Hawaii Marine's get a handle on car costs with Auto Skills Center

[thedrifter]

Hawaii Marine's get a handle on car costs with Auto Skills Center
Submitted by: MCB Hawaii
Story Identification Number: 2004319195339
Story by Lance Cpl. Megan L. Stiner



MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, Kaneohe Bay(March 19. 2004) -- Not every vehicle in the world can run as smoothly as the street-racing Mazda RX-7 in the 2001 film "The Fast and the Furious." But service and family members, whose cars may require a tune-up now and again to improve their performance, can visit the Auto Skills Center aboard MCB Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay.
Located beside the car wash and near the Provost Marshal's Office on Third Street, the Auto Skills Center assists nearly 3,500 Marines, Sailors and their family members each month.

"The biggest advantage to using the Auto Hobby Shop is the savings," said Carl Cabrera, manager of the Auto Skills Center. "The biggest difference to using it is you learn to work on your own car in the process."

Going to a hobby shop, or skills center, off base to have your car worked on can cost the owner anywhere between $89 and $91 per hour. To work on your car at the base Auto Skills Center costs the vehicle owner only $2.50 per hour for the stall provided to work in.

According to Cabrera, all the tools and the assistance from any of the 11 Automotive Service Excellence certified staff members - himself included - are free of charge. The staff members are very knowledgeable automotive engineers; some have 25 to 30 years of experience working on cars.

"The staff is here to help out and assist with anything that the owner[s] may not know about their car," he said. "What people need to realize is this is not a repair shop; the work is done by the owner of the car, not the staff at the shop."

When people visit the Auto Skills Center for the first time, staff give them a brief to inform them about the services, tools and materials they will need, as well as to answer any questions they might have.
To check a vehicle into one of the 25 available stalls, the owner will need proof of ownership, his or her military ID card, vehicle registration, and the vehicle Department of Defense decal or temporary equivalent.

There is even overnight storage available, in case the vehicle cannot be moved until the next day. If the vehicle needs a specific part to be ordered, a member of the staff can help the owner troubleshoot the part for the specific vehicle, and make sure the right part is ordered. The staff can also refer the owner to a place where he or she can purchase the part as a last resort.

Further, patrons visit the Skills Center to get safety checks, tune-ups, brake jobs and full-car restorations.

"We do state safety inspections, which cost $14.70 without tinted windows and $19.70 with after-market tinted windows," Cabrera explained, "but the most common repair we come across are brake jobs."

The biggest problem that patrons need help understanding is electronic systems on new cars, he added. A light will pop up on the dashboard panel of a newer model car, and the owner will not recognize what it means. Once the vehicle is brought in, a staff member can look up what that particular light means and help the owner to fix the problem.

The Skills Center also holds car auctions for abandoned vehicles found by PMO. Once the owner of the abandoned car is notified, the car is inspected to see what engine problems it may have. After the initial inspection and notification, the car is put up for auction with a list of its problems, and the starting bid price is affixed to its windshield.

"Anyone interested in purchasing a car in the lot can just come by. Check in by telling the clerk the reason for the visit, and go look at the cars lined up along the fence," said Cabrera.

The Auto Skills Center is here to prevent people from spending outrageous out-of-pocket costs for something they can easily do themselves, Cabrera emphasized.

"A lot of patrons that come here like to work on their own vehicles, but for those who don't, we are here to help assist in any way possible."

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2...B1?opendocument


Ellie