
Shocktober: Why October Is the Month to Check Your Shocks and Struts in Albuquerque
October 9, 2026Bernalillo County is home to roughly 42,500 veterans, and Kirtland Air Force Base and its mission partners add about 23,000 active duty, Guard, Reserve, and civilian personnel on top of that. Many of you came to Albuquerque on orders, stayed after you separated, and picked a mechanic off a map because nobody here knew your name yet. L&S Quality Auto Repair wants to say thank you for your service in a way that outlasts a holiday, so our veteran discount on auto repair is a permanent 15 percent off labor, every day we are open.
- Veterans, active duty, National Guard, Reserve, and military retirees save 15 percent on labor at L&S with no expiration date.
- Any standard military or veteran ID qualifies, including the veteran designation on a New Mexico driver’s license.
- Every qualifying repair still carries the NAPA AutoCare 24 month, 24,000 mile nationwide warranty, so the work follows you to your next duty station.
Why the thank you comes off labor
Parts prices are set by the people who make the parts, and we pass them through at fair margin. Labor is different. Labor is our own time, our own training, and our own tools, which makes it the one thing we can give without asking a supplier’s permission. Taking 15 percent off labor is L&S giving something that belongs to L&S, and that felt like the honest way to thank the people who gave years of their own time on behalf of the rest of us.
It also means the discount lands on the part of the bill that matters most on an older vehicle. A brake job, a timing belt, a cooling system repair, or an air conditioning compressor replacement can each carry several hours of labor. On a ticket with $400 in labor, the discount is $60. On a bigger job it is more. The diagnostic that tells you whether a noise is a wheel bearing or a bad tire counts as labor too, so the discount applies before you have committed to any repair at all.
Who qualifies and what to bring
The offer covers active duty, National Guard, Reserve, retirees, and veterans of every branch and every era. When you drop off the vehicle, tell the service writer you have served and show one of the following:
- Military ID or CAC
- DD-214
- VA identification card or Veteran Health Identification Card
- Military retiree ID
- Veteran designation on a New Mexico driver’s license or state ID
That is the whole process. Ask at write-up rather than checkout, because once a repair order closes the invoice is final and we cannot rework it. If you never carry your DD-214, the New Mexico MVD will print a veteran designation on your license, and it is worth having for this and for the growing number of businesses around town that honor it.
A few practical details keep things fair for everyone. The discount applies to labor only, so parts, tires, sublet work, shop supplies, taxes, and fees stay at regular price. One discount applies per visit, and it does not stack with another L&S coupon or advertised special. If you are a veteran who is also a college student, we apply the 15 percent, because the better discount should win. NAPA rebates and manufacturer parts promotions are separate programs, and those still stack.
Work that travels with your orders
Military families move. A repair that is only guaranteed at one shop in Albuquerque is not worth much when you are at Fort Bliss or Peterson next spring. L&S is a NAPA AutoCare Center, and every qualifying repair we perform is backed by the NAPA AutoCare 24 month, 24,000 mile nationwide warranty, discounted labor included. If something we fixed fails within that window, any of the thousands of NAPA AutoCare Centers across the country handles it, and the warranty rides with the vehicle rather than the zip code.
For veterans who are staying put, the same warranty simply means the repair is guaranteed for two years or 24,000 miles, whichever comes first, at the shop that did the work. Either way, the discount does not shorten the coverage.
A good season to use it
By November, Albuquerque mornings regularly start near freezing, and that is when summer damage stops hiding. Heat spent three months cooking batteries, thinning coolant, and drying belts and hoses, and a hot engine bay masks a weak battery because warm chemistry cranks easier. A 30 degree morning does not. Tire pressure falls about one psi for every 10 degree drop, so a tire set correctly in July can be five or six psi low by Thanksgiving.
None of that is expensive to catch. A battery test, a tire pressure and tread check, a look at belts and hoses, and a coolant condition check take under an hour of labor, and that hour is where the 15 percent applies. If you have been putting off a noise or a warning light since summer, get it looked at before Thanksgiving travel.
Thank you for your service. Whether you separated last year or 40 years ago, whether you are still wearing the uniform or drive past Kirtland’s gate every morning on the way to a civilian job, the discount is here and it is not going anywhere. Text us at 505-546-7734 to set up a visit, tell us you served, and we will take care of the rest. The full details, including the ID list and fine print, are on our student and military discounts page.
L&S Quality Auto Repair
4815 Lomas Blvd. NE
Albuquerque, NM 87110
Text: 505-546-7734






