Allstate Driving School — Local services in San Diego

Solaiman from Allstate Driving School was so helpful in getting me ready to take the drivers license test! He was very patient with me and calm whenever I would make a mistake. Gave me lots of tips and tricks on how I would get graded during the test and what I should improve upon to succeed. Recommend if you have nerves about driving.

Edit 4/9:

I took a five day 2 hour each driving lesson course at this school. My first 4 lessons I had with Solaiman Saifi, who was a great teacher. He was calm despot my mistakes and gave me the courage to drive on the freeway. I booked my lessons over the phone without any prior knowledge about the lessons or the teachers schedules.

So I booked myself for every other day starting March 18th at 11am. What I wasn't told till the lesson before was that my original teacher didn't work on Fridays so my last lesson which took place Friday March 28 would be with a different teacher. I thought this would be fine so I didn't have any concerns.

Unfortunately this turned out to be a mistake. The teacher who picked me up Friday morning was Lorena Rosas. She seems to be a good teacher but all she was going over with me on my final test was the basics I had covered already in my first couple of lessons. Also she was pretty heavy handed with her teachers breaks and even when I was breaking she would step on it because I wasn't doing it to her liking. I didn't complain simply because was busy keeping my attention on the road.

It wasn't until I was driving with my mom and tried to park next to the curb that problems arose. My last 2 lessons with Solaiman we were working on curbside parking, but with Lorena we only did parking in a lot. So not only did I misjudge the space I was trying to pull into, I was going at a bad angle. I had to get out and let her fix it. That was when she told me I had a while to go before my curbside parking was up to par.

So to remedy this I contacted the driving school to ask for a refund for the last lesson or a remedial lesson. I then got a call from the owner Dee Amanda Wu who said that the teacher probably just taught me like that because I needed the help and correction. When I said I was a adult and I know the basics by now she doubled down on how she felt the teachers actions were appropriate for a last lesson after I spent 850$ to be taught how to drive well enough to pass the test.

I thought I would take a chance on this school despite all the poor reviews for the management but I would say unless you are a doormat who doesn't care about your money don't go here for driving lessons. I do not think the owner has any understanding of customer service or satisfaction. She says they have been in business for over 20 years and I think that they have grown lax in caring about their customers.

They should have better communication between teachers if a student is going to be going between different teachers. And the breaks should only be used in order to protect the students not when ever the teacher feels comfortable with it.

I was really hoping to have a good experience with this process but it had been soured by this. I won't be recommending this to my other friends who are not...

First of all, I'll bring up the good part. The reservation of driving lesson process was solid and adequate. I also used the testing service as well which was different instructor from the driving lesson. I don't know her name but I loved her so much. She gave constructive advice and helped me get relieved before the test. I would like to appreciate her so much.

The reason I'm giving on star is the insturctor of my driving lesson. Definitely avoid "Solaiman" at all cost. I was a bit worred that my instructor would be on his phone and even doze off sometimes. Since he still gave some reasonable advice on first two lessons, I didn't ask to change the instructor and just tried to keep him engaged by asking questions while driving. He even told me several times, "I think you are doing great, you will be okay with the test."

But disaster struck during the last session. For some reason, he suddenly started nitpicking everything about my driving style. The weirdest part was how he kept scolding me about the speed limit. As most people know, it’s generally okay to be a few mph over or under the limit (within about 5 mph), and you only fail if you’re 10 mph or more off. Yet he criticized me nonstop about speed, which frustrated me so much that I couldn’t focus.

Yes, I made a couple of critical mistakes that day, and I admit I wasn’t driving my best. But I never forced him to use the brake or did anything “life-threatening.” I couldn’t believe that someone who was glued to his phone or half-asleep in previous sessions suddenly decided to raise his voice and scold me the entire time. I don’t mind being corrected—I wanted constructive feedback, not just constant negativity.

Eventually, I hit my limit. I raised my voice and said something like: “I’m trying my best right now. Some of these things just need more practice, and you don’t have to talk to me like this the whole time.” At the end, he even told me I wasn’t ready to take the test, which completely contradicted his earlier encouragement.

If I fail test, I just fail the test and practice more, and retake the test. What's the point of scolding adult on the driving lesson the whole time? At the last moment he said you can call us to practice more if you fail the test. I was like hell no????? even if I fail the test I'm not paying 600 bucks to you to learn driving skills.

That last lesson crushed my confidence and stressed me out so much before the test. But I kept reminding myself: “I’m not perfect, but I practiced enough, and I know what I need to do.”

And guess what? I passed!!! I only lost 2 points, when you’re allowed up to 15 to still pass. I’m honestly happier that I didn’t let his negativity get to me than I am about just getting my license.

Again, defintely avoid "Solaiman" at all cost. He's not an instructor you want...

My daughter had an incredibly uncomfortable and, in my opinion, unprofessional Behind the Wheel session with Dan Tan Kim. It is terrifying to let our 15 year old children ride off with a stranger for two hours. Most concerning to me is that Dan made her drive him to two different places and then left her alone. First he had her drive him to his work, so he could get a different mask than the one he was wearing. It was in an unfamiliar area of town to her (Clairemont/Kearny Mesa area). He also made her drive to a park, so that he could get out to use the restroom. My daughter reported that the car smelled like cigarettes and that the instructor did not wear shoes while she was driving. In addition, he alternated between having his arms up behind his head like he was lounging or was on his phone texting and not paying attention to her driving (even while on the freeway). He continued to direct the conversation to her ethnicity and our family background, which made her uncomfortable with his questions. He told her to find her way home by herself from about 20 minutes away from an area of town we do not frequently visit and from which she had never driven. Of course, she was super stressed the whole time and felt that she had no instruction, but just criticism of any mistake.

After speaking with the owner of the company, Amanda Wu, I am even more frustrated. She continually tried to defend the instructor saying it was typical for the driver to take a break during the lesson. When I said there was no reason for him to leave my daughter unattended in a car, she couldn't understand how he left her alone. When I kept repeating that when he went to his place of work and went to the bathroom, she was left alone in the car. She then tried to defend him by saying all of her instructors work long hours and are in the car 8 hours a day, so it is usual that they would need to go to the bathroom. I explained that this is her problem with scheduling her instructors and that they should have time between appointments to do so. She didn't even have anything to say about him texting repeatedly...