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Is my driving instructor going too slow/ripping me off?

I've been having driving lessons now since the start of August this year with 1 lesson a week and I'm still on roundabouts, i feel this is a very slow pace. I know everyone learns at their own pace but I know two other people who have the same instructor who started over a year ago and one of them passed their test a few days ago. So am I being ripped off by my instructor?

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Sounds like you are being ripped off, I've just done roundabouts and I've been learning since the middle of September!
How many exact lessons have you had and how long are they?
It's very hard to tell from just your post. A few things to ask yourself should give you a clue:

Are you confidently and successfully navigating roundabouts and everything he/she has asked you to do?
Have you asked them how you are getting on? You don't necessarily have to say 'Are you ripping me off/ are you terrible?' but if you perhaps say 'how am I getting on, am I doing okay or would you expect me to be further along by now?'

It seems to be that it's not exactly a massive time to be honest. You said yourself that your friends have taken over a year and only one has passed, just a few days ago, and you're worried considering you've been taking one lesson a week since August?

A quick calculation tells me you've had about 15 hours. I don't know about anybody else but I always said, and so did my friends, about 30 hours is the aim.

You need to give us a bit more info and ask yourself how well you think you're doing. If you're getting to roundabouts and half of the time you're making a mess of it then you're probably not ready to move on, if you've spent the last three lessons going over roundabouts and you've not messed up for a few lessons then I'd perhaps ask.

Nobody here is being honest if they tell you yes or no depending on the information you've given.
I started around the same time as you and I've finished the entire course just today...
Assuming you have 2 hour driving lessons that's 32hours of driving lessons, about as many as I had (and I had a few extra to be sure of passing first time) - I heard that the average time needed for most people was 26 hours to be ready for a test? Depending on your skill , you could well be getting ripped off - what else do you need to cover?
Original post by livsep
I've been having driving lessons now since the start of August this year with 1 lesson a week and I'm still on roundabouts, i feel this is a very slow pace. I know everyone learns at their own pace but I know two other people who have the same instructor who started over a year ago and one of them passed their test a few days ago. So am I being ripped off by my instructor?


Yes it's actually common practice for instructors to try and "milk" their clients, they also often spend large amounts of time going over theory when you could get that information from the highway code, This sort of thing is especially true if they perceive you as a "dumb rich kid" so tell him your finding a new driving instructor because he's your not making as much progress as you'd like under his instruction. There's a chance you can even say that as a bluff to send him a message
Reply 7
i was having 1.5 hour lessons for 7 lessons and for the rest ive had 1 hour lessons. What I meant is that my two other friends have taken over a year with the same instructor compared to other friends with different instructors who took about six months. He's also saying that once I've done roundabouts I have to do traffic lights and pedestrian crossings as it's part of what i have to know for my test??? ive never heard of it and I'm fine at traffic lights. I think when I'm at the end of my block I'm going to switch instructors to get value for my money
Reply 8
Original post by JavaScriptMaster
There's a chance you can even say that as a bluff to send him a message


Why bother bluffing? Plenty of other driving instructors who would like the business no doubt. I'd ditch and switch.
Original post by Reue
Why bother bluffing? Plenty of other driving instructors who would like the business no doubt. I'd ditch and switch.


yeah, your right that is the most practical best option I just think it would be nice for the OP to see his con-artist sweat lol :colone:
I've had 10 hour long lessons


Original post by callum_xcx
How many exact lessons have you had and how long are they?
Reply 11
Original post by JavaScriptMaster
Yes it's actually common practice for instructors to try and "milk" their clients, they also often spend large amounts of time going over theory when you could get that information from the highway code, This sort of thing is especially true if they perceive you as a "dumb rich kid" so tell him your finding a new driving instructor because he's your not making as much progress as you'd like under his instruction. There's a chance you can even say that as a bluff to send him a message


Yeah thats what I'm going to do, my friend passed with 26 lessons so I want to transfer to her. I'm not going to spare his 'feelings' when hes the one wasting my money
Reply 12
Original post by Historicity
It's very hard to tell from just your post. A few things to ask yourself should give you a clue:

Are you confidently and successfully navigating roundabouts and everything he/she has asked you to do?
Have you asked them how you are getting on? You don't necessarily have to say 'Are you ripping me off/ are you terrible?' but if you perhaps say 'how am I getting on, am I doing okay or would you expect me to be further along by now?'

It seems to be that it's not exactly a massive time to be honest. You said yourself that your friends have taken over a year and only one has passed, just a few days ago, and you're worried considering you've been taking one lesson a week since August?

A quick calculation tells me you've had about 15 hours. I don't know about anybody else but I always said, and so did my friends, about 30 hours is the aim.

You need to give us a bit more info and ask yourself how well you think you're doing. If you're getting to roundabouts and half of the time you're making a mess of it then you're probably not ready to move on, if you've spent the last three lessons going over roundabouts and you've not messed up for a few lessons then I'd perhaps ask.

Nobody here is being honest if they tell you yes or no depending on the information you've given.


This is a pretty accurate post.

The biggest problem that stands out about the situation isn't so much that you've only done roundabouts, it's this:
with 1 lesson a week

In the space of a week, you spend barely an hour driving, then have a whole week of doing other things and having a life, so that you've probably forgotten a lot of what you've learned, have to recap again, then probably struggle with physical co-ordination. Ideally, you should be driving for a couple of hours every day. Even if you only see your paid instructor once a week, private practice every day between lessons will pay dividends.

Something else that concerns me is this:
livsep
He's also saying that once I've done roundabouts I have to do traffic lights and pedestrian crossings as it's part of what i have to know for my test??? ive never heard of it and I'm fine at traffic lights.
Of course you have to know what to do in these situations! Not just for the test either, you have to be able to cope on all roads around the country after you've passed, even if you didn't encounter something specific on the day of your test. Your instructor wouldn't be doing his job properly if he didn't teach you to handle everything, even in theory if you cannot find a real scenario in which to practise.

Before you say "I'm fine at traffic lights", consider this: most people understand what to do at a red signal or a green one, but have you encountered a light change in the middle of turning right at a busy junction? Would you know how to react if the light changed to amber while you're in the middle? Do you stop or go? Where do you look? Would you know what to do if the green filter arrow disappears as you enter the junction? Do you even know what a green filter arrow is? Many don't. If you are approaching a traffic light junction in a straight line and the light changes to amber at the most awkward moment just as you're getting close to the white line, can you say honestly that you've made the right decision every time without your instructor having to step in and correct you? All these things are what a good instructor should be teaching you - in theory and in practice - so you are not caught out if you happen to arrive at a situation at that really "unlucky" time. This will take a whole 2 hour lesson to cover properly, and consolidate those skills so that you become good at dealing with them without help.

I feel more sorry for people who have been short changed by their instructors in other ways, missing out chunks of the syllabus in an attempt to rush through a test in as few lessons as possible. It's these people who don't understand why they failed, they don't understand what a filter arrow was or what to do when lights changed sequence, or why "the car behind was sounding his horn at me..."
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by hannahtaylor13
Sounds like you are being ripped off, I've just done roundabouts and I've been learning since the middle of September!


Would you say you are a good driver?
If so, find yourself a new instructor.
Original post by Aubrey_79
Would you say you are a good driver?
If so, find yourself a new instructor.


how can a person who has had relatively few lessons and hours behind a wheel, be in any position to judge their own driving ability?
I started on the 8th of August. I haven't had exactly one a week due to holidays and sickness but I'm only just starting on roundabouts. This is because my instructor knew not to start something new until he was sure I was 100% confident on the first stage of his syllabus. (Right turns, left turns, stopping and starting, clutch control, hill starts, traffic lights, cross roads, more complicated right turns, busy traffic, open and closed junctions, creeping at junctions, tight turns, going up and down gears, giving way etc)
There is no point moving on to something new if you can't do it correctly. This is why there are so many new driver accidents because people are rushed through learning, enough to pass and then can't actually cope on their own!

Ask your instructor about it, he may feel that you are not confident enough on roundabouts yet to move onto something else. You can always ask him how he thinks you are doing, what needs working on etc.

Or if you truly feel he is taking the piss and milking you then move on to someone else!
Ask about the pace at which lessons are going at and tell him how you feel - as long as you don't mention him ripping you off! :smile:
Original post by livsep
I've been having driving lessons now since the start of August this year with 1 lesson a week and I'm still on roundabouts, i feel this is a very slow pace. I know everyone learns at their own pace but I know two other people who have the same instructor who started over a year ago and one of them passed their test a few days ago. So am I being ripped off by my instructor?


Are you learning independently of your instructor as well? That will save you a lot of time.

Remember: you are in charge, not your instructor. You are paying him to teach you to pass your test. Most instructors are able to get this done in 12 weeks. Why is this guy failing so badly?
Took me 20 hours and that was fairly slow.....
Reply 19
Original post by cole-slaw
You are paying him to teach you to pass your test.
Actually, they're paid to teach you to drive for life. It's only the paying people that want the bare minimum to scrape through a test.

Most instructors are able to get this done in 12 weeks. Why is this guy failing so badly?
Probably because his client is only taking an hour a week and forgets everything before the following lesson comes around. Those who are less "intellectually gifted" than others will need more consolidation and fewer intervals between lessons.

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