Laura Bertolli

I’m optimistic and believe that things will work out.  I never believed the myth that women can’t run auto shops.  I do believe that with hard work, and dedication, women can do anything! In fact, any person can do anything if they set their mind to it and put in the work.  The discrimination sometimes comes in big ways, like when I’m working at the shop, and a WOMAN looks over my shoulder, looking for the ‘man’ in charge. That really hurts. Or when at an industry trade show, and the vendors ask me where my husband is. Oh, you only sell to men? Fine, I’ll take my business (and money) elsewhere.  The small ways hurt just as much. This is trivial, but when a salesperson calls the shop (to this day!), and asks for the manager and I say, “I can help you”, they hang up, still hanging on to the belief that a woman only answers the phone.  I hear from my friends that behind my back, I’m called a bitch, for being a strong, confident business woman and so...

By Tyler Pendleton As winter sets in, many great things come with it. The holiday season, hot cocoa by the fire, and bonding with family. The cold season brings many good things, but it also brings the bad. Part of that bad is the great rise in cars hitting deers. The furry creatures are much more active in the colder season, greatly increasing the amount of accidents caused by deer. Driving in dawn and dusk are major risks, as this is the main time of activity by the animals. With the cover of darkness, they are harder to spot. They use this to move from place to place safely, but it also makes it harder for drivers to see a buck or doe on the side of a road. Even if one deer is spotted, it is important to let it leave completely and check for any other companions. Using high beams makes it easier to scare off or find deer, but is not an option when there are cars coming the opposite way. Deer whistles are also not proved to be effective. The attachable whistles have not shown a...

This timely article arrived from Legal Shield and I want to pass it on.  We are seeing an increase is major front end and rear end collisions, and in the dry summer, there can be no excuse except for distracted driving.  Please take heed of these suggestions: Causing an accident due to negligence could kill or seriously injure you, your loved ones and other drivers. Read and share the following information with your friends and family, particularly young drivers. 1. Texting While Driving – Driving while texting, emailing or using a smartphone is illegal in most U.S. states and Canadian provinces. While the laws may vary based on the age of the driver or the type of device in use, one thing is clear: distracted driving is dangerous. Numerous studies have shown that texting or using your smartphone while driving substantially increases your chance of injury or death. Injuries and deaths caused by distracted drivers have skyrocketed in recent years. Pull safely to ...

Pennzoil 10 Minute Oil Change sent this article in an email: 7 Tips for Deep Cleaning Your Vehicle Go beyond wash and wax with these vehicle detailing suggestions. by Rich Ellis   0   0 When it comes to cleaning your vehicle, what’s there to know? The basic car wash and interior tidying works just fine when you’re pressed for time or simply can’t tolerate the dirt any longer. And the end result is a relatively clean vehicle that looks – and perhaps smells – much better than it did before with a minimal time investment.   A few times a year, however, you should go beyond the light cleaning. A thorough detailing – inside and out – gives you a vehicle that’s more enjoyable to drive and ride in. What’s more, it can also help retain the vehicle’s value, improve driver safety with better visibility, and keep the vehicle cleaner for longer, as well as make future cleanings easier.   Vehicle detailing, whether performed by a profe...

In our world of political correctness, some things are still culturally sexist, such as men being experts at car stuff. I bet if you talk to half of all auto shop owners, they have never worked on a car!   Generally, owners take care of the business end and employ expert technicians to do the actual work on cars.  To this point, a woman is just as qualified to run this business as is a man.  Business is business and as long as the person working on your vehicle knows what he/she is doing, the owner's sex is irrelevant. Why not check yourself, next time you get your vehicle repaired and test if you subconsciously prefer to see a man, when you go in for service?  Hopefully you're ok seeing this: 

     If you have been anywhere online in the last couple years, you may have heard of the Google Self-Driving Car. But do you really know what it is, or how soon it might be in your area? As of now, the car is nowhere near being an everyday family vehicle. It is still in testing on closed courses, with different obstacles for the car to maneuver around.      The car operates by using a mounted laser called a Velodyne. It is a 64-beam laser the lets the vehicle generate a 3D model of the area around it. This makes the car able to see where it is going and what could possibly be in front, to the side, and behind it. There are some problems with this system though, as small pieces of trash are sometimes identified as an object, making the car veer out of the way.      The car also relies on a GPS of sort, which has most roads mapped out, but when on roads that are unmapped, the car drives extra slow, causing traffic problems. Al...

I’d like to offer you what I see as the most important steps to effective business networking. Consider them as you think about future business connections. 1. Plan ahead. Set a goal for any meeting or event. Are you trying to connect with as many people as you can, or maybe just one or two really strong business contacts? Strategize on how you will work the room: how long to spend in one conversation, and when to move on. I've also found that one of the most attractive qualities is confidence, so remember to look your best, and bring your best self to each encounter.  2. Perfect your message. We all probably heard that we should come up with a 30-second elevator speech. I think this is a great idea. Describe your service or what problem you can solve for them or their contacts. But keep it short. You don’t want to waste valuable networking time on someone that is not a fit or may even be a competitor. On the other hand, don’t be hasty. Perhaps this person, while not a good con...

By Tyler Pendleton      The Tesla Model S won the award for Car of the Year from Motor Trend last year for its speed and agility, while still being run almost completely electrically. It is claimed to be very efficient in its energy use, and help keep the planet “green” in comparison to other gas-guzzling cars, but is it truly helping the planet? The trick that the car pulls off to keep up their speed while not having all the power of using fuel is the material the car is made out of. The aluminum body helps boost speed while keeping energy consumption low, due to the fact that it is 40% lighter than steel. But aluminum isn’t all rainbows and sunshine. The way it is mined takes eight times more energy than steel mining, and then even more energy to extract the aluminum from the raw material. Aluminum cannot be found by itself, it is too reactive. So when mined, from a source called bauxite, more energy is needed to mine and extract the aluminum from the ore. This...

By Tyler Pendleton When cameras started taking pictures and recording license plate numbers, the police  began building   databases filled with different cars license plate numbers and placement of these individuals for millions of people around America, at all times of the day. These databases were originally meant to be used to store information about each car that they get a picture of so they can identify them on the spot from cruiser cameras in the back of police cars, and will are able to identify stolen or cars involved criminal activity. But since these cameras keep track of every license plate number they get a picture of, which allows police to know where each of these cars are at any specific moment, it is not allowing the freedom of speech and association . The huge reservations of information on the license plate numbers is not the way the cameras were supposed to be tracking cars. But police forces are arguing that having this information at hand allows them...

By Tyler Pendleton Last year, Ford Motor Co. had stated that they would be releasing a software update this year to increase mileage for the Ford C-Max models, Fusion models, and Lincoln MKZ hybrids. The update is aimed to narrow the range of reports for hybrid drivers’ fuel economy performance, but it will increase multiple things. With the mileage boost being just one, other updates include the electric speed maximum, going from 62 MPH to 85 MPH, and having the fuel economy improved for many driving conditions. This includes the change from driving on highways to just a short trip. American and Canadian owners of hybrid vehicles from Ford will be offered upgrades for free. This update is occurring due to the lawsuit that was about overstated gas mileage for their hybrids. Aggressive driving and weather were some reasons the hybrids gas mileage went down. Compared to gas-powered vehicles, hybrids have a wider range for gas mileage. Ford will also be making the active grille...

This is a great article about aiming your headlights.  I thought I'd pass it on to you. How to Align Your Headlights

Modern cars need little maintenance and most people are using the dealer.  If you want to save money and help out a local business, try an independent auto repair shop!  I like the recommendations below and wanted to share them with you.  CHECKBOOK recommends you do the following to help improve your auto repair results: Whenever possible, compare prices, especially for big repairs. CHECKBOOK found some shops charge more than three times as much as their nearby competitors for the same work. Deal with the shop in a business-like way, and be especially thorough in the first few years, while you are getting acquainted. Write down a detailed description of the car's symptoms, give a copy to the shop, and ...

When you depend on your vehicle for work, it becomes a tool, that when it is out of service, can really affect the success of your work.  I'm thinking about landscapers, construction workers, carpet cleaners, glass installers, delivery trucks, dog walkers, florists, plumbers, electricians, security companies and more.  When these vehicles go down, they need to be repaired as quickly as possible.  Here at Bertolli's, we specialize in work vehicles, doing a safe repair with a quick turnaround. Shops that are on insurance referral lists, have a lot of business because they have to take every job that is sent to them.  They take a lot longer to start repairs and the vehicle sits in the parking lot until they can get to your vehicle.  We are not on any insurance referral lists and choose to remain independent, carefully select the repair jobs we do, and use scheduling to get vehicles in and out in the shortest amount of time.  Bertolli's starts repairs ri...

Like the shoes on our feet, the tires and wheels on our cars protect us from direct contact with the ground. And like those shoes we wear day in and day out, tires and wheels can rub, wear unevenly, and eventually fail to do their jobs. That’s why tire rotations and wheel alignments are integral parts of vehicle maintenance; staying on top of these services means a car can reach its maximum level of performance and safety. But while the end result of rotations and alignments is the same, there are some important differences between the two procedures. Tire Rotation Tire rotations are necessary to ensure even wear on a vehicle’s tires. See, the act of driving throws a car’s weight around, leaving distinctive erosion patterns on the tires. Uneven tread can develop from incorrect wheel alignment or over- or under-inflation of the tires. Whether you have front-wheel, rear-wheel, or four-wheel drive makes a difference too. In order to combat the inevitable tread wear, you have to...

Submitted by guest writer, Tyler Pendleton When you’re looking for a car, you want everything to be perfect. You want the right model, the right MPG, the right price most importantly, but what about the right color? Does a certain colored car help us in any way? On a slow moving street, some people text, and others look at the cars around them. When you see one that catches your eye, you like the car a little more. Or an advertisement on a cool looking car makes you pay more attention to it. A car's paint job is like a person's clothing, it classifies you in your own way. An orange and black car in the San Francisco Bay Area may show a Giants fan driving, or a flat black car could show importance on the inside. Many colors relate to different ideas in your brain. So when you’re getting the perfect car why do you choose the color you want?  It’s because your brain has its own theories on what colors “look good to you.” When you see something that triggers a good memory, y...

A unibody is a construction technique for cars, when the body is one whole piece instead of multiple parts making up the body. It is the main way cars are built today. It is good for most driving ways except for off-road due to the fact that since its all one piece it doesn’t move as well as separate pieces would. Trucks and Jeeps and other haulers would usually not use a unibody because of the limitations. A unibody is usually safer because of the crumple zones, which will minimize the impact force when in an accident. A unibody is lighter than a body on frame car, pickups and Jeeps, and is less expensive but it has some disadvantages too. A unibody would cost more money to repair and the durability is lessened in a unibody, making needs of repair higher. It is also harder to tow a unibody when totaled, making bills higher and the overall ride quality is worse, especially with bigger, heavier cars. In a body on frame car, if a part is an inch or sometimes less off, it will effect t...

This is a picture from San Rafael's 2011 Holiday parade.  What fun we had riding in a fully decorated 1973 Cadillac convertible on the day after Thanksgiving! Happy Holidays from the Bertolli family to all our loyal customers.  Best wishes for a happy, healthy, and love-filled new year.

One of the ways that an insurance company will 'steer' a customer to a specific shop is the use of manipulative statements.  Some we've heard is that the shop is not on our List, so you may have to pay out of pocket for some of the repairs, since THAT shop is SO expensive!  Another is that there may be a delay in the repair time because we have to go out to that shop and INSPECT the vehicle.  But the most comical statement is that the insurance company will guarantee the work if you use one of the shops on their List.  Since when is the insurance company set up to fix shoddy work? We are not on any insurance Lists (although we would be if the agreement was fair), and for some reason, customers bring their vehicles to us after having used the shop on the the List.  We understand that in order to make any money at the shops on the List, some corners may have to be cut.  Or maybe the technicians are paid on commission (flat rate), so they hurr...

This has got to be one of the best shows about cars on TV right now.  Premise:  get a comedian who loves cars to test them, rate them, race them and generally do crazy stuff on camera.  I love the host, Jeremy Clarkson, and I urge you to check it out.  Yes, people, I watch car shows in my off time.  It's a disease.

This is the pic from last year's Best of Marin story in the Pacific Sun. I thought I'd update the blog and throw a fun picture in. Our business is good and we are able to continue to employ everyone in the shot. We work hard to do a quality job so that most of our work is referrals from other happy customers. Thanks for reading and happy summer!