Rivercity Autowerks – specialty car care may save you money

• Steve Picha, auto technician/owner, and Chad Baynes, manager

Steve Picha, auto technician/owner, and Chad Baynes, manager, recently opened Rivercity Autowerks. They specialize in maintenance and repair of Audi, Porsche and Volkswagen vehicles. Photo by Margaret A. Ontl

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If you are driving around in an Audi, Volkswagen or Porsche, you may be in for a savings on routine maintenance and repairs.

Rivercity Autowerks opened Feb. 4 and is located at 2001 Rock St. inside Heppner’s Rivercity Collision Centre. The business joins Heppner’s Auto Body and Indianhead Glass, providing a host of auto services under one roof.

Owner and technician Steve Picha brings over 23 years’ of specialty car experience to Hudson, having worked most recently at Maplewood Audi.

“The German car dealerships work a lot differently than domestic ones,” said Picha. “Everybody works on everything — from the engine to the brakes and everything in between. So you know the car from the front to the back.

“As a result, I can save people money and give quality service,” said Picha. “It is real important to me to do it right.”

“I have stayed with these brands because I like the product,” he added. “The Volkswagen group builds a good car. It is a growing company and they are on the cutting edge of technology. Through experience I know the products pretty well, and not a lot of mechanics can say that.”

Picha is joined by manager Chad Baynes, a graduate of White Bear Lake High School. He was most recently assistant manager at MR Convenience and currently lives in New Richmond.

He said he’s looking forward to putting the positive edge on customer service and agrees that living in western Wisconsin offers a lot of benefits including less stress.

“As soon as you cross the river, it is a little less hustle and bustle,” said Baynes.

Picha, a St. Paul native, moved to Hudson from Stillwater because he always liked the area. “It is a good place to buy a house with some land because it is affordable. I wanted to keep the small-town feel.”

“The fact of the matter is I opened up to save people money,” said Picha. “Because I know the product, I can do that. I want to make it as easy on them as possible with a focus on making it about quality not cost.”

Rivercity Autowerks is open Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. Stop-in customers are welcome. For more information, or to make an appointment, call (715) 381-7066 or visit www.rivercityautowerks.com.

A grand opening event for the entire auto mall building is May 14.

Tags: business, hudson, rivercity, autowerks, european, auto, repair