I Drive Smart vs Greg's vs Easy Method Driving School?

[Anonymous]

Looking into driving schools for my 15.5 year old to start this summer doing the classroom portion followed by in-car lessons and lots of practice with hubby and I. I am reading all these terrible reviews online of the driving schools. Any experience with these 3 schools and recommendations. The I Drive Smart program gets lots of bad reviews relating to mean teachers and over-the-top scary videos of crashes, etc. Greg's driving gets a bad rap for the driving portion-late instructors, lost paperwork, etc. Easy Method has better reviews but many are really old reviews since its been around for a long time. Would appreciate recommendations and ways to compare these. I know I drive Smart is much more expensive (is it worth it?). Thanks for your help!

[Anonymous]

We used I Drive Smart and were very pleased. Frankly, I liked the stern retired cops and the scary videos. Driving is serious business and I felt like my DC was as prepared as possible at the end.

[Anonymous]

DD used I Drive Smart. We were pleased. It is more expensive than Greg's. Cannot comment on if it was worth it over the other program but the classes were good, paperwork completed on time and in car instruction was flexible and excellent. So no complaints.

[Anonymous]

While I don’t have first-hand experience with any of them, I do have my DS registered for Greg’s this summer. I did it based on seversl recommendations of moms I know whose kids have taken Greg’s classes and they were happy with them. I wonder if reviews are dependent on location. We have three Greg’s near us and I chose one particular location that these moms used.

[Anonymous]

We’ve used Greg’s twice. My sons learned and lot and were noticeably better drivers after their instructed driving. They passed the first time, and we didn’t have issues with lost paperwork or late instructors.

[Anonymous]

I Drive Smart has the greatest flexibility (if you need to make up days 2, 5 and 9 another session for example), and Greg's is cheapest. They are all the same as far as what they teach your young, inexperienced driver. Never heard of the other one you mentioned.

[Anonymous]

If money was no object, I’d use I Drive Smart.
Greg’s was a little more than half. It was fine. I was disappointed they didn’t learn more in the parking in-car session. We did have an instructor late to one in-car and didn’t have a great experience with one of the instructors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While I don’t have first-hand experience with any of them, I do have my DS registered for Greg’s this summer. I did it based on seversl recommendations of moms I know whose kids have taken Greg’s classes and they were happy with them. I wonder if reviews are dependent on location. We have three Greg’s near us and I chose one particular location that these moms used.

We've had great experience with Greg's (2 drivers). No issues with the Gaithersburg location.

[Anonymous]

I vote for I Drive Smart. Great company to work with.

[Anonymous]

I Drive Smart did a wonderful job preparing my teen DD. Her in car lesson instructors were particularly impressive.

[Anonymous]

I did easy method when I was learning to drive. The instructors were mean, I ended up developing a lifelong aversion to driving. I wouldn’t recommend it

[Anonymous]

We used Greg's due to scheduling. I believe that it is really the parent who teaches you to drive in the 65 practice hours not the 6 hours from the school. The class is very state regulated. Greg's worked fine for us. They were quite flexible with make ups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I Drive Smart has the greatest flexibility (if you need to make up days 2, 5 and 9 another session for example), and Greg's is cheapest. They are all the same as far as what they teach your young, inexperienced driver. Never heard of the other one you mentioned.

The flexibility and ability to schedule everything online was very valuable to me. I also have a DD and knowing the ppl alone in the car with her are retired police did give me some comfort.

[Anonymous]

I am a criminal defense attorney and we used IDS. Police officers are generally pretty no nonsense about safety. I wanted a direct and no nonsense approach to safety and that is what we got. Plus, we got bonus instruction like, “never ever let your friend who smokes marijuana in your car.” They also do the in car test and paperwork for the license for you.

[Anonymous]

I drive smart: we liked it. They were not mean but they were strict about time. Be there on time. Car accidents are the leading cause of death in this age group so I wanted someone who took it seriously.