Learning To Drive

cmoon1975

Hi All,

I have a need of some advice from you lovely people.

Here is the scenario, I have recently been made redundant and in my efforts to gain new employment it would appear that a driving may be of some benefit. I am a forty year male with a small redundancy payment and a little bit of money put aside for a rainy day. I am looking to learning to drive using one of those intensive courses and in an automatic car.

Could you give me some advice / guidance on what to look for and where to look?

racing_blue

Beware potholes and pedestrians. Look straight ahead, glancing occasionally at the rear view mirror

blink18

yeah, don't look anywhere, you'll be chucking your money down the drain.

intensive courses aren't generally worth it, most arent able to take in and then put in to practice what you need to pass the test.

they have stupidly high failure rates, you'd be best off learning over say a month or two, if you really wanted to do it quickly.

don't underestimate how tiring learning to drive is.

missbiggles1

If you're motivated and planning to take your automatic test you should be able to get there in a month or two, particularly if you have someone who can sit with you for practice. That's what I did when I passed my test at the age of 50.

Good luck.

robbies_gal

i do a few lessons a week if u can rather than an intensive course -they dont guarantee a pass

Ectophile

Depending on what you intend to be driving for your new job, learning to drive in an automatic might not be a good idea.

If it's just driving your own car to get to a job further away, no problem. If it's driving company cars or vans, you may well find it's useless.

bigjl

blink18 wrote: »

yeah, don't look anywhere, you'll be chucking your money down the drain.

intensive courses aren't generally worth it, most arent able to take in and then put in to practice what you need to pass the test.

they have stupidly high failure rates, you'd be best off learning over say a month or two, if you really wanted to do it quickly.

don't underestimate how tiring learning to drive is.

That isn't what I have heard.

A colleagues husband is a DI and had an excellent pass rate, most of his pupils chose to have an intensive course of lessons.

Learning to drive in an Auto is also a lot easier as you have less things to concentrate on and you don't have to learn clutch control.

With modern Autos you are also less disadvantaged with things like fuel economy especially if you got for a DSG or Powershift Auto.

Obviously learning to drive may well be more difficult for somebody in their 40's simply because you learn much quicker when you are younger.

If you just want to get mobile to be more employable then maybe consider a Scooter.

The Renault Twizy is, I believe, classed as a quadricycle, not sure what licence you need though, but if your miles are going to be local then maybe not such a bad idea.

facade

Have you done the sums?

Running a car is massively hugely expensive, and if it is just so you can drive to work you are working your row out for longer to pay for transport to be able to work your row out, which is just insane. (Or it is to me anyway )

You are really better off walking/cycling or with a bus pass and finding work that you can get to.

As a new driver your insurance will be huge, then there is buying a car, taxing it, servicing, parking and fuel bills.

All I use mine for for me is getting the shopping, visiting the relatives a couple of times a year and going on holiday.

If I could walk/cycle to work I could pay for a taxi for those and still be in profit.

missbiggles1

Ectophile wrote: »

Depending on what you intend to be driving for your new job, learning to drive in an automatic might not be a good idea.

If it's just driving your own car to get to a job further away, no problem. If it's driving company cars or vans, you may well find it's useless.

Passing the automatic test is a good way of getting a licence more quickly - you can then take your manual test later if you need to.

I found that it was almost impossible to rent an automatic in France so I took my manual test 4 years after passing my automatic. It was no problem to do so and the small extra cost balanced out for the extra driving lessons I'd have need to pass the manual test (although I did have a couple of "how to change gears properly" lessons before I did so).

Car_54

bigjl wrote: »

A colleagues husband is a DI and had an excellent pass rate, most of his pupils chose to have an intensive course of lessons.

I used to be an instructor, and every instructor I met had an excellent pass rate. It's a mystery how 54% of people still manage to fail.

Joe_Horner

facade wrote: »

[...]

As a new driver your insurance will be huge, then there is buying a car, taxing it, servicing, parking and fuel bills.

Insurance may not be that bad for a new driver in their 40s. When my wife passed she was getting quoted around the £300 mark as a new driver, and cost nothing but an admin fee to be put on mine. Then again, they were still discounting for wimmin at the time which probably helped a bit.