Driving lessons should I go on price?

gracie83

Hi,

I have finally given in to the fact that if I want a new job, I have to be able to drive. I have never driven before and I am bewildered by the massive range of prices for driving lessons. I have been quoted from any where between £25 (aa/rac) and £12 per hour (guy with car). My pocket of course wants me to go for the cheapest option but is it worth forking out for the more expensive companies?

As I work full time I am very restricted to when I can take lessons - would a big company be more flexible with times or would I be dependant on a single teacher to be free when I am which would be the same for the independant teachers?

Also the range of cars is very wide I can choice petrol or diesel and any make of car I want! Are there any cars which are better to learn to drive in?

Also I am planning to drive outside my lessons with my OH supervising is this feisable?

scbk

Ok I'm not an expert on driving lessons but here's my thoughts-

The average price for lessons is about £20 p/h, £12 seems a little on the cheap side. I'd personally avoid AA/RAC/BSM etc as you're paying for the logo.
Talk to friends/relitives and see if they reccomend anyone, what you're after is a nice friendly local instructor who wants to see you pass your test.

Don't commit to blocking 10/20 lessons at a time without first going for a trial lesson with the instructor to see if you get on with each other

"As I work full time I am very restricted to when I can take lessons - would a big company be more flexible with times or would I be dependant on a single teacher to be free when I am which would be the same for the independant teachers?"
It varies from person to person, depeanding on how busy they are and what hours they like working. The thing to remember is at this time of year it gets dark after 4pm which will make learning to drive a lot harder

"Also I am planning to drive outside my lessons with my OH supervising is this feisable?"
The thing is, to put you on his insurance as a learner could cost a fair whack, and without proper tution you can easily pick up bad habits. Having extra practice can be a good thing though, but I'd say wait until you've done a good few lessons with an instructor before going out

anewman

Average price is definitely a bit more than £20 an hour I would have thought. As for £12 an hour if this guy is not a licensed driving instructor it is in fact illegal for him to accept any money for giving lessons.

People tend to learn in small cars like Corsas as they're quite easy to manoeuvere. If you are 6ft+ however, this may pose a problem.

Also see https://www.2passforum.co.uk for a good learners discussion forum

vikingaero

I would go on reputation. If you are at school or college then ask people who they have lessons with.

The reason I go on reputation is that I've heard of an amazing female driving instructor who really understands her market and the loyalty she engenders to her pupils. Her market is generally 17+ year old layabouts/school kids/college kids etc. She picks them up for a lesson and sees that they are so hungover that she insists on taking them back home because frankly they aren't going to learn anything. But she never charges them for flunking a lesson which probably explains why she is so busy. Plus she has a very high pass rate as pupils respect and listen to her.

daveyjp

My dad's a driving instructor. He doesn't advertise, but still does about 40 lessons a week. He gets work through word of mouth and this is the best advert. He charges about £18 per hour, no one can do it for £12 and make a living. He will accommodate lessons at almost any time of the day - his only time off is Saturday afternoon (unless really busy) and Sunday.

Large companies will be more as they charge VAT - quite a few employ trainee instructors who sign up to the big boys to get their hours up before going alone. Fully qualified instructors have a green ADI badge displayed in the car next to the tax disc.

As for cars small diesels are usually the chosen option - my dad has a Fiesta, but Clios, Corsas, Micras are popular.

I suggest saving enough cash and have a 'driving lessons' fund then you can have two lessons a week. You will pass much quicker as you won't forget things in between lessons.

Happychappy

In order to give driving lessons for payment, the driving instructor has to go through a series of exams, first a theory test based on the highway code, then a personal driving test, then an instructional driving test where they give a structured driving lesson and the examiner acts as the student.

At the end of the process, the driving instructor either passes or fails and is given a grade from 1 - 6, the top grade is 6. Every four years the instructor in order to remain as an ADI Approved driving instructor has to undergo the intructional stage with an examiner and is again graded.

Therefore always ask what ADI grade the instructor is as clearly a grade 6 has proved on the day to be efficient and gave a well structured lesson to the examiner. The driving instructor will tell you what grade they are, and then you can make your mind up based on how well the instructor performed to an examiner.

mustrum_ridcully

£12 that is way too cheap, when I was learning in the earlyish 90's £10 an hour was what you'd typically pay...

Think about it this way: petrol/diesel is at least £1 a litre. MPG for urban driving can get down to 20 mpg, during a typical 1hr lesson you might drive 10-20 miles. So you could use a gallon (4.5 litres) of fuel, so fuel alone could easily cost £5 for your 1hr lesson (learners possibly use even more).

That leaves £7 to pay for everything else including his wage, so it's possible you might not be insured properly, he might not be paying tax on that income.

In summary - avoid.

The_Undercover_ADI

Lots of good points have been mentioned.

In order to save money, consider learning in an automatic - it's simpler, more instinctive and you'll be able to learn in less time (usually around 2/3rds of the amount of lessons) than in a manual car.

If you need to learn in a manual car (and don't just listen to the male members of the family who will try to pressure you into driving a manual - work out whether you actually want or need to) then choose an instructor with a diesel car (easier to drive), who is graded either 5 or 6 if possible.

Have a chat with the instructor you will be using (BSM/AA office personell will ask them to phone you to have a chat) and find out if you get on with them - if you don't like them on the phone, you won't feel comfortable stuck in a car with them for 2 hours.

Try to take more than 1 lesson a week, and go for 90 minute lessons. You get more time per lesson to work on things (rather than driving to and from different areas), and less time in between to forget stuff.

Hope this helps.

anewman

The_Undercover_ADI wrote: »

Lots of good points have been mentioned.

In order to save money, consider learning in an automatic - it's simpler, more instinctive and you'll be able to learn in less time (usually around 2/3rds of the amount of lessons) than in a manual car.

If you need to learn in a manual car (and don't just listen to the male members of the family who will try to pressure you into driving a manual - work out whether you actually want or need to) then choose an instructor with a diesel car (easier to drive), who is graded either 5 or 6 if possible.

Some good advice there, although consider some driving schools apply a premium to automatic lessons, there is a slight premium in terms of the cost of automatic cars, lower choice of cars, possibly being unable to drive other people's car's in the future (should the need arise) without more learning and another test, and the slight potential for extra costs in repairs should a problem with the transmission occur. I would agree a lot of my time learning was spent struggling with getting a feel for the gears.

I would probably go for trying out a car with gears first and if you really really struggle, consider changing to automatic.

The_Undercover_ADI

Yes, auto lessons usually have a premium of around 5-10%, and automatic cars are around 10% more expensive to buy.

However, due to their construction, there is a lot less to go wrong, and second hand autos tend not to have been ragged to oblivion, so are often much cheaper to maintain. They are sometimes cheaper to insure also.

Lets face it - when was the last time most of us needed to drive someone else's car? It's pretty rare for most people.

Yes, try a car with gears, but for goodness sake, don't feel that you have to learn in a manual, especially if it is causing you problems - I have seen too many drivers give up after trying to get to grips with manual cars who could've passed an automatic test ages earlier (sometimes years earlier). Most times they have been put off by ignorant (often male) members of their families or social circle who look down on autos. Well when it comes to having your own independence - who cares what people think - it's what you think that counts.