Who's Behind the Counter: Bart Weinberg at Bart's Motor Works

After 25 years in the auto repair business, Bart’s Motor Works owner Bart Weinberg can’t hide the fact that he truly just “digs cars”.

If you drive by his shop on Main Street, you won’t see a business sign, but you will see a long row of various BMWs waiting to be worked on.

Weinberg sat down with Patch to talk about the long hours of a daily grind, why he has such a loyal customer base and more.

Patch: Give us a brief history of your career of working with cars.

Weinberg: I essentially started as a kid with dirt bikes. Then I progressed to my friends’ cars with Beetles, Volkswagons—found a love for German cars. Then I started [at age 18] at Valley Motors as a shop boy.

What interested you about cars and working with parts? What drew you to it?

I just like the modern marvel of the automobile—the thrill of speed.

What drew you to Reisterstown initially?

Well, I’m from the Northwest Baltimore County area anyway. I actually lived in Reisterstown for 10 years at Glyndon Gate. I worked at Northwest BMW also, that was my last job. My friend bought this whole property that had this old shop on it. So it was easy to move on, get out of the dealership after 10 years and it was easy to step into this nice little two-bay [garage] on Main Street.

What do you like about being here on Main Street?

I don’t like being right on Main Street. I’m just a small, little shop and I’d rather be more hidden. The demand is larger than my supply—the love I can give to these cars. I don’t have a sign and look how many cars I’ve got to fix. It’s absurd.

People in this area, when they have a BMW problem, do they just automatically come to you?

Pretty much. They’re going to the dealer and getting blown away with sticker shock on how to fix it. Then they usually get some sort of referral.

Price aside, what do you think motorists like about coming to you over the dealer?

Trust. They trust me because I’ll show them what’s wrong. Really, the honesty that I give. We do a lot of show and tell. We’ll just invite customers in to visually look at an oil leak and see where it’s dripping or see how brakes work and why they’re worn out.

You’ve got all this business. How much time do you spend here?

About 80 hours a week. Seventy-five probably.

What’s your life like outside of here? Is there a life?

I have no social life. It’s [messing] me up slightly.

In the free time that you do get, what do you like to do with it?

Spend time with my children. My kids play field hockey and lacrosse, two girls, so a lot of sports and running around with them on the weekends.

When you get home after a long day, what do you do to let loose and relax?

I usually have to order parts, organize the next day, sort through paperwork, get tickets organized. We’re just a small shop, and I don’t want to say I’m a one-man show because I’ve got some good helpers, but essentially I’ve got to do it all short of dumping the trash.

So, it’s not one of those jobs where you leave the office and the work stays there.

No. It’s hands-on, making sure and trying to get through every car I’ve committed to, which is pretty tough. My job isn’t cake by any means.