Driving lessons

restless6

Whats the best way to get driving lessons for a 17 year old, to get them as cheap as possible?

Is it to block book, intensive course or keep swapping suppliers?

I am looking for my sons birthday as he turns 17 in April.:D

victor2

Block booking will save money, but get him to have a lesson or two with the instructor at normal rates first, to make sure he gets on with the instructor. He presumably has friends who are learning, so at risk of losing any surprise element, ask him if they can recommend one.

[Deleted User]

I second that. Best to book one-off lessons first before block booking for discounts. You don't want to block book then find out he doesn't like the instructor.

forgotmyname

Cheap may not be best. Swapping instructors maybe detrimental as each will have their own teaching style.

You may prefer one over another.

You may get a cheap instructor who could just extend the number of lessons before taking the test.
50 lessons at £15 or 25 - 30 lessons at £20?

[Deleted User]

forgotmyname wrote: »

Cheap may not be best. Swapping instructors maybe detrimental as each will have their own teaching style.

You may prefer one over another.

You may get a cheap instructor who could just extend the number of lessons before taking the test.
50 lessons at £15 or 25 - 30 lessons at £20?

Yes but it is far better to change to an instructor you get on with rather than carrying on with a horrible instructor and dreading every lesson.

When I learnt to drive I paid lesson by lesson. More incentive for the instructor to turn up and teach. Less likely to have the instructor cancelling/rescheduling a lesson at the last minute as they don't already have all your money.

Orange_Candle

Is he going to be added to your insurance as well? It was much cheaper when I was learning to have someone local teach me in my mum's car, even once petrol etc was factored in. I had a couple of lessons in their car first, so that we had the dual controls, then the rest were in mum's car. This also meant that I needed fewer lessons overall, as I could practice in the same car I was learning in, making manoeuvres easier, and I could take the test in it too so we didn't pay extra for that.

da_rule

As someone said earlier, cheaper doesn't mean better. Ask them:
1) How many lessons, on average, does a student with you need to pass?
2) What is your pass rate?

Also, some other deals like cheaper Pass Plus or a free retake of the driving test if you fail etc, so these offers should be factored in. When I was learning, block booking was definitely the way to go. I have noticed though that some of the big companies (AA, RAC etc) have started to put offers on offer sites like Groupon so this may also be worth a look.

restless6

Thanks...lots to think about.

I dont think it would be realistic to add him onto my car- its a huge 7 seater people carrier.

I think i will have to do some ringing around to see whats what.

gpc273

I know this is a money saving site but in some cases cheap is definitely not better.
For the vast majority of people driving will be the most hazardous thing they will ever do, though you can see by the way people drive daily they get complacent very quickly.
Do you really want to have your son trained by someone based purely on the lowest price?
Driving is a life skill, there are plenty of ADI's who only teach to pass the test,ask around his peers parents who are going through the same experience, get recommendations.