I am truly happy I found this school. Learning how to drive was always a hard topic for me due to the traumatic experience as a passenger. My driving instructor Ronnie made this learning journey for me very comfortable and enjoyable. I gained confidence as a brand new driver and was able to overcome a fear of being behind the wheel. I had all classes planned in advance, nothing got cancelled. Communication through the front desk was very easy and pleasant in person and over the phone. Highly recommend this school. read more

I've had great experiences in the past ( been attending every 4 years fir the discount from insurance ) however, I've attempted to schedule a time to take defensive driving class through calls ( left messages) through website ( sent messages) but to no avail . I pass by the area every so often and there's cars in front. It was so much easier to schedule in the past. read more

I highly recommend Ayala Driving School. My wife is from Thailand, and had never driven a car when she took lessons from Ayala. They were very kind, patient and understanding with her. The best part of the program is instructor Richard Castillo, Mr. Castillo sees his position as an instructor as more than just a job, and he takes a deep personal interest in the success of his students. He thinks about students on his days off, and plans out a path forward to help individual students break through some of the obstacles preventing them from passing the driving test. He went out of his way to work with my wife and she passed her test on the 2nd attempt. If Mr. Castillo can teach my wife how to drive safely, and pass the test, he can teach anyone. He is kind and gentle person who was born to teach driving. read more

Ayala & Associates Driving School - Driving Schools Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

Scheduling Mess I am in it now. I paid in full. To schedule driving everything is full and you literally play bingo. You get a notification of a vacant spot, once you login it's already taken. They don't answer the phone. THE OWNER got snappy with me when I asked for clarification. I'll see about getting a refund and moving my kid to another location. Nothing is explained properly and they direct you to the website. they pretty much take your money and want you to do it all yourself. As far as the instructors, well, I haven't been able to schedule a session so we don't know them yet. read more

Very professional and friendly. Richard Castillo was an amazing driving instructor. He was always so positive and encouraging.

These people allow their students to drive 20 mph in a 35 mph zone also while riding the brakes.

My grandson, Joe, took the Adult Behind-the-Wheel course. Joe was impressed by Mr. Castillo. Joe told me that Mr. Castillo was patient, friendly, and caring. Mr. Castillo's tips & guidance gave Joe the confidence to drive & overcome his nervousness. Thanks to Mr. Castillo, Joe felt well prepared to take the road test which he passed! read more

I wish I could give them a ZERO! I taught my teen how to drive because I read the reviews that they suck at instructing behind the wheel and I thought I had already dealt with the worst part. NO, the worst part is trying to get spots for behind the wheel practice!! They have two instructors and dozens of students fighting for a spot! I have taken two days off trying to schedule drives for my son and I still haven't been able to. I will report them to the BBB if I'm not able to do by next week. This is unacceptable !! ONE spot opened and it was gone before I could click on it. read more

Extremely non professional and unethical services. My wife booked an appointment and paid in advance. Her appointment was first scheduled on Feb 6th but they canceled it by saying that their car is in the workshop to get fixed. Then they rescheduled the appointment on 20th March and now today we came at their office and their office is closed. Apparently they do not operate on the weekends. Both times they have an appointment on the weekend. I am confused how can they do that. read more

Scheduling is a nightmare. What should have taken a couple of months has turned into almost a year trying to get through their training program due to a lack of available training slots and and scheduling system that seems more like a lottery than an actual system. Office is unresponsive. Some of the instructors are helpful and friendly. At least one is incredibly condescending and shouldn't be instructing anyone much less kids. read more

I wouldn't recommend this place to my worst enemy. The lady at the front is the rudest person i've ever met. She never answers the phone, she's snappy with her responses, and not very much help. I still have to go here because they have my money but I cannot wait to not come back. read more

great classes and excellent instructors, they always have great tips and tricks to help out student. Miguel helped me smooth out my pedal use and made parallel parking easy. read more

I wish I had read the reviews before signing my child up. We have had such a hard time scheduling a driving appointment. Most openings are when my child is in school. No one answers the phone. I've taken time off from work to go to the office and it's either closed or no one to answer my questions. Now I'm told I have to pay an additional fee of $90 before my child can complete his driving. Very unorganized and unprofessional! Sooo disappointed with your services read more

The worst. The students are not properly trained. I was cut off by one and the instructor had the nerves to have the student follow me so he could blame me. They also practice in the nearby residential areas, affecting traffic and not providing a proper driving experience. Not professional at all. read more

I do not recommend Ayala! Stay away!!! Had I known that Ayala would not honor their commitment to provide both the classroom instruction and behind-the-wheel instruction and observation, I would never have signed my son up. I have 2 others that went through Ayala 6 and 8 years ago, with no issues but this is not being run well anymore. My youngest has not been able to get his driving or observation in all summer in spite of getting his permit in May...and his 16th birthday is fast approaching. It looks like we will go elsewhere to get his driving instruction which means more $$$ out of pocket. I have called several times over the last month or so and been told that they are adding more driving opportunities but have not seen any available on the website that we are required to signup through. Also, they often do not answer the phone during their stated business hours. I will attempt to get a refund for the driving portion and will update my review based on their response. Also, the number of recent reviews by "customers" that only have one total review is completely bogus...buyers beware. read more

Very happy and satisfied with the service, attention, professionalism, dedication but above all the human quality of each and every one of the people who work there, from Shara to Marc, but especially thanks to Ronnie. My respects to the entire team that makes Ayala the best driving school for our children and also for adults. read more

Learn how to drive before you "learn to drive" with Ayala school. This was a horrible experience! Long process, Lack of communication, and they don't tell you all the footwork "you" have to do, that you think you're paying them for. Wish I read the real outside reviews, and not the favored ones on their website. Fighting online to get a spot for a drive is ridiculous. Your 1st day, they give you keys and expect you to drive. What? "I don't know how, that's why I'm paying you, aren't you supposed to teach us in safe area, and not wing it in traffic?". Don't waste your time and money, to do what you can on your own. Get the book, study, take tests at DPS and skip the joke of a rip off Ayala driving school. read more

Lack of communication with the team. Oh and by the way, Sarah has the worst customer service skills I've ever encountered. I not quit sure why they allow her to sit at the front desk to handle clients ‍ read more

Moved from the East coast to Texas and realized driving here is a must. My husband and I did a lot of research of driving schools. We looked at Texas Driving School, but for busy adults, their schedule was not accommodating. Then we found Ayala Driving School. Their 7hr. course package seemed fair. Scheduling classes is a bit challenging (every 2 weeks), but once you know when your instructor's schedule comes out, you just call early on that day and schedule up to 2 classes. Other reviews complained about this, but they didn't ask the right questions--like the day of the week the instructor's schedule comes out. Sarah, the receptionist, was always courteous and helpful throughout this process. This office is BUSY! While waiting for my lessons, I saw how Sarah juggled the phone and in-person intakes. You just need to be patient to get what you want. Next, the instructor you choose is important. There are 4 instructors...I went through all four during my first package--huge mistake! Stick to one instructor, preferably Richard or Ronnie. Richard and Ronnie have driving down to a science. They are methodical and their system does not fail. My driving is a product of these two guys. I passed the driving test today and will continue to use the techniques learned with Ronnie and Richard. If you have some experience driving, the other instructors might be a good fit, but if you need more time and want to really know how to drive, then make sure you go with Richard or Ronnie. Richard and Ronnie have great communication--let me know both positives and negatives and how to improve it. They were friendly and gave me positive reinforcement. I am happy with the service provided by the team at Ayala Driving School! read more

I have never disliked driving more than with the instructor at Ayala. He created a negative atmosphere right from the get-go, told me that everything I learnt from my previous driving schools was "total garbage" and berated me when I made the slightest mistakes. He also constantly intervened with brakes and gas when it was clearly not required. The front office and reception had no idea what documents were required for a drive test (they were polite and courteous, but lacked knowledge). They constantly tried to sell me on more lessons. To those searching for a driving school, I would recommend Rhodes driving school or Texas driving school. Save yourself a panic attack. read more

this driving school was fantastic in every means, but I do wish there was a standard to how the instructors teach. not to say any of them were unprepared but it would be nice if there wasn't such drastic differences between each instructor in the ways that they teach. but I guess that's just the nature with people and different perspectives lol. I will say the one that stood out most was Richard, he was such a kind and patient, older gentleman. and the way he teaches parallel parking is like no other! thank you Richard for taking care of me, I passed my test because of you. Thank you Ayala & associates driving school for giving me the opportunity in getting my license with you all! read more

Great service at Ayala. Driving teachers all have different styles which is a plus because it kept our new drivers on their toes with learning and following the rules! Very convenient to be able to take the driving test their as well. Thank you Mark Alonzo! read more

Our son had a fantastic experience at Ayala. We were able to take the stress out of learning to drive by having Ayala as a partner to guide the process. Our son was instructed by teachers who cared and have a level of patience and calm I do no! Highly recommend and encourage others to alleviate the anxiety of parent taught drivers education with Ayala. read more

Ayala Driving School and instructor Ronnie are awesome. Even in horrible DeZavala construction , he tested my daughter with a gentle, encouraging attitude. She said he was the best guy she could've had! His 28 years of experience showed. I thought he was going to be really tough--as he explained that he would not use her lesson time just to assess or teach for the test. He'd review her skills, but test time would be an honest assessment. I agreed, but worried that my already nervous daughter might've just been set up for a rough review! Couldn't have been happier afterwards with her comments about his way of teaching during the lesson and assessing during test. She had poor experiences elsewhere during classroom instruction. She says we have to take our next child there to learn from him this summer! I agree! Also, the admin worker was so helpful on the phone. Very professional team. read more

Richard is an amazing trainer, if we communicate clearly and schedule and show up on time they are always nice.

Son just completed the Teen driving school with Ayala. Staff is friendly and professional. They work with your schedule. I feel confident with the training my son received. Never heard a negative experience from my son which I consider a positive ;) read more

Ayala & Associates Driving School - Driving Schools Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

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It is impossible to make appointments. You are only allowed to call on monday tuesday wednesday between 1130 and 1 every other week to schedule appts that will be 2weeks out. Getting thru for them to answer the phone during that time is nearly impossible. They make you pay ahead of time before you can schedule appts. They only allow you 2 make 2 appts at one time so you have to stalk them down to make the other ones. Also you have to pay for 4 classes at a time nut only can schedule 2 of those when you pay. Ridiculous. Sarah has no customer service skills. Not sure why she runs the front desk. Needless to say I have been trying to make my daughters last 2 appts for 4 weeks now. Today is the day to call again and of course I cant get thru to make the appts. If i dont get ahold of them no later than this wednesday then I will have to wait another 2 weeks to try and stalk them down again to make 2 appointments I already paid for. Who is running this shit show...Sarah ?? read more

Our daughter had six drives with little feedback outside of "take it easy" "watch yourself". At that point she hadn't been taken on the freeway once and we had been given no progress reports. The communication regarding the process, (classes, then drives, then tests, progress reports, recording parent hours, etc) was non-existent. It was nearly impossible to schedule drives when they posted availability for only two weeks at a time and time slots filled up quickly. I was highly disappointed in the quality of instruction and generally felt ripped off by the whole process. The two stars are for one specific instructor; Richard, who was the only one who actually took the time to INSTRUCT versus just letting her drive through neighborhoods and even made a point of stopping to talk to me before I left. Otherwise the instruction was horrible - I can't stress enough how bad it was. read more

What a fabulous experience! Friendly staff, easy to register, and quick turn around time for driving test! I highly recommend Ayala & Associates Driving School. read more

Our eldest child is currently doing her driving lessons with Ayala. So far 3 drives that I have scheduled have been canceled by them. Their schedule never goes out more than about a week and drive times are immediately "full". It is difficult to schedule and then of the 5 total drives we've scheduled they have canceled 3 of them. Today she finally had a second drive. When we picked her up she was visibly upset and teary eyed. We asked her what was wrong and she told us the other student driver in the car was making comments and cussing every time she turned or changed lanes or whatever. The instructor didn't address it at all. I am furious. This should not be a stressful and anxiety ridden experience. No other student should be making comments at all and if they do the instructor should be correcting their behavior. We have 2 other children and will NEVER use Ayala again. After speaking with some other friends that are also currently using them, they are experiencing some of the same issues. Seems the quality of the instruction has gone down quite a bit since the positive reviews posted from prior years. read more

------------------------------------------------------------------- AYALA & ASSOCIATES DRIVING SCHOOL: GENERAL Overall, my visit with Ayala Driving has been amazing. The classroom was exceptional and provided every student with the proper pre-driving knowledge to best approach the soon-to-be-real driving scenarios. The instructor guided portions are also incredibly well planned and organized. I have felt nothing but encouragement and improvement beyond my previous beliefs. I have currently completed four hours of time with my instructor. That being said, the number one reason I felt motivated to write this review of the school was some ridiculous, untrue, or hasty reviews dealing with my instructor, Mr. Santos. ------------------------------------------------------------------- MR. SANTOS: GENERAL He is a motivational, factual teacher with one goal in mind: to better the student, and brace them for real world encounters. He is strong in his beliefs of teaching correctly and fully. There are no shortcuts in the driving world, and he makes that beyond clear. He refuses to let you make a mistake unnoticed, but then allows you to beat yourself up over it. Very common words he says: "We're here to make mistakes. If you don't make mistakes you're not learning" and "Don't say 'aww man', fix it". I could go on for hours, because a short review does no justice to the professionalism displayed by Mr. Santos, but all-in-all, could not have gotten luckier with my assigned instructor. ------------------------------------------------------------------- MR. SANTOS: DRIVING He is loud. Do not interpret this as a complaint, it is nothing of the sort. He is loud because he needs to reach through to the driving student, of who is nervous, over-confident, etc. You name it, he's seen it. Point is that this is not a normal "teaching-setting", and such an approach is necessary. He gives you what you can handle and a little bit more. He writes notes of our individual performance, and encourages us to venture out of our comfort zones. You never know how to handle a situation until you have been in it, and he makes sure there are no surprises. He has a method for everything. Whether it's a bottle on the dash for controlled turns, or a five step method to Parallel Park, he knows it all. I can say with all honesty that I feel equipped and confident behind the wheel when I enter the car with him. ------------------------------------------------------------------- MR. SANTOS: OBSERVATION Unlike the stories I've heard about the other instructors, Mr. Santos gets the observer involved in the driving experience as much as the driver him/herself. Calling out "mirrors" and speed limit postings is a big portion of the observing time. Observers are quickly pushed to a competitive edge, trying to beat Santos to the call outs, and ultimately this results in a surreal observation experience. He rewards the observer with recognition, and calls them out when they miss it. Like stated before, he is all about correctness and precision. Observation is no exception. ------------------------------------------------------------------- CONCLUSION I believe that the school is a work of art. It has been around and practicing it's fundamentals through generations of new students. My message to the future parents of student drivers: (1) Get your child in this school, because it teaches basic fundamentals, and real world experience like I would have never imagined. (2) When your child completes the classroom portion, receives his/her permit, and is looking for an instructor (especially if he/she has never driven before), make sure they get Mr. Santos. For the reasons previously stated, your child will be more prepared than ever to attack the road. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Everything I have said, I say with complete honesty and without pressure. I just felt it was time that some light was shed on the true nature of this school and Mr. Santos. Sincerely, Isaiah Smoote (19) ------------------------------------------------------------------- read more

Ayala saved the day - although my son did not take a class at Ayala, he was able to take his driving test with them. They made it easy, set the appointment, no waiting, when you leave they walk you through every document needed to fulfill the DPS requirement for the new DL. Made it easy! read more

Our son completed driver's ed through Ayala and Associates. He received excellent classroom instruction and hands on driving training. He was even able to take his driving test at the school. What an awesome experience! The staff is friendly and helps guide you through every step of the process. We highly recommend Ayala! read more

Today I have my final driving lesson and I couldn't be more pleased with how much I've improved since I first started here. When I first got into the car for my first class I was terrified. And although the instructor I had was great and definitely did his job well, none of the instructors helped me improve as much as Mr Santos did. After I had my first lesson with him I made sure to schedule all my lessons with him because he was truly that awesome. He has a different style of teaching that I LOVE and find extremely helpful. Especially being a new teen driver. He shows you that driving is serious at the same time as being fun and he makes sure to set you up to be as successful as possible. I'd like to give Mr Santos a big thank you because I don't think I would have improved as much as I did without his help! read more

Great experience for my son. The hours were flexible to accommodate our schedules. The staff was great. I would highly recommend.

if you attend this class i HIGHLY recommend Javier as a driving instructor he's great at teaching, professional, and explaining things during the actual driving .This school was very fun and Mr. Ayala is a really great teacher. It was a fun class and I learned the basics or driving read more

My daughter finished Ayala and ironically I went there when I was 16. There is an instructor there named Lou who did an excellent job teaching my daughter to drive. I signed her up for several extra hours of driving with Lou as her driving instructor. She is doing well. You don't know what a relief it is for a teenager to drive well and I owe all that to Lou. I feel confident my daughter learned a life long skill well. Thank you Lou. read more

If I could rate the instructors I would give them 5 stars. The location is great! Especially if your child attends Clark High School. There is definitely a huge breakdown with the office staff competency and/or technology. I left messages to cancel driving appointments several days in advance, yet they still tried to bill me as a 'no show'. They have been through several receptionists who are either too lazy or too undertrained. To call them even to sign up for school initially I had to leave three different messages on the answering machine. No one returned my calls. I had to keep calling the office back until someone eventually answered the phone. For the classroom sessions, twice we showed up and were told class was canceled. No advance notice, no explanation or apology given. When signing up for the student driving sessions, they signed us up for three days in a row. So when we showed up on the second day we were told that you are not allowed to drive 2 days in a row because you are supposed to have a certain amount of practice in between driving sessions. OK - so why did they let me schedule three days in a row?! Things were made unecessarily difficult, again, all due to the incompetent office staff. So glad to be done with them! read more

Ayala driving school is a great place to bring your teenager, the classes are fun and the environment is relaxed, the instructors are professional and very nice! My daughter enjoyed Mr Ayala lectures and his funny stories! I would most definitely recommend this place to everyone, teen or adult! read more

I am a student at Ayala driving school and i just finished all of my drives. This driving school was great! I took all of my 7 drives and 7 observing hours with Mr.Santos. He is a fantastic teacher. I wouldn't have learned how to drive and how to control a car without him. He is a great driving instructor i recommend him to anyone starting out with their drives. I recently came across a very rude review and would just like to address that Mr. Santos would never do anything to upset or hurt a student. Everything he does in the car is for everybody's safety. He explains everything he does very clearly and helps you understand all your mistakes. I HIGHLY recommend you go to this driving school and drive with Mr. Santos. Thank you :) read more