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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Review of AA Driving School

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

Learning to Drive a Car

Advantages: Get a full licence, independence
Disadvantages: Costs a lot of money to learn to drive and run a car

...round a corner and a turn in the road (3-point turn). Once my instructor showed me how to do these I did at least one manoeuvre per lesson. Once he thought I was ready, he told me I could book my test. I would not recommend booking your test before your instructor tells you you're ready, as the chances are you would fail. If your instructor is genuine he or she will tell you as soon as you are ready so you have more chance of passing first time. As my test date got nearer my instructor started asking me maintenance questions in preparation for my test. ~ Car ~ My instructor's car is a Ford Fiesta and it is dual control. I think this is a major advantage of learning to drive with a school rather than with a family member. I don't think I would have had enough confidence to drive a car with single controls when I first started...

bluejules 23.12.2006 · Read review
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Review of Independent Driving Schools

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

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

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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Review of AA Driving School

Drive smart... Drive Safe!

Advantages: Good with nervous pupils, reasonable prices, discounts with block bookings
Disadvantages: Only one instructor

...Nearly a year ago now, I decided it was time to learn to drive. I'd had my provisional licence about six months before but never plucked up the courage to start lessons. It was nearly the summer holidays in uni, so I had plenty of time to learn, plus I'd saved most of my last instalment of my student loan - I was all set to go. I picked up the Yellow Pages, and to my surprise, there were at least three pages full of driving schools in my area! Where to begin? Being an avid Internet kind of person, I set out looking for the schools with websites - my thoughts being that they must be modern if they have a website. I searched for a few days, but most of them were basic html pages that someone knocked together in five minutes with no information on them at all. Of course, BSM and AA were very impressive but seemed to be a little bit too...

beatlesgal25 20.05.2006 · Read review
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Review of Drive Safe School of Motoring

The real cost of learning to drive.

Advantages: You get your driving licence and it's convenient
Disadvantages: It's expensive to learn and expensive to run a car

...Waiting for the bus was something I had to do every morning, and in all weathers, so when my seventeenth birthday finally arrived I intended to embark on a course of driving lessons, well that was a least until I saw the cost of them. Like most teenagers I was one who only had a pathetic paying part time job and after many hours of contemplation. I decided that I simply couldn’t for the time being afford to learn to drive. On my eighteenth birthday I got enough money to start on my journey of learning to drive. After making several enquiries to local driving schools and coming to the conclusion that I wouldn’t be able to even turn the key in any ignition unless I paid on average £15 to £19 an hour for lessons and obtained a provisional driving licence at yet more expense, I booked a block of twelve lessons, (well thirteen...

Blondechick 11.08.2001 · Read review
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Review of Independent Driving Schools

Learn to drive a driving instructors point of view

Advantages: Career enhancement, social pleasure, life style enhancement, major personal achievement
Disadvantages: If you abuse this skill we may all pay for your errors.

...Learning to drive is something most people feel is a rights of passage, going from being a kid into being an respected adult begins with passing your driving test. The reality is you are only a small step into a very long and testing road of patience understanding, consideration and respect. Any driver who thinks they are a good driver is already on the road to becoming a bad driver. You can drive perfect for 10 years but it only takes 5 seconds of driving badly to wreck not just your life, your families and friends and not to mention the other peoples lives you may endanger or end. I know I am beating the drum hard here but as a driving instructor I come across confident and egotistical pupils daily, and nearly all of them scare the life out of me because they think they know most of what it takes to drive already. Give me a nervous...

Forbiddon 08.01.2007 · Read review
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Review of Independent Driving Schools