Recommend me a driving school in Toronto! *UPDATE: picked YD*

[AcidBomber]

Hi everyone,

In short - i am looking for a decent driving school in Toronto (preferably in North York). I also want to be able to finish the classes in a relatively short amount of time (1~ month) so I can get my G2.

Any recommendations?! My parents told me to go to YD, but i cant justify paying $1000+ even if their course is top notch.


thanks


UPDATE: Picked to go with Young Drivers of Canada after what people recommended, i'll update again after I have finished the course. Cost for me was $1038.45 after taxes for the basic package.

[addikt]

I've gone through 5 instructors from different schools in the last 2 months and got my G2 yesterday. Here are my recommendations

1) Young Drivers (Kitchener) -- I took total of 4hrs of instruction with them and learnd a LOT more when compared to the others. My instructor actually took me on the highway and it was fun. She also taught me how to use the side mirror which none of the other instructors did... also other things like scanning at intersections which can cost you points (again none of the other instructors told me about this...) All I can say is that I should've just gone with YD from the start. If you have the money you should take it with YD IMO. You can try to save a few bucks now but in the long run if you can avoid getting into and causing accidents, it's well worth the money.

2) Royal Driving Techniques (Toronto) -- took 10 hrs of instruction from Mr. Abdul Basir (416-880-2245). He's a really nice guy and has affordable rates. Good instructor too -- he'll teach you parking formulas which are great since I've almost never botched a reverse park after following his advice.

3) Pioneer Driving School (Toronto) -- took 3 hrs of instruction with them and don't recommend it. The instructor was cool and actually taught some useful stuff like S-shift. But the problem was that he's way too agressive of a driver. I would have died 3 times if I hadn't been using my brain and just listening to his intruction. Twice he told me to lane change with a car in my blind spot and once while waiting to make a left turn there was a truck coming head on trying to make it before the red light he kept yelling 'go go go!' .... I didn't and he was laughing afterwards saying good thing you didn't

4) Canada Driving School (Kitchener) -- They suck.

5) Peters Academy of Defensive Driving (Toronto) -- took 2 hrs of instruction with some guy who had 25 years of experience blah blah blah. He didn't even teach me for 2 hours. It was a 1:15 hour lesson with him going over G1 stuff for 30 mins... but that's ok I wouldn't give a bad grade just on that. Out of all the instructors I had, this guy was the only one who yelled at me for making minor mistakes, kept using his brake like I was going to get us killed, and kept taking the steering wheel away from me... AND after doing a poor job teaching, he actually wanted to know when to schedule my next lesson LOL ... ya stay FAR away from this school.

[ctrueman82]

+1 for YD. Had them myself and aced my G2 on the first try with zero nervousness and full confidence in my driving abilities (thanks Angelina!)

Like most things in life you get what you pay for, spend now so you don't potentially spend more later (failed tests).

good luck.

[AcidBomber]

I've gone through 5 instructors from different schools in the last 2 months and got my G2 yesterday. Here are my recommendations

1) Young Drivers (Kitchener) -- I took total of 4hrs of instruction with them and learnd a LOT more when compared to the others. My instructor actually took me on the highway and it was fun. She also taught me how to use the side mirror which none of the other instructors did... also other things like scanning at intersections which can cost you points (again none of the other instructors told me about this...) All I can say is that I should've just gone with YD from the start. If you have the money you should take it with YD IMO. You can try to save a few bucks now but in the long run if you can avoid getting into and causing accidents, it's well worth the money.

2) Royal Driving Techniques (Toronto) -- took 10 hrs of instruction from Mr. Abdul Basir (416-880-2245). He's a really nice guy and has affordable rates. Good instructor too -- he'll teach you parking formulas which are great since I've almost never botched a reverse park after following his advice.

3) Pioneer Driving School (Toronto) -- took 3 hrs of instruction with them and don't recommend it. The instructor was cool and actually taught some useful stuff like S-shift. But the problem was that he's way too agressive of a driver. I would have died 3 times if I hadn't been using my brain and just listening to his intruction. Twice he told me to lane change with a car in my blind spot and once while waiting to make a left turn there was a truck coming head on trying to make it before the red light he kept yelling 'go go go!' .... I didn't and he was laughing afterwards saying good thing you didn't

4) Canada Driving School (Kitchener) -- They suck.

5) Peters Academy of Defensive Driving (Toronto) -- took 2 hrs of instruction with some guy who had 25 years of experience blah blah blah. He didn't even teach me for 2 hours. It was a 1:15 hour lesson with him going over G1 stuff for 30 mins... but that's ok I wouldn't give a bad grade just on that. Out of all the instructors I had, this guy was the only one who yelled at me for making minor mistakes, kept using his brake like I was going to get us killed, and kept taking the steering wheel away from me... AND after doing a poor job teaching, he actually wanted to know when to schedule my next lesson LOL ... ya stay FAR away from this school.

Ah, thanks for your info! Much appreciated.

+1 for YD. Had them myself and aced my G2 on the first try with zero nervousness and full confidence in my driving abilities (thanks Angelina!)

Like most things in life you get what you pay for, spend now so you don't potentially spend more later (failed tests).

good luck.

My parents thinks it's a good idea to go with YD, but I just don't know whether it's really worth the money...

(Post 2222 )

[Mugen123]

they're all the same, just make sure u get the certificate to decrease your insurance

i was at all-star, can't remember how much it cost though

[Tomato_1]

+1 for YD

It is worth it because they teach not just how to drive but drive defensively. If will save you $ in the long run.

[magnodrome]

I went with CAA back in the day, my course is an accelerated program - complete in 4 weekends but classes run on sat and sun. My driver's ed car were a Volvo and an Acura, very nice to drive and get to go on the highway too. Much better than driving a ford focus or an old corolla.

I recommend learning manual with the driving school, since there's nothing to learn in automatic. Aside from stepping on the brake and shift to "D" and release your brake and step on your accelerator.

[AcidBomber]

Thanks for all the info! I'll take a look at YD.

[lazy_prodigy]

Is YD really worth the $1,369.00?

[ctrueman82]

I would say so, your quote seems slightly more expensive then mine was though.

[AcidBomber]

Just an update, I have picked to go with YD, I'll report back after I have finished the course at the end of May.

Cost for the basic package (25 hrs in-class + 10 hrs in-car + other random stuff) was $989 + GST = $1038.45


Hopefully it's worth the money like what others have said.

[petey123]

holy **** i didn't know packages went up into 1000+....

I took some ghetto course for 275$....I think the school was seneca? I don't recommend it, they were not professional, but anyway I learned more driving w/ family than I did from the instructor, he wasn't helpful at all and always played distracting indian music =/

Still have to take the highway test ugh how many years do you have to do before the reset again? 5? Might consider taking a couple hours w/ a better instructor for a refresh

[ctrueman82]

Congrats, good luck.

Just an update, I have picked to go with YD, I'll report back after I have finished the course at the end of May.

Cost for the basic package (25 hrs in-class + 10 hrs in-car + other random stuff) was $989 + GST = $1038.45

Hopefully it's worth the money like what others have said.

[yao416]

$1000 for G2

I paid $450(not YD)

[TerenceL]

In my experience, driving schools prepare you for driving tests but inadequately prepare you for driving in real life conditions, like the highway during rush hour (e.g. how to merge properly, going with the flow of traffic) because most of the time these tests are taken on non-busy roads. When I passed my G2 I thought I knew how to drive. But now that I've been commuting from Toronto to Mississauga on the 401 every day for work for the past 3 months, I realize how useless driving schools really are.