Close Menu
Berlin, Ocean Pines News Worcester County Bayside Gazette Logo Berlin, Ocean Pines News Worcester County Bayside Gazette

410-723-6397

Dealership specializes in clean, dependable cars

BERLIN—Don Klein, of Newark, is expanding his 10-year-old automobile sale business to Berlin with the opening of Shoreline Auto Sales across Route 50 from Stephen Decatur High School.
The used car dealership is located at 10621 Ocean Gateway, in Berlin. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Klein a former insurance company auto appraiser from New Jersey does most of the purchasing, detailing, and—when necessary—repair work himself, he said during a Nov. 11 interview. During the early stages at the new location, he is also doing sales and administration, as he searches for a qualified used car sales representative.
He is looking for someone who can commit to 30 to 35 hours per week, he said.
“I’ve been working on cars all my life,” he said, adding that he started his career doing body work and restorations.
The vehicles the dealership specializes in are Jeeps, muscle cars, imports and pick-up trucks, most cost less than $10,000, according to Klein. He said his goal is to provide affordable, reliable transportation for first-time buyers, young drivers and purchasers on tight budgets who are looking for dependable commuter cars. “That’s the market that I’m capturing,” he said, adding that he stands behind the vehicles he sells.
He also said he specializes in finding financing that can put virtually any qualified buyer in one of his vehicles.
Where possible, Klein said he tries to buy cars he can sell for less than $5,000, but that can prove to be difficult. On the opposite side of his primary inventory are the exotic vanity cars, like the 1976 Bentley “Bradley GT” kit car and the 1994 Firebird with custom paint and its original 53,000 miles, in his showroom. He said he sees them as eye catchers that serve as “something to turn your head and that can bring people into the lot.”
At full capacity he said his goal is to show 40 to 50 vehicles at a time. The cars appear well kept and Klein attributed that to his practice of buying well maintained previously-owned vehicles. “If you buy them clean,” it was easier to determine if they were taken care of, he said.
Klein and his wife are transplants, who have lived in the area for 10 years. His wife is a schoolteacher, he said.
The first Shoreline Auto Sales dealership is located at 7091 Worcester Hwy., in Newark. The telephone number there is 410-632-4575.