Where are you from?
I’m from Ossian, Ia, It’s just South of Decorah, IA. It’s about a three hour drive. My boss and I made the trip.

What led you into Runde’s?
I’m a veterinarian and I needed a truck for work. I needed a regular cab, long box truck which was actually really hard to find, but you guys had four or five of them here. You guys had the a great selection and options we were looking for so we decided to make the long trip to go here to get the truck from you guys.

How did you find us?
Well I was car shopping for over a week and I found out about Runde’s online through AutoTrader.com. So we called in and got Al right away. He made sure that everything was at the shop and ready to go for us and made sure we didn’t get lost on our way to get here.

On a scale of 1-10, what would you rank your experience at Runde’s?
A 10, it was perfect.

cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by Emmett Tullos III

You say you are a veterinarian, and you needed the truck for work, what kind of veterinary service do you provide?
So it’s actually a mobile clinic basically for us. So we will put a very large insert in the back that has a lot of drawers for all of my tools and medicine. So I will drive that from farm to farm.

Are there particular animals you work with?
I mostly work with cows, Dairy and Beef Cows as well as horses. From time to time I go around and do small animals a couple of days a week, but mostly the bigger animals.

How did you get into that industry?
I had horses when I was younger and I thought I always wanted to be a horse vet. So I went to school down in Florida where I grew up. But then I had to move to where the cows are so I moved here.

You’re originally from Florida?
I was born in in Peoria and my family is originally from the Midwest but I grew up in Florida.

How do you like the transition from Florida to the Midwest?
Pretty good, except for the ice… ice is the whole reason why I’m here today.

Oh?
Yeah, I hit a patch of ice and went sideways on my old truck then the ditch caught an edge of the truck and made it roll a bit. Not good, but I was wearing my seat-belt!

Glad you made it out of that situation alright!

Are you a farmer yourself?
No, I just go around the farms and take care of the animals.

How far out do you guys go to help out the farm animals?
Within a 25-30 mile radius of our South Wind Veterinary Clinic base.

What do you like to do around the area?
I do a lot of hiking and camping and that kind of stuff. But I’m also kind of a home-body too.

Married? Kids? Pets?
Nope, Single. I have a big old mutt of a dog.

What breed of dog?
They told me she was a Lab and Dalmatian mix when I got her but I think she’s got a little Pitbull in her. She’s about 55-60lbs.

What’s your favorite movie?
That depends on what category we’re talking about. But for Horror, (which is my favroite type of movies) one of the few movies that have actually freaked me out was the first Paranormal Activity. I actually lost sleep over that one which is surprising to say considering how many horror flicks I’ve seen.

Favorite band?
The Drive-By Truckers. They’re a Southern rock band.

What would you do with the money if you won the lottery?
I’d probably buy a farm and raise some horses and just invest the rest of it and live off of that.

What would you say made your experience unique at Runde’s?
The selection. All of the options and everything available were just fantastic. Al and everyone we worked with were really nice and knowledgeable. It was just good all around. Everything we looked at here was clean, which was really nice, too.

Here is the winning entry:

And here were some of the top runners-up:

Also from Ford, the 2013 Ford Escape is now live on their website giving you the chance to deck out your own Escape. The prices aren’t final, and the vehicle isn’t on sale quite yet, but you can see how slick the vehicle is looking and the impressive options list. Go to http://www.ford.com/suvs/escape/2013/ to check it out!

In other great news, Team Pentastar plans on producing the the Dodge Dart in their  Belvidere, Illinois plant. They want to bring 400-500 workers on board to produce the vehicle. Belvidere is just 2 hours away from our Chevy Store in East Dubuque Il., so if you’re in the area and are looking for a gig in the auto industry you might want to look into this!

GM is toying with the idea of changing some of those long-distance drags you may have experience as a passenger into something that is quite entertaining. Imagine the rear passenger windows being a translucent digital display, giving you access to fun visual, entertaining and educational apps.

Enter in the Windows of Opportunity (WOO). The WOO will enable backseat drivers to interact with their windows in a variety of ways through various applications, the applications thus far conceptualized: (Information below provided by Official GM Press Release)

• “Otto - an animated character projected over passing scenery that responds to real-time car performance, weather and landscape. With Otto, passengers can learn about their environment in fun, playful ways.
•  Foofu - an app that allows passengers to create, explore and discover through finger drawing on window steam.
• Spindow - an app that provides its users a peek into other users’ windows around the globe in real-time.
• Pond - an app that allows passengers to stream and share music with other cars on the road, downloads favorite tracks, and share messages with other passengers on the road.”

The project was brought to life by researchers and students from the Future Lab at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Israel. They were confronted by the General Motors Research and Development team with the task to conceptualize new ways for backseat passengers (geared more towards children) to have a richer, more satisfying experience on their trip.

GM does not currently have plans to fully develop the interactive display windows, the researchers and students were given full reign (without concern of mass production) as far as development goes. But if the concept were to go into production, it would likely be in the form of charged “smart glass” which has the ability to reflect projected images while still maintaining transparency.

Omer Tsimhoni, lab group manager for human-machine interface, GM Advanced Technical Center in Israel said;”Projects like WOO are invaluable, because working with designers and scholars from outside of the automotive industry brings fresh perspective to vehicle technology development. WOO is just one of many projects underway at GM that could reinvent the passenger experience in years to come.”

If that statement is any indication of developing this fantastic idea, I think we may have finally found an answer the un-answerable: “How to keep the kids behaved in the backseat.”

What brought you guys into Runde’s today?
My daughter, Danielle, wanted a used vehicle before she went back to college.

Have you bought from us before?
I bought my Chevy Cruze through John Leibfried in Cuba City who was an excellent salesman. We initially called John to see what they had when we started our search for Danielle’s car. He referred us to Al Kloft to show us some vehicles in Hazel Green that might suit her better so we went there.

It was really neat to see that as soon as we left John on our way over to the Hazel Green location, Al had already left a voicemail saying he’s excited to see us. I really like that professionalism.

Is the car mostly for college, Danielle?
Yes. I go to college in DeKalb, IL. which is about 2 hours away. I didn’t have a car so my mom would always have to drive me when I needed to get there.

Which college do you go to?
Northern Illinois, I’m a sophomore going for a marketing major.

Well that works out better for you to have that transportation capability!
Yeah, it’ll be really nice.

Are you from the area?
We’re from Galena, IL. which is about 20 minutes away from here.

What’s there to do in Galena?
We’re big skiers and snowboarders.

Danielle: Yeah, and I work out at Chestnut Mountain.
How has it been this year for skiing with the initial lack of snow?
It was “alright” and warm at first.  But now that it’s getting colder and they’re predicting snow, it’s getting better.

If you were to rank your experience on a scale of 1-10, what would you give us?
We’d give it a high eight.

What vehicle did you end up with?
The 2004 Oldsmobile Alero.

What made you want the Alero?
It’s small which is what I wanted. I drove an Oldsmobile Intrigue when I was in high school, so I was kind of familiar with it. I also like the two-door and it was in my price-range.

What do you guys like to do as a family?
Julie: I have a son who is a junior in High School so the kids are at their ages now where we all just kind of do our own thing. We go on special ski trips together and things like that.  Personally, I work at Prudential, I sew and make things and I’m a runner.

How about you Danielle?
I like to run also. I’m an art minor so I like the artsy thing as well. I like to make things outdoors.
Julie chimes in* and Party!
Danielle: We’ll, that’s not really a hobby but yea…

Do you have any aspirations for after college?
I’m close to Chicago with where I go to school in DeKalb so I’m sure I will have some opportunity there. But I kind of want to move somewhere and see what I can find outside of the United States before I settle down anywhere.

How was your Holiday Vacation?
Great. It was just the three of us. We went skiing, it was fun.

That’s all the questions I had for you guys, anything else you’d like to add?
Everything was great. The thing that impressed me the most (because I know that salesmen have a lot going on and have a lot to remember) is that he followed through. He always made sure that if he said he was going to call me, he did. Those are the kind of things that you look for in a good salesman – commitment to the deal, and he had it. He had great follow-through.

Thank you very much for taking the time out to let us get to know you better!

What gave the Dart this prestigious acknowledgement? Could be the starting manufacturer’s retail price of under $16,000. Or perhaps the class-leading safety features including an unsurpassed 10 air bags and “clever functionality”. Or maybe it’s the great power options, where you can choose from a new 16-valve 2.0L (160 hp) Tigershark, a 16-valve 1.4L (160 hp & 184 lb-ft torque) MultiAir Intercooled Turbo, and a new 16-valve 2.4L (184 hp) Tigershark MultiAir^® four-cylinder engine. Then there’s the impressive fuel efficiency behind the attractive, bold, body of the Dart. Whichever the case, all we know is that we are excited to see the Darts on the roads!

“We’re very proud of this award and think the editors at AutoWeek have hit the bullseye by naming the Dart ‘Most Significant Vehicle,’ at the North American International Auto show,” said Reid Bigland, President and CEO—Dodge Brand. “With the compact car segment comprising 15 percent of U.S. new car sales and close to 25 percent of new car sales in Canada, we hope many people in both countries looking for a fuel-efficient, powerful, fun-to-drive car loaded with all the latest technology and safety features soon find it a significant part of their lives, too.”

What led you into Runde’s today?
We needed a new vehicle so we came here to get one.

Did you initially go online or did you call in?
I think we first went to AutoTrader.com, but our family and a ton of other people we knew recommended Runde’s so we gave it a try.
Stacey: We came down today and there were some vehicles that interested me so Al Kloft came to help us out and we ended up getting a Malibu.

That Malibu is a very nice lookin’ car.  How did you like Al?
He was very personable and a great guy.

What would you rank your experience with Al and Runde’s overall?
We’d give it a high 9.  No problems, everything went pretty quick.

Is the vehicle for you (Justin) or you (Stacey)?
Stacey: It’s for me. Mostly for work and other general purposes.

Where are you from?
We’re from Dodgeville, WI … about an hour away.

What do you guys do for a living?
Justin: I work near Madison, WI as a manager for General Beverage.
Stacey: I work as a nurse in Dodgeville.

Why did you choose to come to Runde’s instead of a dealer closer to you?
We’ve dealt with other dealerships, but I like to mix it up from time to time and you guys seemed to be a good choice. I’m sure we’ll be back for future purchases.

Anything else you like to do?
Justin: I have a Harley and we like to go bike riding as well.
Stacey, do you have your own bike?
Stacey: No, I ride on the back usually. I do have my own snowmobile, though.

What do you guys like to do for vacation?
We like to go anywhere warm to get away from the cold.

How long have you been married?
About 7 years.

Do you remember your first date together?
We met in Cancun on a vacation.

You met in Cancun? How did that come about?
We knew of each other before we went on that trip and we were from the same town. It was more of a friend and family kind of trip as a group and we were both members in that. So from there we kind of just hit it off.

If you were to win the lottery what would you do with the money?
Justin: Spend it. Actually I’d invest some of it, but I’d spend most of it.
Stacey: I’d pay off things, then I don’t know what I’d do.

Would you recommend Runde’s to friends and family?
Absolutely.

That’s all the questions I had for you guys. Thanks for choosing Runde’s!