Learning to Drive

[Whatsmyusername1235]

Ive started a new job, really enjoying it however getting there is really expensive. I’ve booked driving lessons as I can’t keep paying the amount I do on taxis and public transport. I managed to find an instructor and have a lesson booked for next week to learn in an automatic.
Is learning in an automatic a lot easier, if anyone has any experience of passing in an automatic?
I’ve had many lessons over the years off/on and that was always in a manual. I couldn’t get my head around gears and really struggled with it. Learning to drive in a manual again isn’t an option for me and I’ve had different instructors over the period I was learning.
I am really keen to learn now more than ever but just wanted to hear other’s experience of driving an automatic?

I don't know about learning in an automatic and how it differs to manual, but my car is automatic and I will never, ever go back to gearstick! It's easy driving. Just put your foot down and go!

@MermaidEyes thank you! This makes me feel better.
For £38 a lesson I hope I do pick it up quickly 😂

All my cars up until my latest have been manual. Now I have an automatic, I don't think I'd ever go back, as above it's so much easier and more comfortable. I think though that if you pass your test in an automatic you can't then drive a manual. Good luck!

I'm in the same position as you @Whatsmyusername1235

Put off learning to drive for so long (just turned 36!) and finally biting the bullet and going for it. I have my first two hour lesson after work tomorrow and my theory booked for Monday evening.

Like you I've tried manual before and didn't get on with it so just going for auto this time. Excited and nervous in equal measure!

I learned in an auto, it is a bit easier because I just had one less thing to ‘get.’ I passed a couple of years ago and I don’t know how many lessons I had because covid disrupted them but it was fewer than I expected! I still don’t particularly like driving but I like my little auto runaround for short trips. Only being able to drive automatics hasn’t been a problem so far, they’re so common now and if it was in the garage or something I’d just get taxis, no big deal. Go for it OP!

Thanks you all 😊

@OrangeySmorangy how did your lesson go?

It was very strange! I did tell the instructor beforehand that I'd had some lessons 7/8 years ago so maybe this affected his teaching style but I basically got into the drivers side outside my house and drove nonstop for the entire 2 hours. Traffic lights, roundabouts, right turns, left turns, reverse bay parking, the lot! Not what I was expecting at all. He didn't really 'teach' me anything, just let me get on with it. He also talked nonstop about his life so much so that he forgot to tell me which direction to aim for at certain points. Really odd.

In a way I guess it's good for experience and miles on the road, but I think I'd have preferred a softer introduction! I'll give him another couple of lessons but I think I might need another instructor...

Really interested to hear how you get on on yours next week. Keep me posted!

Have a look through some mock driving test videos and see how many minor faults are down to it being a manual car, plus the added stress of extra workload and stall risk etc on your test. That should be enough to convince you 🤣

3 out of 4 of my teens opted for automatic lessons over manual (although they did all start with manual, two gave up quite quickly and one switched after he failed his driving test twice).

The only downsides I can see is that second hand automatic cars are much more expensive and less available, and the insurance cost (ironically) has been higher. I don’t quite understand the logic there!

But it’s a good choice IMO, eventually all cars will be automatic so a manual licence will be all but obsolete…

I needed a licence suddenly for a job in my 20s. I booked into an intensive 5 day automatic course (had already done my theory), and got it in the same week.
I'm now early 40s, and finally took my test for a manual as I need it for hiring cars in Europe (automatic v expensive there). Even after 20 years experience on the road, there was a lot more to do in a manual.
Automatic is fine, and A LOT easier! Good luck!

As others have said only downside day to day is slightly increased cost of secondhand automatic cars as the number sold is far fewer than manuals so less supply secondhand. However I think will change over the next few years as more and more electric cars are sold. Similarly more and more hire cars will be available with auto boxes over the next few years.

It also gives you one more thing to check when buying secondhand - most automatics needs a gearbox service every 2-3 years and like cambelts/timing belts its one of those things that may not be done when the car is 12 years old and on its fifth owner. Cost of gearbox service is in the £2-300 range I think.

Also I've never seen a van with an automatic gearbox but if you dont need to hire a van no problem!

@Whatsmyusername1235 An automatic (owned one for about 7 years at one point) is easier as you don't have to consider gears, both hands are on the steering wheel and it can help your brain process everything else that is going on.

I think the way you can help yourself for free is to watch some Youtube videos and especially mock tests. The driving instructor voices over and points out what they do well and where they make mistakes and what they should have done. This helps you see lots of other driving routes and meeting situations.

Knowing the top reasons people fail, number 1 is observation at junctions, 2 is not using mirrors, if you move your car over look in the side mirror first so moving out to avoid parked cars, check your mirror first, then check your mirror when moving back over. 3 is moving off safely, again this is usually mirrors.

I am also going to recommend watching dash cam videos, the vast majority are near misses, poor decision things, cars sometimes make contact. The biggest one that I feel should be shown on a driving theory test ie before you sit it as a safety video is being on the left hand side of a HGV and sitting in their blind spot, they will pull left and usually clip the back end of the car spinning it round. The other dangerous one is anyone overtaking when there is a junction on the right, firstly the car they are overtaking might turn into the junction, or a car coming out of the junction does not look both ways to see if the road is clear for them to enter. I am not saying you will do either of these but knowing this can happen makes you back off from the situation.

So a list for you, diving instructor videos, DGN Driving, Clearview, Conquer Driving, really helpful videos.

Dash cam, any compilation ones but the best is Ruby Dashcam because it has a caption telling you who is in the wrong. Sometimes instead of backing off a situation people like to drive into it to add to the drama and post a clip. Idiots. Ashley Neal, a driving instructor, has viewer clips too and comments on them.

My son learned to drive last year so I was watching a lot of these videos with him as he was also practising in my car. DVSA recommends 45 hours of driving lessons with an instructor and 22 hours private practise. It seems like a lot but I think it comes down to putting yourself in as many situations as you can under instruction of how to navigate it. But you can do far less and still be safe enough to pass. The videos massively help. We don't have ambulance gates where I live and it is on Clearview in London!

@floho we have an auto van at my office