‘Oil filters, transmissions, inspections, oh my’
Fort Bliss Auto Crafts Shop brings convenience, value to Soldiers

David Poe

Fort Bliss Monitor Staff

We’ve all experienced it at one time or another: the fresh oil puddle in our driveways, the new-found squealing under the hood, or even worse, the automobile that started for us every morning suddenly doesn’t.

While most people outside of the fence would then find themselves at the mercy of their local repair shop and their sometimes inflated labor costs, Fort Bliss’ Morale, Welfare and Recreation Auto Crafts Shop, located in Bldg. 820 on Holbrook Road, offers a financial and convenient alternative that can give servicemembers and their families professional support at a wallet-friendly price.

The Auto Crafts Shop offers two types of services for anyone who holds a valid military identification card.

With seven Automotive Service Excellence certified technicians on staff, the shop can service brakes, water pumps, alternators and clutches. They can also perform maintenance such as tune-ups, alignments, oil changes and transmission service. All these can be done on most vehicles and when an oil change is purchased, they also offer free tire rotation and brake inspection for all passenger cars with original wheels.

Willie Delgado, Fort Bliss Auto Crafts Shop’s facility manager, has been working on cars for more than four decades and said his technicians are so good he’d trust any of them to work on his own vehicle if need be.

“They’re certified technicians who are good, honest and dedicated to what they do,” said Delgado. 

There are also three inspectors on staff who are authorized to perform Texas State Inspection validation services. With the customer’s convenience first on the staff’s mind, inspections, or any work performed, can be done while you wait, or automobiles can be dropped off and picked up at the end of the work day. 

Rudy Moreno, the shop’s assistant manager, said a lot of inspection failures are due to small discreprencies, therefore, a little bit of self-work before inspection time could go a long way. He also said younger Soldiers are failing inspections due to custom automobile modifications that are popular today.

 

“Don’t mess with the emissions,” said Moreno. “They’ll take catalytic converters out and other components and that affects the outcome of the inspections.”

To learn more about the guidelines that need to be followed to make the inspection process as seamless as possible, visit www.blissmwr.com/autocrafts.

Whether you’re an experienced mechanic, someone who’s just looking under his car for the first time, or maybe you fall somewhere in between, the Auto Crafts Shop also supports do-it-yourselfers in a variety of ways.

The Automotive Skills Shop, located within the facility, has 16 service bays (11 with hydraulic lifts) and a pit reserved for patrons who want to work on their own vehicles. They also have more than 100 tools on hand to be used in house to make your time in the shop that much easier.

For less-experienced customers, shop employees are available during normal business hours to answer technical questions and offer hands-off, verbal instruction. For legal reasons, shop employees are not able to offer physical assistance to do-it-yourselfers. The Auto Crafts Shop also has an in-house, online library that customers can use as a step-by-step resource to best serve the needs of their car based on its particular make and model.   

While, depending on the job, do-it-yourselfers can save serious money by utilizing the shop, there are a few fees for things such as some hazardous material disposals and bay usages. Contact the shop’s customer service window for details on these fees.

 Though the Auto Crafts Shop will handle a lot of hazardous materials associated with vehicle maintenance, it isn’t a general drop-off site for materials not drained on site. For more information on proper self disposal, visit the shop’s Web site.

Eligible customers are welcome to utilize the shop’s “do-it-yourself” services after they attend a one-time, 30-minute safety class. A certification saying you’ve attended the class will be given at the end and must be carried when doing personal automobile work at the facility. Those classes are held Wednesday and Thursday at 6 p.m. and Saturday at 8 a.m. and can be attended on a walk-in basis.

Oil puddles, squealing and larger disasters are not a matter of “if” they will happen, but “when,” but with Bliss’ Auto Crafts Shop in your corner, you never have to go it alone.  

The Auto Crafts Shop’s “full-service” hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but inspections will close at 4:30 p.m. Do-it-yourself hours are Wednesday through Friday from noon to 9 p.m., Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For more information on the facility, visit www.blissmwr.com/autocrafts or call them at 568-7280.