Allied Driving School

1064 Lincoln Avenue, San Jose, CA 95125

"I booked Allied as it was the only school available to give my son driving lessons in a timely manner—he got his permit in June 2021, and we were able to schedule lessons in late July 2021—other schools were booked through the end of September 2021. I have listed the problems below: 1)The instructor, Gary, did NOT wear a mask (summer 2021–during COVID outbreak). We were in the height of the pandemic and its very close quarters in the car. 2) The car used was DISGUSTING—filthy, sticky and smelly; looked like it has not been washed since its purchase 5+ years before. 3) The car and Gary REEKED of cigarette smoke—the third hand smoke smell was so bad that my son came out smelling like it and had to immediately shower. 4)Gary was 30min late without calling for the first two lessons. I had to repeatedly remind him to give my son his full lesson. 5) My son had never driven and was just told to drive and was not spoken to or taught throughout the 3 lessons. He wasn’t given direction or feedback—I had to ask repeatedly for feedback. 6) My son was not taught anything—no parking, no backing up, no 3 pt turns or parallel parking, no freeway, no direction on what he will be tested on. Allied sent the certificate of completion after a month only because I kept calling about it. The only plus of the place is the cost, it’s $100 less than other schools—however, let’s factor in that I had to pay an additional $200 to have my son get additional lessons with another school and will probably set him up with another lesson because he needs those pointers for his behind the wheel test. I don’t know how Allied is able to maintain a business or be certified by the DMV. There service is abysmal."

"Gary stole my money and took off. I had set up a three lesson driving course. After 1 lesson, he asked for payment then he scheduled me for 2nd lesson, 2weeks on the future. Gary took the full payment of 340$ cash upfront and never showed for 2nd lesson. He didn't provide a receipt and has not given any explanation for no show on 2nd lesson. Ive left 3 messeges and no reply. This is a scam. Allied Driving scams people."

"Thank you so much Allied Driving School and instructor Barbara! Without your expertise, guidance & patience Barbara, my son would of never passed his DMV driving test the very first time...but he did! The confidence booster he needed. Oh and the drive on Hwy 17 to Santa Cruz he said was fun. I told him if you can drive Hwy 17, you can drive anywhere! Thanks again!"

"It might be hard to believe, but I am solely speaking from experience. With that being said, I read the reviews before calling Allied Driving School. The reviews were good and bad. I decided to call them because, in my city and cities near by no one was offering stick shift lessons. I had plenty of friends and family members willing to teach me but I decided I wanted to learn from someone with patience and experience. I called and someone friendly picked up so I scheduled an appointment. I was nervous but went in with a open mind. Best believe my instructor Jerry was very friendly and had lots of patience. Little did I know Jerry had a 30 year history of teaching students to drive. I gave him a few scares while driving here and there, but Jerry remained calm and encouraged me to not give up. I remember reading the reviews and frequently reading that, that students felt like the instructors always wanted to push for more hours. I would make my appointments for 3 hours at a time, because it seemed logical since I was about 45 minutes away without traffic. I took 3 classes on 3 different occasions. After every course Jerry gave me feedback, which I needed and was open to criticism. On the 3rd class I was planning on taking another 3 hours but Jerry felt that 2 hours were enough. Jerry felt confident in what I had learned in the previous classes and how I was driving. What I'm trying to say is that it never felt like the instructor was pressuring me to take classes I didn't need. The instructor simply wanted me to be a good stick shift driver. I highly recommend Allied Driving School to anyone who wants to learn to drive and is hesitant. Trust me it's worth the drive, I learned a lot. Such a humbling experience."

"No complaints and everything went very smoothly. This is the second time that my children have used Allied and I would very much recommend them. It would be nice to book online for everything, but that's my only wish to make it better. Other than that, we had good driving instructors for both times we have used Allied."