Driving lessons, is AA good value, what about intensive?

Tinuel

Hi all,
I am looking to start driving lessons soon and am currently shopping around. AA advertise has having a big percentage of pass rates and the only fully qualified instructors. But they are also very pricey... From experience, would you recommend them? I know it depends on the instructor so each experience is different.

Also, are intensive courses worth it? Ideally I would like to have the licence in 3 months time. In addition to AA, can anyone recommend a good driving school in South East London?

Thank you

Miss_Liquorice

I can't comment on AA, but I can thoroughly recommend intensive courses. I just passed my driving test first attempt in 9 days after an intensive course. It really did make me feel like I could drive, and I was so used to driving after 30 hours over the 9 days that I wasn't nervous at all during my test.

Considering if I had gone for 'ordinary' lessons I probably still wouldn't really be able to drive after 4 weeks, for me, it was worth it to get it done quickly and effectively.

f1re_cr4cker

i think it depends personally. Im driving with the local big school in my area. My driving instructor is totally qualifed ie not a trainee and even grade 5! (they are graded 1-6). I have been learning to drive in an automatic since Feb and have been doing 2hour lessons twice/three times a week and will be taking my test beginning of April. One thing i would say is 2hours at a time is very tiring at the beginning so I can imagine an intensive especially in a manual might be too tiring for some. Alternatively it could be right up your street! Also worth remembering that you will need to get your theory booked and passed as you cant book your practical until you have passed it...
e £2
oh and to learn to drive in an auto costs me £25 a lesson, i think they charge £23 for a manual.

f1re_cr4cker

oh and if you need a copy of the theory book I could sell you mine plus i also have a burnt copy of the cd rom which is dead useful for the hazard perception.....;)

Tinuel

Miss_Liquorice wrote: »

I can't comment on AA, but I can thoroughly recommend intensive courses. I just passed my driving test first attempt in 9 days after an intensive course. It really did make me feel like I could drive, and I was so used to driving after 30 hours over the 9 days that I wasn't nervous at all during my test.

Considering if I had gone for 'ordinary' lessons I probably still wouldn't really be able to drive after 4 weeks, for me, it was worth it to get it done quickly and effectively.

Hi Miss,
Could you pm me the details of the driving school please?

jmc160

Personally, I wouldn't touch AA with a barge pole. My wiufe started learning with an AA instructor and he was a bully and an a***hole. After a few weeks, shwe had learnt nothing and hated the idea of getting back into a car for another lesson. Her confidence was shot.

We told the instructor we didn't want any more lessons and it all got quite nasty with trying to get our money back.

When we tried to make a complaint to the AA, my wife was cut off mid sentence and toild in no uncertain terms that it's not their responsibility as all their drivers are self employed and they would be advising the instructor to take us to small claims court. We never got to file the complaint in the end.

After that I put her in touch with the lady who taught me, who has the highest pass rate in our county. She teaches for BSM. It all went well after that.

Tinuel

If only there was a way to check which intructors per region have got the highest pass rate...

Mark_Hewitt

I think it's probably best to start off slow then get more intensive later on.

I found when I was first driving doing 2 hours per week. I'd have a splitting headache getting out of the car, simply because my brain wasn't used to processing information in that way. Once it had rewired itself after a few months I was ok!

wr1ght

i passed first time with aa

Miss_Liquorice

Tinuel wrote: »

Hi Miss,
Could you pm me the details of the driving school please?

Sent you a PM

With intensive courses, I did 2 hours on the first day, 3 hours for the next 5 days, 4 hours the day after, 6 hours on the day before my test (!! with a lunch break) and two hours on test day. I was worried about being tired, but surrisingly was ok. It made my test feel really short though, as it was 40 minutes. I didn't have time to get stressed!

carbonmonoxide

As somebody said earlier - it really depends on the person. I know someone who did an intensive course and passed first time and they are a brilliant driver. I however passed my test the other week after about 9 months of lessons 1 hour a week. It was all I could afford but I'm glad I did it that way as I was nervous in the car to start with and found it hard to take it all in. Any more than 2 hours would've made my head explode I think!

Also I feel like I got good experience of different conditions as over 9 months I drove in daylight, at night, in wind, rain and icy weather. Not saying that makes me a better driver but am glad I experienced those conditions beforehand and not having to face them for the first time when I have my own car.

Slow and steady worked for me, but might not suit everyone I suppose.