Runde Auto Chat

What do you think of when you hear the word sustainable? Nowadays we toss around the word "green" so frequently because the word itself has become hip, chic or très moderne, yet it's actually somewhat difficult to define what being "green" totally encompasses in its true and purest essence.

Sustainability is one of the core components of being "green" - direct definition (from www.merriam-webster.com):" a : of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged." It's using, and re-using, our resources to make environmentally sound methods for production of practically anything that will help us improve quality of life and earth. The best of the best in terms of sustainability in vehicles was realized by GM with the recent release of the Chevrolet Volt.

The Volt, being the most environmentally conservative electic vehicle on the market, is of big interest to people who strive for sustainability. Hence the Volt is seemingly a perfect fit for the Growing Sustainable Communities Conference that was held in Dubuque, IA which Runde Chevrolet (via their Business Central status) was proud and honored to be a part of. The conference showcased various inventions and methods that promote sustainability of local businesses. Cathy Brandt, Director of Sales & Business Development for Sustainable City Network, Inc. was gracious enough to give us some insight and history about the conference and it's goals.

Hello Cathy, can you tell us more about the Conference?
It's the Growing Sustainable Communities Conference . The city of Dubuque has done it for the past 3 years and this year Sustainable City Network and the City of Dubuque did it together. The ultimate goal was to have people have one place to meet and network with other municipal professionals, business leaders, community members, as well as vendors and they can learn something about sustainability and take it back to their community to use. Most people are familiar with the environmental benefits of sustainability, but what has been resounding with people recently is that it is also economically effective. If it's not economically sustainable then it's not going to work. This conference showed businesses different ways to conserve resources, money, man hours and to help a promote positive light within other businesses. These ideas were brought through by showing what other communities are doing and how people can adapt it to their own communities and businesses.

How many people attended and where were they from?
Over 300 people attended representing 11 States and 48 cities ranging from California to New York. Even 2 people from Australia!

How were the topics picked for the conference?
We looked at the 25 most read articles on our Sustainable City Website, which features expert opinions and information about sustainability throughout the nation, and used the topics of those articles as an outline for the presentations in the conference. Vehicles and transportation are always a big topic, especially now with electric vehicles. So with the help of Runde's sponsorship, we were able to add the Chevrolet Volt to the conference. Rich Gunther, Fleet Management for General Motors, did a presentation about the sustainable vehicles GM offers.

It's interesting that despite the fact that we are a national website, we learned a lot more about what we have in our own backyard. Such as Runde's being a Business Central Dealer and that Crescent Electric is a distributor of the charging stations for electric vehicles. There's really a lot of big things happening in this area with sustainability, that people probably aren't aware of, that spreads out much further than most people would think.

What was the reaction with the Chevy Volt?
There were people constantly looking at the Volt and asking questions. You guys allowed people to open the doors and sit inside of it which really took the experience to a whole new level.

Can you tell me more about the website?
The founder of Sustainable City Network, Tom Woodward, has been in communications with the City of Dubuque and found that there is a lot of sustainable information out there but it takes a long time to filter through and research it properly. So what the website provides is a central location of well-organized, vetted information that is provided by either an experienced municipality or information from accredited industry experts and leaders so you know their information is accurate.

Brian Pinch, from our Chevrolet Store in East Dubuque, Illinois has been officially trained on the Volt and offered valuable information to the attendees and showed people around the Volt. He loved the experience and had some great things to say about it. How was the conference, Brian?

The conference was great, it encompassed so many things, from the food we eat to how we do our business. It's such a great event because it's more than just green society, it's keeping it green and building infrastructure so that it operates that way naturally. The Chevy Volt is a product of that idea. A lot of people had some misconceptions of the Volt and that's why we were there -- to inform people about how it works and show its sustainability.

How many people came up and talked to you about the Volt?
I talked to around 75 people or more. Everyone seemed genuinely interested in it. It was pretty exciting to see the enthusiasm.

What was the most common question people asked?
Most of the questions were asked out of curiosity and regardless of the question, we were able to provide them answers and let them experience the vehicle first hand. Many people were confused about the Range Extension. Several thought that the vehicle runs on gas as soon as the charged electricity runs out, but it actually uses the fuel to run a generator that will charge the battery to extend the charge of the Volt. When it's in this mode it runs at a lower RPM so you aren't leaving as big of a carbon blueprint. The Volts carbon footprint is the smallest of any vehicle we've seen to date.

What do you think was the most surprising thing people thought about the Volt?
Just how "car-like" it is and how impressive the appearance and comfort the vehicle offered. They were blown away by how far they could drive the vehicle on such a small amount of money. When they learned that it was a 94mpg car, I got a lot of "Wow’s".

What's your favorite feature of the Volt?
Everything, I wish I could own one. It's an impressive feat of engineering.

What did you learn at the conference?
A lot about waste management through the landfill system and the scientific parts of the harmful and gaseous substances we breathe in every day. It made me wish I could be involved in that type of research myself. The conversion they can do from the waste we put into the ground regarding turning it around into something positive is very inspiring. For more information and articles from sustainability experts and forums about sustainability on a local and national scale, please check out the Sustainable City Network Website.

OnStar has been around since the beginning of this young century and it has definitely been a blessing to many and saved many lives. However up until now, people without OnStar had to upgrade their entire vehicle to be able to get the service and unfortunately not everyone can spend thousands of dollars to upgrade their vehicles.

Well I was couch cruising on Sunday night and happened upon an episode of Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice and in this episode I learned that OnStar was getting ready to release a version of their product that could be installed on any vehicle and hence OnStar would be made available to everyone. The product comes in a box that includes a rear view mirrow with the familiar OnStar buttons and all the necessary hardware to hook it up to any vehicle. The "OnStar in a box" version of the product is actually called FMV (For My Vehicle) and it will be sold nationally by Best Buy.

Granted the product will still run you a few C-notes, but for those of you out there who have kids in high-school or college, I know that getting them the safest vehicle possible is probably a major concern of yours.

I'm also sure there are many customers out there who can't afford to be shelling out thousands for a newer vehicle for their kid right now (the price of school is outrageous enough), and OnStar FMV is definitely worth checking out. Purchasing and installing this new OnStar version in a loved one's vehicle may be well worth the price. OnStar FMV is scheduled to be available on Best Buy shelves in a few months.

In the Celebrity Apprentice episode, John Rich says that he plans to purchase OnStar FMV for his grandma. The video below wasn't shown on the epidose that I saw, but I found it on YouTube today and it shows him delivering this new gadget to his granny who drives an older Cadillac.

Barb Brush and her long-term best friend, Roxanne Marston, just happened to be going to the right quilting show at the right time. While these two inseparable friends were on their way to see expert weavers, quilters and sewers, Barb got an unexpected call from her husband who was looking at vehicles online. He insisted that she at least stop over to Runde's and take a look at a Lexus that might suit her, and boy did it ever. While here, she kept saying how it felt like family, so we did what families do - sat down, got to know her and chatted for a while...

What brought you into Runde's today?
Barb:  A phone call. We were on our way to a quilt show and I got a phone call from my husband who knew I was looking for a car. He was looking online and found a car I might be interested so he called and said I should stop by and gave me Runde's phone number. So we called and got Al Kloft who directed us to this place and showed us the Lexus.

That might be one of the most spontaneous things I've heard in a while...
Yea it was great, and we loved the Lexus so we just decided to buy the car.

Are you going to be late for your show?
No, we should be fine. The show is in Kalona, Iowa and doesn't start until a little later.

Where are you from?
Barb: I'm from Baraboo, Wisconsin Roxanne: I'm from Madison, Wisconsin

I go up to Devils Lake in Baraboo every so often, very relaxing and beautiful place... You two seem like very good friends. How long have you known each other?
Probably about 40 years or so. We used to be next door neighbors when our kids were small and our friendship just got stronger ever since.

How did you like your experience here at Runde's?
It was really friendly, helpful and very laid back. We didn't experience any pressure or anything like that. We would both come here again. You guys have a lot of vehicles...

We have over 1,300 vehicles in stock in four different locations.
Thir-Teen-Hundred!? Wow.

On a scale of 1-10 what would you rate your Sales Person, Al Kloft?
Roxanne: Oh a 10, for sure. Barb: Oh yeah, no doubt, he's a real likeable guy. Really laid back and easy to deal with. He loves to talk but it's always entertaining and makes you feel comfortable. No pressure... I found it unusual that he seemed to let us make our own decisions and encouraged us to be sure about our purchase, not something you find anywhere else. And he let us have some of his strawberry's.

What do you like to do in your hometowns?
We are both retired now, so it's a little different than it used to be. But we like to keep busy with our grand-kids, travel, go on motorcycle rides, various projects, and we keep active in our communities. I used to like skiing when I was healthier.

I'm sure you like to quilt as well?
OH YES, I love to quilt. I started that a few years back. I have my own space, my "woman’s cave" that I go to quilt. It's much more peaceful than a "man's-cave"... My husband has one of those, I call it "toy barn" it's a whole building next to our house.

What are these quilt shows all about? Barb: They are all beautiful hand-made Amish quilts. They have the quilts strung up and people can buy them. It's basically just a good reason for Roxanne and I to get together and have a good time. We used do road-trips to Minneapolis to shop and be together every year. Now we go to Kalona for the quilt show and stop in Galena on our way back... we've been doing that for quite a few years. But we've never went on a trip where we bought a car on the way *both laugh*

 So is one of you taking home Lexus and the other taking home what you drove here in? No, I actually drove my Honda Pilot here and traded it in towards the Lexus. So we are going to continue to the quilt show in our new Lexus together! I was kind of attached to the Honda Pilot, I thought I was going to cry when I traded it in. I was confused with all the buttons in the new car at first. There were two buttons on the door that said "1" and "2" and I pressed "2" and the seat started to move forward, I thought it was going to crush me into the steering wheel! I later learned that it was memory seating, pretty neat feature. 

Do you like to travel?
Barb: Yes, we both travel quite a bit, my husband and I absolutely loved Alaska and would like to go back and spend a little more time up there. We were also talking about going to Russia. Roxanne: My husband is a travel agent so I've been lucky to go on a lot of trips and see a lot of different places. We're going to Australia in August. It's great now that we have all the time to do it.

Do you have any pets?
Barb: We have a black lab named Gretchen who is a fetchin' maniac. We are going to put up a sign at our house: "do not throw sticks around dog" because she will go and find that exact stick and keep bringing it back to the person who threw it. If you don't she will keep begging for you to throw it and she will never tire. You'll have to throw it 1,000 times before she does tire.

See any decent movies recently?
Barb: I saw "The Kings Speech" which got great reviews and awards. I thought I'd see what all the talk was about but I wasn't too impressed. I thought it was a good movie but not worth that much praise. We don't get much time to watch movies, though. We are usually doing something else. We are both golfers and we like to ride motorcycles. Once a year my husband and I go on a long bike ride... we've rode to Colorado, California, up through Canada... it's really fun. We also usually do political rides.

Political Rides?
It's basically when you ride around with political candidates and the candidates go around to local communities and chat with all the folks and get their names out in the public. There's a little group of people who go and it usually takes about a week... we typically ride around with the governor of Wisconsin.

Sounds like the funnest part of politics, ever.
Yes, it really is!

Do you have any last comments before you scoot out of here and on to your quilt show ?
Barb: I would highly recommend Runde's. It's interesting that we just stumbled upon this great place. I've been to Lexus Dealers... they don't call their salesmen "Car Salesman" they are "Auto Executives". You don't get that kind of snobby feel from Runde's. Roxanne: My husband has the same Lexus as the one Barb just bought. When we need to get a new vehicle we will go to Runde's first.

I'm happy to hear you found your gem at Runde's. We're glad that you had a great experience and hope you have a blast at the quilt show!

And here is a link to a really informative CBS review of the Volt: And here is a news story (if you have enough patience to sit through the initial advertisement) about a new Volt owner who purchased his car to combat the oil companies: [youtube:GAqx0k1RwZw&fs]

2011 officially marks the 100th year for Chevrolet. 100 years is quite a bit of time for any business to stay up and running. But boy, is it running smooth. Through the years Chevrolet has become a leader in the automotive industry and only shows signs of growing stronger. Lets take a look back to see how it all started.

GM was started by automotive marketer William C. Durant in 1908. Through the years Durant took notice of the engineer, mechanic and famous racer, Louis Chevrolet, as he set the land-speed record in 1905 for reaching 111 MPH in a special open race car. Durant hired Chevrolet to do big races and promotional drives for his company.

Being cast out from the company he founded, Durant left GM in 1910 and got together with Chevrolet and some of his partners to make a new car. Believing that Chevrolet's fame as a racer would help sell the car, the name "Chevrolet" was used and the Chevrolet company was introduced in 1911 and its first car, the Series C Classic Six was produced as a higher end (price comparable to $50,000 in today's market) vehicle with a 4.9L, six-cylinder engine producing 40 horsepower.

To appeal to a broader segment, the Chevrolet company produced the "Little" (later renamed as the Model L) which was a more affordable, entry level vehicle, yet had great features for it's price. This is the strategy that put Chevrolet ahead of the competition even today; great value. Getting more than you would think possible for the amount you are spending.  The first steps of success to an industry that has, so far, lasted a century.

Since then Chevrolet has always been on top of advancing the vehicles in the automotive market. Take, for example, the Chevrolet Volt - the first of it's kind to offer the consumer a safe, enjoyable ride while not having to worry about the rising gas prices thanks to it's hybrid of battery operation and extended range gasoline. Proof that even after 100 years Chevrolet has even more than before to show the world.

Random Fact: Chevrolet first used its "Bowtie emblem" logo in 1913 which is said to have been inspired from wallpaper Durant saw in a French hotel.