Johanson said:
Ive had 24 lessons from my AA instructor, and my test is tomorrow. I am very impressed with it. My instructor is patient and very good, as well as being friendly an accomodating. There was very little sitting doing nothing. In fact, by the end of my first lesson, I had crossed a major roundabout near Bluewater, done hill starts on a shallow incline, and had driven quite a distance.
Car I learned in was a new Ford Focus 1.6 - decent power, easy to drive for a big car and very comfortable even for a big lad like me. My only complaint would be that being fairly large and with a decent powerplant, it picks up speed quickly and often without you noticing - many times I have crept over the limit without feeling it.
Lessons were expensive, about £23 an hour, but I booked online for a set of twelve and got a discount. I would definately say make sure you go for 2 hour lessons. They go fairly quickly, and you want time to actually drive around and get used to the vehicle. I also had friends telling me to beware of instructors who try to get more money out of do by not letting you do much driving, or saying you need more lessons when you dont. I didn't find this the case at all the with the AA; as I mentioned, I did nearly all the driving on my first lesson, and my instructor has been giving me honest feedback on my driving. In fact, I think Ive learnt fairly quickly - I started on the 3rd April and Im having the test tomorrow. That's four months or so from start to first test. Ive had many friends who claimed it took them 6 - 12 months or longer to learn to drive.
Overall, very impressed witn the AA, if a little pricey. But I spose you get what you pay for. We shall see tomorrow, anyway :S