Choose Only The Best (Driving Instructors)

Member Name: suz1584

Product:	Driving Instructors
Date:	26/06/09 (77 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: My 2nd instructor was perfect

Disadvantages: My first instructor

I actually decided to write my own review about this as I was reading someone elses and decided it is an important issue on who you decide to choose as a driving instructor.

Unfortunately where I live there is not a big choice because the area is so small. In fact in the village where I lived there was only one instructor who many people I know had taken lessons with him. When it came round to me taking lessons I first tried to learn to drive when I was 19. I phoned him but he was booked up for months.

With none of my friends taking lessons at the same time as me I had no clue who to try next. I opened up the yellow pages and picked a random instructor out. Almost like closing my eyes and choosing one where my finger landed. I phoned him and he was only for 6 miles away which was good. Surprisingly he had plenty of free spaces so I could pick any day and pretty much anytime I wanted a lesson.

At the time I didn't think anything about this and my first lesson soon came round. I was taken to a quiet road to start learning to drive. We had gone through half the lesson talking about things and the rest of the lesson we started the driving. To be honest I didn't fully understand a car or what I had to do but here I was sitting in the drivers seat being told to drive home from this spot. So off I went back towards my house, everything was going well or so I thought.

Pulling up at the house I was then given a list of everything I had done wrong. Which I thought was ok and we would work this out throughout the next lessons. But the negative feedback left me thinking i'd never be able to drive.

Throughout the next few lessons things didn't see to get better. In fact things got worse with the instructor shouting if I did something wrong, pulling the steering wheel all the time if I wasn't in the middle of the road properly

After 6 lessons I gave up. I had no incentive to carry on and dreaded every lesson. After giving up I spoke to a couple of people who had the same issue. One actually had anough of him shouting at her so whilst at the traffic lights she got out of the car and got a bus home.

A year kater when I was 20/21 I decided I should really learn to drive again. As I was working shifts and relied on my parents for lifts to and from work. This time I did my research though.

My dad found out one of his friends from our village had just become a driving instructor - Colin Macdonald from Evanton. So he phoned and managed to fit me in. By this time he was fairly building up a fantastic reputation within the area.

Everything was explained to me so well, he was so calm and really friendly. If I didn't understand something he would sit and explain it to me. Even if the lesson over ran he would sit and talk to me until I really understood things.

I then enjoyed learning to drive and looked forward to going on my driving lessons. I am pleased to say I passed first time and I was so happy about all the work my instructor had done I dropped off a bottle of whiskey to him to show him my thanks for all the help and support. I actually really missed him once I passed my test.

Since then I have also refered many people to Colin Macdonald. He has one of the best pass rates in the area and his waiting list is about 3 or 4 months long! It proves how good an instructor he is and I've never heard a bad word said about him.

So if you are looking for an instructor I would advise to find someone that is well known and all comments about their instructor skills are positive ones. Don't go for the first available instructor - you really need to shop about as it's a really important thing in life.

I was also told that instructors in the area that have been round for a long time will put you for your test even if there's just a slight hope of you passing. Because they have long waiting lists they will chance it to see if they can get anyone passed as their pass rate doesn't go for anything.

I don't know if this is the same in all areas but again I would look into this and maybe try to get a newer instructor who has just come out of training and is looking to impress.

I'm sure there are horror stories in every area and this is just a little taster of what you may experience in my area. Just be careful and ensure you are 100% happy with your instructor. You don't want to waste money on an instructor that won't get you anywhere.

Summary: Go with someone you have heard good reviews about