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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Driving instructor Is he trying to get as much as he can from me?

174 replies

Lushybunny · 25/10/2018 23:19

Okay I passed my theory test already earlier this month. I started my driving lessons the first week of this month it was a 2hr lesson he made me pay the £240 for 10hours of automatic driving lessons and ever since everyweek I’ve done 2hour lessons so next week I’m coming up for my first 10hours of driving lessons next week and Im going to have to pay him another £240.I am expecting my third baby in April and would love to be driving before the baby arrives.

So last lesson I asked him ‘ when do you think I’ll be able to attempt and go for a test’ he just said ‘you’ll know when your ready’ fair enough. Then I said ‘I’m hoping to be driving by January’ he then ignored me. By January’s February times that will be over 40hours of driving which is what the driving testing centres in uk advise.
I then said to him ‘I am due on April so I really need to be driving by then’ he then turned around and said ‘oh great I’ve got until April to teach you how to drive properly’

... from 1st October till April 2hour lessons every week of an automatic that I’ve never heard before. He then said ‘you will take my car I will charge you £70 something for you to do your test in so it’s a car your familiar with’ so not only am I paying him £240 for 10hours for sometime I have to pay £62 for the rest alone THEN I have to pay for the car over £70 to use it ! And he is seeming like he wants me to do my lessons longer that is probably needed!

Please get back to me on this one guys cause this is boggling my brain.

OP posts:
jammydodger5 · 25/10/2018 23:57

It took me 8 months to learn to drive and that was with 2 hour lessons once a week.
my instructor charger about 210 pounds for 10 hours roughly also the instructor need to make sure your driving up to standard and safely otherwise if not booking a test would be a waste of time.
It cost me 100 to borrow my instructors car and 60 pounds to do my test.
Plus it is better to drive a car your familiar with on the test as iv a completely different car to what I learned in and it took me awhile to get used to my new car

Aquamarine1029 · 26/10/2018 00:01

I have seen so many posts about driving lessons, and I'm always left perplexed. Learning to drive is not that difficult. Months and months and months of lessons? Really?

MrsStrowman · 26/10/2018 00:03

I did four to five hours a day for four days with a private instructor not fun a big school (he was an ex black cabbie), took my test on the Friday, passed. Not sure if it should take months and months.

jammydodger5 · 26/10/2018 00:05

Nobody learns to drive overnight
Or if you actually wanted at a push what about an intensive driving course? They can be pricey though

Also don't feel pressurised that you haven't passed yet everyone's different

jammydodger5 · 26/10/2018 00:07

Mrs strowman
That's sounds like an intensive driving course?

MardyArabella · 26/10/2018 00:11

I wouldn’t try and rush it. The longer period you learn to drive over the safer driver you will be.

My instructor only charged me his usual hourly rate for my test though.

rabbitwoman · 26/10/2018 00:12

When I was 17, I got the obligatory 10 driving lessons for my birthday, then needed another 10, and then another 10; failed my first test. Another 20 lessons later, failed my second test. 10 more lessons, another failed test...... gave up. Have not driven since and 26 years later, I just manage without a car.

I found it very hard, who knows why? Some people just can't swim. I just can't drive.

I was bewildered by my then boyfriend who learnt in about 5 lessons and passed in the course of about three weeks.

The ins and outs of driving and car ownership - MOTS, insurance, tax, parking, petrol - are a mystery to me. My husband doesn't drive either. People are astounded and always ask, but, how do you go on holiday!? How do you do your shopping!??

Mind you, we don't have any children and live right in the town centre .....

Good luck!

BackforGood · 26/10/2018 00:12

Re the test: Well, yes, it is normal to do your test in the car you've been learning in. I mean, you don't have to, you can do it in any car you want to, but it would be a sensible move to take the test in the car you are familiar with. For those two hours (potentially more - depending on locality of test centre, etc) He can't earn anything, so you are covering that, plus your share of the wear and tear on car / insurance / petrol etc. That isn't unreasonable. He doesn't get anything from the test fee - that goes to DVLA / test centre people.

Re 'how many lessons' - it is probably difficult to predict this early on. Any figure like '40 hours' is only ever an estimate of what is average - people vary so much. Some will do it in less and others will take a lot longer. Like everything, people learn at different rates and from different starting points. The thing you should be aiming for is to learn to be a good, safe, confident driver.

None of us can say how long it will take you.
Its an expensive game this driving.

davisday · 26/10/2018 00:14

he made me pay the £240 for 10hours of automatic driving lessons and ever since everyweek I’ve done 2hour lessons so next week I’m coming up for my first 10hours of driving lessons next week and Im going to have to pay him another £240

That's quite normal. You pay for 10 lessons, you take 10 lessons. I'm not sure why having to pay for further lessons wasn't something you already knew.

VanGoghsDog · 26/10/2018 00:14

I did the same as MrsStrowman, learnt over four days, passed test on the Friday. They had a really high success rate and I wanted to avoid the exact scenario the op describes, of not knowing how long it would take and it dribbling on and on.

I'd thoroughly recommend the way I did it.

PrincessHairyMclary · 26/10/2018 00:15

I had an hour lesson before my test and then use of the car for my test and paid whatever the going rate was for that time £70 doesn't seem unreasonable.

I chose to have a year of lessons although I could have taken my test before partly as I was only taking 1.5 hours a week as it was all I could afford and had no one to practise with outside of lessons and because I knew I'd be driving with DD in the car pretty much as soon as I passed and partly because I wanted to experience driving in all weather types. However, I had also been first on scene to a fatal accident not long before and this no doubt impacted my decision.

If you are unhappy with the driving instructors response try a different one. I had a record book with BSM where my progress was ticked off as I went along so I knew where I was and what I had to improve on. Do you have anything similar?

Racecardriver · 26/10/2018 00:17

I did an intensive driving course for £1000 all inclusive. Passed both theory and practical tests on the first go.

redastherose · 26/10/2018 00:18

You really don't need that many lessons at all. I had 4 lessons with one instructor who was rubbish and I felt was trying to get the maximum money out of me. Then I had my Dad, Mum and anyone else who would sit in with me for a couple of times a week for two months to give me confidence on the road and then put myself in for my test. When I got my date I then had 1 lesson a week for the 5 weeks leading up to the test and then a lesson immediately before the test. Passed 1st time.

BlackStar7 · 26/10/2018 00:20

I bought 10 x 2hr lessons in bulk to start with as it was cheaper. I also bought another 10 lessons in bulk as it was clear to me that I needed them. I think I bought a few 10 packs after that too as it was cheaper. I will say I was bloody petrified and had confidence issues for a long time. When I got better at driving and was nearing my test I just bought the lessons one at a time. I had to pay the normal hourly rate for a lesson whilst I took my test.

I'm not saying your instructor is right or wrong but you don't seem to have a lot of faith in him/her. So I would switch to another instructor personally.

JosellaPlayton · 26/10/2018 00:24

-£24 an hour is about right
-Booking in blocks of 10 is normal
-About 40 hours is ‘average’ for someone to pass, anything less than 20 would be very quick unless it’s an intensive course
-Normal to take your test in an instructor’s car and pay them for their time, you don’t have to if you don’t want to though e.g. if you have a driving DP and are insured on their car they could take you instead
-Passing by April should be more than an achievable goal if you’re having at least 2 hours of lessons a week and getting some practice in outside of lessons

Good luck!

JosellaPlayton · 26/10/2018 00:25

And should have said, if your instructor doesn’t inspire confidence then get a new one!

tictoc76 · 26/10/2018 00:44

I learnt on an automatic only because it was so much quicker. I think I did less than 10hours of lessons in total. It’s not because I am a natural but because it’s just much easier to learn automatic. I did a few manual lessons and just wasn’t getting it.

40 hours does seem a lot?

ButchyRestingFace · 26/10/2018 00:47

Sounds perfectly normal to me.

Original poster
Lushybunny · 26/10/2018 00:49

davisday
Me paying up front isn’t the problem i was just explaining what has happened so far :)

Thankyou guys for all the responses I really appreciate it

I can not afford a intensive course I would really love to do some with the skills I’ve got now I think I would benefit from one of those

There is no checklist of things that I no longer need to work on cause I’ve mastered either so I don’t really know where I am at. All he keeps saying is hate me next lesson and the next lesson we will be onto something else like roundabouts or dual carriage ways

My mum thinks he’s very unprofessional also the way i was explaining him and she thinks I should get someone else as he talks about things other than driving.

I don’t really know where I am at with this or what to do next because my 10hours that I’ve paid for is next lesson

OP posts:
safariboot · 26/10/2018 00:53

Took me about a year of one 2 hour lesson a week (and two test attempts) learning in my late 20s. I don't think my teacher was the best but he wasn't obviously awful either. Keep in mind a lot of the lower estimates are on the basis you're doing private practice as well as your lessons.

But it seems dodgy that he's charging you well over the normal price for using the car for a test. Mine just billed it the same as a normal lesson and it lasted about the same time.

Original poster
Lushybunny · 26/10/2018 00:54

I literally feel after 10hours of lessons I should feel like I know how to do some things at least in a automatic car ?

OP posts:
PrincessHairyMclary · 26/10/2018 00:59

Use up what you've paid for and then try someone else. My driving instructor was always very professional, used different teaching techniques and materials, diagrams etc to teach different concepts.

This is a Drivers log of what you ought to cover in your lessons.

flumpybear · 26/10/2018 01:01

I did 1.5 hours per week for 10 weeks and passed first time - perhaps you need to see if you can pass if you feel ready? I took lessons in a manual too

Original poster
Lushybunny · 26/10/2018 01:04

I have had 10 2hour lessons and I literally drove on normal streets with him directing me and which lanes to go in I know how to turn corners i feel shit scared on round abouts I don’t know or even attempted to parallel park only pull up park against the curb I’ve drove on a dual carriage way done a 3point turn twice and one or two Uturns if I tried to do all those things without being guided I would not be confident or even remember how to do them ... I don’t know if I’m expecting to much but I’m sure by 10hours of driving I should be knowing how to do somethings ?

OP posts:
Original poster
Lushybunny · 26/10/2018 01:08

ALSO last lesson he said I need to work on my breaking and how I’m still not breaking properly! He never taught me till yesterday that the deeper I push my foot the car stops ... and he said he feels ashamed that he didn’t teach me how to break properly

I was just leaving my foot there and just slowly allowing the car to stop but he said the more deeper in and faster the stop so I’m my stoping distance for my slow gradual breaking that I thought I needed to do was so far away it’s hard to explain what I was doing to make the car stop

But he didn’t even teach me how to break properly

And next lesson he said he is going to teach me how to emergency stop??

I think I should be knowing how to emergency stop when I’ve been driving on dual carriage ways and I’ve been driving in normal traffic roads

OP posts:
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