Learning to Drive: Your Experiences.

Dist said:
I wish i could learn to drive but i even if i did pass the test i could never afford a car and insurance (on top gear the other day they showed that a £1200 car costs between £3300 and £5000 to insure for a new driver (that was for a 17 year old though, daubt its much cheaper for an older person who just passed)).
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Dont know where they got insurance quotes from! Obviously not from confused.com ;)

What was they trying to insure??! Insurance isnt that much, Id say a fully comp would be around £1500 for a "normal" "1.2L" 1st car.
 
passed first time - happy days. Had an examiner who breathed like darth vader the whole way round though :/. Make sure you get your theory done nice and quick so it doesn't hold you back when your ready for your practical.

Originally Posted by Dist View Post
I wish i could learn to drive but i even if i did pass the test i could never afford a car and insurance (on top gear the other day they showed that a £1200 car costs between £3300 and £5000 to insure for a new driver (that was for a 17 year old though, daubt its much cheaper for an older person who just passed)).
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The price of the car makes no difference to the insurance mate. If you bought a Ford Ka for £1200, compared to say a BMW for £1200, the beamer would be much more, which is pretty obvious.
 
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Wow so many responses, I guess so many people know how to drive haha!
Makes me feel a little inadequate when all my friends are currently learning to drive or passing :P So I better get to it!

Seems like the cost varies between 600-1000 depending on how good you are :P I honestly can't see me being very good, even though i've never tired. I'm not good at any sport and have poor hand eye coordination, so i expect it will cost me closer to the 1k mark :D

Regards!

P.s. Can you realistically expect to learn to drive faster by taking more lessons each week? I.e. could you do 14 hours a week in the car? Or is it better to space it out a bit more?
 
Don't want to think about it; failed 5 times, so well into the thousands. Also had to redo my theory test after my first theory certificate expired before passing the practical.

Took all my failures in Worcester, then went to Newbury for my 6th and passed with 1 minor; compared to Worcester, the test route was insanely easy - reckon I'd have passed 2nd or 3rd time had I taken them all there.

So there's some advice for you; if you fail a couple in the same place, seriously consider taking the next one elsewhere, in a smaller town.

EDIT: In my defense, I was never a bad driver; the worst that I did was 8 minors and a major...3 of the 5 fail were majors for lack of mirror work which, according to my instructor, I was doing but without moving my head enough :D
 
Riiya said:
Wow so many responses, I guess so many people know how to drive haha!
Makes me feel a little inadequate when all my friends are currently learning to drive or passing :P So I better get to it!

Seems like the cost varies between 600-1000 depending on how good you are :P I honestly can't see me being very good, even though i've never tired. I'm not good at any sport and have poor hand eye coordination, so i expect it will cost me closer to the 1k mark :D

Regards!
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Doesnt always go by "how good" you are, all depends on how well you know the area, confidence, Examiners mood, and LUCK! All depends on who is driving on the road at the time of your test aswell, but I would budget around £1000 any spare money is a bonus :)
 
12 lessons costing £222
Theory test (cant remember the price!!! £30?)
Practical test plus 2 hours of instructors car time was £108.50
December last year

Then £80 for a four hour session of motorway driving (was actually only about two hours on the motorway because I live 45 miles from the nearest)
 
malfunkshun said:
12 lessons costing £222
Theory test (cant remember the price!!! £30?)
Practical test plus 2 hours of instructors car time was £108.50
December last year

Then £80 for a four hour session of motorway driving (was actually only about two hours on the motorway because I live 45 miles from the nearest)
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Good price on the lessons, and 12 lessons is not many. I'd expect most people to require more than that.

Motorway tuition is useful, as is pass-plus generally. It made little difference to my insurance but did improve my driving.
 
25 lessons + £14 a lesson = £350 over the course of around 8 months.

Passed first time :)

I hear it's about £1000 all in just to pass now :eek:

And then you're stupidly expensive insurance due to being a new driver.
 
RoysonBobson said:
Good price on the lessons, and 12 lessons is not many. I'd expect most people to require more than that.

Motorway tuition is useful, as is pass-plus generally. It made little difference to my insurance but did improve my driving.
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I considered pass plus, but since most of my lessons were at night and in the ******* down rain I didn't see the point at my age.

Also worth noting that I bought a cheap banger to use for practice as well, but in the end only did about 6 hours in it :( was nice to have when I passed though :)
 
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So about these crash courses. My mate went on one for a week but failed, but has since passed by taking some practice the normal way.

Has anyone hear ever done a crash course and passed it?

Oh, and does it help being 22/23 years old when you first pass your test, with regard to the insurance costs?
 
I did 4 hrs per lesson for 5 days, Then just perfected, doing 4hr lessons on a sunday, Worked well, Passed my test within 3 months, All depends on whether you can afford it or not.
 
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leaandluke said:
I did 4 hrs per lesson for 5 days, Then just perfected, doing 4hr lessons on a sunday, Worked well, Passed my test within 3 months, All depends on wheater you can afford it or not.
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Yeah :3

I have no Job at the moment and can't seem to find one lol! Oh look! A job at Dominos Pizza....must know how to drive :P
 
Im 24 and currently taking 2 hour lessons once a week with the AA, have been doing it for 2 months now so that’s 16 hours of lessons (£360).

As far as driving about goes I’m about ready to take the test, few mistakes every so often but mostly just minors. I suck at manoeuvres though, need a lot more practice with these still.

I passed the theory with 100% on the multiple choice before I started taking lessons.
 
I'll still not 17 yet, 21st July! I'm the youngest out of all my friends :( I've been waiting ages! :p

Can't wait to start! So for christmas just gone my parents got me one of them track days, but it was a "First Drive" one, so i drove a Mini Cooper S around a track, and by the end, i could actually get into 3rd without killing myself, the passengers or the engine :D

woot, go me! :D

But anyway, got my first lesson on my birthday, and want to get my theory done ASAP,

On that note, Can i book my theory test now? even though I'm not 17, what i mean is, book it say the 22nd July, so that'd let me get over my birthday on the 21st, and take the test on the 22nd? can i book that now?
 
Yarde said:
On that note, Can i book my theory test now? even though I'm not 17, what i mean is, book it say the 22nd July, so that'd let me get over my birthday on the 21st, and take the test on the 22nd? can i book that now?
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Edit: whoops, thought you said your real test. You probably still need to get your provisional license, but I'm not 100% on that.
 
Cost me far far too much money as I had to wait yonks for tests. Don't mind as being able to drive is more important.

17 in october, failed first test in dec, passed in er...feb?
 
Yarde said:
On that note, Can i book my theory test now? even though I'm not 17, what i mean is, book it say the 22nd July, so that'd let me get over my birthday on the 21st, and take the test on the 22nd? can i book that now?
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You need your licence number to book the test, if you have a provisional then it should be fine.
 
15 hours at 20 quid an hour, so 300. 30 quid provisional, 40 quid theory test, sit 1 test + 2 hours of instructors car 100, failed, another test and 2 hours, 100 quid.

so all in, £570. To be fair, the 300 quids worth of lessons was for my 17th birthday, so i only paid £270.

passed exactly 3 months to the day after my 17th, would have been just over 2 months if i passed my first test.
 
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