Elm Auto School

Negative experience: Serious Warning – Unprofessional and Negligent Driving School Experience I’m sharing this to strongly warn anyone considering this driving school. My experience was nothing short of frustrating and disappointing. After registering and being given a clear promise for a specific road test date — which I have written proof of — I was completely ignored. No communication. No updates. Nothing. When I personally went to follow up, the staff acted like they had no idea what was going on. The appointment was never scheduled, and the response I got from one of the employees was careless and dismissive, as if my time and money meant nothing. This wasn’t a small mistake — this was complete negligence. They took my money, gave me false promises, and then forgot everything. No apology, no accountability. They eventually told me I could come and get my money back, but that doesn’t erase the stress and time wasted because of their disorganization and lack of professionalism. Do not trust this school. If this is how they treat students before the test, imagine what the rest of the process is like. Save yourself the trouble and go somewhere that actually respects its students and honors its word. #Warning #AvoidThisSchool #DrivingTestNightmare #Unprofessional ⸻

Fantastic experience: As someone who personally went through Elm Auto School for my license a couple months ago, I can confidently say this was the best choice for a school. I had each of the instructors and all were extremely nice and although they pushed me a little out of my comfort zone, it was just the right amount to help me feel safe and comfortable behind the wheel. The classes were very educational, and the instructors enforced a strict no-cellphone policy to ensure their students were taking everything in and learning it. It only took me about 2 months to finish my on-roads and observations in comparison to some of my friends, going to other schools, who took around 3.5 months to finish theirs. They also worked around my busy schedule extremely well, picking me up from practice, dropping me off at work, picking my up from work, dropping me off at home, etc. After my classes, on-roads, and observations, I was very confident in driving abilities and passed my test. If your looking into driving schools for your teenagers, I would say Elms is definitely a great option!!

Fantastic experience: I had a great experience at Elm Auto School. As someone who hadn't driven in almost 20 years they were very helpful in me getting my license. The class I was in had about 20 high school students. We watched several videos, some of which were very graphic depictions of accident aftermaths. But it drove home the importance of being responsible behind the wheel. Some of the videos were older and had cheesy Naked Gun type jokes. The younger kids didn't get them at all. I thought they were hilarious. They have books that teach you the rules of the road and after reading them you go over them in class. My driving instructor was Lora. She is amazing. Very patient and makes you feel very comfortable as you are learning. I took my initial 12 lessons but felt I needed more. It had nothing to do with how I was taught. It was just me being nervous. They were generous enough to give me 6 additional lessons at a generous discount. I passed on my first try. It was a great feeling. I'd like to thank Lora and everyone at Elm Auto School for a wonderful problem free experience. I'd highly recommend Elm Auto School.

Negative experience: i was driving through Springfield and the car didn’t merge well, following that the driving instructor turned around in the car, yelling, and throwing hands up. Not a good look for a driving school.

Fantastic experience:

Fantastic experience: Very easy to schedule, good lessons, nice instructors

Fantastic experience: Lora was great. One thing that sucks about here is that if you miss a driving school class you gotta wait an entire month. Regardless, good school and people

Fantastic experience: I had a great experience here after trying to get driving lessons as an adult with no prior experience at two other local driving schools who were willing to let me book my road test without the proper on the road experience thus setting me up to fail......But Elm was top tier.....The one younger female instructor (Lora) I went through my lessons with at Elm Auto was extremely patient and helpful with my on the road anxiousness as a new adult driver and really helped me succeed so I could pass my road test.

Negative experience: I made a driving appointment twice and they didn’t even schedule me and didn’t want to give me my money back…..they suck

Positive experience: There were some mess ups and not so favorable moments but that could happen any where!! But hey they got the job done.

Negative experience: Very unprofessional driving instructors. From the moment the road test started to it ended, the female driving instructor had an attitude. What caused her to fail me was because she told me to pull over and stop the car as if we’re getting out. There was no hill. And when she asked if I knew how to park on a hill after the test was done I said yes and she proceed to ask so why didn’t I do it on the test. That’s when she began to talk over me whilst I was trying to explain that she didn’t tell me to do it as if there was a hill. They also had two people in the back taking notes and one of them said I was speeding during the test when I was constantly looking at the speedometer to make sure I was staying at 25 mph.

Fantastic experience: Lora was my instructor, guides us nicely...... Super friendly..

Fantastic experience: It was pretty good. Videos kind of outdated but still pretty good nothing out of the ordinary. I would recommend this school and the vehicles and in perfect condition to drive at all times. And I passed first try.

Fantastic experience: Super friendly and very nice. Completely different experience than the Springfield DMV. I have anxiety and they made me feel at ease.

Fantastic experience: This is the best driving school in the area , I’ve been to other driving schools in Springfield and they weren’t as helpful as elms. After failing my license twice via two local driving schools , I decided to give elms auto school a chance and that was the best decision I had ever made . My instructor was Bethany and she was AMAZING ! She understood my anxiety when it came to driving and helped me build the confidence that I needed and helped me believe in myself. Elms has one of the best staff I’m so glad I went there . Like they say third time is a charm im so glad I can finally say I passed !

Fantastic experience: Just passed today on my first try, the instructor was extremely nice and so are the people at Elm auto!

Negative experience: Definitely would not even give this place a star. It’s been a year since class was taken online. Calls are made daily to this place with messages left in regards to the driving part of the class. The one time the owner answered the phone from the number listed online for the school she was confused asking why calls were coming in on that number. That ended fast with her saying “call you back in five minutes”. It’s now three months later.. Don’t waste your money here.

Negative experience: Driving instructors are harsh and demotivating. They only focus on most of the maneuvers we use in everyday driving but what about actual parking? Ever since I’ve gone there not once have they taught me how to park. I had to ask. I thought that came with the curriculum. Imagine paying all that money for driving school only to have instructors drive you around town for an hour, have you taking turns and parallel parking all throughout your lessons but when on your own you don’t even know how to park in a regular slot. I guess you’re supposed to gain that knowledge on your own. Not once have I parallel parked outside of the lesson but yet I struggle with parking in lots.

Negative experience: I’ve first time called to ask about private driving lesson ‘s course and schedule . I’ve just not finished my sentence yet then she jumped in my mouth and she’s like scream over the phone ‘ WE DONT HAVE ANY OPENING THIS MONTH’ . I did not even ask her about next month schedule cos I think she doesn’t respect and need customers at all. We pay , we do not ask for free then we dont deserve for that bad service.

Positive experience: I would assume that the cost includes practicing the test route until perfect. This was not done and I was not excited about having to teach after paying this kind of money. Must prepare students better for the test especially since the RMV seems to treat some people differently than others or based on their mood that day. Having said that, we really like the employees we dealt with at Elm Auto School. Very pleasant, accomodating, and convenient program. Only had to reschedule once and they were punctual within 10-15 minutes every lesson and were good at texting to let student know what was going on.

Fantastic experience: Great school my in class was teacher was Lora she was great my on road teacher was Beth she is firm but fair she really makes you see the point of things so it clicks in your head she's a great at her job Debbie is also great and funny loved my experience here have no complaints and at the end of the day they did their job and I passed my road exam just yesterday

Negative experience: The driving instructor I had here was rude, did not pay attention and was screaming on the phone while I was taking my test. She was on her phone most of the time I was with her. The most unprofessional driving instructor I ever seen. Cost me my exam and my safety because she also gave me the wrong instructions during the short lesson before my exam. Waste of money and time. Go to a different school if you want professionalism.

Fantastic experience: Well, I had a lot of experience with this school (including renting car for driving test). At that time, my non-English speaking friends needs to pass driving test. 1. Well working office.There was DMV system change in main office and with all that problems and difficulties, the office stuff was extremely helpful, trying to do as much as possible to give us all possible information and guide us through all scheduling, payments and information of "how, where and what to do", being consistently patience texting me back and force with all reminders. 2. Our teacher was Bethany. Very punctual, knowledgeable teacher! I was a translator for my friend and can tell the attention is the road, rules and give a knowledge how to use it safely and competently. I saw her with young people (prior to driving test) and she is very patience, can give a comfort, a time (to think) and you better listen ))). My friend (who use to drive in different country for more than 10 years) and 2 young girls (who never drive any car) - all passed. I read previous negative reviews about Elm school and there was some "strange feelings" like not to go, but we live near by and had no choice but take the chance and "risk". I guess something was changed in time, because im more than satisfy with the results and already referred few people there.

Fantastic experience: Perfect driving school Instructor : Bethany Guarnera. Attribute : Excellent teaching skill, punctual & friendly Result : Pass

Fantastic experience: The service and instruction at Elm Auto School was top of the class! Bethany was my instructor and she was amazing! She took the time to pick us up;early too might I add, to make sure we all had time to practice before the exam and even dropped me off at a location of my choice. If you need a driving instruction school you cannot make a better choice!

Negative experience: Don't ever take lessons here. Incredibly unpunctual, rude, inattentive, you name it. Had instructors forget appointments several times, come at the wrong times, and overall had the time to get my license stretched way beyond a reasonable amount. Never, ever, again.

Fantastic experience: Bom

Negative experience: Certainly would not let my 3 children use this auto school if their cars are going to ride my bumper when I am do the speed limit down a major road.

Negative experience: Lady named Amber (who is one of the driving instructors employed at this establishment) almost had my life taken away from me TWICE in just 1 day of driving due to her lack of attention, awareness, and responsibility, by constantly being on her phone, complaining, screaming, swearing, and yelling about food, her dream vehicle, and mocking a deaf student. She intentionally ignores students who she dislikes and doesn't answer their questions when it comes to driving while driving. If you want a good driving school experience with SAFETY, go someplace else. TRUST ME.

Fantastic experience: I want to learn driving