have.  I was born in Sandwich, IL and pretty much lived there my whole life. April: I wasn’t born in Sandwich, but I’ve lived in that [...]

We recently interviewed Mike Hafeman and got to know that he’s very smart, and that he likes Pokemon and Mexican Rap music. After achieving a perfect score on his ACT, Mike is now ready to take on college.  Because he works at Runde Auto Group, Mike was eligible to apply for the Great River Bend Community Foundation scholarship (a car dealer based scholarship). Needless to say, Mike won the top scholarship for his efforts academically and will be presented this award at the Iowa/Illinois Regional Auto Show. There was a total of $25,000 in scholarship funds to be divided between six college bound students. Mike Hafeman earned the maximum amount of $5,000 and the scholarship is considered the show’s finest [...]

You’ll soon see Nan Connolly driving around her Chevy Impala in East Dubuque.  She is originally from Dubuque, but she recently built and moved into a house just outside of East Dubuque, IL. She came into Runde Chevy looking for a new Chevy to replace her vehicle. While she was here, she sat down and shared her experience with us. What brought you into Runde’s today? Probably advertising and I knew I wanted a Chevy when I was shopping. I was looking around and Runde’s seemed to have the best car prices. What vehicle did you end up going with? The Chevy Impala, I like it. My other car kind of gave up so I said “it’s time.” I [...]

Going green is the big thing as of recent, and for good reason. It’s about time that we stop ourselves, as a nation, point out that we waste too much and encourage earth friendly alternatives to live out our lives. A process that is encompassed in one word: Green. But what about those big ‘n bad manufacturing companies with large factories? They must be one of the most un-greenest things you’ve ever seen since the color Maroon, right? Well, it is true that SOME factories do produce lots of waste and pollute the air with lots of bad guys the ozone has a hard time fighting off, but other companies stride for [...]

In the short amount of time I spent with David and Jan Rafoth customers from Dubuque, I could tell that they have led interesting lives. And what constitutes an “interesting life” you may ask? For starters, how about stepping on a bomb and living to tell the story? Not enough for you? … Well add-on finding out where you are going to live based on a nice random car ride. Read on, hopefully you are as entertained by their stories as I was listening to them. How did you hear about Runde’s? Well we were looking to trade our car and we had previous experience with Runde’s and Al Kloft and we were treated right the last time we were here.  [...]

Chevrolet unveiled the new Chevy Sonic at the Detroit Auto Show which acts as a replacement to the Chevrolet Aveo.  The Detroit Auto Show is always bound to bring out the latest and greatest each manufacturer has to offer in their vehicle displays.   While the Aveo’s departure from the lineup is a sad time for some, there is plenty of good to look forward to in the Sonic. At first glance it kind of feels like an Aveo.  The new Chevy Sonic was built to replace the Aveo and will probably be priced close to that of an Aveo… so what’s the difference? Glad you asked… Lets start off the bat with the engine. Remember the Ecotec 1.4L turbo that is available on the Chevy Cruze? It’s back, this time [...]

The arrival of the new Buick Verano sedan is only a few months away and they sales staff at Runde Buick in Platteville is looking forward to seeing this new car in person.  With all of the snow still on the ground, I’ll bet you’re thinking that we’ve completely wigged out, flipped our lids, and that we’re about to come apart at the seams.   We’ll hold onto your butts for a sec. For those of you who have studied a little Español, you probably know that the title of this blog post when translated into Spanish becomes: “El verano es mucho más cerca de lo que crees.”  The literal translation would be:  The summer is much more near than you believe.  So the Spanish word for summer (by deduction) is “Verano” and that just [...]

Mary and Don Jaeger are always excited to pick up a new vehicle from Runde’s. These kind folks from Asbury Iowa have come to know Runde’s as their dealer and wanted to share their experience. What led you to Runde’s today from Asbury Iowa? We picked up a used Chevy Silverado 1500. We were looking for a truck, mainly for personal use to haul around stuff here and there. What made you come to Runde’s? Well, we’ve bought vehicles [from Runde’s] before. Runde has a large selection of cars and trucks and if you were looking for something like that then I think this is where you would come because you are probably going to find what you were looking for. If you [...]

The king of late-night, Jay Leno, is adding yet another vehicle to his QUITE expansive car collection. You guessed it … it’s the Chevrolet Volt. Jay  is so impressed by the Volt that he is putting aside his 55 Buick Roadmaster to make the Volt his daily driver. Jay Comments on how he thinks the Volt is part of the future and that the Toyota Prius, while having had a head start (in the fuel economy race) is old technology. Another thing he mentions, which I believe is the biggest benefit of the Volt over the competition is that it uses gasoline when the electric juice runs out. So you picked up a Nissan Leaf, an all-electric car which the EPA just announced will last [...]

The Dubuque Food Pantry Sister Lynn Wagner – manager of the Dubuque Food Pantry The Dubuque Food Pantry was founded in 1987 and is located at 1598 Jackson Street. The pantry does several things for the community including giving deserving citizens in the Tri-States close to 500 Christmas Baskets a year. The Pantry offers; food, hygiene products, baby items, cleaning supplies and other necessities to those who are down on their luck in the area. Donations are always welcome at the pantry, be it one of the items aforementioned or cash, the pantry can put it to good use to help out people who truly need it.

Hillcrest Family Services and the Dubuque Multicultural Family Center are two very worthwhile not-for-profit organizations that have done a lot for Dubuque.  With that being said, dig into your pockets. What were you going to do with that nickel? Honestly? Throw it in a cash bowl? Take up an extra 30 seconds at the register to find exact change? Sometimes I find myself feeling the need to give more to people who might be down on their luck. What better way to do so than to donate and what better time than the holidays!? Here are a couple of local charities/organizations that you might consider in your quest of finding a charity/organization to donate to, check back Monday for a couple more charity’s’ to consider in Part 2 of our charity series: Hillcrest Family Services Interview [...]

It was the one field trip that the 4th and 5th graders were jealous of the 6th graders for – Camp Courageous in Cascade Iowa. It was singularly, the best, field trip and with good reason, everything they had you do at the camp was fun and interesting. Last year was the first time I met Charlie Becker, the Camp’s Director, it brought me back to the fond memories I had of the field trip there oh-so-many years ago.  Charlie was at Runde’s again earlier this week talking to us about everything that had happened to the camp over the last year.  We had quite a bit of catching up to do. Hello again Charlie, how have things been at the camp? Things have been going great. Last year we ended up using the donation we got from [...]

We recently had the chance to sit down with Mike Hafeman, who works in the reconditioning department here at Runde Auto Group.  Mike is an energetic teenager with a winning smile and a very bright future ahead of him.  He’s always been a great employee with an outstanding work ethic and we thought it appropriate to him some questions so the world could get to know some of the things that are floating around in the mind of this unique individual.  Are you originally from the East Dubuque area? Yes. My whole family is from the area.   How long have you worked for Runde Chevrolet and what do you do here over the course of a normal day? I have worked here for almost a year out in the reconditioning department. I get all the sold cars that are going out to customers ready to go, and get the new cars off [...]