Laura Bertolli

Over the past 20 plus years of running Bertolli's, there have been many changes in the way we paint cars. Before my time, there was lacquer. A thin hard paint that was applied in many coats and polished to look great. Unfortunately, the hardness of the paint led to a short paint life and eventually the paint would crack into 'chickenfeet'. You can see this on some classic cars that haven't been restored. When I entered the industry, urethane was just taking hold. Single stage paint was still being used, but more and more manufacturers were using a base coat/clear coat system which looked shinier and had more durability due to the clear coat. Solvent based urethane has worked well for almost twenty years, but the effect on the environment has brought us water-borne paint. We have been using water-based primers for a few years and have had excellent results. This was the first stage in lowering the VOC or volatile organic compounds, that are released into the air d...

Stuart Lirette, Marin IJ photographer, took my headshot yesterday and gave me a copy of the one he likes best. Thank you Stuart! Keep an eye out for the Marin Women Businesses insert in an upcoming issue. I'd love your feedback.

I just read a humorous article in Car and Driver entitled, "10 Used Cars to Avoid" written by John Pearley Huffman. My favorite part is about salvage titled vehicles: Insurance companies aren ’t in the business of losing money. So it’s a good bet that if a car has been written off as a total loss, it’s because it really was a total loss. If it had been worth fixing, the insurance company would have fixed it. It’s simple: If a car is so badly damaged that it can’t be fixed to an insurance company’s slight standards, to what standards could it have been fixed? So Insurance companies have slight standards?? Who knew? The point I'd like to make is, please, please listen to your auto body shop about the correct way to fix your vehicle. And forget, or don't believe what the insurance company says about the 'correct' way to fix a damaged car. They will tell you that the body shop is just 'ripping you off', but in reality, it's the other way aroun...

On Thursday, February 26, 2009, this scene unfolded in front of the shop. The BMW was turning into our driveway when a Ford Econoline van, without slowing down, slammed into the BMW. The driver of the BMW was injured and was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. The roadway was blocked for over an hour. Needless to say, we didn't repair either vehicle. I think the BMW might be a total loss and the van was from out of town and still drivable !