With DC#1 Greg's was fine. With DC#2 we ran into a bad instructor at Greg's and their availability issues made this much more of an issue than it might have been.

They really wanted to schedule the bad instructor and it wasn't just a personality thing.

I've found Greg's TERRIBLE in terms of availability of in-car times. Dd is done with the class, and has been checking their website daily and has never seen any open times to schedule. I called once, and the receptionist said there's not available beyond what is on the website (which is, literally, nothing).

We used I Drive Smart. Very impressed.

Anonymous wrote:We used Greg's. They were very flexible with scheduling. Summer HS sport schedule changed and they allowed us to work around that and a vacation. I don't think any of them really teach your kids to drive. Choose based on convenience and price.

I agree with this. The learning to drive is really the hours and hours they put in with Mom and Dad. Experience.

I have my third in drivers ed now, the first two we did IDS. They both totalled cars within a couple years. That’s not to say IDS is bad, they would have done this with any other driving school I’m sure. But now with #3, I chose Greg’s for the convenience.

We used Greg's. They were very flexible with scheduling. Summer HS sport schedule changed and they allowed us to work around that and a vacation. I don't think any of them really teach your kids to drive. Choose based on convenience and price.

We used Admiral driving school. Great experience for DS.

Another vote for IDS. They are very expensive, but were really responsive when we ran into timing issues (i.e. child was about to go back to college, snow forced the cancellation of in car session, driving test had already been scheduled).

They are professional and reliable. Locations were also convenient for us.

We’ve used all three and honestly they’re all the same. I’d go by price and convenience of location and schedule of classes. They’re only getting the basics and very limited time behind the wheel; there’s no substitute for getting as much time behind the wheel with mom and dad as possible.

Anyone have a promo code for I Drive Smart?

Anonymous wrote:I picked a el cheapo service that caters to latinos. It's so funny that they are all required to teach the same exact course by the State of MD and people spend $600 when you can spend $200. They were courteous and it was well run.

We did I drive smart for #1 and se did el cheapo for #2 only because of scheduling issues. Both of them go the exact same thing -- I don't think one was better than the other. Both kids had lots of in car experience with me and that was far more important.

OP here. Thanks so much for all the feedback and sharing insights. I think I will go with I Drive Smart since the classes are very convenient for us and based on all the reviews.

We used I Drive Smart. It was very easy to reschedule. I feel they taught my daughter the driving basics well and would recommend them. Bonus is that you get great stories from the retired police officers who teach the class.

Anonymous wrote: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.

Ditto. We used IDS for DS who just got his license and he passed the first time. We did tons of driving with him, but IDS fully taught him the back in parking method. As a new driver, DS is better at this than me.

I picked a el cheapo service that caters to latinos. It's so funny that they are all required to teach the same exact course by the State of MD and people spend $600 when you can spend $200. They were courteous and it was well run.

We did IDS for both. We have been pleased enough with it. I agree with the other poster that really the teaching happens with the parents. I dont' know that they really learn that much in the 30 hours of class time. I think this whole private drivers ed thing is a bit of a scam. It used to be offered in school. I don't know how people of limited means swing it.