A 24 Hour test at the Milford Road Course would leave no doubts as far as performance, endurance and capabilities of a vehicle. And that is just what performance engineers did to confirm track readiness with the Camaro ZL1. The track is 2.9 Miles in total, has 20 Turns and has an enormous 120 Feet of Elevation Change. The test puts the Camaro through a total of 24 hours on the course over 6 days, 4 hours per day in 40-minute sessions making a grand total of 36 sessions. Here’s some quick specs of the ZL1 Camaro: 6.2L Super Charged V8 580 Horsepower 556 LB-FT 20″ Wheels New Rocker Panels New front fascia and hood with air extractors, to create aerodynamic down-force to aid handling. The most Powerful Production Camaro Ever. The Camaro ZL1 will be released in early 2012!   In the meantime, please contact the Chevy sales staff at Runde Chevrolet in [...]

Runde Chevrolet wins GM’s Mark of Excellence Award   How do you know something is made with quality? What makes you want to go back to a particular place time and time again and be a repeat customer for that business?  Is it due to a certain attitude or level of enthusiasm from a place of business? Maybe you just know when something is made right or done right? Perhaps the best evaluation of quality is something that withstands the test of time.  Repeated, undeniable, satisfaction time and time again … this is what we strive to bring you at Runde Auto Group.  We aim to offer the very best of vehicles, service and personality – not just on occasion but each day and every second you are with us. Runde Chevrolet in East Dubuque recently received their 7th Mark of Excellence Award from General Motors and we thought the Runde Auto Group blog would [...]

If you’re thinking about purchasing a Chevy Sonic sedan, probably one of the first things you’d want to find out is how safe the car is.  Good things come in three as they say, and groups of three stand strong… The Three Stooges, Three Musketeers, Three Wise Men, Three Little Piggy’s, and now the three Chevrolet vehicles awarded the IIHS Top Safety Pick! The Chevrolet Volt and Cruze have now gained a brother in their recognized defense of human life on the road with the Chevrolet Sonic. Just awarded the IIHS Top Safety Pick, the Sonic brings home the third 2012 vehicle awarded with the honor of Top Safety Pick for Chevrolet. The IIHS puts vehicles through four different, rigorous, tests: front and side crash, [...]

I took a couple minutes today to gaze upon the view at the Runde Predriven dealership up on the hill.  Everything was seemingly peaceful on this perfect late summer day.  I wouldn’t go as far to say that the view of the landscape up there is breathtaking, but it is very relaxing and serene especially on a day like today.  You actually still have the view of the three states from up there even though you’re about a mile from the Mississippi River Valley.  I think I got a shot of an eagle flying overhead (looks too big to be a hawk). And there is also a great view of the Sinsinawa Mound that lies just across the rolling hill tops. [...]

Terry and Teresa Pluemer are from Platteville, WI and they stopped into the dealership today to pick up their new vehicle from Runde’s.  They’ve lived in Platteville all their lives. They know what they like in life and Runde’s is the dealer they choose to get the best experience. They were kind enough to share a little about themselves before they went on their way in their new SUV. What brought you into Runde’s Today? We had to find a replacement for our Jeep because it was totaled. Sorry to hear, hopefully no one was injured? No, thankfully our son was ok.   How did you find the vehicle? Teresa:  I researched it online because we were looking for a new vehicle and looked at the Runde website. We first stopped at a different dealer but I was not happy with the service or the person I talked to. Terry: I [...]

This week we’ll wish a big Happy Birthday to one of Runde’s very own employees.  Ashley Fulenwider turn’s 20 in three days.  According to the Urban Dictionary an Office Ninja (n.) is 1. an officemate who is adept at certain skills such as spying around the office and gathering information, appearing and disappearing around cubicles. 2. a crafty co-worker who can be tasked to work around the system to accomplish a job. Ashley Fulenwider is known around these parts as “the Runde Chevrolet Office Ninja.” Her title began merely as a play on words pertaining to how quite and subtly she would enter and exit an occupied room, unnoticed by those in it. Example! Just the other day Ashley silently sat down in the chair next to me to start her workday.  About 20 minutes after her morning shift began I looked around the room and finally realized she was there so we started to chat for a bit. After chatting, [...]

The Chevy Sonic car is officially out and are on the way here at Runde Auto Group! In case you weren’t in the know, the Chevy Sonic is a replacement to the popular Chevy Aveo. I know many of the Aveo fans might be skeptical about the switch but rest assured the Sonic promises to deliver a quality, impressive ride. In my opinion, it’s the best entry-level vehicle to any Make I’ve seen. The Sonic is available as a Sedan or Hatch. In addition to an impressive 40 MPG Highway, it offers features unheard of in its segment. Lets get some facts straight: Trims Available for the Chevy Sonic car: LS, LT, LTZ Engine: Standard – 1.8L I-4 Ecotech Engine (138HP/125 LB-FT Torque). Available – (only LT, [...]

Leo and Rosie Heid are Dyersville customers who recently bought their Chevy Malibu from Runde Auto Group.  These high school sweethearts have conquered the test of time with their love for for each other for more than 45 years.  Read on to learn more about the Heid’s, how they stumbled upon us, and how their experience with Runde’s went. What brought you into Runde Auto Group? We were looking for a different vehicle and we saw the Runde’s ad in the paper. We sold our Impala to one of our kids and needed to get something to replace it so we picked this up. I prefer something like an Equinox or an SUV that’s a bit easier to get in, but she likes this Malibu. She’ll be driving it mostly, anyway. So it’s your car, then? *Laughs* … I guess. Any specific need for the car or just a daily driver? Oh, just [...]

When Michael Jordan originally stepped away from basketball to pursue his dream of playing pro baseball, Chicago Bulls fans cried out in a collective agony that was heard and felt around the globe.  When he returned to the Bulls a year and a half later, he picked up where he left off and helped to provide Chicago with three more NBA titles. In the same accord, when Ryne Sandberg announced his initial retirement from the Chicago Cubs in ’94, Cubs fans collectively grieved like they had lost one of their own sons.   A few years later when Ryne had his life back together and returned to the team, the Cubs turned the ship around and won three straight World Series titles. (We can all dream, can’t we?) Today General Motors announced that Bob Lutz will [...]

If you haven’t stopped by one of our four locations in awhile, please do so. Or give us a call at 866-735-5200 and let us know what we can do for you.  Or maybe just Stop by Runde’s and say “hi” if you’re in the neighborhood.

So you decided to do the right thing, huh? You no longer want to leave mother nature another smear of pollution and decided to jump into the electric car playground. I promise you’re going to like this playground, especially if you jump in it with the Chevrolet Volt. The Volt is out. Jay Leno Drives one, everyone wants one and if you know what they are all about you’d be asking where can you could pick one up. To help you learn more about what you can expect from the Volt we put together this handy little Chevy Volt buyers guide. MPG/Fuel Mileage: The Volt is an Electric [...]

Kurt Larson, who has worked for Runde’s for the past 6 years, worked his last day of the summer yesterday.  Will this be the end of his tenure at Runde Chevrolet?  We hope not.   One thing we do know for sure is that he’s always welcome to come back and work for us again.  Kurt is a top notch employee who always did exceptional work in and around the dealership.  He has always been a dependable worker (a definite go-to guy) and to be completely honest, that’s not something you see too often these days with employees who are in their teen years or early 20’s.   After graduating from Augustana College in the Quad Cities earlier this year, Kurt came back [...]

When I start thinking of vehicles that might allow me to  have a little fun on & off road, the first one I think of is the 2012 Jeep Wrangler. To me, it’s one of the best looking SUV’s I’ve ever seen and boasts the title of “king of off-road production vehicles” to boot!  The 2012 Wrangler gets some exciting changes you definitely won’t want to miss out on. The 2012 Jeep Wrangler packs in an all-new 3.6L v-6 that gives better gas mileage, a smoother ride and more power. Want to talk numbers? Horsepower = 285 (a staggering 40% increase from its predecessor model!) Torque = 260 lb.-ft MPG = 17city / 21highway The new Wrangler will be available in four models: Sport, Sport S, Sahara and Rubicon [...]

Watch this video that was shot last week at X Games 17.  It’s the new Rally Cross event and it sort of reminds me of the bumper cars ride at Adventureland.  The Ford Fiesta hatchback dominated the Rally Cross largely due to its agility through hairpin turns over various types of surfaces.  Please call our Ford Store in Manchester at 888-927-2630  if watching this video makes you to want to order a new Ford Fiesta.   Now if you haven’t been moved to order a new Fiesta just quite yet and you have about 8 minutes to spare, then you’ll definitely need to watch this …          

Sara Vosberg Hilby stopped by the dealership on Saturday to pick up the 4 full-passes to Noah’s Ark that she had won. She said that she had just finished moving into a new house and when she finally got her internet hooked up at the new place,  there was a message from Runde Auto Group on her Facebook account saying that she had won the Noah’s Ark ticket give-away contest. She said that her daughter had wanted to go to Noah’s Ark earlier this summer and had actually signed up to go on a bus trip up there, but unfortunately the trip got cancelled because not enough people had signed up for the bus. Congrats Sara Vosberg Hilby and we hope that you and your family have an awesome time at the water park!!!   And thanks [...]

In a recent article, Bloomberg.com reported that GM has regained the #1 position as the World’s Top auto producer.    For the first half of 2011, GM sold 4.54 million units compared to 4.13 million sold by Volkswagen and 3.71 million sold by Toyota.  Before Toyota outsold GM for the first time in 2008, GM had held the top spot for 77 straight years. But GM has climbed back into the pole position as the World’s Top auto producer thanks to vehicles like the new Chevy Cruze, the Chevy Camaro, and the Chevy Silverado.  The Cruze was the top-selling car in the world market for the month of June and the Silverado is the world’s 2nd most popular vehicle overall just behind the Ford F-Series line-up.

Barb Reittinger, a Runde customer from Galena Illinois came in the other day to pick up a new car to get her around. She was impressed by how fast and smooth things went and wanted to tell the world about her great experience! What brought you into Runde’s today? Actually I was bringing my title in because I was trading in my van for a 2009 Cobalt. How did you get to working with Al? I pulled into the lot to look at the vehicles and he introduced himself to me and got hunting for the vehicle I wanted. He found the exact vehicle I wanted and I came in and bought it the next day. I was very impressed. He was quicker [...]

Before we discuss the topic of the world’s largest “M”, we’d like to give you some stats about the letter M.  Fun facts, if you will. It proudly begins powerful words like: mighty, magnificent and majestic. It is the 14th most used letter in the English alphabet, and the 13th in sequential order.  It’s been said that a person cannot say this letter without their top and bottom lips touching … even when ventriloquists say a word that contains an “M”, they often substitute the “ng” sound (or employ some other work-around) so they won’t have to touch their lips together.   Of course, we are talking about the letter “M”.  Here in the Tri-State area there is a memorable monument that uses this letter in perhaps the Most Meaningful way. On the slopes of the Platte Mound near Platteville, WI the world’s largest “M” can be seen. It originally came about in 1936 when two [...]

Congratulations to Jessica Fens. You wake up, get ready, start doing some errands then get a call that you won tickets to the Katy Perry concert this weekend… not a bad way to start the day, eh? Jessica Fens of Sherrill, IA sure thought so as she was thrilled to come in, with her daughter Alivia, to pick up the tickets while she was out and about in Dubuque today. Jessica doesn’t know who she’s taking to the show yet, but they are sure to have a good time seeing one of the biggest pop sensations in Chicago this Friday. Enjoy the show Jessica!

Maury Schmerbach is a fisherman. It’s in his blood. He always has and always will like to fish, you can see it in him when he lights up every time you talk to him about fishing. He is a loyal customer of Runde Auto Group and was more than happy to explain a bit more about what he does as a fisherman and the experiences he has had with Runde’s. Hey Maury, so what kind of fishing tournaments do you participate in? I fish the Walleye Circuits. The Masters Walleye Circuit (MWC), which is a professional circuit as well as others all over the country… Michigan, South Dakota and others. How have you, or your team been doing? We’ve won quite a bit of circuits. In 2005 we won the national championship held here in Dubuque which was $25,000 and a new boat. The AIM Pro Walleye Series is a tournament that actually [...]

Hey Eric T. Davis, welcome to the sales team at Runde Chevrolet.  What do you like most about your job so far? Talking to people and hopefully selling them cars. Are you originally from here? Yes, I’m from Dubuque. What’s the best thing to watch on TV? Oh man that’s tough. Uhm, I like to veg out to Sports Center. What’s your favorite sport? I don’t really have a favorite sport. I like all of them. Literally, all of them. Cricket, tennis, the whole shabang. Football, hockey, basketball. Do you know how to play all those sports?  Oh, believe me … I know.     Have you seen any new movies lately?  The last new movie I think I saw was The Blind Side.  Did you like it?   Yes. It was very good. If you could have any super power what would it be? Hmm, the ability to fly. [...]

The winner of our Rihanna concert tickets give-away stopped into Runde Chevrolet today to pick up her two free tickets.   She was very excited about winning the tickets and she’ll have a chance next week to find out first-hand why everyone is going so crazy over this rising star of the music world and all of her chart-topping tunes.  When we asked Greta Foley who she was going to take to the concert, she said that she really hadn’t had time to think about it.  Oh decisions, decisions 🙂   Everyone here at Runde Chevrolet hopes Greta Foley has a great time at the concert.  Who knows?  Maybe she’ll feel like Cinderella … ella … ella at the dance.

Everyone has their own way of showing their appreciation to their fathers on father’s day. Why not start out the day by taking your father out to a nice breakfast? Not sure where to go? May I suggest the Mid-Town Marina where Boy Scout Troop 14 will be serving a wonderful breakfast for you and your father to enjoy? Sunday, June 19th is Fathers Day and Scout Troop 14 will be serving Eggs, Pancakes and Sausage from 8:00am – Noon to anyone who wants a great Fathers Day Breakfast to start off their day. We sat down with Clark Wolff, who works with the East Dubuque Boy Scout Troop 14, who was kind enough to give us some details of the event. What is the main goal of this event? The pancake breakfast is actually Troop 14’s main, and biggest, fundraiser for the troop. The kids that work the pancake breakfast actually earn money [...]

We’d like to send belated B-Day wishes to Jeff Kueter, one of the cornerstones of the Runde Chevrolet Reconditioning Department.  Jeff celebrated his 37th birthday over the weekend.  Hope it was a good one Jeff!!!    Just three more years and then it’ll be all downhill.

Ward’s is one of the most respected names in the Auto Industry. This organization has covered the industry for more than 80 years. They produce widely distributed publications such as Ward’s AutoWorld and Ward’s Dealer Business and their website www.wardsauto.com is one of the most visited sites among professionals in the auto industry. Each year, Ward’s Auto picks out vehicles that possess interiors that stand out above their direct competitors.  This year, they presented Best Interior Awards to a total of just 15 vehicles and among them were the Chevy Cruze, the Chevy Volt, and the Ford Focus. The following is the video review of the Volt that was presented by a Ward’s Review Department staff member:     Below are some shots of the Chevy Cruze and Ford Focus interiors.  Personally speaking, we’ve been very impressed with the Cruze and Focus interiors so far — both of them display a nice blend of ergonomics and innovation.  Actually we were kind of surprised that [...]