The most theft-prone vehicle in America might be the Dodge Charger or it might be the Ford F-250 pickup truck. Those are the contrasting conclusions of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the insurance industry-funded Highway Loss Data Institute. Still, the government agency and private group agree that the theft of late-model vehicles is on a rapid decline in the United States. One reason: automakers’ increasing use of ignition immobilizers, which stop thieves from hot-wiring cars. Nearly 90 percent of 2012 models are equipped with them. In a report released on Monday, NHTSA said the car stolen most often during the 2011 calendar year was the Charger, with 4.8 thefts for every 1,000 cars produced in 2011. It was followed by the Mitsubishi Galant, Hyundai Accent, Chevrolet Impala and Chevrolet HHR among vehicles with more than 5,000 units [...]

Goog411 is definitely the new rage We used to have a trainer from GM that would go around to various dealerships in the area and teach the salespeople how to do better vehicle walk-arounds and essentially sell more cars in the process.  Every time he was on the verge of touching on a unique feature of a car, he would foreshadow it with the phrase, “OK, now I’m going to put some money in your pocket.”  This usually meant that the car had a unique key feature that no other competitor had on their vehicles and it was going to help you sell more cars and thus — the money in the pocket thing. Now I’m going to put some money in your pocket.  Are you sick of getting charged beaucoup $$$ every time you dial 411 or Directory Assistance to get a phone number when you’re on the go.  Not everyone has [...]

We were outside and Carl got out of his old truck… Unlike most people, however, Carl didn’t go running to his New Ride from Runde Chevrolet in excitement. Instead Carl slowly got out of the driver’s door and gave the truck a sentimental final farewell before heading into the Runde Chevrolet building to finish up the paperwork. I was particularly busy before the interview with Carl Denlinger who was with his mother, Louise Denlinger (both born and raised south of Dubuque) but our chat seemed to put me in a great mood, read on to find see why. Hey guys, while your salesman, finishes up the transaction would you mind sharing your experience at Runde’s with the rest of the world? Sure… and [...]

Here is just a sample of how a few recent customers perceive Runde Auto Group.  Check out these Customer Testimonials …   “All employees were very friendly and willing to help.  We were very much pleased with our experience with Runde.” John Mitchell Dubuque, IA   “I purchased a Chevy Colorado from Alan Kloft,  I’ve needed it repaired twice since the purchase.  Both times I have dealt with Pat Timmerman… All I can say about the sale and service experiences is AWESOME!  You guys are GREAT!  Thanks!”  Dave Fangman Dubuque, IA   “I’ve been buying trucks from you guys for eight or ten years.  I don’t do this very often but this is an exception. I just wanted to say that you guys went above and beyond the call of duty while servicing my truck. I had a truck that needed a scratch taken out. When I came in with it [...]

It was this big … honest!   Tom Erickson is a customer of ours from Coon Rapids, MN.   We gave him a Runde hat (now his lucky fishing hat) when he purchased a vehicle from us earlier this year. Today he emailed us the photo above attached to this message:  “Hey Tim (Runde) … I have a new good luck fishing hat!!! – Tom Erickson” Anyone who has spent any time fishing up in Minnesota or Northern Wisconsin can attest to how large some of these fish grow to.  Check out the video below from Minnesota of a Muskie swimming with a giant northern pike in its mouth.  The first time my brother-in-law showed me this video, I was like, “Holy guacamole”.   And I still say the [...]

Below is a customer testimonial that was sent to our Runde Buick store from the Persons family from La Farge, Wisconsin. They recently purchased a Buick LeSabre Ltd from Runde’s and they after they returned home, they wrote a letter to our owners to express their gratitude and to let everyone know about the wonderful experience they had at our dealership. To the owner of Runde Auto Group:   On Thursday, March 19th at 4:30 p.m. we were near Boscobel, WI on our way to Cuba City.  We were driving our Buick LeSabre and started noticing that we were having some problems.  By the time we reached Platteville, we weren’t sure if we could make it to Cuba City, but decided to try and did make it.  Our next problem was that at 6:30 the next morning, we were leaving for [...]

Sparked with jealousy and envy I write this post.  I tell you the truth when I say that movie and television characters have it all … especially when it comes to cool cars … cars that me and my fellow co-workers would like to own. We love seeing our favorite characters cruise, leap, fly, chase and occasionally swim with their outrageously sweet rides. Here’s a list of the top 10 cars from movies and television we appreciate the most. #10. The Mystery Machine – Scooby Doo’s van #9. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang #8. Christian Bale’s Batmobile #7. The original Batmobile #6. Herbie (The Love Bug) #5. 1969 Dodge Charger “General Lee” from The Dukes of Hazzard  #4. 1970s Camaro, rebuilt as a 2008/2009 Camaro prototype in the 2007 movie Transformers #3. 1977 Firebird Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit #2. 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am “KITT” from Knight Rider #1. 67’ Shelby [...]

Future teen drivers wait in anticipation for the day they turn 16 and can get their driver’s license, while parents grimace at the thought of their children growing up and going off on their own in their first car.  National statistics show demonstrate that teenagers are involved in wrecks 9 times as often than adults. Teens also tend to not wear their seatbelts without parents in the vehicle. American Family Insurance was fully aware of the anxiety caused by teenage drivers, and developed a program called Teen Safe Driver that allows parents some relief. American Family Insurance provides a camera that’s placed by the rearview mirror on the inside of the car. The camera provides two streaming images 1) an image of inside the car and 2) an image of [...]