Pistonheads driving instructor?

[motorwaycruiser]

Bit random but it's been annoying me all evening. I passed a learner driver today coming home from the shops. Normally I wouldn't think twice about it but noticed the learner car was a Golf R32.

If it was just an R32 with L plates I'd have thought someone was learning in their parent's car or some such but this was a fully commercialised driving instructor's car with the billboards, advertising roof mounts etc.

So it got me wondering why. I can't imagine buying an R32 for the purpose of training people to drive. Maybe their fiesta diesel broke down, maybe they're an entrepreneur struggling on after their last effort went bust (fair play to them if they are). Maybe the instructor is a pistonhead? Anyone have a better guess than me?

[dave87]

Not quite the same, but a number of instructors round here have new(ish) BMW1 Series (118/120d) which I thought was luxury (I passed in a Focus, that was bigger than most of my friends at the time learned in).

Wonder what the insurance as a driving instructor in an R32 is....not to mention the fuel bill....

[zaphod42]

I'm guessing with dual controls, the actual risk is relatively low.

If there was a real issue with crash statistics of learner school cars, then there would be a power restriction.

I guess it is more about the running costs of wear and tear?

[KingNothing]

My old driving instructor got himself a Astra VXR, don't know if it's used for teaching though, have seen it badged up a few times though, wether or not that's just for advertising, I don't know.

[motorwaycruiser]

Sorry guys. I don't know how to quote before replying so ....

Dave, totally agree. Seems like a very luxury car to me to learn in. I learned at 17 in a poverty spec fiesta and a lada so one of the joys of motoring for me is every car since has been a step up ;-) Well, every one bar a saxo 1.1 courtesy car I drove once. I'm not sure business insurance works the same way as private insurance though. There's a heavy premium for using the car for business but in my experience after that the type of car makes less difference than it does for private cars.

Zaphod, you're probably right but why would someone teach in a R32 vs a bog standard diesel twingo-mobile?

KingNothing, good point, it could just be advertising but I don't think so, it was definitely being driven by a learner with an instructor in the passenger seat and the driver was driving in a very inexperienced way like it was one of their first lessons.

[NateWM]

It was most likely a replica with a TDi or 1.6 petrol engine. There is an instructor round here with a Megane RS replica used as a learner car. Bizarre, but maybe it makes the young lads want to drive them.

[anonymous-user]

The 116 and 118d's are easy to explain. Low CO2 !! (important for fleet and Company cars!)

the R32, less easy to explain....... ;-)

[Matt UK]

NateWM said:

It was most likely a replica with a TDi or 1.6 petrol engine.

Allows your brand to create a buzz within the 17-yr-old-lads-learning-to-drive-circles I guess.

Pretty good idea.

[Garlick]

motorwaycruiser said:

Bit random but it's been annoying me all evening. I passed a learner driver today coming home from the shops. Normally I wouldn't think twice about it but noticed the learner car was a Golf R32.

If it was just an R32 with L plates I'd have thought someone was learning in their parent's car or some such but this was a fully commercialised driving instructor's car with the billboards, advertising roof mounts etc.

So it got me wondering why. I can't imagine buying an R32 for the purpose of training people to drive. Maybe their fiesta diesel broke down, maybe they're an entrepreneur struggling on after their last effort went bust (fair play to them if they are). Maybe the instructor is a pistonhead? Anyone have a better guess than me?

Luton area? Saw it the other day and thought much the same.

[WeirdNeville]

When I was learning, my instructors micra went in for a clutch. So I had a lesson in his Honda CRX... Best driving lesson ever!
He told me he'd had to rearrange some lessons so that he didn't take out people he didn't trust in his 'weekend car' without dual controls.

So perhaps it was something like that? The liveries are often magnetic signs to allow them to be transferred without issue/damage.

[johnnymaestro]

WeirdNeville said:

When I was learning, my instructors micra went in for a clutch. So I had a lesson in his Honda CRX... Best driving lesson ever!
He told me he'd had to rearrange some lessons so that he didn't take out people he didn't trust in his 'weekend car' without dual controls.

So perhaps it was something like that? The liveries are often magnetic signs to allow them to be transferred without issue/damage.

When I was learning, my instructor had his corsa in for some work, and I remember I had my lesson in his Audi S3. It was and bit of a let down when the Vauxhall was fixed.

[Tartan Pixie]

Mostly I think it's advertising. Who's a teenager going to want to learn with, the instructor with an old micra or the one with a sweet golf?

I remember about a year after the new style mini came out (ie had depreciated enough) that every second driving instructor seemed to have one, it was just a step up from the usual corsa or fiesta.

[Essex ITR]

Slightly off topic, but this reminds me of the driving instructor at Brands Hatch yesterday, assume they must be a Pistonhead. Came round Paddock Hill bend to see them coming back on track after a spin

[John Boy 616]

They just charge a premium. So instead of £18 per hour its £38 per hour. You only cover 20 miles max in a one hour lesson and far less when the pupil is new. Its also worth bearing in mind that the guy probably already owned the car before he became an instructor

[sebhaque]

I always thought it was a way to entice potential learners. Acclaim in Bristol have a fleet of Corsa VXRs, and it's usually a promising footballer type behind the wheel. Similarly, Rivalz in London use a fleet of MINIs and it's typically a blonde lass bumping into the kerbs and trees.