Budget Driving School

I went off the reviews and asked for Maria Gonzalez. She’s a great person overall, but I did not like driving her car at all. With the cars Ive driven, its easy to slowly and smoothly start moving from a stop but with her car you have to push it a little harder and doing that sometimes makes it feel like the car is pulling you in the beginning. Also, (she got this fixed), but I one of the lessons with her I went on her wheel was not aligned, and it was not comfortable having to drive with the wheel slanted for the car to be straight. She doesn’t really teach you in my opinion and in my experience. She just kinda tells you what to do (although I did learn a few things from her just telling me stuff), and if you do it wrong she tells you to try again until you get it.
After my first lesson, my friend was also searching for a behind the wheel teacher and since I thought my first lesson wasn’t bad I referred her to my friend. During her last lesson, Maria forgot to give her the completion paper and had to ask Maria for the paper for an extra charge of $ 50!!! and that was brought down from $ 75. Outrageous.

Great experience getting my twin sons licensed. Ernesto was an excellent instructor, even when one of my sons needed some extra lessons. Ernie helped him know good driving habits with many practice sessions near the DMV neighborhood so my son could be confident and ready on test day. Both passed with flying colors! Thank you Ernesto and Budget Driving School.

I had my lesson from Alex. He’s extremely a talented driver. He makes driving so easy for me as a student. I would really recommend him to get lessons.

I had my lessons with Mary East. She’s great! She is very caring and sweet. She takes her students around the routes you will see during the driving test, and she is so calm, it’s reassuring. Take her if you can. But make sure to book in advance because she is very popular.

With my first appointment, very nice, the operator lady was very nice as well as the driving instructor (ernesto) was very patient. I was called in for work on the date of my second appointment and needed to cancel. Found the operator guy to be very rude. It’s not like I wanted to work that day or just wanted to cancel for the heck of it. They changed my schedule and there wasn’t anything I do about it as I am on a 90 day probation period for just starting. I tried making another appointment on a day I knew I wouldn’t work and was denied because he said he could not believe I would not work on that day. He stated that now because of me he had to change the schedule of five other drivers and then just hung up on me. The only reason I am giving 3 stars instead of just 1 is because of my first driving lesson. I don’t have a lot of time in san diego but I might as well just go back to LA and take the test over there as the rest of the driving schools here don’t have better reviews.

Maria Is an awesome instructor! My wife needed a driving lessons for the driving practical so she took about 5 lessons. Cost was reasonable and made my wife feel comfortable. High praise goes out to Maria.

I have a question… I need to get my license. All these years I have been afraid of learning how to drive, and now I am tired of riding the bus!!! Plus I have an extra car sitting at home grrrrrr!!! I have been practicing on not so busy streets, but when I try to go into busy streets I panick :) Does anyone has the phone # of Maria or Larry or Jesse? All the reviews make these instructors sound like really good instructors!!!
Any help will be much appreciated it!

All I can say is Mary East is a Wonderful driving instructor! She was is very patient, calm and caring. I would definite recommend her to anyone!

I’m located in Mira Mesa and my instructor was Jesse! He was very nice and extremely patient with me. I had no one to really practice with me so he taught me how to drive all the way for such a low price. He even took me and my friend to the DMV to get our driver license :) Hes extremely funny and really fun to talk too. Hes also going to be teaching my boyfriend very soon! Lately hes been giving classes to my friends & classmates since I recommend them to him. Definitely give him a call, his number is (760) 703‑0797.

Maria Gonzalez is AMAZING! She is is so sweet, patient, & helpful. She really understands that we’re all beginners & she really helped me by explaining to me what I did wrong, why it was wrong, & showing me what I did by reenacting it & then showing me the proper way to do it. When I would make mistakes that require quick fixation, she would calmly grab the bottom or side of the wheel to prevent an accident & she did it in a way that didn’t make me feel offended. Or she would gently step on the break on her side of the car. With her, I was not ashamed of my mistakes & with each lesson, I honestly improved SO much!
The first session was in residential areas & in busy interersections, did the basics like turning, nothing crazy. Second session, we did unprotected left turns, lane changes, the freeway, & parallel parking. Third session, same as the second but she brought me to the routes that the Chula Vista DMV tests people for their license, which was pretty cool, & she really helped me sharpen all that I’ve learned.
Every lesson, she makes sure to cover once or twice the buttons of the car & makes you identify them yourself & explain what everything is bc they ask you during the test. It’s really cool & now I’ll never forget them!
She’s also very easy to talk to & such a down to earth human being. I really loved her & I can’t wait to make her proud in 6 months!
Tip: She does not take card, only cash. $ 75 a session for behind the wheel (3 sessions total). PLEASE, tip her! She deserves it!
*I also uploaded pictures of her car’s interior*

I had Guy LaPlante as my driving instructor. I needed to squeeze in a couple more hours of behind-​the-​wheel practice before I took my driving test and he gave great tips and maneuvers that I hadn’t even thought of before! Passed first try. :) While it’s cheaper than most behind-​the-​wheel training ($ ⁷⁵⁄₂ hrs), it does not lack in quality. Overall a great experience, definitely recommend them!

Very nice and patient instructor. She explained the controls went over how to drive safe and what to look for when driving I was very much impressed on her patience when I took wide turns. Thanks to her now I can drive safely on the road. We went on the freeway and general city driving. Last class we went over the DMV route and over the questions there going to ask. I’m really happy I went were do to her experience and patience it really helped. Thanks Ms. Maria Gonzalez

loved the teacher, i learned alot! best drivers ed class to take. the teacher made it fun and informative

My review is not so much of the school as to the instructor that taught my daughter and son to get their drivers licenses and help them pass their behind-​the-​wheel tests. I’d like to commend Larry Molitor for an outstanding job getting them both qualified. He was very patient with them, paid attention throughout their driving lessons (you won’t believe what other instructors DO NOT do), and ensured they did not develop bad driving habits. When test time came around, he picked them up, did some warm up driving, and stayed with them until the test was finished. He properly evaluated their skill level (were they ready for the road test?) and did not unnecessarily «milk» lesson after lesson. Great job Larry! And thanks!

I took classes here about 5 years ago and Loved this class, the Driver’s ed course was really easy, the teacher was really funny. Only thing was it’s far from my house and now my little sister will be taking the behind the wheel classes…

Their base is at Chula Vista but they can go all the way up to Mira Mesa area. The instructor that goes up there is Larry. Detailed coaching and the two hour behind-​the-​wheel is totally worth it! Affordable price for behind-​the-​wheel.($ 70 for two hours). Good deal man! ;)