Runde Auto Chat

In the car business you often get a mixture of old school thought vs. new school. Yesterday, this really seemed really apparent when we asked one of our senior salesmen to help provide us with a customer of his that we could interview for the blog. His response was: "No. Actually, I can't wait 'til that thing (the blog) goes away."

In the past couple years, social media has become what it is and at Runde's we have tried to embrace it for the positive. We run a good business and word of mouth has always been one of the cheapest and best forms of advertising. So we figure, we'll interview customers and ask them what they thought of their experience at Runde's. It's been good for Runde Auto Group and we get to discover a little more about our customers -- facets of their lives that may not have normally come to the surface during a normal visit here. Posting the interview has also been a postive for our customers. We've interviewed many people who don't know their way around the internet too well. However, once their interview pops up online -- so does their picture and all of the sudden they're getting calls from friends or family who saw them online. It's a positive for everyone involved. Social media has quickly become a staple of our society and even though some of the old schoolers around here may not like it, it's quite evident that social media is here to stay.

You might not know exactly what a mechanic means by a certain part of your car needing repair, how do you know he's telling the truth and not just after easy money from customer with little mechanic knowledge? This video points out some good points to apply when you go in for service.

Here at Runde's we don't hassle or beg you out of your money, we are here to get you, and your car happy again. Our four different service departments almost guarantees that a tech will be able to handle your problem no matter how big, small or complicated.

But don't take our word for it...

"I wanted to send a little ‘thank you’ your way for outstanding service. I had some warranty work done this past week at Runde Buick in Cuba City. The service department was amazing! I will recommend you to others. Wanted to let you know that I appreciate your great service."

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-changin' pros. A lot of times people are too embarrassed to admit that they don't know how to change a tire, or have never been put into a situation where they needed to do it. Say no more, here you are - how to change a flat tire.

Ford has developed an insert to measure abdominal injuries on a crash-test dummy that represents a 6-year-old. Made out of silicone, the test dummy is made to study the effects of seat belts in auto accidents. “The major focus [of crash tests] has always been on head and chest injuries,”Ford safety engineer Steve Rouhana said. “We really didn’t have the technology before to accurately measure abdominal response.”

Current tests use seat-belts that may be too large for children that have grown out of a child-safety seats (usually around the age of 8). The new silicone dummy can measure the penetration of the seat belts going into the child's abdomen. Ford studies the results and looks to improve seat-belt designs. In addition, Ford is offering the technology to other manufacturers through the Society of Automotive Engineers.

Ford, General Motors, Chrysler and other manufacturers are part of a consortium, formed in 2006, that create human models on the computer that use virtual crash tests to further test safety features. “The goal is to create a virtual human so you can measure tissue-level injuries, like a torn aorta, which you can’t tell from a regular crash-test dummy,” GM spokesman Alan Adler said. “We do lots of development with virtual tests but, ultimately, we have to have a physical test. We don’t want to be surprised when NHTSA [National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] does its test,” Ford’s Rouhana said.

Things have come a long way since the development of test dummies in the 1970's. These dummies were modeled from an average males dimensions (approx. 5ft 6in, 170lbs). Now, there are a family of dummies that include a 6-month and 6-year-old, a small adult woman (about 5 feet tall, 108 pounds), a pregnant woman, and a large man (6 foot 2 inches tall, 225 pounds) - all made for specific tests like hip, rib, neck, arm, leg injuries as well as damage done to internal organs, whiplash, etc.

It's great to know that a manufacturer cares so much as to selflessly research and share safety features to make us all a little safter on the road. For more information, or if you are looking for a safe family vehicle, call toll free (800) 947-8633 and we will be happy to answer any questions you have.

I just grabbed this video off of YouTube and it pulled me in.  It's titled: Fifty People, One Question.  At first I had to keep watching to find out what the question was.  And as I continued to watch, I couldn't help but notice the cross-section of America that was captured in this little 7 minute video.  We live in an age where so often we're glued to the TV and to what's happening in Hollywood.  This video was far from Grey's Anatomy ... actually it was far from Hollywood.   The people in the video were not the model-like stars that we see on Desperate Housewives.  And the plot was nowhere near as complex as that of Nip/Tuck.  It's just a simple video starring average Americans answering one simple question.   It's cool how it's sometimes the simplest things in life that engage us and make us smile.

Have a good one!  Oh and please take a second to comment on how you'd answer the question.