Question about driving test costs....

I know you pay more on a weekend rather than a weekday, £62 sounds about right

I've just booked my fourth driving test (fact that I keep failing is really eating into my self confidence, which was already s**t to begin with), but this time around, I was only charged £62. The past 3 tests my instructor booked but I had to give him £72 each time. Is there some benefit to having the instructor book your test and that's why I was charged another £10? I know it's nothing to do with the car hire, cause I pay a separate £88 for that (groan), so I'm starting to worry if I'm being taken for a plain sucker here.

https://www.gov.uk/driving-test-cost

Sounds like he's charging you £10 to book it for you - which is probably fair enough. Alternatively just book it yourself, it's not difficult.

Also why are you paying £88 to hire a car? Don't you use the instructor's car? You would usually have a hour lesson before the test then another hour to cover the test and him driving you home.

He could charge an extra £10 for the service? Does he book the tests within a week or is
There a long wait ?

Whether it's a student or instructor booking a test, I think you have to wait another 10 days before booking a new test. So I don't think the extra £10 is for making use of an instructors privilege to book earlier tests or anything, if that's what you mean.

Even after the 10 days it takes months until you find an available date, your instructor could be charging for the fact he's constantly looking for cancellations so he could book an earlier test for you. However you're 100% right, you could do this yourself. Idk why he's doing it and charging you without your knowledge. Sounds like he's trying to get a little extra money off you.

But I don't understand why he would charge to book me a test, it's just a couple of clicks, why would that cost an extra £10? I don't even remember if he ever asked if I wanted to book my test myself before. I think originally he just asked if I felt ready and after I agreed he said he'd book it for me, and never mentioned any extra charge. And then every time after that, he just booked it himself and text me the date.

And yes, I do use the instructors car, but from what I've seen, it's apparently normal for every student to pay around £80 to use the instructors car for tests (due to any potential emergency stops etc. which is not good for the car).

He has a business to run and a £10 service charge is entirely fair. If you don't want to pay it book the test yourself.

Yes it's normal to pay, but you are also paying for a lesson before, and use of his car, so he can't use the car for other lessons. Try actually hiring a standard car just for the test (you won't be able to)...

And about the car hire I also pay him £50 for two lessons before the test, and the £88 is just for the use of the car during the test. But maybe that's normal.

Ok, but I'm still going to ask him about it. And I would have appreciated being told that this service would cost extra, and been given the option to say no, but what's done is done.

And about the car hire I also pay him £50 for two lessons before the test, and the £88 is just for the use of the car during the test. But maybe that's normal.

No, that does sound expensive.

Did you ask around before selecting this instructor?

And it might be worth finding someone else if you fail for a 4th time with the same instructor anyway...

This does sound a bit expensive IMO - whereabouts in the country are you though? I guess in some big cities it might just cost more for instructors...

It's pretty standard practice to charge a small fee for them to book the test for you, although a bit off that he didn't inform you about the charge - did he tell you upfront how much the total cost was going to be?

£88 for the car is very expensive - I think I paid about £50 for a one hour lesson before the test AND the use of the car during the test itself. The second time I just used my parents car because I didn't really like my instructor that much and I thought he charged a lot lol... Both times I booked it myself though, I wanted to make sure I got a good time slot.

My instructor is actually the owner of the driving school, and I even met someone who had him previously and they left him a good review on his website (and there were several other positive reviews), so it really does seem like it's my own nerves that cause me to fail, rather than him being a bad teacher. Though, before my last test, I went out in my parents automatic car and felt pretty confident about my abilities on the road, then when I spent a two hour lesson with my instructor and his manual car, my confidence just plummeted. But that could be because automatics are much easier to drive.

Well it's not a good sign if you lose confidence every time you are with this instructor. I'd strongly suggest a change is needed.

No, as far as I can remember he never told me about the extra charge. I live in North Ayrshire, Scotland, and its hard to say whether or not that affects the hire price. And I would use my parents car but it's an automatic and I want to pass in the manual.