The all new Equinox SUV’s have landed here at Runde’s and they’ve received nothing but great reviews so far. With room to spare, power to go, great gas mileage, and a sleek and appealing design … the all new Equinox is the vehicle to have whether you have a family or just desire a nice ride that will hold a lot of stuff. It will easily store your strollers, bikes and coolers full of food for your trip out to Noah’s Ark this summer. Check out the walk-around below to get up close and personal with the all new Equinox:     If you want more information about how the new Equinox can help you and your family get the most out of a vehicle this summer, give us a call at 866-735-5200 and we will be more than happy to answer any and all questions you may have.  And if you’re looking to [...]

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 [...]

We recently had a chance to interview Nicole Thor who brought her Suzuki Grand Vitara in for vehicle service in East Dubuque. Sitting patiently in the showroom while her car was being serviced, Nicole looked like she wanted to have a chat. They say everyone has a story to tell … so I decided to sit down and listen to her story. Thor, that’s a sweet last name. Yea it’s like the God of thunder, roooar! What brought you to Runde’s today? I am just here for an oil change. I hear you’ve bought vehicles from here before? Yep. I bought my Suzuki Grand Vitara from here. How were you treated? It was awesome! Great the whole way through and completely honest.   How’s the Suzuki Grand Vitara [...]

We’ve got a new staff member one coming on-board at Runde Auto Group– Jenna Schneider. We definitely hired a lively one. She seems to liven up the crew. Let’s get to know her a little better.   What do you do here at Runde’s? I take pictures and videos of cars. How long have you been here? It’s been just a couple of weeks now. Are you originally from the area? Yep. I’m from Menominee Il. Where did you go to school? I went to East Dubuque high school. What kind of past-times and hobbies do you partake in? I play volleyball, basketball and softball I also like to swim and boat. What is your favorite hang-out spot [...]

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.

What’s both wicked awesome and wicked fast?  Well, that would be this new inferno orange Chevy Camaro SS that just arrived at Runde Auto Group.  Inferno is an accurate description of this paint job because the car, simply put, is hot! This inferno orange 2010 Chevrolet Camaro is an impressive piece of machinery. Following many years of anticipation, Chevrolet’s all-new 2-door icon lives up to all the pomp and circumstance as it epitomizes what an American muscle car should be. This new Chevy Camaro is impressive whether it’s equipped with the base V-6 engine or the robust V-8 banger. The Camaro equipped with the V-6 powerplant can go from zero to 60 in six seconds, thanks the whopping 300 horses of raw power.  However the price tag is [...]

Hello Gary, can you tell me a little bit about the event? This is the single largest event in Dubuque. This is the 24th annual year that Radio Dubuque has been involved with the 3rd of July show. It is a combination air-show and fireworks display. The Air Force has estimated our crowd at, well, let’s just say in the tens of thousands. Where is the show located? The central location for the show is down by the Dubuque lock and dam on 1860 Hawthorne St. The firework show starts at 9:45 and typically lasts around 25-30 minutes. The air show runs from about 6:00-8:15.    A bunch of awesome aircraft in one location? [...]

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 [...]

If you haven’t said “Happy Birthday Greg Runde” yet today, well there’s still time. There were two important events that happened in 1969.  Obviously the most important of those was the birth of our owner, Greg Runde.  And then there was also Neil Armstrong setting foot on the moon, which you may or may not remember.  Anyway, enough about the first moon landing —  let’s get back to Greg Runde’s birthday … To commemorate Greg’s 40th birthday, we made a little video to express our sentiments.  Please try not to tear up too much. Happy Birthday Greg Runde!

Well two more people are now happy with the vehicle they just purchased at the Runde PreDriven store in Hazel Green, WI. A few months ago we had the pleasure of interviewing Amanda Hohmann. Well now the pack is back! … I guess it was never a pack, but we got two Hohmann’s here this time instead of just one – the more the merrier, I say. Amanda’s parents: Joe and Becky, came in the other day to buy a vehicle of their own. After knowing how cool of a person Amanda was, I had to request an interview with her parents and I’m glad I did! What vehicle did you guys end up [...]

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 [...]

This past week we had the pleasure of having a customer come in who owns this beautiful 1968 Chevy Camaro. It’s not too often that you see a Camaro of this year in such good shape. While he was here, we let him check out the new 2010 Camaro to get a sense of what the grandchild of his car looks like and how it handles. We all know that cars can’t talk without the aid of Hollywood’s magic.   However, I wonder what the conversation would be like if these two could have an actual car-to-car verbal exchange.   Take a look at these two together:

Ford Syncing is definitely a new thing.  With all of the technology that has been heaped on our generation over the past few years, sometimes it’s hard to keep up with all of the awesome new “stuff”.  He’s that guy. The one that nearly avoids getting into an accident because he’s on his cell phone. In honesty, YOU are probably that guy or girl sometimes yourself — I know I am occasionally. Safety is very important while driving.  I’m quite confident that using a cell phone and texting while driving won’t exactly put a smile on your parents’ faces. It’s a good thing that now you can do those distracting activities you find yourself doing, time and time again, without putting your, or any other, life at danger thanks to Ford Syncing. Released in over twelve of the 2008 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles, the Ford Sync lets those who opt for the system to wirelessly [...]

I recently had the chance to sit down with Rodney and Sherry Schroeder after they purchased a vehicle from our Chevrolet dealership. What did you guys do here today? We just purchased a Chevy Trailblazer. What led you to get that vehicle? Well, we had a van and we were looking for a seven-passenger vehicle — something different than a van. Do you have a big family? Well, we have three kids. How old are your kids and what do they do?  They are twelve, eleven and six and all of them are going to school. And what they do is drive us nuts (laughs). Are they excited for the new vehicle? Ohhhh yes. So what are you planning to do with the vehicle? Take the kids to the various sports activities, mostly for general use.  

Seriously, If you don’t absolutely fall in love with the 2010 Camaro after watching the video below, then there has got to be something wrong with you.  What a gorgeous car!   Chevrolet’s engineers and designers really did their homework when they were creating this black beauty and it’s finally here after many years of anticipation and it’s available to the next lucky person who takes a test drive in it. Call our Chevy sales staff today to set up an appointment to check it our in person.    

Our good friend, Casey Klein from the East Dubuque Business and Tourism Council, sent us a nice letter the other day thanking us for our coverage of the upcoming party in East Dubuque – a.k.a. the Independence Day Celebration. Casey wrote: “On Behalf of the East Dubuque Business and Tourism Council, thank you for your generous support and patronage of the Old Fashioned Independence Day Celebration. You created an extremely informative and helpful post on the Runde Auto Group blog! Thank you for making the East Dubuque Business & Tourism Council look good! All your efforts are greatly appreciated. As we get closer to the event, if you or your staff have any questions please don’t hesitate to call or e-mail. Please join us on Sunday, June 28th. Thank [...]

You might remember Justin Hanger from our blog post back in April. Click here to refresh your memory.  Justin works part-time after school for us taking the online photos of cars, and recording  vehicle videos. This is his story… Justin started life in Pensacola, FL, where he lived until he was three. Health complications related to his grandparents forced his family to return to small town life in nearby Dickeyville, WI. He has one sister (Andrea, 19) and two brothers (Brian, 13 and Brandon, 6). All of the boys attend Cuba City Schools, with Justin being a Senior at the high school. At the age of 10, Justin got his first experience driving on a cold winter day when he ran a four-wheeler into the back of the neighbors Jeep.  He was driving down the road when he hit a snowbank, which sent him into a cataclysmic spiral towards the aforementioned Jeep. “It barely knocked off the dust off the bumper” according to Justin, but it all [...]

Ok, who’s excited about the 2010 Ford Mustang?  I know I am for one and I’m sure other ‘Stang fans out there are eagerly awaiting the arrival of this car.  Arnold Schwarzenegger kept on building his guns of steel year after year. After building and fine tuning his body through years of practice, he became known as one of the best body builders known. I want all of you to meet the new Arnold in town… the 2010 Mustang. Initially, people were concerned that the new 2010 Mustang would not boast a better engine than the currently used 4.6-liter V8.  Well, to everyone’s pleasant surprise, the 2010 Mustang will be packing an all-new 32-valve, 5.0-liter V8 code-named “Coyote.” According to Ford Australia’s product development director, Russell Christophers, Ford [...]

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 [...]

I noticed this commercial online on the American Idol website.  Thought it was pretty cool.  It starts out with a Ford Fusion sedan, which I must say is an awesome looking car.  It’s equipped with SYNC — the voice activated digital music system that Ford currently makes use of in cars like the ford Fusion sedan and Focus (you might recall the famous Focus commercial where one guy is trying to embarrass his friend by saying “Play Michael Bolton” into his friend’s SYNC system.)   Anyhoo – getting back to the Idol commercial … the lady in the Fusion says “Play artists American Idols” and then the commercial shows Adam Lambert, Danny Gokey, and Kris Allen getting into a bit of a jam, but escaping in a Ford Mustang.  It’s a little hokey (Gokey gettin’ hokey), but that was sure a sweet-lookin’ Mustang that they [...]

This week I had the chance to interview Johnny Kramer.  He has worked her for a while now and is responsible for several laughs around the PreDriven Used Car store and is a pleasure to talk with. Going out of the Runde Chevrolet building you are almost guaranteed to see the house he lives in on the western horizon as it lies on the hill across from Runde’s overlooking our every move. What do you do here at Runde’s? I’m a detailer. I do everything:  lot maintenance, checking cars for gas levels, making sure they start promptly, washing the cars and cleaning them up, and basically just making sure they are ready to go.

Today I sat down for a chat with Casey Fluhr of Runde Chevrolet.  Casey is another one of those smiling faces I always see while walking around the dealership ready to help customers at a moment’s notice.  I must say he’s thrown a lot of warm-hearted  “good morning’s” and “how-ya-doin’s” my way over the past few years, so I’m now sharing him with the world through this short interview. We might as well get right down to it — What do you do here? Service consultant … when you bring a vehicle in for service, we will check you in and ask you what’s wrong with your vehicle.  I write repair orders and talk to mechanics about the vehicle problems. How long have you worked here? I’ve been here almost 16 years.   I started out washing cars here as a high school job and then worked my way up to where I am now. Are [...]

Happy Cinco De Mayo everyone.  Everyone is excited for the holiday and to add to that excitement is a very sharp looking 2010 black Chevy Camaro coupe.  Mayonaise, Mayo Clinic, OJ Mayo of the Memphis Grizzlies, or a cute child uttering “may-oh” instead of “mail” may all share part of its name, but since when can you party with sandwich spread? That’s right folks, it’s 5th of May. May 5th is the celebration of the Mexican army defeating the larger French army on May 5, 1862 where 4,000 Mexican soldiers  fought against 8,000 French soldiers. Overcoming odds, the Mexican army defended its territory when the French tried to invade the Mexican city “Puebla”.  The holiday is celebrated across Mexico and America as people celebrate their independence and freedom. So go out and celebrate – maybe you can enjoy some Pico De Gallo on your Cinco De Mayo.  Head to Los Aztecas for their burrito [...]

Charles Waser is a World War II veteran who visited Runde Auto Group today.  He was a flying mechanic for the U.S. Air Force where he put in twenty-one years of service for our country before retiring.  We are very appreciative of the commitment Charles made to his country over the years.  In fact, the pieces of shrapnel in the abdomen of this honorable war veteran still serve as a reminder of everything that he’s been through. Who finds a gold ring in a car? Al Kloft (Mr. Waser’s salesmen) did just that as he was told by Charles Waser before he traded in his vehicle that he had lost his diamond gold ring quite some time ago. After looking and finding the ring on the floor of Mr. Waser’s old car, Al [...]

The 5th annual Vincentric Best Value in America™ awards were recently held and General Motors proved to be to be the star of the show as ten of its vehicles earned Vincentric’s top honors. “Vincentric provides data, knowledge, and insight to the automotive industry by identifying and applying the many aspects of automotive value. Using VinbaseTM, its comprehensive, proprietary cost-of-ownership database, the company measures and analyzes the overall cost of owning and operating vehicles and its impact on the value provided to buyers. Vincentric data is used by organizations such as Cars.com, Chevrolet, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, Volkswagen, Ford Motor Co., Business Fleet Magazine, Audi of America and Fleet-Central.com as a means of providing automotive insight to their clientele. Vincentric, LLC, is a privately held automotive data compilation and analysis firm headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.” The table below shows some vehicles we carry that received awards:   Vincentric Names Models with Best Value   [...]