Car repairs at Vo-tech school?

[pony mom]

My car will be needing some pretty pricey work done soon and when talking to my boss about it, she said that a lot of people take their cars to the county vocational/technical school. She said all the work is supervised and checked over and costs a lot less than you would normally pay. My car needs a lot of exhaust pipes replaced (maybe catalytic converter too), and a head gasket replacement is in our future too. Oh, and brakes. My car is a 2003 Subaru Forester and all the things being replaced are original.

Anyone else have repairs at a school? I figure that if people go to dental schools for dental work, it can't be much different for car repairs.

[fidgiegirl]

I would find out if the specific school you are going to use has a good reputation. I think in general it's a good idea, but I know that at the high school where my dad worked, he had a bad experience. He brought in a snowblower for a small engines class to fix, and when they couldn't, instead of giving it back to him they threw it in the garbage. :( Most likely a miscommunication (my dad had thought they were fixing it for him, but they likely thought it had been a donation for them to tinker with), but my dad was still out his snowblower. So maybe the lesson here is to get the arrangement in writing.