Rakoda fan here. https://rakodadrivingschool.com/

Anonymous wrote:I have a questions about iDriveSmart, how well does your teen need to be able to drive before they start the lessons? Mine scares the crap out of me and I'd love to outsource this asap.

We did not use IDrive, but I was in the same position, so I signed my DC up for private driving lessons. It was pricey but worth it and helped save our relationship. When they were done with that we practiced on our own and then did Behind the Wheel. We did everything through Rokoda Driving school in McLean. Highly recommend.

We have been happy with Anee’s driving school.

IDriveSmart worked for us. Of course we were looking for Sunday mornings mostly. You're supposed to do the behind the wheel programs after already doing the majority of the required hours with a parent. They are the last 7 hours to get to whatever the magic number is. (40? 45?)

We did IdriveSmart online for MD. For MD, you can take the class starting at 15 before your permit but each state is different.

We signed up for IDriveSmart based on reviews from this site and we ended up moving to a different driving school because it was IMPOSSIBLE to get any convenient lesson times. We ate the cost of what we paid them and moved to a different school - that is how bad it was.

Another vote for I Drive Smart - they really prepared my DD well and she had a great experience. A couple of answers to questions:

My DD explained that instructors often don’t add sessions way in advance. Just keep checking and, as someone else mentioned, you can look for last minute options.

For the person asking about how much experience they need before doing in-car sessions, I would make sure your kid is at least comfortable and can drive on local roads. They will be in the car with another student and my DD was pretty nervous about that prophecy as it was. Not having much experience might make that worse.

I really wanted to use idrivesmart based on their reputation but the reviews on how difficult it was to schedule lessons turned us off. We went with: https://www.royaldrivingschoolva.com
They come pick up the student from your house and scheduling lessons as needed was not an issue.

DC had a great experience. DC was very anxious to drive and kept delaying it but once we started with Royal the anxiety went away and DC is now a very confident driver driving all over the DMV.

Anonymous wrote:Send em over the border to get driving instruction in MD. It's best to know your enemy early, their strengths and weaknesses.

This is so true.

Send em over the border to get driving instruction in MD. It's best to know your enemy early, their strengths and weaknesses.

Anonymous wrote:For everyone here recommending I Drive Smart: how are you able to even find lesson slots with them that aren’t in some place like Culpepper at 6 am on a Sunday?

Am I missing something? And I’m looking as far as 3 months down the line.

Yes you look 3 months down the line at first but also you can sign up through your account for alerts when sessions open up (plans change alot) at specific sites and days/times. They can email and text alerts. Its not that easy to find but their customer service is amazing and will talk you through it