Need to pass, dragged out for far too long.

Soldato
Joined
11 May 2007
Posts
8,303
Right, quick bit of history..

Went to uni in 2006 at last minute, stopped learning (had done about 20 hours on / off) and had a car. Car ended up being sold. I finished uni last year and I'm about to finish trying to clear a couple debts before I start driving again.

I need to ideally, pass and be on the way to having a car on the road by August. 3 to 4 pay days between now an then, and I think I'd have about £1200-1400 available to do this.

To do this, what sort of money do you think we're talking realistically?

Would a crash course be a waste of money?

Bearing in mind I'm on a low income, and will be doing a post graduate course in September that I'd like to commute to.
 
well I had 25 hours of lessons @ £20 and 2 tests (fail) @ £62, oh and theory test which was £30 I think.

I had no previous experience so I would think with your previous 20hrs that you would easily be able to do it, obviously would depend on how many lesson's you would need.

In my opinion I wouldn't do the crash course but if you wanted to do it quickly take 2 hr lessons daily for a couple of weeks then book your test. (if you are ready of course.)

You may find it cheaper to "block book" 10 hours of lessons, it worked out at £20 an hour if I paid for 10 hours in advance, where as 1 hour at a time would have cost £23.
 
Have a crash course with a test at the end of it, get it over with.
 
I had 28 lessons in a period of three weeks which cost around 560 quid. Add on the cost of theory and practical test costs it came to about 660 quid i think.

Just about scraped a pass with 12 minors.
 
OP: You could do a crash course if you wanted. However, the most important pointer I can give is to keep at it. Don't have a break and ensure you put the money aside for it.

Get your theory out the way asap. It is very easy, if (and only if) you have spent some time learning it. You are very unlikely to 'get lucky' and pass it without learning the material.

What sort of money are we talking?

20 hours lessons @ £20 per hour = £400

Theory = £30 (ish)

Test = £50 (ish)

Instructer's car on the test day for 2 hours = £40

Total: £520.

Please note that I have no idea how good or bad you are at driving, however as you have had 20 hours already I would hope you aren't going to be starting from scratch again.

I know learning to drive is not cheap and it can be a bit tedius, but every man needs to be able drive in the modern world and not being able to will have a negative impact on employers looking at your CV (whether you own a car or not, this does not matter, you need to be able to use the pool car at work).

Good luck:).
 
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Get yourself in a crash course, assuming you have your theory done with. Otherwise do the theory first then book a crash course, with 20 hours done already you should have just been fine tuning your driving and be done with all maneuvers etc

^ prac test is 62quid btw! I feel sorry for people who fail either test, must cost them a fortune :(
 
Thanks everyone for the replies, when I get paid next Friday I'll book in my theory. This months wages are tied up mainly with a student overdraft repayment :( so it delays when I can start pumping some money into lessons.

I've just been told a friend of my mothers is becoming an instructor and will need a 'guinea pig'. Apparently free lessons? Need more details but I'm not sure how skillful she'll be.

As for my experience so far, I've covered maneuvers etc and I'm fairly confident I can drive to a decent standard, it's just brushing up on them.

I hope I don't end up with an instructor who wants to drag it out.
 
Are you in Bristol? My mate is an instructor with a very good pass rate. My friends and family have all mainly passed 1st time with him.
 
I'm in Bridgwater, soon to be moving into the sticks not far from Weston Super Mare / Highbridge. A bit too far from Bristol for him to travel I'd say.

How much per hour out of interest?
 
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