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.

Also, completely normal to pay for the use of the car. You don't have to use their car if you want to avoid the charge. I was charged for 2 hours, an hour lesson before and the hour for the test and route home.

Depends how confident you feel.

If you feel like doing your test now, go for it!

It took me three months all in all.

I had a certain amount of free lessons through Motability. As far as I'm aware my instructor would have been paid for the block lessons whether I took them or not.
I did of course, but maybe he didn't see any reason to drag it out because he was already paid.

I think I took about 6 or 7 months to learn to drive. Had one 2hr lesson a week. Plus went out with my dad most Sunday mornings for a couple of hours. Most people I know did similar. Learning to drive is expensive and takes time. But then driving is expensive too. Also, think it's quite normal to have to borrow your instructors car, I was charged for an hours lesson before hand and then the hours test I think, but just the usual lesson rate.

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.

Lessons aren't the only way to learn to drive, you can simply practise with family or friends.

Also, as I pointed out above, if you happen to have a few years experience on public roads on two wheels, you will already have a lot of skills that transfer to car driving, so won't need to spend hours in a car learning them.

I don’t think you’re being conned, but sounds like for whatever reason you’re not clicking with your instructor. Find another one.

I took much more than 40 hours lessons to learn to drive, but I didn’t practice inbetween much. I haaaated driving. I still don’t love it but I’ve got a lot better.

My instructor was awesome, but she couldn’t get me to get to pass the test within 40 hours, that was kind of down to me. She was great though, she very much adapted her style of teaching to how I learnt - I’m more of a theory than practice person. So she’d tell me what we were going to do before we did it often, encouraged narrative driving which worked for me etc etc look for someone who notices how you work and adapts to meet you where you are.

I know you have a deadline but sometimes it doesn’t work that way. If you want to be passed by Feb you need to be practicing outside of lessons.

It took me 5 months at two hours a week in an automatic. I passed first time with no faults. I felt that learning for as long as possible was better than going for a test too early and being put off from carrying on if I failed.

The guidance from DVSA is that most people require 45 hours lessons along with 22 hours practice to pass your test

Some people will learn quicker than that & some will need longer

The test is much harder to pass now than 20/30 years ago 🙄

I think your instructor is doing his job correctly. I had three hour lessons once per week for four months plus extra driving experience in dp's car. As I neared my test I had two lessons a week. Do not underestimate the road experience you need to pass your test. It isn't just learning how to control the car. There is more to learn now as well than there was when I did my test, although that is probably counteracted with you learning in an automatic.
I paid £50 to use my instructors car for my test. That included a 30 minute lesson beforehand and he drove me home after I passed so I could relax!

OP most of your gripes are a bit odd imo. Unprofessional because he sometimes talks about other things not related to driving? Isn't that just basic social skills The braking thing - I just asked my friend who is a driving instructor and she says she has yet to come across anyone who doesn't realise that how hard you press the brake impacts on how quickly the car will stop. It is not your fault you didn't realise this of course, everyone is different, but it also isn't his fault that he would presume you would realise this. Getting the hang of stopping distances comes with experience.

As for the roundabout thing, my friend says generally people have a good idea from their theory and just general life (from being in cars/busses) about how roads work, but again if you don't, you really need to read up on this/watch you tube videos. I think probably these things are holding you back, he is having to teach you basics that people generally already know.

Finally, I would never ever advise anyone who isn't disabled to learn in an automatic, it will severely restrict your options down the line - if you require a courtesy car for example or need to drive someone else's car - you won't be able to unless their's is automatic too (I only know one person who drives an automatic but it is due to disability). You never know when you may want to borrow someone's car/drive their car home for them etc).

However given that you really do not like this instructor, I think it is only fair on you and him that you move elsewhere. You definitely need to adjust your expectations though and take some responsibility for your rate of progress. Like you say you are annoyed there are things you have yet to learn - eg emergency stop - but in the same breath complain that he moves on to new things before you have perfected the previous thing. Unfortunately you cannot have both ways!

It took me from what I remember 2 hour lessons once a week for about 10 months to pass manual, I didn’t go for my test until I and my instructor felt I was ready.... I passed first time. It’s important to have a good relationship with your instructor and trust on both ends, why not try a taster lesson with someone else. Any less I wouldn’t have felt safe on the roads alone, you don’t want to rush passing to then have an accident. You want to make sure u feel safe to drive alone also.

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

You need to be practicing your manoeuvres in your own time if you can, if not then you'll probably need an extra 10-20 lessons to get the practice in.

I started in January and passed in June, this was doing weekly lessons and driving the family car whenever possible (automatic). The thing that you and a lot of other people are missing is that, yes you can probably have 10 hours in an auto and learn to drive to a certain standard but you won't have learned how to react safely in every possible expected situation that comes up. I failed the first time because I turned a corner and a tree had fallen on the road. I did stop but not as quick as I should have because I just didn't have the skills to react quickly enough. It won't be habit to check your mirror before turning, to check before a set of lights. All of these come with experience and I don't think 10 hours can be called experience by any stretch of the imagination.

Driving instructors literally earn what they charge if not by a company but then what they charge people also goes on petrol, repairs, ect.
The best best is to find a PAYG I found them best. I found a woman who charged £14 by the hour butbi did 2 hour blocks. However, another instructor I had before wanted me to drive 2 hours every day for 2 weeks before my test. I couldn't do that, I worked full time, was heavily pregnant and had ds so she couldn't do lesson from my work to home. By the time I'd have finished work and go home it would've been nearly 7pm and I couldn't do lessons after that time. When was I supposed to eat and rest lol.
Unfortunately they do charge for use of car during test. But they won't be in the car

Get a new instructor- I failed 4 tests with my first instructor (really major fails each time). Then got a new one, had a few lessons and passed second time with him.

Sometimes it just doesn't click. Doesn't mean he's wrong, but you're not a good fit - so find someone else.

I'm 10 hrs into lessons and also have my own car to practice in everyday. My instructor thinks I may be ready in December..,by then I will have had over 20 hrs official lessons and lots of driving practice in my own car....so I don't think paying for an extra block of 10 is a bad idea.
I pay for mine weekly as I can't afford a lump sum.
My instructor has grabbed the wheel at times or pulled on the handbrake if he thought I was rolling back. It's all part of their job to keep us both safe and help me learn from mistakes.

Keep at it and see how the next 10 hrs go...if you still feel let down or like you're not learning then find a new instructor X

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.

How odd. My driving instructor and I put the world to rights most lessons.

It would be really weird to have an instructor NOT talk to you about anything.

Imagine going to Tesco and the cashier not being able to deviate from talking about scanning your shopping?

The costs and amount you have learned sound about right, especially if you can’t practice in between lessons.

My DS (17) has just recently learned to drive - it took nearly 4 months, with about 16 lessons at 1.5 hours per lesson. BUT we took him out for lots of practice, most days we did 20-30 mins out in the car, going over what he’d learned that week, and getting confidence. So an extra 2 or 3 hours a week.

That said, if you think your instructor is conning you, you’re going to find it hard to shake that belief, so you might be better to change instructors anyway.

I had 8 one hour lessons, passed first time - but that was a long time ago. My daughter recently passed her test. At the first lesson, he gave her a list of competencies, to be covered week by week. I think he indicated about 15 hours to cover everything. She failed her first test and had a further 5 hours of confidence lessons - no new material - and passed the next time. I don’t think your instructor’s costs are at all unusual - in fact I think they are quite cheap - but I would expect more transparency from him about the process he is taking you through.

Can you change and have 2 x 2 hrs per week or even 3 x 2 hrs , you have less time to forget in between and makes it more intensive ?
Change instructors to someone you get on better with - he sounds awkward

I think what the OP is not factoring in is the amount of time it takes to learn the other stuff that's NOT the mechanics of the car. If it's taken you 4 2 hours lessons before you've realised that the harder you put your foot on the brake, the quicker you stop, then how long do you realistically think it's going to be until you can be alone in a car changing gears, speeding up, turning on the windscreen wipers, demisting the windscreen, trying to figure out what the light on the dashboard means, while watching the bus that's about to swerve into your lane to miss traffic, the cyclist on the left of you, the small child on the scooter about to run into the road, cars slowing or speeding, and your roundabout is coming up but you don't know which exit to take? Oh and all the time you're doing this, your new baby is screaming as it's dropped its dummy JUST out of reach.

Stop giving yourself deadlines, drive until you feel comfortable to do ANYTHING in a car without looking down at it, and until you can approach any roundabout or turning without panicking or going 5 mike's an hour. Then think about your test.

I think you have rather unrealistic expectations.

So you've had 10 hours of lessons, in an automatic which is much easier generally, and you don’t know how to approach a roundabout or that the harder you press the brake the quicker you stop?

Just because you passed your theory test first time doesn’t mean you know how to drive. And if you can’t drive apart from just having lessons it’s going to take longer.

If you don’t feel confident with your instructor then find a new one. But a good instructor should teach you how to DRIVE, not just pass a test.

How can you pass the theory test but not know the theory?

DP used to be a driving instructor. 40hours is average amount. Some can do it in less time and others more time. It really is down to the individual. As far as I know, automatic would be more expensive to learn in as there are less instructors for it so they can charge more. And it’s absolutely normal to pay for the time to, during and back from your test as it’s hours that he could be spending with someone learning

@davisday if you are good at exams you can pass the theory test without learning anything that sticks.

Just read some of your updates. Things like breaking are pretty common knowledge. I passed at 17 and knew that before I had my first lesson.
In all honestly, I don’t think it will come naturally to you. Things like which lane on a roundabout are usually picked up when you are a passenger in a car.

Driving with a child in the car is more difficult mentally. You need to be able to concentrate whilst potentially having a screaming/ill child in the back which adds pressure to the whole situation. Especially if you have only recently passed

if you are good at exams you can pass the theory test without learning anything that sticks.

I disagree. How could you learn all that and forget it immediately, particularly as you are putting it into practice on lessons?