It's time - Need to Learn to drive

Clark Nova

Clark Nova

Clark Nova

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Ok, I'm 30 now but for various reasons I've never had a need to get my licence and was put of learning when I was younger when two of my cousins were killed in an accident. My place of work is being moved across town though in autumn and cycling for an hour in winter doesn't appeal to me so much so I've decided I'm going to have to learn to drive finally.

A couple of questions:

Should I learn with a larger school like AA or BSM or just go for a cheaper independent?

If I were to get a small car after (or even if!) I pass my test, how much would insurance be roughly? I have no idea whatsoever about the cost of running a car.


Thanks! :)
 
Cheaper independent all the way mate.. they will see you right :)

and insurance depends on ssoo many factors its hard to say.. but if you live in a good post code.. then id exspect it to be cheap on a small car at your age :).. cars if looked after aint all that pricey to run.. once the buying the thing and getting it on the road is out the way :)

good luck

freedom awaits you ;)
 
ZG002 said:
Cheaper independent all the way mate.. they will see you right :)

and insurance depends on ssoo many factors its hard to say.. but if you live in a good post code.. then id exspect it to be cheap on a small car at your age :).. cars if looked after aint all that pricey to run.. once the buying the thing and getting it on the road is out the way :)

good luck

freedom awaits you ;)
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Postcode isn't great. I live in Nottingham and not the best part of town but I guess it's not the worst part either. How much can I expect for insurance on something <1.2l engine, about £100 a month or thereabouts considering I will be a first timer?
 
to get a feel run a few quotes with decent insurers to get an idea of cost on various small cars of ages you were looking at

as for learning...independent all the way, get the feel for a used and abused small car then, well, i did anyway, the gearbox was shot in the one i learnt in hehe.

finally, you WILL pass, its only difficult if you dont listen to your instructor (or you have a short attention span, mental handicap, physical handicap, useless instructor etc). beyond car control and spatial awareness its mostly common sense with regards to being aware of other road users and non road users
 
Clark Nova said:
Postcode isn't great. I live in Nottingham and not the best part of town but I guess it's not the worst part either. How much can I expect for insurance on something <1.2l engine, about £100 a month or thereabouts considering I will be a first timer?
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Id guess nowhere near. More like £400ish id say.

I know someone who was banned when learning ( :eek: ) years ago, is now 28, 1st year insurance is only £300 on a 1.2 :rolleyes: Unreal tbh :o
 
instead of just going indi, why not ring the AA, BSM and indi to get an idea on pricing, you may be surprised, i am a BSM instructor and with discounts we get within £1 of indi prices round my area, in fact some indis are more expensive
 
cyclopopcicle said:
instead of just going indi, why not ring the AA, BSM and indi to get an idea on pricing, you may be surprised, i am a BSM instructor and with discounts we get within £1 of indi prices round my area, in fact some indis are more expensive
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I'd be inclined to agree with the above.

Ultimately, its down to you finding an instructor that you feel relaxed with, I'd try a few out before you finally decide on a clump of lessons with whoever.

Good luck.
 
cyclopopcicle said:
instead of just going indi, why not ring the AA, BSM and indi to get an idea on pricing, you may be surprised, i am a BSM instructor and with discounts we get within £1 of indi prices round my area, in fact some indis are more expensive
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Don't AA instructors basically work for them selves anyway?
 
Phate said:
No it's not.

That site quoted me £500+ more than what I pay for on my insurance with my car.
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Well notice how he stated it's a good place to START

after searching for a few hours, filling in details, ringing various insurers and haggling... :rolleyes:

OF COURSE IT'S GOING TO BE CHEAPER!
 
gareth.e said:
Well notice how he stated it's a good place to START

after searching for a few hours, filling in details, ringing various insurers and haggling... :rolleyes:

OF COURSE IT'S GOING TO BE CHEAPER!
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Thank you that man... He aint even started learning yet... he just wants some kind of rough idea.. and im sorry but that site has always given me an ok rough idea of what id be paying..
 
Confidence.
that's the key.
once you have that then the rest of your time is just learning how to operate a machine.
IMHO nerves cause 90% of the problems when learning to drive and also increase the number of lessons you need to overcome them substantially.
 
cyclopopcicle said:
instead of just going indi, why not ring the AA, BSM and indi to get an idea on pricing, you may be surprised, i am a BSM instructor and with discounts we get within £1 of indi prices round my area, in fact some indis are more expensive
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Out of interest why do you work for BSM and not yourself? Only because my friend qualified last summer and after a bit of research decided to go down the independent route.
 
I left BSM in Edinburgh because they wern't interested in helping me develop my career, They were interested in attracting new trainee ADI's at about £3.5k a time. Even though only 10% of those who start qualify.

You dont want to know the pathetically low levels the center manager stooped to to disrupt my business when I told them I was leaving. Unforgivable.

For some ADI's a large franchise school works, for most its a good place to start then go off on there own.

I tell anyone who wants to train as an ADI that the training from BSM is 1st class. But working for them is dire. It handled by two diffenent 'brances' internally.

Also like most things theres good and bad. A few of the instructors I met were very good but most were average at best, more in it for the money then the love of it. Now we all work for money but you need to like it to be an ADI.

A lot of not so wonderful instructors can hide in the big schools etc.

Independants are responsible to themselves and if they are any good will survive and do well. Personally I'd go asking around. Try a lesson and if the ADI is fine then go with that one.

Remember at 30 its not as easy to learn to drive as it is at 17. Be prepared for it to take a bit longer than you think!
 
Dashik said:
Remember at 30 its not as easy to learn to drive as it is at 17. Be prepared for it to take a bit longer than you think!
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it's no different than going back to school as a mature student.
people don't realise you forget how to learn.
 
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