The Julien Dubuque Bridge had an accidental run in with a freight-hauling barge the other day.  Runaway barges are not usually a common topic in Iowa and Illinois, but last month was a rare occurrence. On June 9th, a tow of 15 barges and a bridge support were traveling downstream when the lead barge hit the Julien Dubuque Bridge and sent the others on their way. The bridge was closed to vehicle traffic for about 18 hours to conduct inspections. Witnesses say the vessels were traveling too fast for the pilot to maneuver them around the bridge. The current in that area of the river is strong, and doesn’t usually have a consistent pattern. Three of them lodged against the bridge, and several others [...]

Lenny was a little hesitant to let me interview him, so I promised to be nice. He works in our reconditioning department at Runde Chevrolet, and he didn’t have a lot to say but he gave us SOME input.   Runde Auto Chat: Everyone knows you as Lenny, but what is your REAL name? Lenny: Jeff Kueter   RAC: How long have you worked here? L: A little over a year   RAC: A lot of people think that you’re the hardest worker here. Is there any truth to that? L: Maybe a little bit.   RAC: Do you follow baseball? L: Yes   RAC: Who’s your favorite team? L: Cubs   RAC: Will you be watching the All Star Game? L: No, I have prior commitments.   RAC: Wife? Kids? L: Yes, and 1   [...]

Anyone who says being a parent is easy is either a liar or they’re not a parent … or both.  It’s Monday again and unfortunately that means it’s back to the grind. I don’t know about you guys, but the weekend was way too short! I’m sure those of you with kids had an even shorter weekend than I did. Are you wanting to make the most of every minute you have off from work? Here are a few ways to make your weekends feel longer, refreshing, and more fulfilling because being a parent is never easy. If errands are a must, try some silly games to keep them interesting. Have the kids race to find a certain product first, or have them point to a specific item on the shelf. Making an ice cream stop on the way home will also keep everyone in a good mood. [...]

Where would you go if you were planning an upcoming night on the town? I took a trip down to Houlihan’s restaurant in Dubuque today to see what was going on — it’s just a 4 minute drive from the Runde PreDriven store. Houlihan’s is located next to the Dubuque Greyhound Park and  Casino and the Hilton Garden Inn just off of Highway 151. The location would be great for a weekend away from home. You can stay at the Hilton, eat at Houlihan’s, and gamble at the casino. It is also within driving distance of shopping, golf, and many other restaurants in the area.

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 [...]

There is no doubt that the Flood of 2008 left it’s mark on the Midwest, but the cost of reconstruction is billions more than the smaller townships can cover. You may remember Zach Johnson, who hails from Cedar Rapids and won the PGA’s green jacket in 2007. Zach’s parents left for this year’s U.S. Open the day before the flood hit. When they returned, they weren’t sure if they would have a house to go home to. Luckily, their house and his dad’s chiropractic clinic were almost untouched. Compared to many other families in the Cedar Rapids area, they had very few problems. Zach’s mom had to work out of home and an area high school due to her downtown office being flooded, but that was a minor detail when one considers the big picture; it’ll take quite awhile before their hometown can be cleaned up and restored to a point of normalcy. [...]

Many of us don’t make it up to ‘the penthouse’ (upstairs offices) at Runde Chevrolet often, but they do exist, and yes, there are people working up there! I caught up with Lisa Rigdon this morning and got a little information about what she does on a daily basis. Runde Auto Connection: What are the daily tasks that go along with your job? Lisa Rigdon: I handle all the dealer trade paperwork and make sure the taxes and title work get to the correct states. RAC: Briefly describe the process you go through when you have to transfer a title. LR: I check the title for liens, make sure the VIN #s and mileage match up, transfer the title from the previous owner to our name, and then on to the new name. I then have to send it on [...]

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) released their Top 10 Stolen Cars list for 2007. As usual, the 1995 Honda Civic and 1991 Honda Accord sat at the top of the list. The older Hondas and Toyotas did not change much in appearance for quite a few years, so the parts fit on multiple models and it was easy to duplicate keys. There are also a lot of older cars still on the roads; I think it might be time for an upgrade! (Before someone steals it and leaves them with no trade-in). NICB spokesman Frank Scafidi said, “It’s amazing to see how many folks get their cars stolen from leaving their keys in them. People should just use some basic common sense.” I know one of Runde’s customers reported having his XM radio receiver stolen out of his SUV a few weeks ago. He said that he isn’t used to locking up his vehicle [...]

Matt Sieverding is a pretty busy guy, but he allowed me to seize a few moments of his time to answer some questions. Runde Auto Chat: How long have you been working at Runde Auto Group and what do you do here? Matt Sieverding: I did an internship in 1999, and started working full-time about 5 years ago. I am the General Manager of the Manchester dealership. RAC: What do you like most about your job? MS: There is never a dull moment RAC: What kind of vehicles do you currently own? MS: A Pontiac Grand Prix and a Turbo Buick Grand National. RAC: What do you like most [...]

Runde of Manchester received its first 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8 earlier this week. It was ordered through our Manchester location, and was already spoken for when it got here. It only spent a couple hours with us before the rightful owner came to pick it up, but it was here long enough to leave a lasting impression and it certainly drew a crowd of admirers!!

London, England is known for a lot of things: Tennis, the Queen, castles, musicals, soccer (futbol for you Europeans), The London Eye, Tower Bridge, and Big Ben, but I think many people would agree that the Wimbledon Tennis Championships are another reason why people like to visit. My husband and I took a trip to England for a friend’s wedding two summers ago, and we visited all the sites listed above and then some! Being inside the gates of the All England Lawn Tennis Club was my favorite part of the whole trip. Wimbledon had just finished the weekend before we got there, and the courts had already been reseeded for the next year. We got to go in the press room where the players do their interviews, saw all of the courts except for Centre Court because they were building a transparent retractable roof for the 2007 Championships. We got to go through the [...]

We caught up with Gary Brewer before he left for the Dubuque County courthouse today … I know what you’re all thinking … but he was going to take a customer’s vehicle back to them! He is known as ‘Mr. Runde’ to the people at the courthouse, but to us he’s just ‘Brewer’. This is what he had to say about himself and his job at Runde Chevrolet. Runde Auto Chat: Everyone around here has been wondering the same thing…What exactly do you do at Runde’s? How long have you been ‘working’ for them? Gary Brewer: I pick up cars for service and return them when they are finished, handle title transfers, and I have worked here for about 4 years. RAC: What would your dream car be? GB: A 1960 Corvette. RAC: How do you feel about the Chicago Cubs leading the National League Central? GB: Hate it RAC: How [...]

Inbee Park of South Korea became the youngest winner in the history of the U.S. Women’s Open and I was lucky enough to be there to see it all. The soon-to-be twenty year-old, 2nd year professional carded a final-round 71 (-1) for a four day total of 283 (-9) at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minnesota. Edina is a southwest suburb of Minneapolis. Inbee finished four strokes ahead of Sweden’s Helen Alfredsson. On our way to the golf course Saturday morning, we saw Michelle Wie taking a jog around the housing development by Interlachen. She had one hole to finish from Friday’s round, and after missing the cut I’m sure she had some built up frustration to burn!! My husband and I ate at Chili’s Saturday night. We were in for a shock when we sat down, and looked over to the corner table. Inbee Park, her caddie, and a friend were [...]

One of our Service Advisors, Dave Frett, received a letter of appreciation from a customer yesterday.  We’re always thankful for any feedback that comes from customers.  It allows us to gauge how we are doing as a dealership and how our customers perceive us.   Mr. Frett, Thank you so much for the professionalism you showed when I came in with no appointment to get my tire fixed yesterday. I appreciated the wonderful service that you provided in a situation that you weren’t expecting. So often when people are in that type of situation, they are less than kind, so I wanted to make sure I thanked you. Thanks for all you do everyday! Deb Schromen of Hazel Green, WI   Thanks to Deb Schromen for taking the time to write and send that quick note.  It means a lot to us.  We are thankful that we have employees like Dave Frett and we’re [...]

Employee pricing is back at Runde Ford in Manchester.  Ford currently is offering its truck customers the chance to purchase or lease an ’08 model year pickup for the same price that Ford employees pay. This is a move from Ford that we haven’t seen in a couple years and it’s a great opportunity for truck buyers to save a bundle and get into a brand new Ford truck.  From now just through June 30, Ford’s Employee Pricing Program is available on 2008 model F-Series pickups, including the F-150, F-250 and F-350. (Ford stated that the current employee pricing program doesn’t include the Harley Davidson series or any chassis cab models).   I know that Ford gives it’s factory employees one heck of a perk when they buy new vehicles, so to open this up to the public again definitely is big, big news! The F-Series has been America’s best-selling truck for 31 years. So [...]

The Garmin corporation announced recently that it will provide an integrated navigation system for the new 2009 Suzuki SX4 as standard equipment. This marks the first time in America that a vehicle under $16,000 will include GPS navigation as a standard feature. The Garmin portable device with its 4.3 inch touchscreen will be mounted inside the vehicle, but owners will be able to easily remove it and use it whenever they leave their vehicle. With this system, drivers will be able to listen to the radio or CD player, and the audio will automatically cut out when their navigation device gives a voice prompt or when there’s a Bluetooth-enabled incoming phone call. Furthermore, the antenna will be seamlessly integrated into the vehicle’s existing antenna. The 2009 Suzuki SX4 models will start to arrive at Runde [...]

Kevin Hanger lost a total of 36.8 pounds in 8 weeks time.  That’s amazing! Over the past 8 weeks, several Runde employees and their family members have been taking part in a weight – loss competition. Each contestant had their own strategy and everyone who entered the competition succeeded in losing weight. Thirteen people took part in the contest and those thirteen lost a combined total of 190 pounds – not bad, eh? During the final weigh-in, Kevin Hanger emerged the victor. Kevin is the husband of Sue Hanger, who works as an accountant for Runde Chevrolet. Kevin works full-time for Swiss Valley as a quality control manager, but he also works part-time nights at Runde’s in East Dubuque and he buys all of his vehicles from Runde Auto Group. [...]

The Mark of Excellence is the original name of the logo for the GM Corporation. It was first used by GM in 1966 and the logo originally included the phrase “Mark of Excellence” at the bottom. It was initially installed on the door jambs of GM vehicles. Some of us older folks might recall that the logo also was also stamped on the release buttons of seat belt buckles in GM vehicles until the mid-1990s. The “Mark of Excellence” is also an award. Runde Chevrolet was presented with this award just last week for their sales and customer satisfaction results again. Runde Chevrolet has won this award numerous times, however GM keeps raising the bar and winning the award thus becomes more of a challenge with the passing of each year. GM representatives were on hand [...]

General Motors announced recently that it’s adding the 2009 Buick Lucerne to its E85 flex-fuel lineup. The alternative-fuel version of the Lucerne can be selected as a no-cost option and can run on gasoline or E85 or any combination of the two. This means the Lucerne thus has the distinction of becoming the first flex-fuel passenger car from Buick.   The Lucerne was named after Lake Lucerne in Switzerland. I had the good fortune of spending a couple days there in the spring of 1993 and I highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to travel abroad. “Timeless beauty” would accurately describe the lake and the city surrounding it. It is easily one of the most scenic locations in the heart of Europe. GM said the Lucerne will be among more than [...]

Diane Casey and her husband came in a couple weeks ago to purchase a new Chevy Silverado half-ton truck. When they were in to pick up the new truck, their salesman (Mark Fleege) let them know that Runde’s just got in some promotional “Nerf-like” mini footballs. He intended to grab a couple of the nerf balls for them and proceeded to ask them how many kids they had so he would know how many footballs to get. Diane’s husband said that Diane has about 20 kids. You see Diane is a 1st grade teacher up at Cuba City Elementary School. So Mark grabbed her a bunch of the footballs to take to her class.   A week later, Mark received the following thank-you note in the mail that we’d like to share with [...]

If you reside in the Tri-State Area, you may recall an article on the front page of the Telegraph Herald newspaper on May 19th of 2007. The article was titled “Vehicle won’t be flying off the lot: Auto dealer won’t sell truck until baby robin in a bird nest on a vehicle’s tire leave” … and it started out saying, “A bird family weighing all of a few ounces is holding a 5,000-pound truck hostage outside of East Dubuque. A pair of robins choose an unlikely spot to build their bird nest — on top of the left rear tire of a red truck on the lot at Runde PreDriven Vehicles, a mile east of Dubuque on Highway 35. From the perfectly round nest tucked under the [...]

I ran across this vehicle and found it fascinating. Something like this could really have come in handy two nights ago as I was on my way home from Runde Auto Group and stuck in traffic for about 25 minutes while waiting to cross the Julien Dubuque bridge on Highway 20.  Let’s face it … that bridge closes all too often leaving motorists wondering what’s going on and hoping that they won’t be stuck in traffic for too long.  Once you’re stuck, you’re faced with the option of waiting it out and hoping that traffic will start moving quickly in a few minutes … or the alternative of turning around and driving back a couple miles through the Hazel Green township and crossing the Mississippi river using the Wisconsin bridge. Even though the “vehicle” in the video below literally takes off, I’m skeptical if this vehicle invention will really “take off” and become a [...]

Runde Auto Group customer Melissa Blitgen stopped by our East Dubuque store today to pick up her new ride. Melissa lives about 15 miles to the south in Bellevue, Iowa so if you’re from that area you may see her cruising around in her Mitsubishi convertible. The newest Runde Auto Group customer was kind enough to answer a few questions and tell us a little bit about herself before driving off into the sun-filled horizon with the convertible top down. Runde Auto Chat : What kind of car did you buy? Melissa Blitgen: I opted for a used car … a 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder Convertible. RAC: Where is the first place you’ll take your new ride? MB: Home. RAC: Do you think your car is [...]

Dubuque Customer Reviews Runde GMC Dealership with a Kind Testimonial Occasionally we’ll receive a letter back from happy new GMC customers who recently purchased a vehicle from Runde Auto Group located near Dubuque.  It doesn’t happen too often as a lot of people are now trending toward leaving online testimonials and reviews about local businesses.  When we do receive an actual letter from a Runde customer, it’s kind of refreshing and it’s the sort of thing that can really make a person’s day.  Greg Runde recently received one of those types of letters from a customer of his who lives in Dubuque.  They purchased a gorgeous black GMC Envoy Denali (see photo below).   Over the past few years, Runde’s has blossomed into a premier Dubuque GMC dealership in the area and we’re always trying to win over new GMC customers.  It’s really the level of customer service that set’s us apart from the other [...]

Runde Auto Group customer Mandy Augustin of Dubuque recently picked up her new ride that she bought at our Chevy store in East Dubuque. She really wanted to get going to enjoy her new set of wheels and the warm spring- like weather, but we appreciate the fact that she took a couple minutes to chat with us.   Runde Auto Chat: What kind of car did you buy? Mandy Augustin: A 2002 Ford Focus. RAC: As the newest Runde Auto Group customer, where’s the first place you’ll take you’re new car? MA: Home. RAC: Do you think your car is male or female? MA: Definitely female. RAC: Will you give her a name? MA: Don’t know yet … undecided. RAC: What’s the best thing about your new ride? MA: It’s mine! [...]