Yolanda was a great instructor to our son. He often referenced her instructions and teachings while he was driving. He successfully passed his driving test and no doubt her lessons made a huge difference - I am telling you parents none of us would pass the current driving test based on our outdated driving style. Yolanda keeps her voice in a respectful and certain tone while guiding the lessons. She was easy to get a hold of for scheduling, arrived on time, kept lessons focused, and was a pleasure to work with. Her business practice is simple, making the whole process a smooth one. read more

Yolanda and Dago were great instructors. They took the time with my son to make sure he was ready, spent time with me after each lesson to brief me on what to help him practice, and he passed on 1st attempt. Thank you for your patience and professionalism. read more

My son had a good experience with Yolanda and Drago. He passed driving test with perfect score. Convenient Saturday driving schedule and they pick student up at your house. read more

If sitting in a porta potty is your thing, hopefully u get "yolanda". The car is actually so dirty and disgusting. Terrible experience!! Also, be prepared to take routine stops while she takes bathroom breaks at various grocery stores and coffee shops while leaving your child unattended in the car. Last note, she is very quick to anger, and seemingly uninterested in the lesson, staying on her phone for a large duration of the lesson. Luckily I was able to pass my drivers test, no thanks to Golden state! Hope this helps. read more

My instructor told me about a woman who paid for 5 or so classes because she couldn't learn. The whole time during instruction, whenever I made mistakes he would threaten that I would become like her. At the end of our first lesson he told me I should pay for more classes. Very mediocre experience so that's a hard no. Guy was very rude as well and would ignore anything I said to him. I learned some things so I'm putting two stars, but do business with these people with caution. You're probably better off learning elsewhere. read more

This is a very shady business. I purchased the Total Teen package for my daughter so she could study online for the written test and follow up with 6hrs of behind the wheel training once she had her permit. She was unable to pass her written test for some time (3 attempts), and became discouraged and then busy with school. In the summer she was finally able to pass her test and receive her permit but when I called Golden State Driving to book her classes they were not responsive. She went off to college shortly after and felt okay without a license since she wouldn't be driving a car at school. Now that she is back for the summer, she renewed her permit and attempted to finally book her behind the wheel training. Yolanda eventually called me back and said she has no way of tracking business from a year ago. I told her that was silly, of course she has receipts... how else would she be able to submit her taxes each year? She said there is no way she could track it, so I offered to send her the receipt myself (I paid through PayPal). Now she is refusing to answer my calls or texts. Hundreds of dollars down the drain :( read more

They were super easy to communicate with and make appointments with! The Lady who answers the phone does so even after hours and answers any customer questions, also calls you back within 24hours! Great job and my son passed his test on the first try! Most reasonable driving school in san diego! Thank you read more

Great driving school ! Our kid passed with ease. Wonderful local business ... a pea oak shout out to Duago - very professional , easy going & supportive ! read more

Golden State Driving School - Driving Schools Near Me - San Diego, California

Yolanda from GSDS is simply the best. She helped my son prepare for his driving test, which is in two days. When he returned from his lesson with her, he was very serious about making sure that he listened to all of her instruction and correction. Yolanda was sweet enough to call me and talk to me for 20 minutes tonight to go through any and all concerns or critiques that she had regarding my son's driving. She was very kind and assuring and I cannot wait to use Golden state driving School for my other children when they approach the age of 16. We hope we get Yolanda again. And we loved Dago, too! read more

Ridiculous operation. Paid for their 6 hour driving lesson a month in advance because that's what their schedule could accommodate. Day of first lesson, Driver has trouble with their vehicle and had to cancel our lesson. When I asked him to let me know when to reschedule, he said I had to call the office. Office phone is answered intermittently so after three attempts, we got a hold of someone and said they would process a refund for the lesson as they had no availability until September. Refund received was $32 because...get this..they have the audacity to charge me a $30 refund processing fee and also the third lesson is somehow $62 dollars while lessons #1 and #2 are $109. This makes absolutely no sense especially considering when their driver cancelled the lesson due to a faulty vehicle. No courtesy call to resolve the matter so I had to try to get a hold of them. Called back to complain only to be told that a person named Yolanda would give me a call back at some point. Will need to wait until Monday. I'll likely complain to my credit card company to get them to remove the erroneous charge if I don't hear back. At least they'll provide me customer service. read more

My brother took a 2 hour lesson with Yolanda prior to taking his driving test and he passed! Yolanda gave great tips to really focus in on what he needed to improve on which gave him the boost of confidence to pass his test with only three minor mistakes. Yolanda was also very friendly, would recommend read more

The instructors suck there's only two and their bad at there job. They were pretty rude and make you feel uneasy.

Driving lesson was OK but the office working woman behaved meanly when I asked about her experience about the teenager`s driving permit extension. Suddenly she pretended as she was not able to hear and hung up and also of course didn`t call me back. It`s so childish and rude way to finish the phone call and hurt my feeling a lot. read more

Good morning. My son is scheduled for a 10AM behind the wheel lesson on 1/14/23. No instructor has shown up or called to cancel. We have been waiting at the front door for 30min. This is unprofessional. I have not even received a phone call from your agency. I feel my money was stolen since the 6 jour behind the wheel was paid in full to the company. After reading the website, i see there are rigid policies regarding cancellation and a no refund policy. So what happens when the company is a no show and did not cancel. Do I charge the company a $50 cancellation fee? Can I get all my money back for this unprofessional behavior? read more

Finally got their CashApp (they'd told me that it was Venmo) info to pay their cancellation fee, and sent them the amount that they'd quoted when I signed up. I got a text the next day telling me that I owed them another $20. Very sus. read more

The owner was my daughter's instructor for her first behind the wheel lesson. She ridiculed my daughter using wildly inappropriate language for not knowing how to drive. Additionally, during the lesson she directed my daughter into a grocery store parking lot where the instructor left my daughter alone in the car while she went in and made a purchase. I have two older children who learned to drive with this company some years ago and both had a good experience. I am not sure if the company is under new ownership or what to attribute the drastic change to. I would most definitely NOT recommend Golden State Driving. read more

Beware when you buy the the the lesson package. When I purchased the package for my son, it was suggested that we do the first two lessons upfront and save the last lesson until he was close to doing his test to fine tune things and make sure he was 100% ready. I thought this was a good idea so we waited on doing the last lesson. Come to find out that your lessons expire after 9 months. There is no refund. This is theft! I don't care what your policy is a fee was paid and services were never rendered. read more

With how terribly everyone seems to be driving during this pandemic, I feel like I should be writing more favorable reviews of a place which aims to teach people how to drive more effectively. The instruction you receive here, from my experience, is actually not bad. I was a new driver in 2012 and I learned a lot. The problem of course is that almost everybody there is extremely unprofessional. One person in particular (Amy?) appears to give great effort into making herself as rude as possible to the general public. read more

I have had nothing but problems with this company. The first incident was when the instructor dropped off my teenage daughter at a different drop off point then I asked them to. It was dark and she was left in a parking lot. Every time that I spoke with someone to schedule appointments or bring up a concern, they were unprofessional. On the last scheduled driver's instruction, the female instructor showed up in an old toyota that was dirty inside. There was garbage inside and it was very outdated. The instructor was very passive aggressive toward my daughter and it made her very uncomfortable. She told my daughter that she would be tested on parallel parking, which was not true. She should not be working with people, let alone teenagers. This place is a rip off and a scam. Please do not waste your money read more

Well-when you constantly feed and pamper your teen-ager, they eventually reach the age of consent-where they want to drive a car! When that time inevitably arrives, you have to be ready for action! And my son is lucky that one of my brother's has a truck ready to give him when he gets his license. I wanted a Driving School close by, so that I could drop him on a Saturday morning and come back later to get him. This place-Golden State Driving School-worked out perfectly. I signed him up and paid the fee-it took a couple of Saturday mornings and he had his written part down. There is a McDonald's and Carl's Jr. nearby if the kids get hungry and the students can play cool video games on all the latest machinary-while they wait for their parents to pick them up! My brother comes to the rescue again and told me he would pay for the Driving part, so we are starting up the behind-the-wheel training next week. I will re-yelp after that since the previous Yelper had such a miserable experience. But Driving Schools are important-particularly since the public schools don't really offer it anymore. From the Golden State website: "Our driver's education will prepare your teenager for the written exam in order to get a learners permit. Our behind- the - wheel instruction is a hands on training which teaches students how to safely operate a motor vehicle using defensive driving skills and obey the traffic safety laws. We also offer the drivers training to senior citizens who have had their license revoked and need a letter to the safety division in order to get retested. We have an experienced and knowledgeable staff of friendly people who are here to help you .As an added convenience, we also offer online courses in driver's education." They do it all! I thought they did a pretty good job so far; the people that work there are friendly and my son enjoyed the experience. He also said there were hot girls that were in his class- No doubt the best kind of word-of-mouth recommendation to be had! read more

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Terrible service. The instructor showed up and left before our scheduled appointment. Then, we rescheduled. Then, Adam, the instructor, did it again. He was a no show on the second appointment. My 15 year old has a very tight schedule and his 86 year old grandma gave him this class for his birthday...now we have to find a new school because they don't show up. Refund please! read more

It seems like this company doesn't treat their instructors very well as in my experience they don't all seem too happy working there. It's a little unsettling getting into a car with an obviously unhappy stranger. Expect older cars as I'm pretty sure the instructors also have to provide this. For my last lesson the instructor had extremely tinted difficult to see out of windows, stopped at Starbucks for 10 minutes and ended my lesson 10 minutes early. read more

So you're student almost killed me yesterday. He was at the left turning lane and the last minute decided to cut in the left fast lane to go straight while the light is green the last minute. I was going 35 miles per hour and had hit my brakes hard to save your life and mine. If you made a mistake turning left, how hard is it to turn left and make a U turn in the parking lot or a safe street. HORRIBLE TEACHING KIDS TO BE IMPATIENT BY TAKING STUPID DECISION ON THE ROAD! I cannot blame the student and I am sure the instructor told him to do that. To the instructor yesterday 04/19/18 around 3:30- 4pm. You need to go to driving school and pass your driving exam again before you hurt your student and other innocent drivers!!! This company needs to really look into their instructors teaching skills. I wouldn't trust them teaching my kids if they will put them in harms way! I hate writing bad reviews, but this one needs to be addressed! read more

If I had written this review a few months back they wouldn't have received 5 stars, however the manager/owner Yolanda made the experiance so much better. She is very professional and cares about her customers and students. When my son had his first lesson can't remember the instructions name, but while my son did get a lot of good information, he wasn't comfortable with him because of the car for starters, he has those beaded seat cover that caused my son some discomfort. However on his second lesson he was paired up with Adam, night and day! Adam came to the door and talked with me to share his vision and expectations. My son really enjoyed driving under Adams instruction. He made the experience very real. Every time my son did something that was incorrect Adam corrected him and explained what he should do. They were on the road for the full 2 hours where his first experience the driver spent 10 mins doing paperwork outside of the car and several more mins talking before they departed. Adam is a outstanding person and instructor. My son wants to do his finial lesson with him and I strongly suggest if any parents are looking into golden state, ask for Adam or the owner. Of course we had the experience of two drivers so can't speak on the level of experience or professionalism of the other drivers. I am sure they are experienced and professional but you would have to make that call. But if Adam is available, he will set you children up for success. My son will not be one of the drivers who feels like they are unbreakable! Adam brings reality to the course and makes both parents and students feel confident they will learn what is needed and do it safely. Thank you Adam for taking time to teach our new drivers in an already crazy driver world! read more

If i could give 0 stars, i would. The car that they offer smell like pee and it's so old. The instructor, yolanda midgette, doesn't even teach you anything. I didn't know the difference between stop and stop all ways. She told me in her direct words 'your parents never taught you this'. Now, the point of a driving instructor's job is to teach the laws of the road. I literally hired them to teach me and they have the audacity to say that. Don't go here, there's better options read more

Highly unprofessional example of what to look for in a driving school. They have rescheduled the first appoint for behind the wheel training four times to date. The instructor will contact you about 5 minutes before the appointment with some lame excuse like car problems or a family situation. Really???? Right before the appointment you found this all out??? C'mon at least have the decency to let me know a day in advance so I don't plan my whole weekend afternoon around this, and then you just flake. It's almost like you make me pay up front and then keep putting it off until I wanna give up calling to reschedule. Ok, the first time I get it. The second time...oh too busy, and a promise of a free lunch. Just to get stiffed again at the third appointment. Now the fourth time. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Get a text, not a call canceling the appointment at 4:18pm for a 4:30pm start time. You want $50 from me if I decide to cancel, but ya'll, just brush me off if it's more convenient??? Thanks for all the support Golden State Driving School. One star for all the love you've showed me. I'd give a no star if I could. read more

D perez did a great time teaching me how to drive. Didn't catch his name but the guy who answered the phone seemed kind! I had to miss my second lesson due to Covid and they charge a $50 fee for that (fine). Here's the bad part. When I had to reschedule the only option to get a sooner driving lesson would be to meet at the Clairemont location with a different instructor. I agreed to it however I should've seen this as a red flag. I live 15 minutes away and I think it's odd that they wouldn't just pick me up the same way the other instructor had done. Especially because it was an agreement in what I paid for. However I wanted my license asap so I obliged. I made my way to Clairemont and I see one person outside of the unit which was Yolanda's daughter. She was kind and peaked into the unit to tell Yolanda that I was here. As I walk inside she just looks at me.... no hello, no greeting, no anything. She just asks if I have my permit and I said yes. Then she's just walking towards the door without saying anything so I walk out as well, awkwardly down the steps to a car that I'm not sure which is hers. As far as a driving lesson I wouldn't even call it that. She seems so upset and angry and had an attitude with me despite me not saying much to her because I was uncomfortable. This is only my second driving lesson and she had an issue with every T-intersection we reached. I would stop and then pull forward for a secondary stop but before I got the chance to even stop... she would freak out before I even did the secondary stop! Without giving me a chance. It was super weird honestly. For the most part if I made a mistake she would just tell me what the mistake was... rather than telling me what the correction should be. I just remember thinking to myself I should just tell her I wanna stop the lesson... but it's something I had paid for in advance so I just had to keep going. I literally could not stop looking at the clock waiting for it to be over so I can get out the car with her!! Mr Perez was patient and an actual teacher. I'm a late bloomer and getting my license but I feel bad for any teenagers who have to work with her. If you decide to use this service (out of desperation) request Dago Perez! Avoid Yolanda all costs. Not to mention she had the radio on while we drove which was extremely distracting. Very unprofessional. After making it back to the unit... she says you owe me $50 (the cancellation fee). Like I said the $50 fee was fine it's just the way she asked. She's very uncouth and lacks people skills which is needed for service jobs. I chose this specific location because I wanted to support a local black businesses but I have my regrets. read more

I paid $300 for three lessons, 2 hours each lesson and the lesson expired in 9 months. Even though my instructor made me cry on the first lesson I still believed it went okay because he explained to me what what I did was good and what I need to practice more. He gave good advice that I should practice more before taking the second and third lesson. Then the COVID pandemic happened and we were in lockdown for a few months before the lockdown was lifted. I email them asking for an extension on my driving lesson expiration date because of the lockdown. They never reply back to my question, very rude if you asked me. I lost $200 of my hard earn money! If I knew this was going to happen to me, I would have just paid for one lesson instead of three. Lesson learned, never again! read more

We booked three lessons with Golden State, prepaid, and after the first lesson, which went fine, our schedule changed so we had to cancel the last two lessons. After a few calls to straighten out they agreed to refund our money minus $80 in cancellation and refund fees. That was two months ago and I'm still waiting for the refund. I've called and emailed to no avail. read more

I got my license super quick! Alex is an amazing instructor, Talking very clear, relaxed and professional. He made sure first that I know how to drive for the test, second that I will know how to be good driver after passing the test and that I won't waist money taking extra classes that aren't necessary. I have got my license in only 3 lessons!!!! I highly recommend that school specially Alex. Thank you! read more

Yolanda worked well with my daughter. We had a little hiccup due to a scheduling mishap. However, Yolanda worked with us to reschedule in time for my daughter to have her certificate. In the end, everything worked out well and my daughter passed her behind the wheel exam on the first try. :) read more

These guys got my oldest son through his driving lessons and test without a single concern for me. I had them take him to the test, and he got his license on his first try. Very happy with their service and will use them when my younger son is ready to drive!~ read more

Echoing what everyone says about the office staff being rude and the service being terrible.

I do want to start by stating that we had an awful experience - it WAS during covid and a very difficult time financially for many businesses- so I am trying to be understanding! We booked and pre bought three lessons for our daughter on her first driving experience and had to wait approximately three weeks to get in due to lack of instructors because of the current pandemic. Four days prior to my daughters lesson we were informed she needed to have an emergency surgery! While dealing with schools, doctors, covid tests and hospitals - I also believed that I had left a message with Golden State driving school. Apparently I didn't and Yolanda showed up as scheduled. I was extremely apologetic about my lack of communication through the ordeal, told her I was sorry and would be willing to provide her with any necessary documentation to prove our child had EMERGENCY SURGERY as well as, if she still felt it was necessary, pay the $50 fee! She was uncaring, not sympathetic and frankly NEVER inquired about my daughters well being or her health and was ONLY concerned that we immediately pay the $50 cancellation fee. I found this extremely disturbing when I had ALREADY pre paid for three lessons! She clearly already had a lot of our money that we had not collected on. In the end I wish every small business the best but am writing this review in hopes that it results in better future customer appreciation, care and service! We are living in a time where being kind needs to be above all else. read more

They have very good instructors. Shawn was my instructor and he was very kind and patient. I learned a lot from him. I also used them to take me to my driving test and I passed! The instructor Hooger was also very kind and patient. Highly recommend this driving school! read more

Called twice to confirm that I am purchasing the right package for my daughter and was promised by a gentleman that is all I need to pay. After the payment, I realized the online driving education was not included in it as promised over the phone (twice). I called back and another person (Elizabeth or Isabel, can't remember her name) answer the phone, she said the guy was new, did not have proper training and gave me wrong information (twice) and so I had to pay the difference. I asked that if he works for the company and provided the wrong information, shouldn't the company honor what he had promised? She said she will pass the information to the manager and immediately hung up the phone. Very rude and unprofessional company read more

As someone who works in customer service, I know how tiring it can be to be work with people who can be difficult. However, I have never experienced this amount of rudeness from someone who works in customer service. the front desk lady was absolutely horrendously mean. She would not answer any of my questions when i asked nicely. extremely poor service and should be fired ! read more

Well, the instructors were not bad actually, Adam in particular provided some useful tips in real-life driving. But the instructor's car's break broke when I drove off the freeway in my second course, and the car's registration expired when I went to dmv (the instructor no longer works here so, idk what happened after I told the boss about this). Then I had to reschedule my test to a month later, and the instructor who was supposed to take my to the test canceled like, 4 hours before the test saying someone passed away or sth (sounds like a bad excuse really). You can learn driving from them, but just keep in mind they were being extremely unreliable in taking you to driving tests. read more

I first found Golden State Driving School 2 summers ago. I took some lessons then and it was a good experience. my driving improved a great deal and i felt more confident after my lessons. my instructor was brian. I am currently taking lessons again as a refresher before taking the behind the wheel test. I haven't driven in awhile (hence the 2 year gap) so I thought I need a crash course. my current instructor dean is wonderful. i get a lot of practice with driving and he gives a lot of pointers and advice. he is really skilled with driving since he use to be a race car instructor. awesome. overall, i would recommend this place to anyone who needs to get some practice before the test or wish to learn how to drive better. =) read more

I an hour lesson at a very affordable cost! I hadn't practiced driving a while since I came to college but being that my permit was going to expire I looked for a driving instructor. I found Golden State and it was great! My instructor was Stephanie and she made me feel confident! She took me around the driving area where the test was going to be located and a few days later I passed with flying colors! She was really nice and made me feel comfortable to drive again. She was right on time and setting up an appointment was really easy. She was also really friendly. She even told me to text her once my test was over to see how I did ! She also told me to text her if I had any last minute questions. Overall, I had a great experience. I would highly recommend them (: I took my test in February 2014. read more