Top Driver Driving School

The in-​class teacher was great. Scheduling for in-​car is impossible. There are never classes available. I’ve been promised twice that I would get a call when classes are available and have yet to get the call. When I get online, nothing is available. I received a call that our first in-​car was cancelled last night, but no opportunities to reschedule. My child will not be eligible for his driver’s test at the end of June because we can’t schedule the in-​car and his in-​class was completed in mid-​February. I would not recommend Top Driver for this reason.

Once upon a time, this was a family-​owned business named Community Driving School. Then a group of investors bought up numerous driving schools in multiple states, gave it a new universal name, then declared victory that they are the biggest driving school in the nation. They’ve went through name changes: Community Driving School to Top Driver to Drive One to Top Driver again. They’ve hired and fired an incredible number of employees. They’ve moved the Chicagoland office from Bloomingdale to Elmhurst to Arlington Heights to Northbrook to out-​of-​state within a few short years. Parents and students used to be able to call their teachers and schedule lessons or just ask questions. Management didn’t like teachers having any autonomy, so they took that away. They want to have cookie-​cutter teachers and classrooms. At one point, they wanted teachers to memorize a classroom introduction, and it had to be an exact length of time. (Crazy!) The curriculum is ridiculously simplistic, and the videos are sometimes silly and boring. They brag about modern classrooms, but not all are looking so fabulous. And those investors? Well, they’ve had several, because they burn through the money and find a new one. Horrible, awful place.

The horrible most driving school… people took my money and did not even show up to teach driving… this school really scuks… instructors are awful n nonprofessional… I have no words to describe to them but I can suggest any one to not approach this school at any cost…

Some of the ladies you speak with on the phone who help schedule lessons (and charge you outrageous fees for every possible misstep, such as late arrival to a lesson) are pleasant, but that’s the only positive I can think of for this place. Top Driver offers NONE of the features and services we took for granted at the well-​established school our older children attended. My experience is with the Highland Park location, but the program is run through a general corporate website and 800 number, so I would expect the same overpriced, charge-​you-​at-​every-​turn mindset no matter the location. My advice is to steer well clear of Top Driver.

Jan,
You are correct. This place is a nightmare. I had the exact same experience at the Wilmette location. They are unethical and flat out liars. I only wish I had read your review before I signed up my son and found ourselves neck deep. I would strongly advice against using this service!!!

Avoid the scheduling headaches, miserable customer service, and penalty fees of Top Driver!
We recently used Top Driver driving school and found the company to be terrible at customer service. It was a nightmare trying to schedule driving sessions — we usually had to go to the Buffalo Grove location since there were none available in AH. If you choose to use them, understand that you will be calling a corporate 1 – 800 number to do all scheduling, rescheduling, etc. Their is no personal/​local contact. The teachers are just that — teachers. Lastly, watch out for all the hidden fees! $ 70 if you don’t cancel appointment within 48 hrs, $ 150 if you don’t finish making up classes within 60 days of starting classes. Take my advice and use a local driving school instead!

The person below must have had a really bad experience. Sorry to hear that. I’m guessing this happened sometime before the new owners took over. The business has been completely revamped with the new owners. This is a serious driving school that take their teaching (and the teachers they hire are top notch!) extremely seriously!
I happen to know the people that have taken over Top Driver and they’ve completely turned this business into a world class driving school.
I highly recommend this driving school to anyone looking for a responsible intensive driving school for their teens. They truly teach responsible intelligent driving. It’s their motto!
Two huge thumbs up for Top Driver!

Top driver is irresponsible & knows nothing of customer service! The instructor didn’t bother to show up to one of the classes and the company didn’t return my call. Another parent spoke with someone and they actually tried to make it our fault??? Then they told the kids that they didn’t have to make up the class since they «talked about driving» for the 30 minutes that they waited outside a locked storefront. (wink!) So that counted for a class. Some kids were dropped off and had no way of contacting parents for pick up and sat there until 9 pm. They don’t seem to know how to use a calendar, because I’ve been told twice incorrect dates for lessons. They have rescheduled all but one «behind the wheel» because their instructors keep quitting… Not a good sign. Avoid Top Driver like the plague!