Unit 51: The car, the instructor and “Hell, is that the time?!”

The Car:
First things first – you’re going to be in it a lot – make sure that it is comfortable for you and your customers. Do not forget to check the passenger seat – this is the one you’ll be in for the majority of the time.

The petrol or diesel debate will always rage, petrol cars are cheaper to buy, diesels are cheaper to run and usually easier to drive for learners. The majority of instructors are now changing to diesels, so if you pick up customers from another instructor and they find that they are constantly stalling in your petrol car this may become a problem.

Dual controls are essential for obvious reasons and for insurance purposes for the job. Some cars cannot be fitted with dual controls, and some older cars could be a problem, though many instructors are also mechanical, and can adapt ‘universal’ dual controls to most cars – just make sure they can be fitted before you buy.

Cabriolets and cars with only 2 seats (Smart fortwo for example) aren’t usually suitable due to DSA guidelines. Check with the DSA about any car you decide to buy which may be out of the ordinary.

Many cars have had recalls on them in the past. If buying a second hand car, ensure that the recall has been dealt with and make sure you have a certificate of proof of this work being done.

Make sure the car is clean both inside and out. It is worth keeping cleaning wipes in the car for the wheel and controls – customers with colds and flu could knock you out of action, losing you money and, potentially, customers.

A reliable car will allow you more time working and less time waiting in garages for things to be fixed – a car off the road for a day loses a lot of money, and will test your customer’s patience.

The Instructor:
Don’t smell, don’t look like you’ve spent the rest of the day slobbing out in front of the telly – attempt to look professional. This doesn’t necessarily mean shirt and tie (in fact this may put some customers off), but it does mean a relatively smart-casual appearance.

Punctuality is important, leave yourself enough time to get to a lesson, bearing in mind that a journey that can take 5 minutes at a quiet time of day could take 50 minutes in rush hour.

This is also important with regards to giving a full lesson – don’t cut them short. If your stated lesson plan is finished with 10 minutes to spare – make sure that something useful is done with this time – show and tell questions, and recaps on simple skills like hill starts are good, but don’t make a habit of padding out weak lessons with these – your customer will notice. Being reliable will gain you custom – many instructors still feel that this is a part-time casual job and can be treated in the same way.

‘Hell, is that the time?’:
As has been touched on above and in an earlier unit, punctuality is important but time spent travelling is dead time, earning you nothing.

If you can organise your diary well, you will be able to have customers in adjacent areas on the same day with short gaps between them. However, there will always be times when you have 3 customers and need an hour to travel between each of them. This is sometimes unavoidable, but with good planning should not happen often.

If covering a wide area, it can often be worth encouraging customers to travel in to your area from where they live – this can save both of you money – they get a lesson full of value, instead of getting to know the road in and out of town perfectly for half an hour every lesson, and you get less dead time.

Longer lessons will always save you money and be easier to plan around. People who live a long way from the test centre (if they cannot travel in to meet you) will need longer lessons – as a rule of thumb, if they live over 10 minutes away from the test centre, I will only do 1½ hour lessons; over 20 minutes away and I will only do 2 hour lessons. This may not be strictly necessary to teach the early stages, but will become a necessity when it comes to mock test time.

Discussion Points:

• What car, and why.
• Finance and Leasing
• The “uniform”
• Your area
• Pricing
• Your diary – when will you work and lesson lengths
• With a franchise – setting your area and gaps between lessons