Runde Auto Chat

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."

Duane and Ruth Tietjen are hardworking people. Ruth teaches and Duane operates his farm. It's pretty rare that they get 15 minutes to do much of anything for themselves which is why I was glad to have the honor to sit down with the both of them for this interview to learn more about these great folks.

What led you into Runde's today?
I saw the car I was interested in on the internet and got a hold of Al and asked him about it. So he gave us some information, we test drove it and now we are picking it up. Our son also bought a truck from Al about a year ago and loved Al.

Do you know Al personally?
We let some people hunt on our farm property and Al comes down and hunts with a friend every so often. I think he first started like 15 years ago.

On a scale of 1-10 what would you rank Al and your experience with Runde's?
There are never any problems, we'd give both a 10. It was very fast and painless. Are you guys from the area? We were both born and raised in Bellevue, IA.

Any kids?
We have two boys. One farms with us and the other one lives farther back on our property - he breaks and trains horses. 

All into the family business, eh?
The family business is Farmin' Cows... all day long...

What vehicle did you end up with today?
An SUV. We plan on using it to go to work, nothing really on the farm.

What kind of things do you like to do around the area?
We don't get a chance to do too much other than work. Ruth is a teacher at Bellevue Elementary School.

What kind of movies do you like?
We like westerns. Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, etc.

Do you remember your first date together?
Duane: "heh, you're really putting me on the spot here!" Ruth: I don't remember the first date, I think we went to a basketball game

How long have you been together?
40 years now.

Was thanksgiving packed at your place?
No, everybody is married and has their own family so we had thanksgiving with just our immediate family. Ruth: We do get together for Christmas, though, and that is a LARGE gathering. I have 16 brothers and sister. 5 brothers and 11 sisters.

I can't even imagine the house that would have to hold that gathering... 
*laughs* Yeah, there are usually over 100 people. We rent a hall so we don't have to deal with everyone at our place.

If you were to win the lottery what would you do with the money?
Duane: Quit milking! Ruth: I think we'd travel... in the car, because I don't like to travel. We'd go to Colorado first.

Anywhere outside the states you wanted to go?
Never really had the desire to go anywhere that far. I don't like water and Ruth doesn't like to fly so we are kind of stuck within the U.S. border.

Favorite foods?
Ruth: I like Chinese. Duane: Pizza is fine with me. Ruth: His favorite food is dessert!

How many animals are on your farm?
With everything it's about 150 animals - it keeps us busy.

What would you consider the best farming invention?
I would have to say a Skid Steer because it saves so much time. It's like a loader on a tractor except it's all self-contained and it's smaller and there are no gears.

How 'bout a non-farm invention?
Probably a cell phone. I think it's something that used to be a luxury but now it's a necessity. When I stop and think about it, back in '68 when we were dating we'd go into town and at that time it would just be Sandy's and A&W's. We'd go to Sandy's for a hamburger which was 15 cents and A&W for the fries and root-beer, then we'd go to a movie and fill up with gas and after everything you'd have change left over from $20. Now you can't even do half of that with $20. makes me wonder what it will be like in the future.

That's all the questions I had for you guys, if you'd like to add anything feel free to. Thank you very much for sharing a part of your lives with me, I'm glad you enjoyed your experience and I hope your Christmas gathering goes stress free!
Thank you. Our experience has been very nice. Everyone here was nice and they took care of us. Al knew we were thirsty and gave us some water we thought that was great of him. There is only one Al... and we know when he's been to our place because he places a 12 pack of pop on our doorstep every time he comes over to go hunting.

You may recall that a few months back, Mardy Gilyard who is a rookie wide receiver for the St. Louis Rams bought a new Chevy Equinox from Runde Chevrolet. He purchased the Equinox for his mom, Trish, as a way of saying thanks for all of her love and support throughout the years. Mardy recently decided to buy another vehicles from Runde Chevrolet (he's admittedly a Chevy fan through and through). This time, he was buying it for himself. And his vehicle of choice was a Chevy Silverado

... a nice 4wd half-ton crew cab that should help him get around without troubles this winter.

Mark Fleege, his salesman, delivered the truck to Mardy in St. Louis. Mardy was just finishing up a Pepsi-sponsored autograph signing session when Mark arrived with the truck. The lady in the photo above is looking at Mardy's picture on the Pepsi can in her hands. How many people do you know who have their own Pepsi can? When Mardy saw Mark, his eyes lit up as he asked, "Where's my ride?"

Mardy signed the paperwork for his new truck. Mark had driven the new Silverado all the way from East Dubuque to St. Louis and he accidentally left his reading glasses in the center console of the truck. While Mardy was checking out the interior of the truck, he came across the glasses and couldn't resist putting them on. What happened next we wish we had a video of, but we are left with just a photo of Mardy with the glasses half-way down his nose as he said in an feeble old man's voice, "Excuse me sonny, can you help me? I'm looking to buy a truck. Can you please help me?"

We'd like to thank Mr. Gilyard for purchasing another vehicle from Runde Chevrolet and wish him the best as he concentrates on the remainder of the Ram's season. Anything could happen in that division and perhaps we'll be watching him in the NFL Playoffs a few months

Ford is, no doubt, the leader when it comes to implementing technological features in its vehicles. With Ford Sync ever-expanding and the release of MyFord Touch, techheads and gearheads can finally walk hand-in-hand. With its voice recognition technology, you never have to take your eyes or hands off the steering wheel or your eyes off the road. This also means that you will talking to your vehicle... a lot (just be sure to laugh it off it someone stares at you in confusion). The next batch of upgrades include: increased command recognition, alias implementation (can recognize more words for the same command such as "temp up", "hotter", "heat up") and voice navigation will map your command to a GPS via MyFord Touch.

For further explanation and demonstrations check out the video's below: