FORT BENNING, Ga., (Feb. 4, 2015) -- The Auto Skills Center on Main Post offers the Fort Benning community a centralized location to work their vehicles or get work done without leaving post.
The Auto Skills Center is a 42-bay, 36-lift facility, said Allen Singleton, Auto Skills Center training instructor.
The center also has an automotive-parts store, which has over $100,000 worth of inventory from car batteries to top-of-the line oil, he said.
"We have pretty much everything a Soldier needs to work on their car," Singleton said.
The center also has a motorcycle bay with a motorcycle lift, Singleton said.
To rent space at the Auto Skills Center, all customers must pay the $3 environmental disposal fee for the first hour and then $4 per hour after. Tool rental is free and Soldiers working on their vehicles in the center can seek assistance from the training instructors, Singleton said.
"All of our training instructors have automotive service excellence certificates," Singleton said. "It gives the assurance in knowing that somebody that is looking at your car and giving you the information about your car knows what they're talking about."
All services and costs are tax free, Singleton said.
Sgt. 1st Class Jason Jesperson, 2nd Battalion, 16th Calvary Regiment, said he chose the Auto Skills Center because of the lifts and because of the tools available.
"It costs a lot of money for the tools," Jesperson said. "(The center) has everything I need, and I don't utilize the tools enough to go purchase them."
For those who are not so mechanically inclined, Singleton said the shop is able to offer services to Soldiers and their Families comparable to what they would find in automotive shops in the civilian community.
In order to help defray some of the cost and expense, the shop has a "we-do-it'" side of the house, Singleton said.
The Auto Skills Center offers services such as replacing timing belts, servicing water pumps, air conditioning service and other common vehicle problems from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays.
"Typically, we can turn you around in a day with most of the stuff that we do," Singleton said.
The shop also offers nitrogen inflation for tires. Singleton said that nitrogen in tires is guaranteed for the life of the tires.
Aside from mechanical work, the center offers group and individual classes.
"In class, I'll talk about familiarization of your own vehicle, what you should look for, your daily checks and things that you should do, when you get in your car things you look for inside and outside," Singleton said.
Singleton said he'd take a class into the shop, put a vehicle in a bay and demonstrate all of the classroom information such as doing checks under the hood.
"We do it as part of our service here," Singleton said. "In the same token, if they have a need for a class, we're here for that as well."
Social Sharing