Chris and his team at Auto Skills Center are absolute gems – truly honest, fair, and trustworthy, going above and beyond to make car repairs stress-free, providing clear explanations, and delivering top-notch, reliable service that builds lasting customer loyalty and peace of mind, thank you!
Mike
The Auto Skills Center at Fort Drum is an excellent place for DIY maintenance. The staff are friendly, patient, knowledgeable, and always ready to help without making you feel rushed. Their guidance makes every project easier. The facility is clean, and the equipment is well-maintained and reliable. Overall, it’s a great resource for Soldiers and families looking to work on their vehicles confidently.
Sean is the most helpful person ever, he spent hours helping me with my car, advice on how to remove parts, etc. Dude deserves a raise and a great day. Josh helped out a lot as well, but he was more spread out over the day. Still very very helpful
Used to work on my Tesla since 2023, but now am being told that I can't work on an electric vehicle there. SMH... apparently, they dont have some EV safety equipment...it's all good.
One of the best skills center that the army has, Shawn is incredibly helpful when you are in a tight spot. The entire staff is professional. And their tools are good
Every time I come here I end up having to hunt down an employee to get checked in otherwise you get no service. Equipment isn’t maintained and often broken, they lie about brand new equipment being broken just so you can’t use it. You can’t get any help from employees while using the broken equipment. Tire balance machine doesn’t work correctly and they have no wheel weights. As a mechanic I’m telling you go somewhere else and pay for the service, do not waste your time here.
The staff was very professional and welcoming. For quick maintenance, I recommend going during the work week around lunchtime hours. There usually isn't a wait time for a lift.
I recently had an appointment for a vehicle inspection at the Fort Drum Auto Skills Center (July 2024). It was the worst experience I've ever had at an Auto Skills Center in the entire United States Army. Having been stationed at four different duty stations, I can confidently assert that no other Auto Center on Post has ever been as rude, inconsiderate, and harsh as this one.
I was treated with an unwarranted level of rudeness and disrespect from the moment I arrived. Despite being extremely polite and respectful, I was treated like a piece of trash. The staff's rudeness and harshness were not only unprofessional but also deeply upsetting.
Seeing such poor customer service is disheartening, especially within a military facility where respect and professionalism should be paramount. I have never encountered such wicked and hostile treatment at any other Auto Skills Center, which left me feeling humiliated and frustrated.
Because i am from Texas and didn't have a receipt to the registrations purchase (sticker on window is registration) they refused to allow me the use of the facility. extremely disappointed!
The only thing not Great about this place is its hours and days open! Other than that nice to have a place to use! Wish they still had the paint booth in operation and more tools like it used to be!
The guys who work here are so much help. It is so cool having access to a facility like this. I only wish that they were open more often. But I am grateful
1. They never have any bays open. Apparently they are fixing some broken bays but it is impossible to get in. This has been going on for at least 6 months now. It is impossible to get a bay to work on your car here.
2. They don't let you sign out tools two hours before they close and make you turn your tools in one hour before they close, which means that their hours are shorter than what is posted making the bay shortage even worse.
3. They make you attend a scheduled tool safety class during lunch; however, the class is just a 15 minute video they make you watch and then you sign a roster and they give you a card. There is no reason they couldn't be more accommodating and just show the video before you work on your car.
Overall this place is ridiculous. Good luck trying to work on your car here. You're better off buying jack stand and the tools to do it yourself.
What can I say this is drum after all. Worst auto skills that I’ve ever been too. Very limited in turns of welding and rebuilding. Closed Sundays and Saturdays. Good luck getting a bay unless you’re going to squeeze an hour in right after pt. I waited 2 plus hours on Saturday and couldn’t get a bay. With the barracks rules on auto repair might as well pay someone else to do it or drive over to someone that lives off post.
Only 2 lift bays and they seem to always be full so I can never get my truck or my wife’s car in. This is also the first auto skill center I’ve been to that requires you to be on the registration (this means they have to see your registration to let you work on a vehicle) it’s quite stupid. Also they work on DPW vehicles there so good chance that all bays could be taken just for DPW. The tire machines seem to never work either huge inconvenience. I’ve given up trying to work on my vehicles there and went out and bought some jack stands and a jack. If you have gotten the chance to get in good for you.
Very hit or miss with this place. Some days the staff are super helpful, other days it’s like you’re an inconvenience. Their policies are dumb too, like cutting off signing in to do work 2 hours before they close. Sometimes people have to work till 430-5 on the weekday and don’t make it over there till 530. Definitely the worst auto skills center I’ve encountered across the army.
Love that we have a place like this on post to do auto work! The guys at the shop are extremely helpful and really know their stuff.. They are always easy to work with. I also really appreciated that Napa Auto Parts delivers right to the skills shop (from the PX store) so you don't have to leave to get parts!!!
My kids had locked the keys in the car and so I had called. They came right away even though it was a Saturday event we were attending. I was so pleased with the service and they were so patient and understanding when they found that one door was unlocked. I would absolutely use this service again!
Great place to save money on auto repairs if you have some basic skills. I'm retired mechanic and I can say the facility is top notch. They will guide the inexperienced through the repairs.
I haven't used this place yet but have taken the safety class and have looked around and it's a very nice establishment! I would give it 5 stars but they have a rule implemented that really messed me up. You can't have non DOD card holders in the premises helping you. If they are accompanied by a DOD card holder it should be no problem. They need to really change that rule. I had my brother visit me to drop my trani to save myself a hudge amount of money, now since we couldn't do it because of the rule, probly can't fix my car until next year.
Was skeptical of working on my truck here after reading some of the reviews but soon learned it was worth my while. The guys at the shop are very helpful and knowledgeable. As long as you are willing to learn and put in the effort they are really willing go go above and beyond to help or give pointers. I saved a lot of money here and am learning a lot along the way.
Mike (the head worker) can be quite a tough person if you're new to working on vehicles, ultimately him and the rest of the workers can he very helpful and the prices are great. Don't be discouraged if you feel "offended" or maybe like they're being "rude" , it is definitely worth it coming here to work on your vehicle(s)
Rude as hell I called to ask what time they hold classes to use the there equipment and a worker named mike instead of answering my question he just hung up the phone. I called back and asked the same question he simply said no only Tuesday’s I asked what time do they hold the class he simply said noon and hung up again. If you hate your job so much that you do it poorly you might as well not do it at all
Very rude when talking to potential customers. Apparently now the "class" to use the facility is on tues & thurs and it would be too much of a hassle to help someone make use of the facility to while they have help, for example, while my dad is visiting from 15hrs away? Drum is ridiculous when it comes to resources and soldiers.
I was wondering why this establishment was always empty, found out why!! Very rude staff, employee seems like he doesn't want to be there or let anyone in the shop, I know mechanics can be very territorial but this guy went over board. Very poor social, professional skills. Just because you know a profession you don't have to be rude. I could keep going but I know this isn't going anywhere so good luck.!!
