Saw this today and thought I’d post it — it’s cute.  Just Madonna out for a daily drive with Clive Owen.   Granted I was never really much of a Madonna fan anyway so when I saw this, I was like Oh, ok.  I mean I like the songs and she has stayed on top of the music industry for a long time so she does command and deserve respect.  But I’m not so sure that she still deserves all the hype she gets.   I’d take Cyndi Lauper or Tori Amos any day of the month over Madonna.  She was just never at the top of my a-list … my apologies to any Material Girls out there who may be offended.  Please feel free to leave a comment if I touched a sore nerve or upset the Zen balance in your material world — just don’t remain Silent After all These Years — let it out, because [...]

Where do people go for up-to-date information about Ford electric vehicles?  Why Jay Leno, of course.  Who didn’t like watching Jay Leno? There’s just something about the show that sucks you in and leaves you feeling happy. Once he announced that he’d no longer do the Tonight Show, it was pretty easy to predict that there would be another show around the corner with Leno as the star. People can’t seem to get enough of him. The man is a car enthusiast with an extensive garage of vehicles that no one else could really fathom owning under one roof. To add to his already great name, he’s also a Chevy fan making him just THAT much cooler. In his new show, which will start airing September 14th, Jay will feature a section called “The Green Car Challenge” where the Ford electric vehicles will star. In the segment celebs will hop in Fords environmentally friendly vehicles [...]

Time Magazine recently published the top 10 most exciting vehicles of the year. Making the list are three vehicle makes that Runde’s offers. Here are the three along with pictures and what Time had to say about them: 1. The Suzuki Kizashi What Time Magazine has to say: “Known for small cars and SUVs, Suzuki makes its first foray into the heart of the U.S. market with the midsize Kizashi sedan. The exterior styling is fresh, and the interior packs cool features such as sporty seats and a nifty instrument cluster that give the car character. The Kizashi’s key asset could be its power train, which includes a new 4-cylinder aluminum engine that can be matched up to either a six-speed manual transmission or a continuously variable automatic transmission. Kizashi won’t go on sale until late fall, and the price is expected to be in the low-$20,000 range. Toyota and Honda better look over [...]

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 [...]

This week I’d like to introduce you to Tim and Maryellen Engelke from Belmont Wisconsin.  Belmont is a town of about 1000 people that is situated in between Platteville and Mineral Point.  It is mainly a rural area, but the village of Belmont, itself, does offer some quaint local business and the residents are friendly people who are always willing to offer a helping hand to those in need … a good example of this is the Engelke family.  Tim Engleke is a is a farmer and his wife Maryellen runs a daycare from out of their farm. They brought with them their two bundles of joy: Christopher and Elsie who were very lively and fun to have around the dealership – a gust of fresh air, as [...]

Ford made a dream come true for some legally blind people as they were give the chance to be driving again thanks to a large open area and modern technology. You are the next big street racer. You get thrilled by the speed and feel of it all – going high speeds, feeling and hearing the motor sing to you as you treat it with all the gasoline your foot can put down. One day you wake up, and you can’t see anything. The doctors all tell you that you are blind from what appears to be some head trauma you experienced the other night. You lose your licence and can no longer drive. Suddenly, your world turns upside down, the things that you loved so dearly [...]

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 [...]

Kim Murdoch stopped by Runde Auto Group of Manchester today to pick up her new (FREE) set of golf clubs that she recently won.  Who, what, why and how might be going through your head right now after reading the heading… well let me fill you in: Who: Kim Murdoch. What: Runde’s is giving her a set of Taylormade Burner golf clubs (3 and 5). Why: Because she is awesome at golf and scored a hole in one at the Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce Golf Outing. How: With skill and grace. What does she have to say about all of this? Well, just read below and find out! Congratulations Kim! Must feel pretty good to own some shiny new golf clubs, huh? Oh yes! What is golf to you? A hobby, another sport, a stick and a ball, or a passion? I’d say it’s another hobby as well [...]

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.

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 [...]

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:

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 [...]

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.    

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Today I had the great pleasure of meeting and getting to know Tiffany and Randy Wuertzer after buying a car at Runde’s. Randy Wuertzer owns Best Shot Paintball field located in Asbury and Tiffany will soon be attending the University of Iowa as a freshman. Before leaving the dealership, they graciously let me have a little chat with them… So you bought a car at Runde’s today? Yes we bought a silver Hyundai Accent. How do you like it? Randy: So far so good.  It’s a manual so I have to teach her how to drive it a bit more. Tiffany: I tried to drive it a little bit and it seemed good. So I hear you [...]

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 [...]

East Dubuque is having an Independence Day Celebration on Sunday, June 28th from 1pm ’til dusk. Runde’s is very excited that we are sponsoring and donating to this event but we are even more excited to go to it. We were so anxious for the event that we decided to kidnap Casey Klein, board member of the East Dubuque Business and Tourism Group, in order to gain more information about the event. So raise your hand if you don’t like to have fun. Those of you who raised your hand can stop reading this post now, thank you for your time. For the remaining fun-loving individuals still here, listen up.   So Casey, can you describe for me what the Old Fashioned [...]