SANTA ANA, Calif. -- The automotive know-how of two high school seniors has earned them $20,000 in scholarships as well as an expenses-paid trip to New York City to compete with other budding auto technicians from around the United States and Canada.

Robert Loera and Aileen Melendez of Loara High School earned those prizes - and others - by finishing a mere 1.5 points ahead of the second-place team, Sunny Hills High School, in the Orange County, Calif., Automobile Dealers Association's annual troubleshooting contest last month. La Habra High took third.

About 30 teams began the contest, held at Kia's U.S. headquarters in Irvine, Calif.; with the best six making the finals. The score included written-test, work-station and troubleshooting marks.

The pair landed a perfect score on the last test of the day, an electronic and physical inspection of a Toyota Camry where they had to spot 30 bugs - or problems - with the vehicle. The bugs can range from engine malfunctions to burnt-out headlights or even missing license plates. The pair nailed all 30.

"I was nervous the whole time," said Lydia Loera, Robert's mother.

But the two winners weren't.

Loera and Melendez, both 17, spend two days a week working in the repair bay at Toyota of Orange as part of the North Orange County Regional Occupation Program. There, they got to know, intimately, 2012 Camrys just like the one they had for the competition's final challenge.

"We were very familiar with the Camry because of our work here," Melendez said.

"It's routine," Loera concurred.

What was also routine was the failure of one of the electronic scanners they were using during the test. But they quickly were handed a new one, and marched forward.

"It happens sometimes," Melendez said, so they didn't panic when it happened in the middle of the final competition.

As part of their prize package, Loera and Melendez won a Kia for their school's auto shop. Now they're studying for the two-day New York contest, to be held in early April.

Whatever the outcome there, Gary Upton feels like Toyota of Orange has already won.

He's a master diagnostic technician there, and had spent months mentoring Loera and Melendez.

While he enjoys working with eager students, he's quick to point out that there's a benefit for his employer. After all, he said, most cars these days have 35 or more computers.

"People don't realize that this business is getting more and more technical," Upton said. "A lot of people in the shop these days are very well-educated and a lot of them have college degrees."

The ROP program has provided Toyota of Orange with several technicians who then land jobs at the dealership. Louie Loera Jr., Robert's older brother, represented Loara High School at the 2009 international competition and now works on cars at the dealership.

Loara High "has a tradition of good students," Upton said. "If we can bring them in this way and train them, it's a lot easier for us. ... We've got quite a farm system going here."

That's exactly the point, said Saul Garcia, who works at Loara High School for North Orange County ROP: "We try to get them as much knowledge as we can."

"They really put a lot of work into this," said Robert's father, Louie Loera.

And no matter how the next competition goes, "They can always put this on their resume."