Runde Auto Chat

Being "green" is the big thing as of recent, and for good reason. It's about time that we stop ourselves, as a nation, point out that we waste too much and encourage earth friendly alternatives to live out our lives. A process that is encompassed in one word: Green. But what about those big 'n bad manufacturing companies with large factories? They must be one of the most un-greenest things you've ever seen since the color Maroon, right? Well, it is true that SOME factories do produce lots of waste and pollute the air with lots of bad guys the ozone has a hard time fighting off, but other companies stride for a cleaner solution to go about making their goods. Like who? Like General Motors.

GM is continuously trying to do its part to keep the earth healthy while making the vehicles we love. By using recycled material and re-using everything they can, their vehicles end up being 85% recyclable. In 2008 GM set a goal to convert 50 percent of its 145 plants to landfill-free status by the end of 2010. And over the last 5 years they have decreased the waste generated per vehicle by 28%. These numbers are impressive, and well received as GM is the first Auto Manufacturer to be inducted into the U.S. EPA WasteWise Hall of Fame, which "recognizes continued outstanding waste reduction".

And they are far from done with being Green. In November, Chevrolet announced it's plans to invest $40 million in clean energy projects around America with a goal to reduce another 8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

To learn more about GM and their commitment to being green, visit their website filled with articles and information about how they will continue being as clean and environmentally friendly as possible. http://www.gm.com/corporate/responsibility/environment/

GM recycles the oil spill booms used from the Gulf Oil Spill to make car parts, reduce the spills environmental damage and prevent the booms from sitting in a landfill for hundreds of years. Genius.

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.

Buick officially unveiled the 2012 Verano today at the North American International Auto Show. Is it a winner? Let us know what you think.

With all of the snow still on the ground, I'll bet you're thinking that we've completely wigged out, flipped our lids, and that we're about to come apart at the seams. We'll hold onto your butts for a sec.

For those of you who have studied a little Español, you probably know that the title of this blog post when translated into Spanish becomes: "El verano es mucho más cerca de lo que crees." The literal translation would be: The summer is much more near than you believe. So the Spanish word for summer (by deduction) is "Verano" and that just happens to be the name that Buick has bestowed upon it's new small luxury car that is to be released a little later this year. So much for the Spanish lesson, now more about the car...

GM just released photos of the new 2012 Verano that is due to make its debut at the North American International Auto Show in a few days.

This has probably been a long time coming, but Buick finally has the smaller car that they needed and that their patrons deserve. Buick always did well with making bigger cars that got great fuel mileage -- GM's legendary 3.8 Liter engine was largely responsible for that. I started out working in a Buick dealership right around the turn of the Millennium and I remember quite vividly that my Buick LeSabre customers would often brag (and rightfully so) about the gas mileage the got from their cars. We also sold compact foreign cars at that dealership, but my LeSabre customers spoke far more often and far more admirably about their cars' fuel efficiency that my customers who had smaller cars.

I remember around the end of they year 2000, when GM announced that they would stop making Oldsmobiles, there were many folks out there who hoped that GM would produce a Buick version of the Olds Alero. Back then, the smallest car that Buick offered was the Century, which was classified as a mid-size car. From 2000 to 2005 the Buick Century was equipped with a 3.1 Liter V-6 engine that produced 175 horsepower. The 2012 Verano, in comparison, will house a 2.4 Liter Ecotec engine that produces 177 HP. Modern technology now allows GM to produce smaller and more lightweight engines that produce more power and more torque. The result is better fuel efficiency and customers who pay less at the pumps. Even for those out there who claim to absolutely despise new technology ... I'm quite certain that they would relish the opportunity to visit the gas stations less frequently and drive away with more cash in their pockets.

The Verano is a far cry from an Alero and it was well worth the wait for Buick fans as they have been waiting for a luxury small car for a long time. The car is set to be produced in Orion, Michigan and will be available later this year.

Remember: "El verano es mucho más cerca de lo que crees."