BSM is getting a new fleet of cars

cyclopopcicle

cyclopopcicle

cyclopopcicle

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Joined
30 Aug 2003
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hi all, i am posting this info just to get some feedback
i am a driving instructor with BSM, and we are changing our cars to Fiat 500s, what the general opinion on these?
ignoring the price of BSM lessons this is on cars alone nothing else.

would you choose BSM because of the car, or does the car have no bearing on your decision on who to go with for lessons?

or is BSM going to be the laughing stock due to the car its now going to be?

i dont want to hear any BSM bashing, i just want opinions on the car please.
 
cyclopopcicle said:
hi all, i am posting this info just to get some feedback
i am a driving instructor with BSM, and we are changing our cars to Fiat 500s, what the general opinion on these?
ignoring the price of BSM lessons this is on cars alone nothing else.

would you choose BSM because of the car, or does the car have no bearing on your decision on who to go with for lessons?

or is BSM going to be the laughing stock due to the car its now going to be?

i dont want to hear any BSM bashing, i just want opinions on the car please.
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I'm sure teenage girls will love them. I've driven one and a nice first car, clutch was easy, hard to stall and very high driving position.

Fiat are doing a deal where you buy a Fiat 500 and get the added driving instructor controls installed and supplied for free so I'd imagine why you're getting one.

Interior is either love or hate, boot better than expected, handling so-so.

Personally when I first started lessons I couldn't give a toss what I was learning in as long as it was learner-friendly, which a 500 certainly is. Girls will love it because of cute chic looks.

A lot better than the new shape Corsa I drove, which I imagine a lot of BSM cars are?
 
cyclopopcicle said:
does the car have no bearing on your decision on who to go with for lessons?
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The car I learnt in had no bearing either of the 2 companies I chose to have my driving lessons with (several years apart), it wasn't until I'd passed my test that I took a more active interest in the sort've car I'd like to drive.

edit: I arranged my lessons by phone so didn't get to see the car I'd be learning in until my first lesson anyway :)
 
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If I was 17 and had to learn to drive again I'd rather do it in a Fiat 500 than a Corsa.

Actually, if I had to re-learn to drive now I'd rather do it in a Fiat 500 than a Corsa.
Bags of charm, bags of style, great little thing. No idea what it's like to drive but I bet it's nicer than a diesel Corsa.

EDIT - when I learnt to drive there were 2 main local independent instructors. One taught in a diesel Clio, the other a 1.4 petrol Fiesta Ghia. I chose the petrol, my thoughts at the time were basically "Diesels SUCK, why the hell would any sane bloke interested in cars want to learn in a diesel!?" :D
 
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Fiat 500's are good little cars.

However, the car didnt even come into it when i was buying driving lessons. I was interested in passing, not whether the car was good looking or not. I went on recommendation alone as someone who was likely to be a good tutor.
 
My instructor had a renault modus when i was learning to drive, i thought it was a bit of an odd choice.

I guess the 500 is the same sort of style/idea as a mini, and plenty of instructors use them
 
It's been 25 years since I learnt to drive but I don't recall the type of car used by a driving school was ever a component of my decision as to which company I used and I can't believe that this has changed much with todays new drivers. Fiat 500's are cool little cars.
 
Wouldn't choose a driving school based on the car (as such) if it was an atoz or something i wouldn't go with them, i learnt in a 1.6 clio then a 1.6 corolla, both good cars to drive, personally i believe people should learn to drive in slightly bigger cars than 500's and corsas so they get used to driving a small family sized car.

But this is kinda a pointless point since i wouldn't and didn't go with BSM.
 
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Firestar_3x said:
Wouldn't choose a driving school based on the car (as such) if it was an atoz or something i wouldn't go with them, i learnt in a 1.6 clio then a 1.6 corolla, both good cars to drive, personally i believe people should learn to drive is slightly bigger cars than 500's and corsas so they get used to driving a small family sized car.

But this is kinda a pointless point since i wouldn't and didn't go with BSM.
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AA driving school - 1.6L focus
 
I learned in a petrol astra when I took my lessons. I would rather learn in a bigger car as I intend to get a bigger car when I can afford it. My brother learned with bsm too and he go the diesel corsa. I think the corsa was quite hard to see out the back as far as i know.

The fiats would make ideal cars for doing all the maneuvers as they are so small.
 
I don't think it would have influenced my descision at all. Then again I had already bought my own Mondeo by that point and learnt in that.

However if I found myself having to learn in a fiat 500 I doubt I would be able to find anything wrong with it and would be more than happy.

Bear in mind this a forum of enthusiasts and our opinions bear little resemblance to that of "most" people. I bet most youngsters would find it way cool to learn in such a funky car, might sway them from 1 company to the other based on image if other factors are close.
 
When I was learning to drive I just looked for the recommendations of an independant tutor, who also happened to be very cheap. I actually learned in 1.7 turbo diesel, quite liked it at the time - mainly for zee torques on slip roads etc...
 
cyclopopcicle said:
hi all, i am posting this info just to get some feedback
i am a driving instructor with BSM, and we are changing our cars to Fiat 500s, what the general opinion on these?
ignoring the price of BSM lessons this is on cars alone nothing else.

would you choose BSM because of the car, or does the car have no bearing on your decision on who to go with for lessons?

or is BSM going to be the laughing stock due to the car its now going to be?

i dont want to hear any BSM bashing, i just want opinions on the car please.
Click to expand...
I run a driving school and for the past five years have taught in a Clio but got kinda bored so went to the major dealers for test drives. The Fiat 500 ended up in my top 3. Great seating position, good all round visibility, easy to maneuver, fuel consumption figures were OK and it was bloody good fun to drive.

I'd like to think that BSM have done sufficient research and have not based their decision purely on price.

I personally don't think that the car is a main decision in which driving school pupils choose. We run a number of different cars and with the exception of the Mini that one of our guys uses we rarely get asked for specific cars.

Not that it helps you much, I went for the new Fiesta.

I love to know how you get on when you start using the 500.
 
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