AA Driving School. The breakdown

Advantages: Friendly, Helpful, Good deals
Disadvantages: none so far

...Hi everyone, I have just booked up my first 12 driving lessons with the AA via the phone. I had been surfing the internet for some time looking at various driving schools, where thay operated, how much they cost etc etc I finally decided that I was going to learn with the AA as in my area if you pay for 12 hours tuition in advance you get £2 off each lesson which adds up over time giving me a saving of £24 further to this they offer you a free years breakdown cover and £100 holiday voucher. This works out as being £18 per hour, however this may vary depending on the area you live in. you can find out on their website. You learn in a Ford Focus 1.6litre with dual controlls (obviously!!) which means that the insructor can brake for you if you enter a hazard and are not prepared to do so yourself! Wednesday afternoon I...

JADELOUISESILVA 28.02.2003 (27.05.2003) · Read review
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Review of AA Driving School

AA Driving School

Advantages: Good Instructor, New Car
Disadvantages: None

...When I started thinking about learning to drive the sheer though of driving sent the fear of god into but I knew that I had to get through it somehow. Anyway I decided that after being recommended by a friend to try the AA driving school so I picked up the phone and nervously rang the number and booked a day for the following week. That night I received a phone call from the driving instructor to whom I had been assigned, he could tell that I was really nervous about learning to drive but he calmed me down and arranged a different appointment as the AA had double booked him. The instructor had a really calming and although I was nervous at the beginning he pointed out that he wouldn't let me have an accident as he had control of the car as well. It took a few weeks to start enjoying it but as I got better I felt more and more...

beckett110 07.05.2004 · Read review
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Review of AA Driving School

AA - the best way to pass your test!

Advantages: I passed! Learn in brand new Ford Focus, well trained Instructor, free AA membership for 12 months
Disadvantages: cost - you pay for the good service you receive

...It's that age old debate - do you pay for a brand name and pay through the nose, or do you opt for a local firm who may be cheaper?? This was the problem I faced 2 years ago when considering which driving school to use. Having shopped around for an instructor my nerves eventually pushed me in the direction of the AA, as I was aware of the size of their driving school and had confidence in their brand name. I had already passed my theory test - so only used them for the practical lessons. Where do you start? An initial phonecall to a central call centre on 0800 587 0087 meant that my details were taken over the phone and my first lession was set up there and then with a local AA insructor (based on my postcode) the following weekend. I did not even have to contact the instructor - he would simply turn up at the arranged...

surfchik27 02.06.2005 · Read review
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Review of AA Driving School

A Pleasure to Drive With...

Advantages: Regular new car, pleasant instuctor, £100 Holiday Voucher
Disadvantages: Years free membership starts as soon as you join.

...BACKGROUND BUMPH! I put off learning to drive for as long as I could manage because of nightmare experiences as a youngster. I crashed a quad bike injuring myself, and the course tyre wall and was banned and put on the “Worse Driver Ever” list at a local go-kart track. However I reached the point where I was desperate for independence and thought been free to go wherever I wanted whenever I wanted was the key. I dragged out the Yellow Pages and searched through the driving schools in my area. A few of my friends had been with independent schools and had more than a few horror stories to tell about their experience and none of them had passed first time…so I decided to give one the national driving schools a try. THE AA AS AN ORGANISATION... The main reason I chose the AA over BSM was the price. At full...

Scatz500 29.08.2001 (21.09.2001) · Read review
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Review of AA Driving School

Driving School for Dummies - like me

Advantages: Well I passed! Instructors very helpful with loads of patience - what every learner needs
Disadvantages: Using a Ford Focus to teach lessons.

...It was the summer of 1998 when I first sat I the driving seat of car for a lesson. Little did I know at the time that it would take me: five different cars, four driving tests, three driving examiners, two instructors and one driving school ? the AA. I don?t know whether this is something to be proud of, but eighteen months later the driving license finally arrived in the post! I could come up with the feeble excuse that in the mean time I did graduate from university and get a full time job ? but four driving tests (to my credit I did pass the theory with full marks at the first attempt!)? I would have learnt earlier than I did but for financial reasons (being a student I barely had enough cash to live off (beer and burgers?) but over the summer I got a job and decided to invest the money wisely. Why choose the AA? The first...

scruff 09.10.2001 · Read review
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If I'm driving I'm skiving

Advantages: Great, New Powerful Ford Focus to drive
Disadvantages: No choice to who the instructor is

...I'll have to admit when writing this review it might sound a bit confusing to whether I thought the AA Driving School was any good. To be honest I never passed and looking back the main thing I liked where the cars. My main problem was my teacher; I'll get to that later I started in 2003 learning to drive, I thought I was old enough (being the old age of 20) and I had an income to support regular lessons (something that a lot of people didn't have and heard that they might end up booking lessons every other month - seriously what's the point?) I got my introduction and incidentally all my research through the AA Driving School Website. You can either buy lessons separately if you can't afford a large bulk at once or you can buy a set of twelve saving a £1 on each one. The prices vary depending what area you are in. The region...

thebluehippo 09.07.2006 · Read review
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The AA - so far so good

Advantages: good quality of instruction,
Disadvantages: quite expensive and no student discount

...OK, I know that the AA are not an independent driving school but seeing as they didn't have their own category then I thought I would fit them in here. Well, I have only had about 14 lessons so far, but I think that has given me good enough experience to write about the AA. Obviously I can't comment on the test but I guess I can always update this opinion later. The car: The car that I am learning to drive in is a ford fiesta ghia, it's quite small which obviously is important for a learner - you don't want anything too powerful or too large when practising reversing etc! It's a totally modern car - with air conditioning, power steering and abs braking. Also, as soon as the slightest thing starts to go wrong with the car then the AA will replace it. I think I have been in three different cars now! Instruction: Well...

weebagpuss 25.02.2001 · Read review
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Review of AA Driving School

The lovely Mr AA man.

Advantages: quick response, good customer service, good communcation, fix a lot of breakdowns
Disadvantages: some of the deals are quite expensive

...The AA pride themselves on being the UK's "number one breakdown provider". They provide a 24 hour recovery service for their members and there are different levels of cover available. Another claim made by the AA is that they "fix more breakdowns by the roadside than anyone else". I have never bothered with breakdown cover until I moved back home from university with the intention of commuting each day. I realised that if I were to break down on the hour drive to brighton there would probably be no one willing to come and rescue me!! On top of this my brothers car had broken down several times in the country lanes locally and I decided that it was a sign for me to start being sensible! Being a poor student with hardly a penny to my name I did look around at all the various breakdown companies to try and find the best deal. The AA...

ilusvm 17.11.2008 · Read review
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Review of AA

THE LONGEST AA RECOVERY IN HISTORY?

Advantages: Extremely efficient. Amazing Cover. Very Good Value
Disadvantages: In my case and circumstances - NONE!

...! The salesman said that no, he didn't have the number to hand, but that he would get back to me with it as soon as he could. Five minutes later, true to his word the phone rang and I had the AA European Breakdown Assistance number in Germany! Honda Chiswick earned themselves a LOT of loyalty bonus points that evening! As a compete aside here, a spot of "gallows humour" you could say, the salesman had originally called to enthusiastically offer me a test drive in the newly launched Honda Civic, he had just been issued with a new diesel demonstrator. It doesn't sound as funny now, as it did to me there and then in my hospital bed, but my reply was that: "I'd love to, only there is a small problem right now." "Oh, what's that?" "I am, as we speak lying in a Polish hospital bed, I will not be able to walk for three months, you see I broke...

RICHADA 29.01.2006 · Read review
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AA ....... Absolutely Awful .

Advantages: you decide
Disadvantages: again , draw your own conclusions ...

...help . At the same time another car pulled up . This young male driver was based at the nearby Army barracks and was on his way back there ,. He offered the use of his phone and he and my husband called the AA again . He also called the police and told them that we were still there broken down and un-rescued , but they seemed disinterested to say the least . The lady in the other car gave me her take away coffee which she had picked up at a service area ten minutes drive back along the road . I was shaking so much with cold that most of it slopped out of the polystyrene cup , but the bit I did manage to drink helped a lot . The AA office told the other man and my husband that the recovery vehicle was on its way , and that there had been " an unforeseen delay " , but to return to our vehicle and await its arrival . It was now 9.45 pm...

Janej47 30.01.2006 · Read review
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