My Wild Ride from Clueless to Cruisin' in a Day - Here's the Lowdown on Drive Auto School!

Hey everyone!

If you're reading this review, chances are you're thinking of getting behind the wheel and getting your license! I was in the same boat back in May 2018 - I had no idea how the pedals worked on a car, and I'd never even sat behind the wheel. But one morning, I woke up and thought, 'It's time!' and the next day, I signed up with auto school 'DRIVE' for training.

Read about my experience taking theory, track and city tests at the link.

So, why did I choose auto school 'DRIVE'?

It's close to home. I studied in an office on Karl-Marx 177b. It's a 3-minute walk from my place.The cost of training was 13 thousand rubles.The reviews were mostly positive.I'll share my top tips for choosing an auto school below. If you're interested, keep reading!

How to choose an auto school?

Check the map to see which auto schools are close to your home. Since theory training takes around 2 months (with 2 visits a week), it's not very convenient to travel far.Read reviews about this auto school - are there any additional fees for the track and re-taking exams?Find out how the lectures are - are they interesting (with examples) or just a recitation of the traffic rules from a handout?Compare the cost of training at different auto schools.

Training cost and discounts

As I mentioned earlier, the cost was 13 thousand rubles. Initially, they quoted me 14 thousand, and I said I was considering other auto schools. An hour later, they messaged me on VKontakte with the price of 13 thousand. Although I would have gone for 14 thousand!

Additional fees

According to the contract, everything was included in the price: training, track access, and re-takes. And indeed, there were no additional fees. I didn't pay a single extra ruble. My friend, who was training at 'Leader', had to pay for re-taking the theory test at the auto school.

Contract - what's included?

The training contract is drawn up very quickly, in about 10 minutes. You can pay the full amount upfront or in installments. Installments are allowed for 3 months, but I know for a fact that you won't be allowed to attend practical sessions if you haven't paid the full amount, even if you're still attending theory sessions!

The contract is valid for 1 year and includes:

134 hours of theory,59 hours of driving,3 free track sessions (Alma-Atinka, Antonovo-Ovseenko, and Voskresensk)

Theory classes

I attended theory classes on Mondays and Wednesdays at 6:30 PM. You can choose from Tuesday/Thursday or weekends as well. Each lecture lasted 1.5 hours in a regular classroom with desks. You'll be given a handout with the topics, and you'll start from the topic you got. All topics are covered in a circle, so to speak. I started almost from the end with the topic 'Driving Lessons'.

Drive SchoolLessons I started taking in mid-May, and finished in late July, so it took me 2.5 months in total. In August, I had about 5 topics left to cover, but I studied them on my own because driving practice often coincided with theory sessions.

Instructor, who taught the lessons, was excellent! He always told funny stories about drivers' lives. Learning was fun. At the end of each lesson, they showed us traffic rules on the projector, and we'd raise the correct answer cards. That made theory stick better.

Drive School

Trainer

The school has a trainer, but it's located at their main office on Alma-Atinka. The contract included 4 hours of trainer use, but I didn't go there because the instructor said I'd need to relearn anyway.

Driving track

The school is affiliated with 3 driving tracks, as I mentioned earlier. However, we only practiced on Alma-Atinka because that's where the driving test is held. On one hand, it's great that you'll already know this track and its potholes. On the other hand, it's a bit of a commute – it took me an hour to get there one way.

Drive SchoolI later found out that the track on Antonovo-Ovseenko is now affiliated with another school, and the one on Voskresensk is mostly used by visitors.

Track practice

I was most afraid of getting a nervous instructor. Luckily, I got an amazing instructor who made learning a breeze! He explained everything clearly and never yelled. Thanks to him, I developed an unstoppable desire to learn how to drive and hit the road every day!

We practiced 5 exercises on the track (which we need to pass in the GAI):

Stopping and starting on a hill.Parallel parking in reverse.Merging into a parking lot in reverse.Making 90-degree turns.Slalom.

Drive SchoolI scheduled all my track and city lessons on a table:

pink color – city lessons,green color – track lessons.

I had 7 track lessons, which was more than enough to master the exercises and get comfortable with the car.

City driving

I was really disappointed with the number of driving lessons I got in the city - just 5 sessions of 1 hour each. It's not enough to feel confident driving around. I sometimes missed a sign or stalled on a turn. But, of course, you'll get more confident with time and experience on your own machine.

Two things really helped me here:

I knew the traffic rules inside out - I knew how to merge, what signs meant, who to let go, and where I had the right of way.I was decent at maneuvering on the driving range.Of course, in the city, you need to learn some extra skills:

using all your mirrors,stopping and going frequently without rolling back.

Why so few lessons?

My contract said I'd get 59 hours of driving, but where are they? They deducted 4 hours for the simulator, and 8 hours for driving with a trailer (which I was told would cost extra). That leaves 47 hours... I only got to drive 12 times. And to make matters worse, they'd mark off 3-4 exercises in one hour, even though each exercise should take 1-2 hours. They also said that after an hour of driving, your foot on the clutch would start to shake. It's true, but honestly, I really needed more practice hours than what was promised.

So, be prepared to pay for 59 hours of driving, but only get to drive for 12 hours.

In-class exams

I'll write about the exams at the DMV in my next review, but here's what I experienced with the in-class exams.

Before you can take the DMV exams, you need to pass 1 quiz and 2 exams at the driving school:

The theoretical quiz at the school where you took classes. In my school, on Karl-Marx Street, you could take the quiz on a weekday from 5:30 to 6:30 PM. The quiz consists of 2 questions (you can find all the questions online, I used the Road Rules app to study). I passed on my first try.The theoretical exam at the main office of the school on Alma-Aty Street. They only hold this exam on Mondays. It's similar to the DMV exam, and you take it on a computer. You need to answer 2 questions, and if you get 1 or 2 wrong, you get 5 extra questions. I passed on my first try.The driving exam on the track - completing all the exercises. You can take this exam on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4 PM. The problem is, you don't know which car you'll be driving. You can try to drive around the track for 500 rubles, but then you'll still get a different car. I passed the driving exam on my second try. It was really hard to get used to the bigger car.

Retake exams

To retake the exams, you need to call the driving school on specific days, as listed in the contract booklet they give you.

I was eventually allowed to take the DMV exams. Including the in-class exams and the DMV exams, it took me 1.5 months. Not because I failed many times, but because the queues for the exams were huge.

Driving School Drive

Conclusion

I'm super grateful to the driving school for helping me actually enjoy learning all the traffic rules and getting behind the wheel! I'm also really happy with my relaxed and friendly instructor! And I appreciate that they didn't charge me extra.

But there's a bit of a downside to this otherwise great experience... Not enough practical lessons! If they had been more realistic, with 59 actual lessons, I'd have been a total pro by the time I took my driving test and nailed it with my eyes closed! And yeah, the track is a bit far away, but that's a minor issue.

Thanks for reading my review! I hope it was helpful. Take a sec to rate it, would ya?

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