Premier Collision Center in New Orleans, Louisiana opened in 2008 in the eastern New Orleans area to better serve customers after Hurricane Katrina. Beyond being the only shop in the area to use ONXY HD waterborne paints, Premier Collision Center also uses environmentally friendly products, sells damaged bumpers back to their suppliers, utilizes paint less dent repair processes and recycles old tires and bumper plastics in order to reduce their hazardous emissions and waste.
When asked why Premier made the decision to go with waterborne paints when they opened in 2008, collision center manager Raymond Ducote said, “Most car manufacturers are using it more and more now, so we saw the opportunity and jumped on it.”
Ducote also mentioned that he felt the color and clarity of waterborne paints were superior to solvent-based paints and worth the investment.
Premier Collision Center is a Toyota certified collision repair shop; they also works with 4 dealerships in the area: Premier Honda, Premier Kia of Kenner, Toyota of New Orleans and Premier Nissan of Metairie. With 12 employees working out of a 9500 square-foot shop, Premier Collision Center is able to see about 100 to 120 cars per month.
Ducote said the shop opened in 2008 in the eastern New Orleans area because that area had not been rebuilt back to its pre-hurricane condition yet and a body shop was desperately needed to service customers in that area. This location also enables them to service the New Orleans metro area as well as other surrounding communities.
Premier Collision Center also works with insurance company Direct Repair Programs (DRPs) to best service the customer’s needs. Premier is able to pull in about 1 million in total sales annually.
Since Premier Collision Center is a Toyota certified shop they are required to use all of the latest tools and techniques. Their state of the art facility uses state of the art equipment, including; the laser measuring system Portal, spot resistant welders and waterborne painting tools as well as a completely computerized paint matching system. They also provide online repair tracking for their customers so they can monitor their vehicle repairs in real time online.
For more information please visit Premier Collision Center’s website at www.premierautomotivecollision.com.
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