Institute For Drivers Safety

Fantastic experience: We had such a positive experience with Institue for Drivers Safety! Our first son got his permit and we as parents had been doing a lot of his permit driving time with him, however we felt it was important that he learn from a non-parent, and someone experienced in drivers' safety training. He completed his 12 hours of driving time with them and passed his road assessment on the first attempt! As his mother, it has also helped me to be more comfortable and confident in his driving abilities and therefore I was more at ease driving with him to get him additional hours. He gained a lot of confidence as well. This company is worth the investment! Our son really connected well with instructor Mr. Houle. Thank you, Mr. Houle!

Fantastic experience: I've now had 3 kids go through IDS and I would highly recommend. There are some bugs to work out with the online scheduling, for instance you can't book the driving test until the final instructional drive. That can make it challenging to book the test near your student's birthday since drive slots fill up quickly. The solution, I just gave them a call and they were able to schedule the exam drive without having completed the training drives! Simple enough! They were friendly, helpful and attentive when I called. Most importantly, I've got 3 safe drivers.

Fantastic experience: My daughter completed their training and now my son is enrolled. This program gives the kids so much confidence. They are night and day different before this program. So thankful we were referred to this company!

Fantastic experience: This has been a very positive experience for our two sons. The classwork and road time with instructors was excellent. This definitely gave them the confidence and abilities to drive safely and be alert drivers. Mr. Love and Mr. Dennison were extremely patient and positive with their instructing. I would absolutely recommend for young drivers to learn skills required to get behind the wheel, to be more aware and drive safely!

Fantastic experience: Great experience. positive and quick communication and easy to use scheduling platform!

Fantastic experience: Amazing experience getting my driver's license with the Institute for Driver's Safety! All the instructors were extremely helpful and ready to meet me at my level. This is a perfect place for anyone to come and learn to drive from scratch or just to get a boost in their road safety knowledge before getting their license. 100% recommend!

Fantastic experience: I’ve been a customer for 4 years since Institute for Driver Safety taught all 3 of my boys to drive. I don’t want to jinx anything but so far so good on the accident front. All of the instructors are great! the online scheduling system is so convenient too!

Fantastic experience: Very positive experience. All of the instructors we had were great and patient. It was hugely helpful to have them give the 3 hour lessons, particularly on the interstate. I will use them again.

Fantastic experience: I did my driving lessons with David Wiley I had the best experience learning everything I needed to know about driving David helped understand the ways of the roads even when I didn’t understand He found a way for my brain to comprehend what he was teaching me it was truly a great experience David was the best instructor I recommend booking any lessons with Him if possible he will make your learning experience one you will never forget so shoutout to David Wiley thank you for everything

Fantastic experience: As someone who suffers from anxiety I was pleased to learn firsthand, the dedication and patience of driving instructor David Wiley. Having bore witness to the plethora of accidents doting the Phoenix area; I was hesitant to proceed with attaining my license. However striving forward I would enroll at the Institute for Drivers Safety, completing various lessons (at my own pace) over the span of a year. Towards the end I began to overthink even the smallest of details, causing further avoidance and overall hinderance to achieving my goal. Following a lapse in my practice I was once again spurred on to finish what I had started. Scheduling my final test introduced me to instructor David Wiley. His calm, yet professional demeanor aided to ease my anxious mind and further strengthened my resolve to preform. Continually offering guidance and support throughout the lesson allowed me to adjust course and succeed in attaining my drivers license. For this I cannot thank him enough.

Positive experience: The behind the wheel driving was extremely helpful for my daughter. The instructors were clear and patient and she had a marked increase in her skills after the sessions. In person class didn’t cover as useful of information and wasn’t as helpful.

Fantastic experience: David Wiley was amazing with my daughter. Patient and calm, he helped her navigate thruway and city driving.

Fantastic experience: We had the best experience with IDS. My son took lessons with Mr. Montgomery and Mr. DeGrazia and had his exam with Mr. Love. He was especially fond of Mr. Love! All great instructors and a great program. They picked him up and dropped him off at home. He drove all over the valley, through the airport and on various freeways. They took him to his own high school to practice parking as well. Definitely recommend IDS!!

Negative experience: I have called repeatedly and no one has the courtesy to get back to me. It's damn near impossible to get lessons scheduled, and when you do they no-show. We are currently waiting on our 7:30am lesson but no one showed, no one called, so my daughter got up at 6:30am on her summer break for this! Ugh!

Fantastic experience: My son just completed the Drivers Training Course with Instructor Joseph Navarro and had a great experience. Joe was knowledgeable, patient and professional and easy to talk to. He gave a lot of extra tips and fun facts about the city and made the driving experience enjoyable. My son said he feels the course gave him a lot of confidence and he feels ready to drive.

Fantastic experience: Very good instruction with professional trainers. They focus on the details that as parents we may miss teaching our kids so it's nice to have multiple trainers.

Negative experience: Do not use this company, instructor driving car 18 the evening of 6.26.24 tried cutting me off and was hostile after he didn’t succeed. There are many options for driving instruction that do not involve instructors that have road rage issues. There is no way would trust them with my kid in the car!

Negative experience: Do not use this company. I was waiting to make a left hand turn and just as I was starting to make my turn a man driving one of the “student driver” vehicles abruptly cut me off and turned in front of me. How is your teen supposed to learn to drive properly if the instructors are pulling jerk moves like this guy. I’m not difficult to upset, but this move by this particular driver was as rude as any I’ve dealt with on the road in a while. I didn’t even get the courtesy “sorry” wave or any acknowledgement that he has just been a total jerk. Hope he isn’t a representation of the entire company. But no way would I hire these people. What a POS

Fantastic experience: I would recommend this program for beginning drivers! The instructors are very patient and helpful! They provided a great learning experience for our teen and allowed her to gain confidence in her driving skills in a low pressure environment! Thank you again !

Fantastic experience: This is a fantastic program! I didn't want to be responsible for teaching my son how to drive so I called IDS. My son took the instructive class as well as the driving lessons. Kevin was great with him - harsh at first (which I appreciated!) then praised him as he improved. We practiced in between lessons and he passed his test! So now he gets to get his license! This course took a lot of stress of my shoulders!

Fantastic experience: We had a great experience with The Institute for Drivers Safety! All the instructors were top notch. They showed up on time, provided excellent feedback at drop off and my daughter feels much more confident driving. We also signed up for the package that includes taking the drivers test on the 4th drive. Now, she just has to go to DMW to get her license on her birthday. Also, signing up for the course gave me the peace of mind that my child was learning all of the tips, tricks, hazards that I take for granted when driving. Last two drives were with Dan and he was wonderful! I highly recommend The Institute for Drivers Safety!

Fantastic experience: Great instructors and staff! Our daughter actually came home and taught us things! :)

Negative experience: BEWARE. Paid this company in full for driving lessons and then they had no booking availability after they outright lied and said they did. Would not refund our money. Since then, I have also heard terrible things about their classroom instruction. ****Regarding their response below. Please note that they didn’t provide the service they stated they would within the timeline they gave me and then kept a large portion of my money! Make sure to read the fine print on their “non refundable deposit” to save yourself from what happened to me. Also note the other reviews where other people have had the same issues I had. *When we got our credit card company involved for fraud suddenly they start sending VERY limited options for their services.

Negative experience: We used them in the late summer and fall of 2023 for my teenaged daughter. They were incredibly hard to get in touch with. Multiple messages left unanswered. Scheduling drives with them was difficult. On one rescheduled drive (supposed to start at 7AM on a Saturday because that was all that was available) we got an email 15 minutes before to cancel it. I would not use them again unless they offer an online scheduling program and improve their customer service/phone answering skills.

Negative experience: We scheduled our son for the first two drives and the class back in August as we had a great experience the spring of 2022 with our oldest. He is a safe driver and had a wonderful instructor (unfortunately that instructor no longer works with IDS). We had every intention to stay with Institute for Driver's Safety for our youngest even though it would be a different instructor. We found scheduling times to be extremely limited. The calendar only went to mid-November and most of the dates between now and then are full or not available. I saw in the FAQ that I could schedule and cancel appointments online rather than over the phone. I called to inquire because I had never seen this option previously. I left two messages and didn't get a call back until after I canceled the class time and drives. In the meantime, I did figure out how to navigate the online scheduling. I asked friends and found that some were having a similar experience with call backs and scheduling that I decided to go a different route. We found a different school with lots of times even as early as tomorrow if I wanted! Within 10 minutes of scheduling online, I received a call from the other school and they answered a few questions and one of the questions they didn't know they were going to ask the driving instructors. I'm sure Institute still has wonderful instructors but scheduling isn't the easiest and availability is lacking. In response to Institute for Driver’s Safety. I had our first drive scheduled in August for November. At the time that was as far out as I could schedule. I found how to schedule online so I’m confused that online scheduling has never been an option. Hmm. The FAQ section says otherwise (see below). If I would have been able to talk to someone each time I called or a return call in a timely manner it may have been different. I cancelled online and followed up with a call to Institute and left a message I was cancelling. I got a prompt call back after that message. From the FAQ section (and exactly what I did). "What should I do to reschedule a driving lesson? Should you need to reschedule a lesson, you may do so by logging into your account on our website." Also from the FAQ section, "how do I schedule a behind-the-wheel lesson? Log in to your student account on our website. Choose an available time and your preferred instructor." Times were slim. *Reading the most recent review, it does seem like some positive changes are being made.

Fantastic experience: I do not normally write reviews how ever I just had to write this one. This new online scheduling is awesome. It is so easy to schedule lessons in my area now. there are so many dates and times to choose from. I was able to schedule my son right away. he started this week! This is my 2nd child to go through this program. and it was difficult to get lessons scheduled in the time we needed. they were usually six to eight weeks out. Thank you for being on the ball and changing software and hiring more instructors. Kudos to the owner for making positive changes. This program is well worth the money!!!

Negative experience: We signed our 2 teens up for this school after having our oldest go through it 2.5 years ago and being very pleased. Buyer beware and read their most recent reviews as we sit here trying to call them to schedule driving time and getting no return calls to our messages. They happily collected our money for 2 kids with no mention that they obviously don’t have enough driving instructors. Feeling pretty scammed right now.

Negative experience: i wanted to register my kid here but due to the reviews i seen i had a few questions like what happens if they dont pass do we have to pay money again a few have said there was no driver for the east side i called left a message with no response if they wont even return my call as a potential customer then i will take my money and go somewhere else. i guess everyone else with the bad review was right. i found them through my insurance agent she said her husband worked here i think it is a pass and i wont be having my child go through the school.

Negative experience: I signed up. My child loved the initial classroom lesson. Three months later, 9 calls and voice messages left and still unable to schedule a drive. I even called and gave them a full week with any time and said just email, text or call and let me know when to show up. Nothing! I paid in full. While it might be an excellent program, good luck trying to actually schedule your child. It's nearly impossible!!! If you want a program that doesn't cause you a headache, I would look for a different company.

Negative experience: I called and left a voicemail. Then I called again, and again, and again. It’s now about 5 days later and still no response. The irritating part is their voicemail actually lies to you and says “If you got this message, we are busy helping other people schedule their drive”. So you’ve been busy scheduling people for 5 straight days?!?! How am I going to trust these people to train my kid on how to drive when they can’t train themselves on basic customer service.

Fantastic experience: Well worth the cost and when you factor in 11 hours of driving...it's actually very reasonable. The teachers/drivers were great with my son, especially Joe. My son was nervous about driving with a stranger and not too happy about driving for 3 hours at a time in general. He went from a shaky driver at best to pretty competent and confident. They were responsive and helpful with all my questions. When my son passed his drivers test with them... we were so relieved and thankful- We've used them 3 times and all were good experiences.

Negative experience: Unhappy with the scheduling experience. We decided to go with this company because of the price, but we have been waiting so long just to complete 6 hours. When I originally called them they told me in advance that they were booking further away but once you are registered you can sign up for cancellations. Guess what? cancellations hardly ever happen. We have been calling every day to ask for cancellations their response they will email when that happens, when I finally received an email with a cancellation, I called right away and of course they already had filled that space. The lady answering the phone promised me my son was going to be able to complete the total lessons before October, I hope that is the case.

Negative experience: If you speak Spanish I do not recommend this school just to ask for information by phone if you speak Spanish they hang up on you very rudely

Fantastic experience: The instructors were fantastic and my daughter is an excellent driver thanks to them! Highly recommend them.

Fantastic experience: I had Phil Dandrea He is the absolute best instructor he was calm the whole time and even told me to message him if needed 10/5 stars!!!!!

Negative experience: I would not recommend this school. For the price you pay it's poor quality. My daughter did two lessons with this school. The staff who answers the phone, Renee is rude and doesn't return calls. And they don't know how to effectively schedule lessons they will schedule your next lesson like a month out. The instructor was not professional or patient with my daughter. The second instructor showed up 15 minutes late to pick her up and scolded her because she is not getting enough practice at home. Beware!

Fantastic experience: My daughter recently completed the "Gold" driving program. It was helpful for her to drive with someone other than family. They put new drivers though the paces, freeway driving, airport driving, etc. She had four different instructors take her on the road: David, Mike, Scott and Juan. - she learned something from each of them. This school gave her (and us) the confidence needed to help make her a safe driver.

Negative experience: The only reason I am giving this school 1 star is because I can’t give a review without giving it something! My daughter paid for this school, and took her first driving class on June 2. Her driving instructor gave her a list of things to practice. She has practiced them with her dad and myself. She called her instructor to schedule her second class and was told by him that he no longer was working in her neighborhood and that she would have to schedule with the school. When she called the school she was told to call back in a week that they were short staffed for the east valley. She then tried to schedule again and was told that they couldn’t get her in for another driving course until October due to the staffing shortage. I told the person that I spoke with on the phone that bit of information. She said that was not true! The conversation went further and I ask her how many hours of driving my daughter had left. She proceeded to tell me what my daughter had remaining. I said I must have misread the information on the internet, explaining what I thought I had read. She got defensive and said she was very ethical and thought I called her a liar. I tried to explain to her what I had said and felt that she had just questioned my ethics. My daughter paid $645 (the most expensive course) for a 6 hour classroom session and 10 hours of driving apparently. I thought it was for 16-18 hours of driving. I again explained that I misunderstood what I had read. Simple mistake. I ask her if what my daughter had said about her original instructor working in the west valley was true to show that my daughter nor I were making any of this up; she confirmed it. Let’s go back to the beginning of this conversation, where my daughter was told she couldn’t get another driving course till October and I was told that was not the truth. Who called whom a liar? There has to better schools than this available. I guess we will find out as we are going back to the Internet to research more schools.

Fantastic experience: The instructors are amazing and helped me so much with overcoming my driving anxiety. Would definitely recommend!

Fantastic experience: I had an amazing experience with the institute for drivers safety. Darryl Alexander was my instructor, and he was incredible and improved my skills drastically in only two lessons. The instructors here are funny and will chat to you and calm your nerves, they basically treat you like family. They make a stressful situation an enjoyable one. The environment of this company is that they highly value safety, but they are also laid back and want you to feel relaxed. I've had instructors in the past that made me feel like a bad driver, but these instructors are SO SO encouraging and they really lifted my confidence levels. I truly believe that I wouldn't have passed my driving test if I didn't come here. However, you need to book your lessons months in advance because this school is so sought-after, but it is very worth it. Prices are reasonable too. Thank you Darryl, I can now drive CONFIDENTLY!!

Fantastic experience: This driving school was absolutely phenomenal for my daughter. She took 3 classes and she progressively got better and more confident at driving. She also recently took her driving test there and passed all thanks to the drivers that helped! I recommend this school if you want someone professional to support your kids!

Fantastic experience: My favorite driver was Phil- so calm and the best 10/10

Negative experience: My daughter attended this driving school. They did not teach her or build any type of confidence with her driving skills. Also I never received my insurance certificate. I would not recommend this school. Waste of money.

Fantastic experience: This place is amazing . Their staff and teachers are so patient , understanding and truly care about their students ! Thank you Scott and Jan !

Fantastic experience: Took my 3 drives with Phil and was beyond satisfied. He was calm and collect yet professional. Took my road test with Todd and he was the same way. Could not recommend this place enough for the experience was invaluable.

Fantastic experience: I had amazing teachers for every lesson. I was way more confident and I knew what I needed to know for the test. It is worth the money spent since you learn a lot out of it. The last teacher I had, Darryl Alexander, was very thorough and made sure I was relaxed when driving. Next time my sister will be taking driving lessons so I hope she gets him too. I strongly recommend this driving school.

Fantastic experience: best driving school. they give extensive training and it is worth the money

Fantastic experience: Great place for new drivers. Qualified instructors and no fighting with your teen. They took my oldest on the freeways, etc. She didn't need to take the driving test at the DMV. It gave her confidence to drive on her own.

Fantastic experience: My son learned a great deal at the Institute for drivers safety. I know this experience has made him a better and safer driver. He drove with Ray, who was very informative and entertaining at the same time. It was evident that Ray is dedicated to making sure his students are prepared with the knowledge they need to be safe on the road and to pass their driving tests. I was very happy to find out that Ray would come to our home to pick my son up for his driving instruction, this made it very convenient! Overall, we had a very positive experience with this driving instruction experience and would highly recommend this school.

Fantastic experience: Love this school and highly recommend it! My oldest son went to another driving school which spent so many hours on simulator, I wasn’t happy so I decided to enroll my younger son here. They are great from start to finish, they offer actual behind the wheel real life driving experience and they make sure they cover all points necessary to equip students with skills for safe driving that’ll last them a lifetime. The teachers are great!

Fantastic experience: We can’t say enough great things about The Arizona Institute of Drivers Safety! Our daughter had a wonderful experience and a new found confidence in her driving skills after completing all of her drives with Ray! Ray is an excellent instructor with a true passion for teaching these young drivers how to be safe on the road. The ease of scheduling the drives was made possible by both Jan and Michelle who were both more then accommodating to our hectic schedules. We have and will continue to refer our friends to The AZ Institute of Drivers Safety.

Fantastic experience: I loved the Institute for Drivers Safety! My driving instructors (Joe, Larry, and Ray) were all so nice and made me feel confident and comfortable driving. I had Joe as an instructor twice and it was neat because he got to see my improvement from my first drive to my third drive. Joe was patient, explained things thoroughly, and was super nice. Ray, who instructed my drivers test, was super kind and did not make me feel nervous during the test. You can tell that they all genuinely want you to do well driving and want you to be safe on the road. Thank you Institute for Drivers Safety for helping me get my license!!!

Fantastic experience: Our son has already graduate from Institute For Drivers Safety. Our daughter is in the process of taking the course. We have four teenagers and our schedules could not be more crazy. We could not be more satisfied with the professional and personal service that this company offers. We feel our teenagers are confident drivers because of the patient and experienced instructors. Thank you Michelle for all of your assistance. Annette

Fantastic experience: There are many driving schools advertising for your business. There is only ONE worth your money to protect your precious "cargo." The Institute for Drivers Safety means what it says. Don't take a gamble learning to drive safely...your life or someone's you love could be at risk if you do.

Fantastic experience: The Institute for Driver Safety did step up to the plate and deliver for my kids and at least 3 other teens that I know. I purchased classroom training and two 3 hour lessons for both my kids. My son had an instructor he did not care for and Jan, the owner, gave us credit and rescheduled him with another instructor. She was a great person to deal with and so he actually had three drives with them (the first on was cut short).

Negative experience: The driving instructors were very nice individuals however the owner I believe or lady in charge is beyond rude and unprofessional. I’m not sure if she thought I was uneducated or judgemental of my pigment. She apparently had better things to attend to. (In response to your reply to my comment) I’m happy you hiring other ethnicities however the lady in reference was Caucasian. You not remembering my face or having my record proves my point that my value as a customer is meaningless. I realize you hire workers of ethnics... I know you do too, you sure do treat them like it.

Fantastic experience: Excellent instructors and staff!!

Fantastic experience: Great value. I highly recommend

Fantastic experience: I couldn't get my daughter to drive on the freeway with her permit and they took her out for a three hour drive and she drove on the freeway almost the whole time.

Negative experience: Very disappointing. The so called instructors are NOT consistent with instructions on how to drive. We had Larry, Joe and Greg. Greg knew the most about driving and was very on point. Larry was friendly and was similar to Greg's instructions. Joe just talked MORE to me as if he wanted me happy than giving me details about driving, very silly not worth the lesson. I will not send my twins to your school next year. You should have that Marine and retired Phx person teach Joe something. Sorry I do not recall who was the marine or from Phx. Much respect to you two gentlemen.

Fantastic experience: I'm really shocked at the negative reviews - my daughter just passed the permit test with no problems after taking the class. It has been only 1 week since she took the class and I have already been contacted to schedule her driving time, with multiple options. I have nothing but confidence in this program.

Negative experience: Terrible. I have had so many problems with this place. On the rare occasion that you call the office and someone actually answers it is IMPOSSIBLE to schedule an appointment, and when they don't answer they will not call back if you leave a message. Whenever I asked questions about policies and fees I got a variety of different answers so I didn't know what to believe. The women who you speak to to schedule are insanely rude and condescending I spent $645 and ended up going on only one drive with them I was refunded only $300. Total rip off. save your money and go somewhere else. I dont even want to give them one star. (It's interesting how they responded to a bad review on the internet quicker than they respond to paying customers trying to schedule an appointment)

Negative experience: mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Fantastic experience: They were fabulous. The instructors really put the students through a lot of good situations. The airport, downtown, freeway driving, rush hour. You name it. I would highly recommend them. Larry was great.

Fantastic experience: Thank You. I signed my son up for your driver license waiver deal. He is currently on his 3rd of 4 drives. This course has been great for him and great for us the parents. He has learned so much up to this point. I am very glad we chose to send him to the 6 hour classroom, he told us some things even we we didn't know about. we have one more child that will be old enough to drive in 2 years hope to see you then. thank you Carol D.

Negative experience: If i could give less than one star I would!!! God help you if they file any information you give them it will only seem to get lost, and they will deny up and down ever getting it!! I could handle paying 650 for four driving courses, what I couldn't handle was them coming a day in advance while I was at work, did they some how think i would drive using telekinesis??? No they called my phone a thousand times supposably!! The problem with that i had changed that number a week after i scheduled my appointment and while i called the day i had received my new number so they could list it for future use they decide it against listing it, when i called about the confused date they denied it up and down saying i had scheduled that day and gave no number apparently i had scheduled the drive only to sit at work and have them do a scavenger hunt, so now i have to pay a fee of 50 dollar to schedule a new drive all because they didn't feel the need to write down a simple number. You would think with customers paying 650 they would be a little more attentive apparently they stop caring once they receive that check.