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A International Driving School
Category: Education Specialty Schools Driving Schools Driving Schools [Edit]
2510 46th Ave(between Ulloa St & Vicente St)
San Francisco, CA 94116
(415) 759-5950
7 reviews for A International Driving School
7 reviews in English
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Review from Derrick S.
San Francisco, CA
1/2/2012
really great instructor, except im horrible haha
he always is drinking tea and coffee, all the times i drove wit him he always made me stop for coffee haha
bad part hes sometimes late and he changes the schedule time for my practice a lot...haha and he sometimes calls the wrong person sometimes -_-
really great guy and funny -
Review from Sishi l.
San Francisco, CA
4/20/2012
He teaches well, and i pass. But be aware, he is extremely anal. He doesn't like to drive me back, and he charged me 95dollars/hour on the test day. i have terrible experience with him although i pass.
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Review from Carmen S.
San Francisco, CA
7/9/2011 1 photo
Four years ago, I got my license on my second attempt at the driving test. I immediately started college and thereafter had no reason to drive. Or that was my excuse. The truth? I was a terrible driver and stayed off the road for the sake of society.
Now that I've graduated, I have no excuse to skirt driving anymore and feel I should revive this skill. And also because I'm really beginning to loathe the inefficient, tardy tendencies of MUNI.
I started researching driving schools on Yelp. There aren't many choices in my ideal price range (~$25), and it was down to A International Driving School and Regent Driving School for me. I called and left messages with both and the former returned my call first. I told Raymond Ma that I already have my license and just wanted a refresher. He said the rate is $30 an hour and set me up for an appointment the next morning at 8am.
Raymond rolled in 5 minutes late and picked me up from my house in a well-used car. I was in the driver seat the entire time, and I would say I drove the car, only his hand was on the steering wheel 85% of the time. Maybe I'm really that bad of a driver; maybe he is just a controlling passenger. I would have liked to have more control of the car, because how else am I supposed to know when the car is moving because of my actions or his? He also liberally used his passenger foot pedals. Many times, I felt my pedals move because he was controlling the car from his side.
We drove to Lowell and stopped at Stonestown. I thought he was teaching me how to park in a mall parking lot. Nope. He left for 7 minutes to grab breakfast at McDonald's, while I sat in the slightly dusty car. Then we drove around Sunset, practiced parallel parking, reverse driving, and turns, as well as mailed his letters at a sidewalk mailbox.
I asked a lot of questions and he was more than happy to answer them, even providing some tips that I haven't heard from my former instructor. Raymond asked me whom my old instructor was, and it turns out that they are friends.
Around 9:30am, I drove to his next student's house, picked him up, and then I headed back toward my house, arriving right at 10am. On the way back, he was chatting on the phone with someone who seemed like an old pal about a vacation trip. Another student called and apparently Raymond had overbooked himself at 10am and had to change her appointment.
Raymond said he's taught driving for 20-odd years and seems very experienced. He explained his formula for parallel parking and was really helpful. At $30/hour, you really can't go wrong with his driving school. We spoke in mostly Cantonese, although he does know English (understandable, but with an accent). He didn't pry into my life and simply asked about my college and major.
Note: When he says "slow down," that means take your foot off the gas pedal. "Rolling" means just letting the car coast. -
Review from Zany C.
San Francisco, CA
10/11/2011
To be frank, I used Raymond because he was cheap (and the only company that I called).
I have driven in South Africa for 13 years and needed to get my license in the USA. We drive on the other side of the road there and the rules are marginally different so I thought it would be worthwhile to have a lesson.
First of all, I had a tough time understanding his english. This I didnt think was too much of a problem until I did my actual test. It turned out I had misunderstood some things he had been telling me the whole time and I nearly failed because of this.
Second of all, I wanted to use his car for the test as I dont have my own car, he told me it would be $30 an hour but that he expected it to take 2 hours. I had the first appointment of the day and I was literally done in an hour, however he still had the cheek to charge me for 2 hours. When I complained about this he said that it was for a MINIMUM of 2 hours.
I passed my test, barely (I nearly failed because I thought he had been telling me to merge halfway into the bike lane, not entirely into the lane, and the examiner marked me down every time for this).
I do not recommend this instructor, however. -
Review from Melody C.
San Jose, CA
4/8/2008
Raymon is the owner of this driving school. And I owe it all to him that I have my driver license.
He's convenient, fast, on time, and has a great car with good brakes. He took me in for four straight hours and took me to try out San Mateo but I got stuck in Daly City. He's very easygoing, patient, and steered me through the course a couple of times. I got stuck with the strictest DMV testers and passed with flying colors.
Because of my happiness at passing the driver's test and getting my license, I bought Raymon a cake and gave him a 50.00 tip. He was that good. Also at 25.00 an hour that is awesome -
Review from Ka Lok L.
San Francisco, CA
9/30/2008
Raymond is definitely the best! He took me on the test routes multiple times but he always mixed it up a little so I wouldn't get bored. Very easy-going! Even though, his prices changes sometimes due to the increase of gas back then, he is definitely worth it!
I scheduled my test in the San Francisco DMV and passed with flying colors also. When I told my friends I was taking my test in s.f they were all sure i would fail. I proved them wrong! -
Review from Kelly C.
San Francisco, CA
5/18/2010
Nothing but five-stars for this instructor.
He teaches everyone and ANYONE to drive well. I basically learned all of what I know from this guy.
He knows which instructors are hard, he knows the testing routes for both San Francisco and Daly City, and even let me go on the freeway!
I failed the driving exam the first time around because the examiner was stupid, but he assured me he would be able to help me pass the second time around and he didn't disappoint. Thanks!
