Marine Corps Base Quantico -- “If you have the patience and the desire and drive to learn, I don’t think there’s anything we can’t help you with,” said Mike Cushman, manager of the Auto Skills Center aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico. “The staff here is very knowledgeable.”

He said center staff have helped clients replace the engines in their cars and have even put an entirely new roof on a recreational vehicle.

“We’re here to support the Marines,” Cushman said. “We offer a safe, clean environment for them to work on their vehicles and we save them tons of money.”

The center, which is located behind Pruitt Hall barracks off Anderson Avenue, is open Wednesday through Sunday and sees about 350 to 400 customers a month.

“We’d like to increase that,” Cushman said.

For $6/hour, active duty and retired Marines and their families can rent a stall and for $8/hour, they can rent a lift for a car or truck. (The cost for civilian Department of Defense employees is $8 and $10/hour, respectively).

Cushman said center staff will walk clients through the steps for completing whatever work is necessary on their automobiles, from oil changes to tire rotations to air conditioner services. Clients can make appointments for slightly more complicated services, such as wheel alignments and transmission flushes, 24 hours in advance.

On a recent frigid January afternoon, the inside of the center was toasty warm. Two active-duty Marines were changing the oil in their cars. William Tovar, who works at Marine Corps Air Facility, said he comes to the center about every three months to do it.

“I always come here. It’s so much easier,” he said.

Second Lt. Dylan Riedell was there to work on his car’s differentials—the part of the car that negotiates the fact that wheels on the same axle do not always turn at the same speed—and to change the oil. He said the jobs would cost $150 at a commercial auto body shop. Here, it would cost him $28: $8 to rent the lift and $20 for a bottle of motor oil.

Retired Marine Roger Cook was replacing the front wheel bearings on his Dodge. He said the dealership quoted him $500 for the replacement. He expected to spend about $150 to do it himself at the Auto Skills Center.

Melissa Burn, a civilian employee of Marine Corps Intelligence Activity, was fixing the CV joint axels on the driver’s side of her Isuzu VehiCROSS. She said that many commercial auto body shops don’t know how to work on her car because it’s an unusual model.

“I come here because they help me,” she said. “I wouldn’t try to do the work on my own!”

Corporal Bret Helstrom, who works in the base motor corps, was using the base Auto Skills Center for the first time to lube and rotate his tires.

“This is a nice facility,” he said. “I love it. It’s warm! And everyone is very friendly.”

For more information about the base Auto Skills Center, call 703-784-2729 or visit http://www.quantico.usmc-mccs.org/index.cfm/recreation/auto-skills-center/.

— Writer: auphausconner@quanticosentryonline.com