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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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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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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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

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

If they can get me driving they must be good

Advantages: Great car, lovely instructor
Disadvantages: AA membership starts straight away

...It was 3 months after my 17th birthday when my Dad decided he'd had enough of driving me to and fro and would like to be the one who can drink at the pub and be driven home. That decision made, we needed to choose a driving school. I left that bit to him and he booked up some lessons with the AA. The thing I like about having lessons with the AA is you know that they are a reputable company. They aren't suddenly going to run off with your money and they aren't going to give you a death-trap to drive. In fact they change the cars relatively frequently, I've driven two in 6 months. They change them to exactly the same model and it took me one lesson to get to grips with the slightly different sensitivities of the pedals but otherwise it was fine. The lessons cost about £17 each but there was a discount for bulk buying. They also gave me...

silveraardvark 14.06.2002 (03.07.2002) · Read review
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Review of AA Driving School

Drove Me Up the Wall

Advantages: Want to Drive
Disadvantages: Expensive, Unreliable

...I was a pupil of the AA Driving School for almost a year and at £180 for 12 lesson it wasn't cheap. I have to say the service was appalling. After 3 instructors and 2 failed tests I ended up changing schools and passing with a completely different firm here is my experience. Instructor 1 ************ My initial impression wasn't good for a start he was late, then when getting in the car I noticed a really bad smell, which I later worked out was his breath for nearly every lesson I had to drive with the windows down, and a packet of mints which were offered to him on a regular basis but this was not my mmain gripe with him. He taught me for approx 6 months , not only did I not get very far with him when asked when I should put in for my theory test the only response I seemed to get was I'll let you know when, at times his...

SMAGGS76 28.08.2002 · Read review
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Review of AA Driving School

What a state of affairs

Advantages: All of the AA instructors are fully qualified
Disadvantages: You don't know who you have got until you get one

...telephoned you immediately the AA assigned to him to you as your instructor to say hello and have a general chit chat about how things would go. As things turned out in the middle of the tuition, all would have appeared to be satisfactory until the time before the test. I obviously cannot make any comment about the instructor going awol as I don't know what happened. Again, at the very least, the instructor could have put you in the picture before he went awol and even more than that could have arranged for a fellow AA instructor in the area to take over your tuition, even at the late stage not to let you down. I cannot speak for the AA driving school as it is perfectly capable of doing that itself and there are very clear rules laid down for instructors and pupils that its acts simply as the agent for the franchised instructor primarily...

scbk34 25.02.2007 · Read review
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Review of AA Driving School