Students enrolled in Forbes Road Career and Technology Center's Automotive Technology Center maintain and repair just about any kind of car that makes its way to their on-site garage.

Most are older vehicles that were purchased by Forbes students or given to them by their parents.

A vital collaboration, however, allows students to get under the hoods of newer vehicles to bolster training for the center's auto program.

General Motors last month awarded Forbes a 2004 Saturn Vue through the company's corporate donations program, which sponsors schools that are part of the GM Training Network. With an estimated retail value of $5,000, the vehicle contains some features that students might not have a chance to work with when repairing older cars.

Forbes Road Career and Technology Center, located in Monroeville, caters to high school students interested in technical and vocational careers and offers associate degree programs in some subjects, including automotive technology.

"Vehicle donations are important to the program for realistic hands-on student training," said Cindy Whittman, Forbes' advance program placement coordinator. She called the donations a critical component of the Automotive Youth Education Systems program, which partners students in their senior year with local dealerships for internships and job shadowing. Ms. Whittman said the donations help students receive hands-on training in new vehicles before their first job placement. Since 1996, 74 students have been placed at dealerships throughout the region for internships.

Austin Campbell, 17, a student in the Gateway School District, said the donation will give him a step up the day he starts at a dealership.

"It gives us newer technology to work with every day. It makes you be able to relate to cars that most people are driving now," he said.

Instructor Jim Herman said the vehicle will help students find problems they may not have the opportunity to find in older cars.

"It will be used as a manipulative for students to learn hands-on skills, a basic inspection test. It has the technology for students to use electronic equipment we use for diagnostic and repair," he said.

The upgrades go beyond the inside of the vehicle. Student Cody Havash, 18, of Penn Hills, said he likes that the body of the vehicle is made from material that is lighter and more durable than some of he other vehicles he works with.

"One of the nice things about the Vue is that is has a soft plastic body that is resistant to a lot of damage," he said, adding that the vehicle was easier to work on than some older models.

Instructor Don Kosker said the vehicle donation program is one way the school helps to keep a steady stream of students interested in the program and in the field.

"We've got to have a way to keep people in this industry and to get people interested in the industry. This gives us a chance to really focus on what a student needs to know to go out in the industry today," he said.