Great Ways To Cut The Cost Of Learning To Drive Hunt

burnleypingu

has anyone any info on these 3 day courses in Blackpool? Thinking of doing something like that as i've done 40 lessons a few years ago and i drive in my friends car regularly on private land so i just want to get it all over and done with in one rather than have an hour here and there?

heard they are about 300 quid?

The_Undercover_ADI

Just so people keep this in perspective - the best instructors tend to be busy, through recommendations, and as soon as someone phones them asking for cheap driving lessons they know it's not going to be worth their while.

The instructors who cannot get recommendations (for whatever reason), or the companies who have a lot of trainee instructors working for them will offer you great deals, but if you think about the maths it may not work out too well - 40 hours at £25/hour is a heck of a lot less than 80 hours at £15/hour.

With regards to the intensive courses - why Blackpool? The place is pretty hideous, and you won't know the roads (and the test centre there is in an evil place to drive to and from apparently). Why not see if someone local to you will do an intensive or semi-intensive course.

Or just do more longer lessons - 3 2 hour lessons a week over 3 weeks will get you the same amount of training as a 3 day course that you have to book in advance (and it may well prove better due to relaxation time in between). Don't be in such a rush - the best way to save money is to plan, research and prepare properly.

garethprice

Being a new member of MSE and a successful driving instructor I have been reading this forum with interest. It seems to be the same old story that many people are scared about being ripped off by a driving instructor. Recomendation is by far the best way to prevent this. There are some dodgy instructors around so its hard to tell from looking in the yellow pages or at websites. Busy instructors are busy for a reason, they have a good reputation. Special offers and deals will only bring in so much business (i should know i tried all sorts when i first started out to try and get business) but there is no substitute for a recommendation. This is how I now get 90% of my work. I don't have to offer ridiculous prices and deals. I charge a fair price and people get what they pay for.

The driving test is designed to assess a persons ability to drive in a controlled, considerate, and respectful manner. Years ago 10 driving lessons would have been enough but that was when the UK road network and traffic levels were a shadow of the current situation. The standard of driving required today is much higher and the driving test has changed to reflect that. Therefore for most 17 – 25 year olds around 40 hours is a more realistic figure. This figure increases the older you get.

Having said that, just because someone has passed their driving test does this make them a good driver? NO it does not. They have merely demonstrated to an examiner that they are currently able to drive in an appropriate manner. It’s what happens afterwards that really matters, and whether that person sticks to the procedure’s taught during driving lessons or, like a lot of people, do they forget what mirrors and signals are for and that speed limits exist for a reason.

As a Driving Instructor I will only submit someone for their driving test when I would be happy driving round on the public road knowing they are out there somewhere too. Does that make me a rip off merchant for advising they need more lessons, if I think they would endanger me or my family if they somehow fluked their driving test? I think not.

Driving is a privilege not a right and anybody wishing to drive on the PUBLIC road needs to take the appropriate amount of training, usually in the form of professional driving lessons. It is a fact that seems to elude many people that driving can kill you if you are not adequately prepared for the public road and taught to drive properly. So should we really put money before safety?

In order to drive a car you have to be able to coordinate your hands, arms, feet, legs, head, eyes, and brain. The ability to do this differs from person to person. It’s what makes us different and individual. Those who find the coordination easy will have less driving lessons, those who find it difficult will have more.

So my advice is this, You should plan financially for your lessons. You should allow around £1000 for driving lessons, and a further £100 for driving test fees. If you end up having less lessons the bonus, you've got some spare cash to put towards a car.

If however this is too much, then you can save a huge amount of money by doing private driving practice with family/friends. Driving is a practical skill so by its very nature it takes practice to get it right. The more often you are behind the wheel the quicker you driving will improve. That is as long as you stick to the rules laid down by your driving instructor. Driving how you or your family/friends think, will only result in any professional driving lessons being used to correct any bad habits in your driving. This is really the only way to reduce the cost, and still end up a safe driver.

If you are looking to go down the private driving practice route then I have developed a free guide to help get you started.

Go to

thelearnerclub.com/Index.htm

Input your name and email address and I’ll send you an email on how to get started.

The guide contains lots of advice about the law for learners and accompanying drivers, insurance, what and how to teach. And lots more...

:j

newfoundglory

I told my driving instructor recently that I believed some things about passing the driving test were more like exams - you are paying and "learning how to pass" rather than actually "learning to drive".

This was in relation to reverse parking/reversing around a corner.

We had an argument about observation out the back window. He used an example about a pupil asking a DSA examiner to clear a wing mirror in order to assist with carrying out the reversing. The examiner told the pupil that the mirror was not required. Now, I disagree with that and believe that is actually dangerous. Whilst majority of observation is out the back window, the mirrors do have their own important uses. I find it silly you could pass without using them.

I know there are worse drivers on the road than me. I see them every lesson. Yet, the DSA could fail you as a result of the actions and behavior of ANOTHER driver breaking the law and/or highway code. No matter how well you drive, this makes passing pot-luck. It makes no difference whether you have done 10 hours or 60 hours! If another driver does something they shouldn't, to cause certain things to happen, the dsa rules say you have to fail even if its completely outside of your control.

My theory on the matter is, if you can safely and confidently control the car, take your test ASAP as only the additional roll of the dice will determine if you pass or not. And everyone knows you only learn how to drive AFTER you has passed when you gain hundreds of hours of experience driving on the roads.

You cannot start personally asking whether you want this person on the road.... for example, if I scored higher on my hazard perception than my driving instructor on this ADI exam, does this make me a safer driver even if i lack experience on the road? Of course not, but statistically the DSA would have you believe otherwise. So why not give me a license, since i'm clearly better at spotting developing hazard can react to them faster and thus less likely to crash.

This proves that the driving test is a money-making exercise. It has to be! Because this is a civil service department, after all. And the ironic thing is, I say that as a civil servant myself. With all the "green" targets, it wouldn't surprise me if they look for any reason to fail and make people pay for another test.

I have read Roadcraft, and have even personally observed advanced drivers... and I can say that if I followed everything I had read and observed and learnt about REAL safe driving I would fail my driving test come January. I would rack up extra minor faults and serious ones as a result of the actions of others. Some parts of Roadcraft, which is designed for Police officers, actually completely contradict DSA guidelines. This points to the fact Police officers must have bad driving habits...

THIS is the sad reality of learning to drive and of the practical driving test... as well as the rubbish about how many hours etc AVERAGE you should have done before passing.

I'm surprised most learners haven't caught onto the fact it would actually be cheaper to "pay someone" from a licensing issuing authority of another country to get a foreign license and then swap it for a full UK one through the DVLA.

I am not trying to say professional lessons are only for learning to pass, but I think you get my drift. I will of course pass mine after following my instructors instructions of how to do so

pilotstuart

I was photographed recently doing 36 mph in a 30 limit. Yes, yes I knew the camera was there, had been past it hundreds of times before but was distracted slightly(?). I was eventually offered a Speed Awareness course in lieu of fine and points.

I attended the 4 hour course which was sympathetically presented by the two chaps in charge.

And I learned (relearned?) quite a lot too.

NOW I drive everywhere at 60 if I can manage it!!!

What? you may say.

Well yes, I now deploy the little computer in my Golf TDI Sport which I used to ignore when it gonged to warn me of temperatures below 4C. I run it on the MPG page and check regularly to the overall average page. I can get an overall 60 MPG quite easily, but getting there requires a new smoother manner of driving. What is really interesting is that to achieve this level of economy I am almost certainly staying at or below the speed limit. There is little real sign of being a 10 mile an hour nuisance and I save fuel. If I get photographed again within three years I will have to take the fine and points, no SAC being offered in that period. So no more breaking the speed limit for me.

There you are then, the speed awareness course taught me to go everywhere at 60 !!!

I have probably recouped the £70 course fee already in reduced fuel costs! Merseyside Police 0; pilotstuart 1. Result!!!

Y'all have a nice day now!

forgotmyname

And you resurrected a 5 year old post to tell us your an idiot and still have much to learn?

Or some other reason?

sezmitch

Money saving forum - ways to save money in learning to drive.
These posts seem to have digressed slightly! There is a massive difference between value and cheap and I think anyone coming onto a forum like this is intelligently looking for value!

Sadly there is a difference between all instructors/driving schools etc and thus also means quality is better than quantity, however as a guideline based on Driving standards agency advice a beginner will need in the region of 40+ lessons to get them up to test standard, although on an intensive course this could be much less. So this needs to be taken into account when embarking on learning to drive.

Ask for discounts!
Ask for recommendations
Look at review sites, try to find an well established reputable school
Ask what car you will have ( if concerned about age/model etc)
Don't be afraid to ask further questions if you have any!
Consider an intensive course if you want a quick test (or don't want wish to spend months learning to drive) this can work out cheaper too.
Lots can be learnt free online which can help but definitely not replace lessons! 2pass.co.uk is good for this.

Remember learning to drive is a skill for life not just about scraping through the test!
All the best.