Runde PreDriven near Dubuque is proud to welcome Mike Horn to its sales staff! Mike has been in the car business since 1988, mostly as a sales professional. He wanted to work for Runde Auto Group because of its reputation and large inventory. “I have always loved meeting new people and enjoy helping with their transportation needs,” he said. Mike Horn grew up in Guttenberg, Iowa and attended the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. He has lived in Dubuque since 2005. He has three sons, a daughter, and seven grandchildren. He loves sports and is an avid Chicago Bears, Bulls, and Cubs fan. He also loves cars (as you might have guessed!). “I have always been enthused about cars since I was a little boy, with my favorite [...]

Runde GMC in Platteville has received the new GMC Canyon! This mid-size truck provides power and hauling capabilities without the large size of a full-size pickup. It certainly doesn’t skimp on power – it gets 200 horsepower from a standard 2.5L I-4 and 305 horsepower from an available 3.6L V-6 and an available maximum trailering rating of 7,000 pounds! “The new GMC Canyon is the segment’s first premium mid-size truck, delivering class-leading capabilities with the brand’s signature refinement,” said Duncan Aldred, vice president of GMC Sales and Marketing in a press release. “It’s an efficiently sized, maneuverable package for customers who want [...]

Ken Dunkel picked up a new Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Z71 4WD LTZ Crew Cab from Runde Auto Group today. The Dyersville, IA resident is no stranger to Chevy trucks. “I’ve had ten Silverado trucks and I’ve always had light grey,” he said. “Once I went to dark grey and I’m back to light grey. It’s just a preference.” He will use the vehicle for farming. Ken Dunkel is a return customer to Runde Auto Group. His salesperson was Shannon Mulrooney at Runde Chevrolet in East Dubuque, IL. “Shannon was wonderful,” Ken said. “He’s outstanding and kept me informed.”

The first delivery of many of the new Chevy Trax near Dubuque has arrived at our Runde Chevrolet dealership lot in East Dubuque! This all-new vehicle is a like an SUV in a smaller package – roomier and more versatile than other small crossovers, but small enough for city driving! “Chevrolet is making a huge inroad with small cars around the world and Trax is the latest example,” said Steve Majoros, Chevrolet director of car marketing, in a press release. “It is the right vehicle at the right time in the U.S., building on Chevrolet’s strong SUV heritage with a package of features combining value, versatility, technology and maneuverability.” With seating up to five, the Trax offers up to eight seating/cargo-carrying options, [...]

Ellen H. from Dubuque, IA purchased a New Chevy Equinox earlier this week.  Actually she was not expecting to be in the market for a vehicle yet. “Normally when I buy a car, I’ve thought about it ahead a lot and I really hadn’t because I wasn’t going to do it until maybe next fall or going into next winter,” she said. But when she was in an accident last week, she needed a new vehicle — and fast. Runde Auto Group’s large inventory made it easy for her to get what she wanted. “I’ve had a good experience,” she said. Ellen picked up her new Chevy Equinox FWD 1LT earlier this week at Runde Chevrolet just across the river from Dubuque. “A friend had one and I [...]

Runde PreDriven in Hazel Green, WI is excited to have Donavon Nelson join its sales staff selling used vehicles in Dubuque are the surrounding area. Donavon was born and raised in Rockford, IL, and moved to Dubuque when he was 16. He attended Hempstead High School and Northeast Iowa Community College, where he started his business management degree. While he has a background as a restaurant manager and chef, he decided to move into sales a few years ago. He started with insurance sales and then moved into vehicle sales and he’s excited to be able to sell used vehicles in Dubuque and surrounding area. “A friend of mine turned me onto Runde’s —he heard it was a great company to work for, so I went for it,” Donavon said. “People seem caring and eager to help. I look forward to being here for a very long time.” In his spare time, Donavon likes to [...]

When naming what you are thankful for on Thanksgiving in Dubuque, you might take one thing for granted: the big meal. There are thousands of people who don’t have a family dinner to look forward to on Thanksgiving in Dubuque, but thanks to Genny Ginter, they won’t go hungry. This year marks the 53rd annual free Dubuque Community Thanksgiving Dinner. Last year the event served 2,200 people. “I’m making 86 turkeys this year – probably 90 just to be safe,” Genny said. The event will be Thursday, Nov. 27, at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 781 Locust St. in Dubuque. The sit-down dinner will be at 1:30 p.m. and Santa will be in attendance at 3 p.m. The meal will also be delivered to [...]

The first few flakes of snow were falling at Runde Chevrolet near Lancaster when Lisa B. picked up her new Chevrolet Equinox 2LT AWD. The Bloomington Wisconsin resident said the vehicle was a smart choice for the upcoming winter weather driving. “It’s something that will work well in the snow, since winter is coming,” she said. “And I liked the color.” The gold Equinox was the first vehicle that Lisa has purchased from Runde Auto Group. “My uncle bought here and my brother bought here as well, so they both recommended it,” she said. Her salesperson, Shannon Mulrooney at Runde Chevrolet, was helpful throughout the sales process. “He answered all my questions, was very informative, and has a good personality.  I will definitely recommend him to my friends in Bloomington [...]

Duane and Linda Huber drove home happy in their new red Silverado today.  They are by no means strangers to Runde Chevrolet. The couple, who live in Janesville, Wis., have purchased at least five vehicles from us. Today they picked up a red Silverado 1500 LT 4WD Crew Cab. “I trade about every 6 to 7 months,” Duane said. He liked the options available on this truck, which will be used for plenty of traveling. “We are on the road a lot,” Linda said. “We have a son in Texas and a daughter and grandchildren in Appleton, as well as farm up north, so we are hauling a lot.” Their salesperson was Dave Frazier at Runde [...]

Runde Chevrolet (now former) salesperson Nick Roche will be a featured artist in an upcoming exhibition at Gallery C! The show, called Surroundings, will feature Nick’s abstract oil paintings, as well as work by Amy Fuller and sculptures by guest artist Gary Carstens. “I’m excited to show there because I’ve only exhibited in smaller venues before,” Nick said. The opening reception will be 5:30-8:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14 at Gallery C, in the Schmid Innovation Center, 900 Jackson St., Suite 113, in Dubuque. It will continue through Jan. 11. Nick studied creative writing and studio art with an emphasis in painting and drawing at Loras College. “My paintings are inspired by landscapes,” he said. He recently competed in Art Slam at Voices X, winning second place in the professional category. Amy Fuller, a Studio Works artist, will show a series of oil paintings that were inspired by her trips to India and Spain. Guest artist [...]

Carole Dodson has already made her new 2015 Equinox all-wheel-drive LTZ her own.  We got a chance to ask her a few questions about her new ride for the Runde Blog before she drove home happy. She installed a ladybug flower design license plate frame before it even left the Runde Auto Group lot this morning. It’s a touch she has added to her vehicles for years, “They don’t make them anymore, and I really like it,” she said. This was the first vehicle Carole and her husband Herman, of Darlington, Wis., have purchased from Runde’s. “We had an Equinox, but it was white,” Carole said. “It’s a good ride and we like the looks.” She plans to take good care of her new crystal [...]

It was a cloudy day when Dick R. picked up his new Chevrolet Equinox LTZ at Runde Chevrolet just 1 mile east of Dubuque, but he was full of sunshine. He was thrilled as he checked out the added chrome touches on the mirrors, roof rack and door handles, and as he inspected the pinstripe down the side of the crystal red Equinox. “I think the nice touch of the little extras make it worth it,” he said. “I’m old school, and I was reflecting back on the cars of the ’50s and ’60s and their chrome.” This is his fifth vehicle from Runde Auto Group, and his third Equinox from the dealership. “I like the styling, I like the handling, and I like the fact that [...]

Runde Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Manchester is hoping for plenty of sunshine after having invested in solar panels. Earlier this week, the dealership was outfitted with solar panels on the roof of the main structure so it’s now running partially on power from the sun. The panels were installed by Blue Sky Solar. “I thought it was really great that Runde’s was so forward-thinking,” said Raki Giannakouros, the vice president of Blue Sky Solar. “I would say that now solar is the hot item in Iowa. I used to call people to try to sell solar and now I’m trying to keep up with the calls.”

Salesperson Tim Meyer of Dubuque will soon be celebrating a retirement and a birthday all at the same time.  He will retire from Runde Chevrolet in East Dubuque on Nov. 4 – two days before his 62nd birthday. “I’ll have 29 years and 9 months in the car business and most of that has included selling new Chevy vehicles in Dubuque and the surrounding areas,” Tim said. “I come from an automobile parts family over in Dubuque, so I’ve been fed and clothed by the automobile industry almost all my life.” Tim is excited to travel to visit family members, like his brother in Ohio, sister in northern Illinois and his brother in the Chicago area. He also is excited to spend more time with his family members here, including his 2 children, Megan, 34, and Jesse, 32, as well as his grandchildren and friends in Arizona. Tim started in the car business [...]

A Runde rental van was recently part of helping out a great cause. Participants in the 6th annual Research for the Kids Poker Run used a 15-passenger Runde rental van for the event, which raises money for the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. To date in 2014, they have raised $148,555. In the last six years, about $800,000 has been raised for the hospital to use for pediatric brain tumor and heart defect research. “Every year, doctors come before the ride leaves and tell us about what they do with the money and the machines they buy to help the little ones,” said Lori Dupont, a participant. “There are no in-between people, all the money goes directly to them. I think [...]

Runde Chevrolet salesperson Nick Roche was awarded second place in the professional category of Art Slam at Voices X on Saturday! This was his first time competing in the 90-minute live painting competition. “It went well,” Nick said. “It went really fast.  It was kind of hard to know when to stop because you only had so long and so you didn’t want to put too much in and not be able to fix mistakes. With about 10 minutes to the end, I was pretty much done.” The subjects of the painting were models posing in the warehouse at the corner of 10th and Jackson streets. Nick’s favorite part was the feedback he received. “A guy was watching me – my dad overheard him, actually – and he said he knew by my style who I had learned that under,” Nick said. “He came up to me after and said he was interested to see [...]

Dubuque's Best Fest WINNER for Best Car & Truck Dealership Runde Auto Group has been Voted Dubuque's Best Car and Truck Dealership by Tri-State residents every year from 2014 to 2024 as part of Hospice of Dubuque's Best Fest Celebration.   Runde's has been in business since 1927. Many well-trained, long-term employees offer great knowledge. An extremely low employee turnover rate and a hands-on approach from the Runde family combine to form a reliable dealership that can deliver a great car shopping experience.   The Tri-states Vehicle Sales Leader Gives You... Volume pricing and everyday low prices Best selection of New and Used vehicles in stock! Ordered Vehicles arrive sooner Better ability to locate new vehicles, if needed

Runde Auto Group is excited to once again be a sponsor of Voices From the Warehouse District and they are very excited about Voices X. This year marks the month-long art exhibition’s 10th anniversary, and Voices X is set to be bigger and better than ever. “We really wanted to focus on things that we haven’t had before — more installation artists and more digital media artists,” said Janice Roerig-Blong, exhibition coordinator of Voices X. There will be 14 exhibiting artists, including local, regional and some from as far away as Seattle and New York, as well as three guest artists.  Gene Tully, the founder of Voices, will also be exhibiting his work this year. “He hasn’t (exhibited) since I think the first or second Voices,” Janice said. One of the pieces [...]

Runde Chevy customer Jeanne Harrington should be considered an extremely loyal customer as she’s been buying cars from us for many years. The St. Catherine, Iowa resident has actually been purchasing vehicles from Runde Auto Group’s sales manager John Riley since 1989 (back when he was working for another Chevrolet dealership across the river). She was in again today to purchase a new Chevrolet Cruze. She said John takes care of his customers and the rest of the sales staff has always been nice too. “I haven’t really had problems, but I know that if I need help with something, he will help,” Jeanne said. “The battery was dead a couple months ago and I called him and he told me what to do. We were in an accident a [...]

Customer service is extremely important to Kathy and Robert Simon.  Today they were reminded why they keep coming back to Runde Auto Group: the dealership’s dedication to customer satisfaction. The Dubuque couple purchased a white Chevrolet Corvette Convertible, but their salesman Mark Fleege didn’t disappear after the deal was complete.  Just the opposite actually. The heart of great customer service ultimately comes down to time … Mark takes the time to work with his customers, he takes the time to explain things to his customers, and he also takes the time to make sure has has met all of his customers’ needs.  That’s customer service and that’s Runde Auto Group. Mark has worked for Runde’s for so long that excellent customer service is actually encoded into his DNA strands.  All [...]

Runde Chevrolet got a blast from the past when Bob Kinsella pulled into the lot in his 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle SS with a 396. The vehicle, with its frost green exterior and dark green vinyl top and interior, was purchased from Paul Runde at Runde Chevrolet back in 1968. The cost for the special order at the time was just $4,165.90. Its original receipt itemizes features the vehicle included, like a clock for $15, the vinyl top for $89, the rear window defroster for $22 and bucket seats for $121. The 375 horsepower 396 engine, which [...]

Alan Schorr recently purchased a used Corvette from Runde Auto Group.  The trouble is he lives 3,000 miles away. If you wanted to go on a nice, long drive, that’s a straight 60 hour non-stop drive from our PreDriven store in Hazel Green, WI. It wasn’t the frigid climate that got this Alaskan away from home to come to the states. It was fate, met with a ridiculously hot deal that not even 3,000 miles could stand in the way of. Alan, I hear you had quite the trip to get here? I live in Juneau, Alaska. Alaska is a big place, we live in a part of Alaska that’s actually close to the United States at just 1,100 miles north of the border. How was the flight? I took three planes to get here. I flew from Alaska to Seattle then from Seattle to Chicago and another flight from Chicago to Dubuque. [...]

Jr. and Dora S. have big plans for their new Dodge Grand Caravan. The couple, who lives in Farley, recently bought a 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan at Runde Auto Group’s Manchester location. Dora said she is excited to use the van for delivering flowers for her daughter, as well as for carrying her 12 grand kids.  Dora exclaimed, “They are going to love the new van.  It rides so nice and it’s big enough to haul everyone as once … well, almost everyone.” She said the van’s automatic doors will come in handy for the children and with the automatic safety back off sensor she won’t have to worry about any of the kids getting their small fingers pinched in the sliding doors. “I used to have a van with the automatic doors you just click a button and they open.  It’s such a nice feature and I really missed not having that over the [...]

It’s a good thing it was a sunny day last week when Bob and Bonnie Jordan stopped by Runde Chevrolet to pick up their new 2014 Corvette Stingray. “We only drive these cars in nice weather,” Bonnie said. “They never get wet environmentally.” The vehicle is the latest addition to their already impressive car collection, which includes a 2003 Ford Thunderbird Convertible, a 2008 Challenger SRT8, a 2013 Mustang Boss 302, a 2013 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Convertible and a 2014 Corvette Z51 Convertible. The couple, of Sleepy Hollow, IL, drove nearly three hours for their first visit to Runde Chevrolet. Bob came upon Runde’s from Cars.com, while he was searching for a 2014 Corvette Stingray Convertible Premiere Edition. With only 550 of the numbered vehicles in existence, he wanted to find the lowest numbered car in the area. They drove off our lot in #78. “The first time I saw the Stingray Vette, we went [...]

Indy fans get ready because the 2014 Chevrolet C7 Vette Stingray has been selected as the official pace car for this year’s Indianapolis 500. This will mark the 12th time the Corvette model has served as pace car for the grand-daddy of all races … and how appropriate since the Corvette is essentially a race car that’s designed for urban streets.  The exterior color for the pace car will be Laguna Blue Tintcoat and there will be no exterior mods to the car. Jim Campbell, GM’s VP of performance vehicles had this to say about the selection, “It is an honor to help inaugurate the all-new C7 Vette y at the hallowed Brickyard and further the legacy between Chevrolet and the Indianapolis 500. The 2014 Corvette Stingray’s performance was influenced by racing, making this prestigious [...]