We sat down for a few minutes and did a customer interview with Dan Schaefer from Dubuque, IA.   Dan serves in the Air Force and is now the proud owner of a Chevy Malibu and he bought the car from Runde PreDriven while he was on paid leave from his base in Texas! Enjoy the video!  

Customers often come in after Christmas and ask our Runde Chevrolet Sales Staff how their Christmas celebration was or what they did during the holidays.  Well you don’t have to wonder what our Salesmen did this year.  This year our sales staff put in a lot of extra rehearsal hours during the holidays trying to get this Christmas dance just right and we shot this video on location up at the North Pole.   We hope everyone out there has a safe & happy holiday season!!!

Here’s what some recent customers of Runde Auto Group has to say about their experiences at Runde Auto Group – a dealership located near Dubuque. We had shopped around a lot for a vehicle.  Of all the dealerships we visited, Runde Chevrolet treated us the best and worked the hardest for us.  I have already recommended this dealership to other people.  Runde was a very pleasant experience for purchasing a car. The whole time was very professional, caring and easy people to work with through the whole process. Steve Kness – Pearl City, IL   First class operation.  Enjoy doing business with them in all departments. John Roeder – Roeder Implement Inc. – Dubuque, IA    I am very pleased with my purchase from Runde Chevrolet. Gary Bonnet [...]

Aside from the 1965 Shelby Mustang GT350 and the very first 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 ever made, Jay Leno has lots of toys that do things that you probably never even thought were possible … especially his new 3D scanner. What if I told you that I could clone almost any object under the size of about a yard? Better yet, what if I told you that I could, without any sort of assembly, make the cloned object fully functional as soon as I cloned it? “Bust out the straight-jacket and lock him away?” you say?  Well, FYI, all of this is possible and is actually happening at Jay Leno’s garage. Jay has this nifty little scanner called a Faro 3D Scanner which will scan an object based on thousands of points and create a 3D model of it on your computer. From there, the Dimension 3D Printer takes the image data given to it by the scan [...]

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 [...]

According to the title, this blog post is about fuel cell vehicles.  Not sure what they are?  Ok.  Fine, then let’s start with a conversational detour. Ever wish someone would walk up to you and hand you the keys to a new vehicle? The closest I’ve ever come to hearing about something like this, I previously mentioned when I wrote the anecdote about Doug in our Field of Dreams blog post last year. There’s also that scene from Pay it Forward, where some guy hands Jay Mohr the keys to his new Jaguar S-Type car in an effort to … you guessed it … pay it forward. I was looking at GM’s Project Driveway a little today and I checked it out to see if I might qualify to drive a new state-of-the-art Chevy Equinox fuel cell vehicle. Project Driveway is the first large-scale market test of fuel cell vehicles with real drivers in [...]

ZR1 Corvette vs. The Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet strike fighter jet Blue Devil vs. Blue Angel $117,000 vs. $25,000,000 Motor City’s best vs. The U.S. Navy’s finest Click the play button below to find out who wins … You’ve got a car with a top speed of 205 miles per hour and a jet plane with a top speed of 1190 miles per hour.  Granted, the Blue Angel was going to win … even with a head start, the jet fighter was still going to win.  But it sure made for a great photo opportunity and it was great publicity for the new Corvette ZR1.

Do you know how to change a flat tire?  If not, then read on and watch the how-to video below where Briaunna Huseman will guide you step-by-step through changing a flat tire on your car. You’re rolling down the road jammin’ out to the new Black Eyed Peas album until you feel a little jolt. Slowly, but surely, your car starts to not feel quite right. You nervously pull over and get out to inspect your vehicle. To your pleasant surprise, you find a rather large nail in your tire that is leaking air out. What do you do now? You don’t know quite how to change that tire, you say? Well, that’s what we are here for! We created the following video to help everyone who might not quite know how to change that flat into tire-changing pros. A lot of times people are too embarrassed to admit that they don’t know how to [...]

The Clemen family happened to be out and about and decided to have a nice little chat with me about their experience purchasing a Chevy HHR at Runde PreDriven. The conversation ended up being the highlight of my day. Hello, thanks for coming. I heard you bought a vehicle from us recently? Yep. About two weeks ago we got a Chevy HHR. So how have the two weeks been – what have you been using the vehicle for? It’s been great! Beth usually takes it to work and back and we’ve gone out to our parents house a couple of times… we will be using it for pretty much everything. How did your parents like the vehicle? Well I took my Grandma for a ride –she’s going to be 82 next year in June — and she was like, “Oh this is so much nicer to get into than your old van” so she must [...]

We give you two of Runde’s newest customers:  The Sefziks recently purchased a great new car from Runde Auto Group.  We had the chance to sit down and chat with them for a spell the day they signed the papers for their new LeSabre.   Where are you originally from? Epworth/Dubuque. What kind of vehicle did you buy? Buick LeSabre Custom.  It’s really a great new car. That’s definitely a well-built car — I like those too. Where is the first place you’ll take your new vehicle? Madison – To go to the granddaughter’s musical program. Both of our granddaughters play hockey and softball so we’ll be going to those games as well. Will you give your new vehicle a [...]

So often we see television programs overloaded with commercial after commercial.  And for about the past 8 or 9 years these same commercials have made their way into the movie theaters just to annoy us when we show up early for a flick.  Furthermore, we have have to ask if there is anyone out there who would just like to view a news clip on CNN or Youtube for once without having to watch the preceding commercial.   From the day we posted our first blog entry, it has always been our policy at here Runde Auto Chat to provide you with uninterrupted, good old-fashioned, wholesome, family-oriented blogging.  We haven’t cluttered our blog site with unnecessary and unwarranted advertisements until now … Please take a minute to watch Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as they persuade you to purchase products like Big Red chewing gum.     But seriously folks … If you [...]

Recently Ford had quality studies performed by the 3rd party RDA Group that confirmed what we’ve always known … that Ford builds top-notch vehicles.  According to the results, Ford is even with Toyota in initial quality tests and they passed up Honda by a significant leap. The results show that in the first quarter of 2009, problems-per-vehicle dropped by 5% to compete head-to-head with Toyota and beating Honda. The latest GQRS survey measured 2009 model year vehicle initial quality in the number of “things gone wrong,” and customer satisfaction within the first three months of ownership. The following is a list of vehicles that were used in the tests and what was tested for each vehicle. • Ford Mustang- initial quality/customer satisfaction for sports cars • Ford Taurus [...]

Where’s the best place to buy a family car in the Dubuque area?  If you said Runde Auto Group, then you’d be in the same boat as the Brosnahan’s. Every once in awhile you meet someone that can pick you up and make the rest of the day great. The Brosnahan family is consists of these kind of people. Needless to say, they were a joy to interview and an even greater joy to have as a customer. What led you to Runde’s today? Originally my husband, Michael, was shopping for used vehicles in Dubuque and came in to look at some trucks. But we thought about it and we have a Chevy Tahoe that is coming up on its lease [...]

Today I sat down with Carmen Grawe, from Manchester, Iowa who recently bought a used truck from us. She was in the Dubuque area visiting her sister and she was kind enough to stop by the Runde Chevrolet dealership and take some time to tell us about her family, her life, her experience at Runde’s and anything else she wanted to share.   Hey Carmen, thanks for taking some time out today for the interview! So I hear you bought a vehicle from Runde’s recently, what did you end up buying? We bought a very nice used truck – it’s a blue granite Chevy Silverado 1500 from the Manchester store. Oh, so you bought the vehicle from our Ford store, did they have the Chevy vehicle shipped up to [...]

Some ideas are bound to become something great. Case-in-point – the Chevrolet Spark. The vehicle design was based on the Chevrolet Beat “concept car” which was voted most popular in comparison to three other “mini” cars. The car will come with a choice of 1 or 1.2-liter four-cylinder engine. It has a wheelbase of slightly over 93 inches and the vehicle measures 143 inches in length. Smaller than most “mini” cars out there, including the Honda Fit. Safety features will vary but will be expected to include: anti-lock brakes, front and side-air bags, as well as electronic stability control. The Chevrolet Spark will save you some green as the expected 47 miles-per-gallon is one of the best in the industry. I’m personally excited for the vehicle – it looks sleek, seems [...]

If you’ve been considering purchasing a new Chevy Traverse SUV, but you’re not quite ready to pull the trigger, please read the reviews and quotes below and maybe that’ll be enough to push you over the edge and take the plunge into the world of Chevy Traverse SUV owners. Autoblog:  “Unlike the Highlander, the Traverse actually has some usable space behind its third-row seat. Where the Traverse really shines is its driving dynamics.” Boston Globe:  “It’s sophisticated, yet friendly, edgy without being offensive -attractive.” NY Times:   “The Traverse‟s steering was more responsive than the Pilot‟s, and its shifts were smoother. While the Pilot felt like a big S.U.V., the Traverse acted like a particularly agile minivan —although G.M. has managed to keep the Traverse from looking like one.” Popular Mechanics:    “It looks great, it’s easy to use as a family hauler and, most important to us, it actually provides a rewarding experience from that left [...]

Well, future owners of the 2010 Chevy Camaro have one thing less to worry about as official reports from the EPA rate the Camaro at 18 City/29 Hwy MPG. No one likes to fill up with gas often. Taking huge beasts or power house vehicles on the road that get 12-16MPG can be a downer and luckily Camaro buyers/owners won’t have to deal with lousy performance at the pumps. Add great fuel economy to an estimated 0-60 mph in 4.7 seconds and you have a car that is not only fast and powerful but an all-in-one package. Below is a fuel economy comparison chart of other muscle cars out there:   2010 Chevy Camaro 2010 Ford Mustang 2010 Dodge Challenger V6        18 city/29 hwy 16 city/24 hwy 17 city/25 hwy V8        16 city/25 hwy 17 city/23 hwy 13 [...]

American auto makers have been thrown under the bus quite frequently over the last few months by members of the media and by members of Congress.  However, Runde Auto Group urges you to seek out factual information about the American auto makers before casting judgment.  Please take a few minutes to look over this brief quiz to see how much you’re actually aware of! QUESTIONS: 1. What country builds vehicles that occupy two of the top three spots for long-term reliability? Germany Japan Korea United States 2.  As of August ’07, which manufacturer had the most recalls in the U.S. that year? Chrysler Ford GM Nissan Toyota Volkswagen 3.  What brand in this group has the highest initial quality?                 Acura  Chevrolet  BMW Mazda 4.  Which of the following mid-size sedans has the highest initial quality? Accord (Honda) Altima (Nissan) Camry (Toyota) Malibu (Chevrolet) 5.  Which of the following pickups has the highest initial quality? [...]

We received the following note of thanks this week from the daughter of one of our newest customers … Barbara Schroeder.   We just want to let you now we are so happy with our mother’s purchase.  Wayne Konrardy of your Dubuque area store was great.    Our mother (Barbara Schroeder) was in a car accident and totaled her Chevrolet Malibu which she had purchased through Wayne, and we were able to have Wayne help us again to get her another Malibu which she really wanted because she really liked her other one.   Wayne was great with MOM and made her feel great even though it was a bad situation.  He was able to get her into something 4 years newer and very close in options plus she got heated seats and [...]

Dale Bird was in our dealership waiting for his vehicle to get finished in service. I stole a few minutes of his time to discuss his experience with Runde’s. Runde Auto Chat: What kind of vehicle are you having serviced? Is it a routine appointment? Dale Bird: It’s a Chevy Impala. It just needed an oil change. RAC: Did you buy the vehicle at Runde Chevrolet? DB: Yes, I bought it new here. RAC: Have you bought any other vehicles from us? DB: Yes, probably about 4 or 5. RAC: What do you appreciate most about Runde’s and how they do business? DB: It’s convenient. I live about 2 miles from here in Dubuque. RAC: Do you have any children or grandchildren? DB: We have 3 boys, and 2 grandchildren: 1 boy and 1 girl. They live in Indianapolis, Indiana. RAC: What kinds of activities are they involved in? DB: Lots of sports, but [...]

GM recently unveiled the production version of the 2010 Camaro. Many reporters and consumers expressed their amazement of how true the production model is to the concept. They were also amazed to learn about the technology, safety and performance features included in the Camaro, the new definition of the 21st Century Sports Car. Here are some of the 2010 Camaro highlights: Design • Sleek styling with heritage-inspired cues and 10 available exterior colors. • Detailed interior with excellent attention to detail and available ambient LED lighting technology. • RS Appearance Package available on LT and SS, with HID headlamps that include integrated “halo ring” feature, spoiler, specific taillamps and 20-inch wheels. Technology • Bluetooth wireless technology for compatible phones. • Premium Boston Acoustics 9-speaker, 245 watt audio system with [...]

Chevrolet introduced their Volt concept car at this year’s Auto Show in Detroit. It has the capacity to run on only electricity for up to forty miles. If the battery runs out of power, then and only then will the gas engine kick in. The gas engine works to recharge the electricity so the vehicle can run on only the battery again. On one tank of gas, the car should be able to travel around 640 miles, and get triple-digit gas mileage. The car can be charged with a normal 110-volt plug-in that you would find in your house.   Chevy is hoping to release this car in the next few years, but as of right now, they still have some issues to iron out concerning the power that the batteries [...]