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

[Lushybunny]

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.

Learning to drive is not that difficult. Months and months and months of lessons? Really

I know it’s almost like everyone is different and learns at their own pace, right.
I found driving difficult to learn. I’m shit hot at Maths and Analysis but not great at physical tasks. We don’t all have our strengths in the same areas.

I had over 100 lessons. Got there in the end.

If your not happy then change instructors i went through 3 instructors before passing my test
And using and paying for their car to do your test is normal

Anyone stating that it should be easy to pass the test - with the current standards, it's not. The pass rates in London are currently around 35 percent for example. I am considered a competent driver by my instructor and driving friends, but I've failed 4 times so far. I'm actually considering changing test centre to somewhere a bit further out of London.

The manovers I can’t really expect myself to really remember them as I’ve only done them not even 5times practice like over and over

That's why you need a lot of lessons. You can't expect to do all your practising in lessons and then only need 10 or even 20. Can you practise outside lessons with someone like your mother?

I had three different instructors and over 100 lessons over the course of 6 years, when I finally passed 8 years ago.

My 18 yo DSD passed first
time earlier year and had about 40 lessons prior.

A question to all the posters who are saying ten lessons should be enough, when did they pass there tests? From what I understand it’s a lot harder now and learners need a lot more. (Although I do admit my 100+ was slightly above average haha)

Back to the OP, I don’t think this sounds out of the ordinary at all BUT if you’re not comfortable with your instructor then find another ASAP. Having one you trust and feel comfortable with, is essential.

I just reread all your posts so after 10 hours of driving in lots of two hours, with no gears, and your were not using the brakes properly... Have I got thst right?
You are keen to learn and expecting so how old are you 20 or 30 something?
Sorry the more I read the more it spells out no chemistry so no confidence in your teacher, a driving instructors job is too teach you how to pass a test.
You should not be thinking of how to do basic bits now, you should be watching the road, and reacting to other users, driving is one of the skills that are learn and saved in the brain..
When ever you are in a vehicle, treat it like a drive in your head, you should see most drivers as passages in cars, the amount of times I hit the brakes in my fellas car only to realise I am a passanger.

I think it would help if you read up on basic car functions and road rules - how did you pass your theory and not know how to correctly use a roundabout?! I’m on my 50th hour of driving lessons so I know hard it is but really you should either ask what you’re doing BEFORE you put yourself in the situation and not just wait for him to tell you, or change instructors to someone who’s more of a step by step guy. But seriously read up on how the car actually works, a lot of this seems like common sense that pretty much everyone knows before they even get into a car.

Learning to drive is different for everyone.it costs a fortune because there is a standard to meet.
It took me 36 hours of paid lessons and 20 hours in my own car with a friend. Manual if that helps.

We didn't own a car growing up so I really was learning everything from scratch. I count myself very lucky that I passed with so few lessons due to these circumstances.

All sounds totally normal to me, but if you don't trust your instructor perhaps do a trial with another one?

Way back in the dark ages (the 80's) I had 10 professional lessons and about 10 hours with my mum, dad and bf in my mum's manual Mini and passed my test. T'was a fluke but over the following 12 months I learned how to actually drive.

Here in Australia a learner has to log 100 hours behind the wheel before becoming eligible to sit the practical part of the exam. It's brutal for Mums and Dads but tbh by the time the kids get their "P plates" (3 further years as probationary drivers with strict restrictions) they can drive.
You will know when you're ready to sit your exam, but I think you're better off doing 2 x 1hr lessons rather than 2 hours at a go, even after 30 years of driving I find 2 hours behind the wheel a bit stressful. If you have use of a car for your lessons and test you should ask your instructor if he will teach you in that car. If he won't, find one that will.

That sounds about right for 10 hours. Driving is a life skill, it’s your instructors job to make sure you can drive safely in all situations. So he will pace his teaching to your learning speed. If you’re shit scared on roundabouts you need practice until your confidence grows, it’s his job to direct you turn by turn, to tell you where to positions yourself in the road until you learn how to do it properly for yourself. There’s no point in teaching you something new (eg three point turns) until you’re less anxious about some of your skills (eg roundabouts) because you’ll feel overwhelmed and struggle to learn anything at all, loose confidence and scare yourself.

What did you expect in learning to drive? How quickly did you expect to be doing parallel parking, three point turns etc?

Imo the test is too easy judging by the standards of many people’s driving. They are taught to pass the test rather than drive. You just have to see people’s attitudes on zipper merges and cyclists (and most of the highway code) to see how inadequate the training and testing is.

I had 2-3 lessons a week for a month and passed my test. Tbf I had been driving an automatic in my home country for 17 years and wanted to pass with a manual here so it was obviously easier for me to learn as I wasn't scared of the road.

I also think that it matters where you learn to drive. I have friends who live in a rural area who passed their test quickly. I live in Amsterdam, busy, bicycles, tourists who don't look before crossing the road, drivers who drive anti socially, I once saw a car swerving across the road while the driver was swigging from a beer bottle! It's very different to learn to drive here. And my rural friends don't do to well when they have to drive here through the city because they aren't used to looking at so many things at once. Learning to drive isn't just handeling the car, it is also learning what to do in all traffic situations. I think it is better for you to take your time and learn how to drive well. Once you passed your test, you are the one who is responsible for the baby in your car, plus all the other people in the traffic around you.

Redasrherose - you don't really need that many lessons.

You picked up driving quickly that's good, but you cant judge others by your standards, it lures people in to a false sense of security.

Some pass quickly, some take longer, some bloody ages, some will never pass.

One of my friends teaches driving, he never puts people in unless he thinks they will pass first time, this means some will have a tone of lessons, however he has a high first time pass rate. He has always said that some just don't get road sense and it can take them ages to learn it.

OP try a different instructor if your not happy, but bear in mind that you do need to be ready for the test, no instructor will want you to fail tests, it does nothing for your confidence nor is it a good advert for their business. If your not ready, your not ready.

Well it took me 17 years and 7 tests ☺️

It sounds like you’re expecting your instructor to concentrate on a manoeuvre and only move on to the next one once you have mastered it but it does t work like that. Although he is teaching you how to be safe on the road and the old thing of you don’t learn to drive until you’ve passes and out on your own. There may be times while you are driving that you need to use a certain manoeuvre and if you ah ent learnt them at all you will be screwed. It’s been 10 hours of lessons stop giving yourself a finish date and just learn to drive you are giving yourself far too much pressure. It will all eventually become second nature but it takes time and possibly a few curve balls other drivers will throw at you as you learn.

Sorry.....can't....resist........ it's brake and braking...... not break and breaking.
Sorry sorry sorry but it was driving me nuts .
For the benefit of the thread i think what you have experienced is normal

I think driving is like playing a musical instrument. If you don't practise between lessons, it will take you much much longer to master the skills. OP, you need to find a way of going driving between lessons to consolidate your skills.

Way back in the 1980s when I learned to drive, the average was apparently 1.25 hours of lessons multiplied by your age. So a 17 year-old should need 21+ hours of lessons. I had 13 (one hour per week) but my parents took me out every single day to practise and over the three months, I clocked up lots of hours including rural roads, suburban towns and the Old Trafford football traffic as my dad forgot which team was at home as we were heading for my grandparents' house!

DD2 is 17 and currently learning. Her instructor is nice and she likes him. Because we live 10 miles from the nearest test centre in quite a rural area, he teaches her in 2 hour blocks. It gives them time to cover a variety of different types of road. It took her around 3 lessons until she started to learn the manoeuvres but she practises them every lesson and also when I take her out. She now needs to develop more resilience as a driver; she goes to pieces when she doesn't get something quite right. Her instructor and I both agree and it's what we are working on.

If your partner or dad can drive

Sorry, completely off topic I know but aren't we in 2018? Why partner or father? Why not mother, sister, anyone else who can drive?

Is it really that different now? I was also an 80's learner. Most of my mates had about 20x1hr lessons (at £6.50 an hour) and generally passed first time. It seems a huge amount of time to be learning.

Change your instructor! I changed after a few months as he had no patience. New instructor has a ton of it (much needed with me). So many one man/woman leaner driver companies. So many of them have not got a scoobie how to be professional, but it also mean s you have a ton more to choose from.

I started in January. ChNged in April and although I am happy with my instructor, I still pay my lesson each week. I would be £2 cheaper to pay for 10 at a time or my peaceof mind I pay each week. Gives me the flexibility to easily change if I wanted to.

Take as long as you need! Learning to drive might be easy when you’re 17 and have parents to take you out for extra lesson. In your mid 40s (me) with a child, no possibility of extra practice and a million anxieties I’m finding it a tad difficult but I’m not in competition with anyone. I’m not even thinking about the test til after Xmas.

Not sure I understand the 3xtra 70 he wants unless it’s for his time for th3 test. When you sit your test, you usually pay your instructor for 2 hours - about an hour practice before your test and the hour that he sits and waits on you while you sit your test. I’m learning in a manual but I’ll be using my usual lesson car as I’ll be used to it. I dont wan5 to sit the test in a different car that I’m not so used to.

You’ll learn so much bettter wit her someone’s you’re are relaxed with. Don’t give any more of your money to this instructor, he sounds like an arse.

And good l

Ive been learnimg since July & I'm now test ready (according to my instructor) at 28 hours, except for the small fact my glasses prescription has changed massively I only went in for a test to double check for peace of mind! Anyway my new glasses won't be ready until after my test was booked so I've just had to change & the next available is 10/1 (changed from 2/11). I'll be getting around an extra 20 hours of lessons because of this. I think the dvsa average is 40 hours with an adi & 20 private practice. Cost wise, it's about right, he's holding the prices he started at for me, £200/10, but I know new pupils are paying £220/10, in a manual & I noticed when looking for instructors that automatic lessons were more.

I'm not sure why having to pay for further lessons wasn't something you already knew.

Because for some people 10 lessons is more than they need before passing their test. It honesty didn't occur to me to get any lessons before going for my test the first time. (I learned by trial and error while driving with other people. Other than my first half-hour, in a car park with my mother, none of them were teaching me.) (I failed my test and did have one or two lessons before eventually passing. Though I'm not sure the lessons made a difference, I think it was more practising the things I got wrong in the test that improved me.)

Having said that, the fact that OP didn't understand how brakes work before she got in the car for the first time does seem to indicate she needs more help. If like me she'd previously had three years on a motorcycle and prior to that ten years on a bicycle she would have already know how brakes work, as well as other things that transfer to car driving.

All sounds normal to me. 10 hours is not a lot for a driver to be ready for a practical test, I would expect at least 20.

Emergency braking not taught until I had booked my test. They will hit their brake if needed. Also, surely you would know that braking more firmly slows the car down faster, that is just common sense.

Get some private tuition too in between lessons, it has helped me a lot.