Premier Auto Service to hold blood drive, cruise-in Saturday
Premier Auto Service Center in Cape Coral is hosting a blood drive and a cruise-in Saturday.
OneBlood’s Big Red Bus will be set up from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 3916 S. Chiquita Blvd. In addition, members of the Southwest Florida Corvette Club will hold a cruise-in from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Owner Emile Dauphinais said Premier Auto Service Center hosted its first drive two years ago.
“I kind of do it twice a year now, in the spring and fall,” he said.
“It’s something, I guess, to give back to the community,” Dauphinais said.
The Big Red Bus will hand out free movie tickets to blood donors.
For the cruise-in, club members will have their vehicles on display for the public.
“People can come and just look at the cars,” he said.
NAPA is sponsoring the event and will provide hamburgers and hot dogs.
“Anyone is welcome to come. If they have a car, they can bring it,” Dauphinais said.
“It’s just to get people together – a little action at this end of town,” he said.
On Saturday, Premier Auto Service Center will collect donations of baseball caps for the children at The Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida. The center is accepting hats through November.
“We don’t want used ones,” Dauphinais said, noting that the donated hats must be new.
People who donate a hat will receive a free tire rotation from the center.
The Corvette Club will hold a 50/50 raffle, with half of the winnings going to the hospital.
“They do a 50/50 raffle with all their members and anybody who wants to participate,” he said.
Premier Auto Service Center is a full-service auto repair facility. The Cape location recently celebrated its two-year anniversary, while a second location in San Carlos Park has been open for approximately a year. Dauphinais pointed out that the business is family owned and operated.
“I have another location in North Carolina,” he said. “That’s basically where I started out.”
With 15 years of business ownership in the books and more than 30 years of automotive experience, Dauphinais has a team of qualified ASE service technicians each with more than 15 years experience.
“We have continued training for the technicians,” he said.
With state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment, the center can repair domestic and import vehicles.
“We have updated equipment to do that work,” Dauphinais said.
Premier Auto Service Center does not do body work.
“We don’t do major engine repair or transmission repair to the point of rebuilding,” he said. “We can service them, or what they call a R&R (remove and replace), and anything in between.”
The center offers BG products, Interstate Batteries and more.
“We try to stick with the major brands,” Dauphinais said. “We believe in our products.”
He explained that Premier Auto Service Center is a trusted business that gets it right the first time.
“We’re honest and fair to everybody,” Dauphinais said. “At the same time we plan on being here for a quite a few years, so we try to do the right thing for everybody and make everybody happy.”
Community involvement also is a priority for the business.
Since the opening of the Cape location, Premier Auto Service Center has had a program in place at Oasis High School. Five percent of its revenue from customers with ties to Oasis High, such as parents, teachers and students, is donated to the city of Cape Coral Charter School system for all the schools.
“We can isolate those customers and give back to the schools,” he said.
Since opening, the business has given back more than $8,000 to the charter school system.
“We see the help that they need. They’re always in need of services or products,” Dauphinais said.
“It’s not quite as funded as a public school is,” he added.
Dauphinais’ son attends Oasis High and his wife is involved with the school.
“It was another way of reaching out to the customers, the people,” he said of the partnership.
Premier Auto Service Center is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
For information, contact the Cape location at (239) 471-7049.
The San Carlos Park location is at 18990 S. Tamiami Trail, Unit 1.
For more information about Premiere Auto Service Center, visit: www.premierautoofswfl.com/.