A Place to Get the ‘Perfect Performance’ Out of Your Car

publication date: Apr 14, 2008

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author/source: Kate Copsey / STAFF

By Kate Copsey / STAFF

David Usher grew up in the car business – his parents ran a business in Buckhead that worked on high-end cars such as Jaguar, BMW, Lotus and Ferrari.

Usher went to work for NTW, a tire company in Atlanta, and it was there that he learned about the tire business. But working for a large company did not sit well with him, and in 1996 he “abandoned ship” so that he could build his own business. That business was Perfect Performance Tires on Frazier Street.

Usher first lived in Sandy Springs and then Woodstock before he picked Roswell as the ideal site for his business. He said that he “liked this area because it is still a small town where local folks still get involved” but he admitted that he would like to see more “business people” involved in the planning decisions that are being made around the town.

The first location of his business was on Oak Street in Roswell, where he provided tires and alignment for cars that dealerships and smaller repair shops could not accommodate.

The cars were primarily high-end imports that needed specialized alignments and tires.He moved his business to Frazier Street in 2000 and now caters to a general retail clientele as well as to dealerships. Usher still enjoys the high-end cars though.

“I like the way they drive, the engineering that goes into them,” Usher said.

Not all cars are easy to take care of, which is why a specialized service like Usher’s is important. When asked which car was the most challenging to align correctly, a chorus from the workshop called out “Porsche!” It seems that the ‘80’s Porsches, in particular, and old Mustangs are about equal in the amount of time needed to get them running “just right.”

Although the business does a lot of work with foreign cars and does not seek out the racing industry, one of the Porsche racing teams does use his services. Usher considers that a unique case, rather than the norm.

Most of the work that the business does is cars rather than trucks, although Usher’s wife is an SUV person. That suits him just fine because he prefers cars – over his 20 years of marriage, he claims to have owned 25 different cars. He denies being a collector. He just loves cars.

“I only have one at a time,” he said. Currently he drives a Mercedes that apparently gets good gas mileage and drives great.

The business on Frazier is doing well, but Usher still sees one area that he would like to improve and that is the front office area. Apparently guys feel very comfortable there, but the ladies are not so enamored, and it is important to him that everyone feels at ease. This includes seniors, who tend to distrust car repair shops as a whole, and this illustrates how Usher integrates his love of cars with his genuine interest in people.  And loving cars and loving people are what make Perfect Performance such a special business.

Perfect Performance can be found at 1089 Frazier Street, Roswell, GA 30075