Runde Auto Chat

Dave and Patricia Opperman are a hardworking couple from Wadena, IA - about 60 miles out from our Hazel Green location. They took some time out of their hectic and always busy farm life to pick up a vehicle and do a little interview with me.

How did you end up coming to Runde's?
I was on AutoTrader.com and found a nice '03 Silverado that looked good and decided to give it a try. I came to Runde's and talked with Al and ended up buying it.

On a scale of 1-10, what would you rate your experience here?
Oh a 10, I loved the place there were no problems.

How was Al Kloft, your salesman?
He's a very interesting guy, very good.

What do you like to do around the area?
I just farm, it's about all I do. I used to hunt but I don't much do that anymore.

No movies or anything?
Not much anymore. Most of the new movies I haven't seen and I don't recognize any of the celebrities that you see on magazines and T.V. Most of the celebrities that I knew are mostly all deceased or dying.

Patricia: Yea, we don't watch a lot of movies but we did take the grand-kids to one a week ago, Yogi Bear, I thought it was a cute movie.

How many kids do you have?
We have four kids... and how many grand-kids... 11 grandkids.

Who's the Chef in the house?
Patricia: I am.

Dave, what's your favorite dish she makes?
I like her hot beef sandwiches.

How long have you two been married?
A little over forty years now.

Do you remember the first date?
I remember meeting her and I was really nervous and scared... that was a long, long time ago.

Are all of your kids grown up and out of the house now?
Yep, all married and moved out.

If you were to win the lottery what would you do with the money?
First half of it would go to charity. Then I'd pay off the taxes and bills. And maybe do something I'd like to do with the rest.

If you would go any one spot in the world where would you go?
Dave - I'd go back to Germany - I was jet-lagged when we got there for the first day and we didn't get to stay very long the first time. We flew into Frankfurt and we were only 14 clicks from the old German border so we went there and I finally got to see how they would fence off the border. For the longest time I could never quite comprehend how they prevented anybody from getting through the border. But they have guard towers with snipers and lots of lights everywhere so It'd be pretty risky to try to cross.

Patricia - I'd go to Hawaii (Dave chimes in) but she won't fly so we can't go. I definitely wouldn't mind going there either, though.

Don't care for planes too much?
Patricia - I don't trust them. Dave - I'd like to go back and see a little more of Germany though, my ancestors came out of there in the 1680's - some of the first ones to come over here. They came out of Bremen which is north-west Germany and they migrated here where most of them ended up in the Cedar Rapids Area.

What invention would you say is the best?
I'd probably say all the medial inventions they came up with over the years are the most important.

That's all the questions I had for you guys. Thank you for sharing a bit of your lives with us today. Enjoy your new Silverado!

In the short amount of time I spent with David and Jan Rafoth from Dubuque, I could tell that they have led interesting lives. And what constitutes an "interesting life" you may ask? For starters, how about stepping on a bomb and living to tell the story? Not enough for you? ... Well add-on finding out where you are going to live based on a nice random car ride. Read on, hopefully you are as entertained by their stories as I was listening to them.

How did you hear about Runde's?
Well we were looking to trade our car and we had previous experience with Runde's and Al Kloft and we were treated right the last time we were here. After we saw the Cadillac in the paper we called Al up and he said "we'll have it washed up for you to come and see it". You guys were very fair and we ended up buying the car.

On a ranking of 1-10 what would you give Runde's?
We'll give you a 1... Is that the "good" side of things?...

Well ... Good would be about an "8" and a "10" would mean everything was Great! It's like the gymnastics scores in the Olympics.
Oh, we'll give you a 10 then, geesh - whatEVER. Everything was perfect.

How do you know Al?
I kind of knew him through a friend but mainly we know him from buying a truck from him. I think he sold us the truck within an hour. There was no hassle, I was very happy with everything.

What do you use the truck for?
We think of ourselves as we're half-farmers... even through we're retired. We live out in the county and have to trim trees and all that kind of stuff so we always have to do something around the area.

Where are you guys from?
We live in Dubuque. But now we live here "half-time" where we live here for the holidays and big gatherings. But for about four or five months we live in North Carolina.

How were your holidays?
They were good, BIG gatherings.

Do you have any pets?
We have one cat named Sammy. He's a Tabby cat. He rides down to North Carolina with us whenever we go. He sits back there in his little box and never makes a peep, he's a great cat.

Now he can have a nice ride in the Cadillac.
Yeah, we've had eight Caddies so far, we just like them.

What do you like to do around the area?
We like to ride motorcycles, we both have Harleys. We spend a lot of time on the river and we just sold our boat, but we have a lot of friends that still have boats which is even better. We also do a lot of entertaining like dinner parties and stuff like that. Otherwise we have a house in the country that requires a lot of maintenance and care.

What kind of food do you guys like?
She makes some great Italian food. Sausage, Sauce, Pasta, Beef and Pork Tenderloin...the works.

You are looking pretty hungry there David.
Yeah, I haven't had lunch yet so food sounds pretty good right now.

How long have you two been together?
17 years. Married 17, hanging out for another 5.

Do you remember your first date together?
I think we went to Timmerman's. We knew each other through other people and we both belonged to the chamber and had our own businesses. We had a lot in common and just kind of hit it off.

Al tells me that you had some pretty close encounters when you were in the army?
Yeah, it was during my two years in the Vietnam War. My squad was hot on the trail of some of the enemy and we were observing them as they went through their same trail for several nights. So when we finally pursued after them, we went through their trail and they must have caught on that we were watching them and might go after them because there should not have been a trip wire on their own trail. It was pitch black when my foot sank down into the ground to the point where my knee was level with the ground and I thought at that point that it might be a trap. So my Sargent came up and checked it out and felt down around in the hole and said "you're stepping on a trip-wire".

 That must be ranked up there as one of the worst feelings ever... So what could you guys do at that point?
Not much. None of us were sure what would happen if I were to step up, whether it would go off or not. So the Sargent got everybody back and took all my stuff with the men at a distance and told me to build my nerve up and spring up out of the hole and try to run as fast as I could to avoid getting killed. So I did, and nothing happened. So we marked the spot and we came back the next day and dug out the trap... it ended up being an artillery shell, that would have got all of us. We had our demo guy put on some C4 and blow it... it actually blew a hole about three feet deep.

Wow, I'm glad you lived to tell the story.
I kept the trip wire and still have it to this day. Since then I have had the mentality that nothing can ever scare me again.

You said that you live in North Carolina?
Yeah, we live in Asheville. We love it there because it's really accepting... there really isn't "racism" or anything like that, everyone just kind of fits in. They really promote themselves too. They are all about local restaurants and produce and they do a great job of keeping commercial. After we retired we were just looking for a place to get away from the extreme snow that we have here in Dubuque. We just happened to drive around for a spot and found Asheville.

So, you just kind of drove around for a place to live?
Yep. Oh, and if you haven't heard of the Biltmore House there, you should Google it. It's absolutely beautiful.

What is the most important invention created?
Technology in general. It seems like something new comes out pretty much every week that seems pretty important.

If you were to win the lottery what would you do with the money?
I think we'd give a lot of it away. We'd give to our church and to those who need it. Maybe we'd come back here and buy a couple more Cadillacs. We never really dreamed much of winning the lottery. We've had a great life together and we only need so much stuff... we have too much stuff already.

That's all the questions I've had for you, if there's anything you'd like to add you are more than welcome.
It's a really nice experience here. A lot of people, including ourselves, think "Oh geez, I have to go in to buy a vehicle." Sometimes we don't even want to bother. But we don't feel that way here. We always enjoy ourselves and I appreciate the experience you guys offer. And tell Al "thanks again" for the deer sausage he gave us!

 The Detroit Auto Show is always bound to bring out the latest and greatest each manufacturer has to offer in their vehicle displays. Of the new and exciting things happening, Chevrolet unveiled the Sonic which acts as a replacement to the Chevrolet Aveo. While the Aveo's departure from the lineup is a sad time for some, there is plenty of good to look forward to in the Sonic.

At first glance it kind of feels like an Aveo, it was built to replace the Aveo and will probably be priced close to that of an Aveo... so what's the difference? Glad you asked...

Lets start off the bat with the engine. Remember the Ecotec 1.4L turbo that is available on the Chevy Cruze? It's back, this time in a smaller and lighter package with the Sonic's 6-speed manual @138hp will ensure your ride to have a great sense of speed and performance. Standard with the Sonic comes the Ecotec 1.8L engine paired with five-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmissions.

Some options which are rare to find in a car in this segment include: Remote Start, Front Heated Seats and Sunroof. And the sedan also offers the segment's best trunk capacity.

It comes in a 5-door hatchback and, just unveiled in Detroit, a sedan variant. From the Press Release: "The sedan and five-door models are distinctively different. The five-door carries a tight, two-box shape with aggressive, diving feature lines, while the sedan's "notchback" profile has a more upscale and mature presence. At first glance, the five-door model looks like a three-door hatch because the rear door handles are discreetly located in the "C"-pillar area. The rear of the five-door continues with unconventional details, including exposed, motorcycle-inspired rear taillamps."

Chris Perry, vice president of Chevrolet marketing comments, "The all-new Chevrolet Sonic blends the practicality of a small car with the passion for driving that Chevrolet vehicles like the Corvette are known for." And, coincidentally, the engineers for the Corvette are responsible for the ride and handling on the Sonic.

And as a little extra bonus/fact. The Sonic is the only small car to be built-in America, its production will be starting later in 2011 at the General Motors Orion Assembly Center in Michigan.

How did you find Runde Auto Group and this particular vehicle? Through Al Kloft. I told him what I was looking for and he went and found it for me. I bought a Trailblazer and my brother bought a vehicle from Al not too long ago too.

Why did you decide to purchase it here? Because I found what I liked and because I've known Al for a long time. He's a family friend so I trusted him. And I liked it so I said yah I'd buy it. 

Where is the first place you’ll take your new car? I don't know ... probably work. Really? Yah I have have work at 9 o'clock tonight. Where do you work at? At The Barn in Sherrill -- it's a bar and a restaurant up there. I used to go up to the barn a long time ago -- we played a couple gigs up there back in the day. Yah, that was when V.J. owned it and now his son runs the place. (Check out the link to The Barn's FaceBook Page)

Is your vehicle a male or female? Female. And will you give it a name? No. Why not? I don't know. (shrugs) I never named any of my cars.

How many vehicles have you owned so far in your life? Five. How often do you usually trade in your cars? This is the first time I've ever traded and bought something new. So you usually keep your vehicles until they die? Yep.

What’s the best thing about your new ride? It's bigger and it has four-wheel-drive. If you were a vehicle, what vehicle would you want to be? Probably ... I don't know, it's a tough question ... probably a truck because it's big.

Will your friends or anyone be allowed to eat in your new Trailblazer? Yes. Are you sure? Yah. (Wow we've asked that question before to many customers before and we usually get a "Nope" response back. I wasn't expecting that answer.)

How would you rate your vehicle buying experience with Runde Auto Group on a scale of 1 to 35 with 35 being the best? I'd say it was probably a 31.

And Al Kloft was your salesman -- so how would you rate Al? The best. He was awesome, I liked working with Al.

If something unfortunate were to happen to Al and he could no longer be a car salesman, do you think he would make a better News Anchorman, Game Show Host, or State Representative? Definitely a game show host.

And which game show would he be best at hosting? The Price is Right, Deal or No Deal, or that one about being smarter than a 5th grader? The 5th grader one. (she smiles) You know I think just the contestants have to show how smart they are so he'd probably be safe as the host. Yep. (she nods and grins)

What is your favorite movie of all time? Fried Green Tomatoes. Really? Do you like the Fried Green Tomatoes restaurant too? I know that there's a nice restaurant named Fried Green Tomatoes. I haven't been there, but I really like the movie. It's easily my favorite.

Do you have any hobbies? I like to ride horses.

What is currently in the cd player of your vehicle? Seether. Seether? What's that? It's a rock band.

If you could move anywhere else in the world, where would it be and why? Probably Wyoming because I like the country and there's like nothing out there -- like no big cities or anything like that. (I've heard that you haven't really seen the stars until you've looked up at a Wyoming sky on a moonless night.) Have you ever been to Idaho? No. I've heard that's awesome too. Yah me too.

Describe your ideal day – what would you do – where would the road take you? I'd go to a tractor pull. A tractor pull? Yep. (I like asking that question because you never get the same answer twice.)

Lightning Round:

Gaga or Taylor Swift? Taylor Swift.

Transformers or Twilight? Twilight.

Taco Johns or Taco Bell? Taco Bell.

Glass: half empty, half full, or someone just left it sitting there and no one felt like washing it today? Half full.

Target or Walmart? Target.

Ebay or Amazon? Amazon.

Win the lottery or become President? (grinning with confidence) Win the lottery.

We'd like to thank Bridget for taking time out of her schedule to sit down and chat with us. She's a very personable young lady and now she has a sweet new 4wd ride that you just may see her in as she zooms over the hills and valleys of the tri-state area. Let's just hope she never feels the need to drive her new vehicle like Kathy Bates in Fried Green Tomatoes.

A couple of months ago Jordan Degree got a Chevy HHR for the Dubuque Art Center from Runde's. The Are Center had plans to get it wrapped in a vinyl coat and that's exactly what they did! Jordan says he is loving the HHR and is very pleased with how the wrap turned out. Check out the pictures below and look out for it on the roads!