I had a great experience with Carmen and Cowells Driving School. I would definitely recommend the 10-lesson package to anyone who has never driven a car before. When I first started, I was a complete beginner and had a lot to learn. Carmen was very patient with me and always took the time to explain things. I'll be honest--sometimes I didn't listen to her when she was teaching me something, but later on I realized she was right all along . A lot of the things she told me to work on ended up being exactly what I needed to improve. Her patience, advice, and encouragement helped me become much more confident behind the wheel, and I'm happy to say that I passed my road test and got my license! If you're a beginner, listen to Carmen and trust the process. She knows what she's doing, and the more you listen and practice what she teaches you, the better you'll become. Thank you so much, Carmen, for everything! I truly appreciate you and would recommend you to anyone learning how to drive. read more

Colwell's Auto Driving School - Driving Schools Near Me - Bronx, New York

Very unprofessional. They're quick to take your money but constantly keep you waiting. Communication is terrible--it's almost impossible to reach anyone except the answering service. Save yourself the frustration and your money, and go with a driving school that values your time. read more

As someone who had failed two previous road tests, I was nervous about even attempting a third try. I selected Colwell's Driving School because it was in my area. What made me stay was my driving instructor, Ms. Carmen Diaz. Ms. Diaz was an angel and challenged me when needed. She pushed me and believed in me to pass even when I was doubting myself and letting my nerves get the best of me. She truly was a Godsend send and I hope anyone who chooses a driving school chooses Colwell's! PS. Yes I Passed my road test!!!!! read more

Excelente, Down and Julio son muy amables mi hijo tomó las clases y lo trataron muy bien ,bendiciones

I am currently in the process of preparing for my road test. I originally chose Colwell's because I was familiar with the school & their package deals are a good bang for your buck. But if I would have read the reviews I probably would have switched instructors after my first incident. I was given Julio as an instructor and he introduced himself to me as a stern teacher. Which I was okay with until we started lessons. He doesn't really care if you learn how to drive correctly or not & he will purposely be rude , yell and scream and tell you well it takes time to get you to book more lessons and spend more money. Which initially I didn't have a problem with because I wanted to learn how to drive correctly. But if your looking for someone with patience that will work with you and give you positive reinforcement Julio is NOT the instructor for you. We had a incident driving around where he was very rude and yelling at me, he would constantly go back and fourth with me about my comfortability with driving because it wasn't exactly how he expected me to drive. This one lesson he actually physically lifted my hands off the steering wheel mid turn which could have ended really badly if I didn't have a grip on the steering wheel. After that I made it my business to return the same energy to him & told him that the yelling , screaming & grabbing did not work for me & he needs to find a more conducive way to teach. After that he never yelled or did anything remotely close to that & my driving has gotten much better without his input & he's been hella dismissive since. Honestly a lot of the basics that you think you would learn like adjusting your seat & the settings on the steering wheel he bypasses because he thinks it's common knowledge. If you don't want to waste your money switch instructors IMMEDIATELY. Also I do think the receptionist there are overworked and overwhelmed, they should probably look into hiring one more person to switch out because one of them was very rude to me. At this point it's too late in the game to switch my instructors so I'm really relying on the practice I do get during lessons & YouTube videos to build my confidence up. I've spent almost $500 on my driving education and have only gotten 25% of my moneys worth. Where I could have initially finished in 5 lessons if I had a nicer instructor I wouldn't be on lesson 13 playing catch up. *Honorable mention: Julio will instruct you to always have your hands at 10 & 2 because it makes it easier to turn, but when I took my 5 hour class they told me 10 & 2 is a automatic fail , so take what he tells you with a grain of salt. 9 & 3 is perfectly acceptable for the road test Also he doesn't respect boundaries so make sure you are very strong with yours read more

I booked lessons with this school so that I could continue practicing. My primary driving school was extremely busy and the time btw lessons with my instructor could be lengthy. I was able to book a lesson right away. I mean like 2 days from booking! Seemed like this instructor had open availability.... but okay, at least I could practice. I got Julio (I did not read the reviews beforehand...) and it was the worst experience that I've ever had driving. This man kept grabbing the steering wheel, yelling about how people complain about him, told me to look at this car and that car b/c they don't know what they're doing, etc.. This lesson was a mess. The ladies that I spoke to were always pleasant whenever someone actually answered the phone.. They were helpful however they always seems disorganized and in a rush. I understand there's a lot going on in the world they just might be understaffed. I requested to change instructors right after that lesson. I got Ron and he is actually the reason I'm even giving this school stars. Ron was like a breath of fresh air. Calm, patient and able to communicate while giving pointers & critiques. He's still stern without all of the extra rah rah and I appreciate that. If you are going to book lessons request Ron. I actually took my road test this week and passed. But wanted to share my experience. read more

horrible!!very very very rude!!dont spend your money with them! they switched instructors every other class cancelled classes that i arranged around my work schedule.they cut the time short 10 minutes everytime and refused to give me my last class before road makes women feel very uncomfortable.this place is a scam!when asked to speak to higher ups they refuse to give information.dont come here scam scam scam scam!! read more

My experience with this school from the get go was amazing. The front staff are all friendly and informative. I had Mr. Chris as an instructor and he was great. Made me feel comfortable from the first lesson and was uplifting and encouraging the entire time. I passed my road test last week and he even called after to congratulate me! The packages deals for the classes are great as well. read more

My instructor is great! She's been doing a great job being patient with me and helping me drive. But I absolutely CAN NOT stand the receptionist. She doesn't pick up the phone and when she does she puts you on hold for 20 minutes. I've been calling for the last month to try to book a road test and they have not gotten back to me. Not to mention the receptionist can't find my papers have the time. also, they need to hire more instructors because they're never open for lessons. I truly am thinking about booking my road test with someone else because Colwell just seems extremely disorganized. read more

Colwell's Auto Driving School - I was ok hold for 17 minutes and didn't even get a road test booking - Driving Schools Near Me - Bronx, New York

I took my 5 hour class there but on line it was good thank u Colwell's school they are good

If you what a school that allows you to learn to drive in comfort, personnel that provided you with accurate information about your schedule and appointment and receptionlist that is respectful or polite, YOU SHOULD USE ANY OTHER DRIVING SCHOOL OTHER THAN COLWELL. They make mistakes with scheduling and change the times without informing you then pretend as if they did and still charge you for it. And to add insult to injury, CHARGE you to correct THEIR mistake. read more

The worst driving school I ever went to the instructor fell asleep while I was driving. When I asked for more help with parallel parking and broken U turns the instructor didn't pay me any mind and had me to drive all the way out to City Island smh . Not a good school. read more

I am taking 5 lessons and I took their 5 hour class here. My instructor is good and creates conversation. I wish he was more critical of my driving, or compare my driving to how the DMV tests. Also, on my first lesson I had to wait 15 minutes for the instructor because of some discrepancy with the school (why I took a star off). The 5-hour class went well. Get there an hour before and pay in cash! The class was shorter than 5 hours. I went on a Saturday and the teacher was Paul. He spoke in a way where you would not fall asleep and he went the extra mile. He was entertaining. It was not watching videos for hours, it was interactive which I appreciated on an early Sat. morning. read more

worst during school ever. Julio my instructor only focus was making more money and increasing my classes. I did not learn much due to him constantly screaming. He signed me up for classes and did not show up twice. julio also cut myy classes 15 min shorter everyday. julio needs assistance with customer services. In Addition, his screaming methods are exceptional. He is so versed in telling, I pointed it out to to but,he made no changes. Julio, need training in customer care and attitude. I was so dissatisfied. waisted my money read more

Do nottttt, do not come here. Rude lady, disorganized, unprofessional, dirty place. I don't know why I came here because honestly the way that this people have play with my time is amazing. So the first incident is when they booked my driving test without consulting me, I called left a message that I wanted to book my road test, they said that they will call me back, next thing I know someone called me saying that I have an appoiment for the 30th of January I told her wait a min I thought I would get a call back to arrange the day, I told her I could not make it because I was going away, the lady then said that She was doing to cancel my appoiment and wanted to charge me a cancelation fee when is your fault you dint ask me if I was going away or which day would work for me most likely. As far as I know I'm The customer you have to work around my schedule, I spoke to a lady I had to complain to her for about 40 mins straight and then she knows she was wrong and decided to not charge me the cancellation fee and I said I will call to reschedule my road test. I called we schedule the road test for the 3rd of April I'm not stupid where would I come up with this, she calls me and confirm the date and time she said yeah is that date and time. Why I come in today and the lady in the front tells me the appoiment is for tomorrow, don't mind that I took non pay day off to come to this test, very unbothered told me oh well is for tomorrow, like my time is worthless. Then she started looking through paperwork very disorganize you would think in 2018 you would have some time of organization with customer. I ask her for a copy of the date my driving test was book she thinks I'm stupid she wrote in a piece of paper the date of the appoiment I asked for a copy! Not a paper with a date written on it. You guys will lose a lot of business the way this is run is disgusting! Don't come here ever! read more

This is the worst driving school EVER!!!! Why is it that EVERY time I call no one answers. When they finally do answer, no one says anything, or when they come on it's " colwel driving school please hold ". HOLD FOR WHAT!?!?!?!?!? There's absolutely no way you are busy all day that I cannot get in comtact with anyone. I took the 5 hour class last Tuesday on zoom and they said it would be ready for pick up this week. When I go to pick it up this morning, they are still not ready. Why is it taking so long for the certificate to be signed. I was told to come back in the afternoon again . The driving instructors fall asleep in the middle of a lesson, luckily I knew what I was doing. Overall I would never recommend their services read more

I took my 5 Hour course with Paul and it was great but as far as the woman in that office she is very rude and unprofessional and she do not know how to answer the phone back in a timely manner when she puts people on hold... because when I told her that I was on hold for over 25 minutes instead of her saying "sorry how can she help you"she got very rude! Colwell really need to get rid of her and if she's part of the family they really need to think about getting outside help that knows how to talk to PPL read more

Carmine was a wonderful teacher. She is very firm and constant when she teach you things. Even when you give up on yourself she won't. She is such a sweetheart. I had a little bit of old experience driving from a friend who taught me many bad habits that Carmine quickly corrected. She taught me hand over hand,how to properly turn and all types of tricks to park and 3 point turn that is easy to remember. The ladies at the desk service was ok. I will be referring all my friends to colwell. read more

Colwell's Auto Driving School - Catch me in traffic - Driving Schools Near Me - Bronx, New York

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Christene Campbell I signed up for ten lesson package and got most of my lessons. My instructor is awesome.The staff on the other hand is not so great. They lack professionalism in the way they handle situations and basic customer service. There is much more that I could say about the staffs unprofessionalism but I will not for more reasons than one but I must say my instructor is #1, continue the awesome work Paul. I wish the staff would be as professional as you are. I had left the school and signed up elsewhere but because I could not find another instructor like Paul I had no choice but to return to Coldwell, he is the reason I returned. read more

They did teach me how to drive but not good enough for me to pass the test. My instructor, Paul, did not teach me how to park the right way. He had me put my right hand behind the passenger seat. That screwed me over in my road test. Because I was used to parking like that, I forgot to keep both hands on the steering wheel while parking. Both hands MUST be on the wheel while the vehicle is in motion at ALL times. I'm not saying he was a horrible teacher but he didn't prepare me well for the road test. I recommend looking for another driving school. I heard from other people about their driving schools how they taught them things and prepared them well for the road test. Those are the kind of schools you want to go to. Not every place is perfect but you can find better. Currently looking at fuzion driving school in Brooklyn. EDIT: Sorry Colwell's Driving School but you need to hire some new secretary and some new instructors. Half the time my instructor was on the phone. Told me my errors but didn't tell me how to fix them. I know this isn't a good driving school because I found another school that does 1 hour lessons and the first lesson is one hour and 30 minutes(first half hour is free which he spends explaining to you about driving IN DETAIL). He corrects me on my errors and SHOWS me how to correct them. He even put me on a highway. I still can't understand how a driving instructor tells you to take your hand off the steering wheel when parking. i don't know if that's how all instructors from Colwell's Driving School teach but the one that I had taught me that. When you're doing your road test, your examiner wants to see your hands in the 2:00 and 10:00 positions.The only time your hand should come off is when your switching gears. When I told my father that my instructor taught me to park the park with one hand off the steering wheel, he was shocked. I wouldn't recommend my worst enemy to come here and I definitely would never step foot back in there. Even on the day of my road test the instructor hardly gave me advice for the road test. When I compare this driving school to the one that I currently go to now, I can't understand how this place is doing business. I'm sorry but this so called driving school should be closed down. I hardly write bad reviews but this is how bad I'm upset and disgusted with the way this school is. You're supposed to represent the place you work for. Being on your damn phones half the time is not the way to go. I really hope you people from Colwell's Driving School read this and learn something from it. read more

I have never had any problems the Colwell's Defensive Driving safety class was great, Second time doing the class at this School, the whole staff including the other students were awesome... read more

Gave 4 stars as I had a wonderful lesson TODAY with Pete. Prior to this I had 2 'TORTURE' classes with Chris. There was a personality conflict, I have nothing bad to say about him but what I can say is that if you need to learn & you want someone who is calm, patient ,knowledgeable, descent & honest choose PETE. I feel as if this was my first class. His PROFESSIONALISM has restored my faith in Colwell's & I'm not as nervous as before. I literally cried, my lessons with Chris. THANK YOU PETE......will write a follow up when I get my liscense. read more

I went to this because iys been there for yrs!!!. My instructor was very lovely and polite and tried her best. My problem however was that I didn't learn what I thought was worth $395, after my 6th lesson I knew something was wrong because I should be improving but it was sadly the opposite. Couldn't get a different instructor because everyone was packed. So I continued thinking it has to get better and even after taking 12 lessons total.....Nothing changed. Not with the money, not everyone can teach. read more

I was referred to Colwell's by a friend. My instructor was nice. She knew her stuff and her technique for parking worked perfectly for me. Colwell's isn't expensive and was close by my house- so I decided to take driving classes with them. I did the 10 lesson package- which included their car for the road test . I will say that there were a few times (at least three) where my lesson was cancelled due to a scheduling issue. It's true- they need to do better with their records. Make sure you ask for the name of the person you are speaking with and use card so you have proof of purchase on your statement. They're not terrible..but you want to take precautions. Know what you're talking about when you call. It's true-get to the 5 hour class an hour early to register!! I tried strolling in 10 minutes before and the class was sold out. Due to my work schedule, I had to wait a whole week until I could take the class again. The next week, a bunch of ppl were there at 8am before me. I took my driving test yesterday and passed. read more

Straight forward advice and services for driving. Convinient location. It's great that their open on weekends. Took several lessons and the instructers were nice and helpful. read more

I think I had one of the best 5hr classes. It was tailgating by Paul. Instead of going through all the mechanics of driving a car, he taught us what to expect from the Examiner at the Road Test Site. He was very practical read more

Richard was a great teacher! Super sweet super informative! I would def recommend this driving school to anyone in the Bronx! They have really good deals for lessons, road test even rentals for the road test.. Again if you need any type of driving lessons come to colwells!! read more

Very convenient location, friendly staff. I definitely recommend you check this place out when looking at driving schools.

The 5hr class was amazing with Paul but that is about it. My lessons with Julio were horrible. I am a first time driver which already gives me cause to be nervous but once he stepped in the car he was constantly yelling which did not help my nerves. I spoke to him about it several times but that did not stop him from yelling, it only increased it. I would not recommend them. read more

Very nasty staff. Wanted to take lesson and the spanish lady and black girl said they no current lessons available. They were very rude.

the staff here are very kind and welcoming.i called for some basic info, spoke to two different ladies and i must say they were very professional. i would recommend anyone to this driving school. they are the very best. 2 thumbs up. keep up the great work! p.s. yashira is amazing at what she does ;) read more

Very nasty attitude. Will switch your drivers without any notice. Will speak in Spanish in mid dispute. Not professional at all.

I wanted a 10 lesson package but due to scheduling, I ended up with 8 lessons prior to my road test (taken in Yonkers). My instructor was Will. He was calm and relaxed and clear with his instructions. If you feel like you would be nervous, I definitely recommend him. I can't speak for the 5 hour class because I took it with a different driving school (Pelham Auto Driving school, which i do NOT recommend. They don't do picks ups in my neighborhood, and I didn't know this until after I paid). I passed my road test with a kind compliment from the DMV proctor, which shocked me altogether. For that reason I give four stars. I won't give five stars for this reason: a scheduled appointment was not kept due to the office's inability to inform my instructor that an appointment was made. I will not name her name, as she apologized profusely and admitted her error. That didn't keep me from being terribly annoyed since I had to reschedule my work schedule to keep this appointment. My advice is to always double check appointment times two days prior. If there is an error on the office end, you won't know about it until the day of. The call center is super busy, so don't call late in the afternoons if you can help it. The staff that I spoke to was always polite and professional. And don't let anyone convince you to pay for your lessons up front. And if you do, use a credit card (for which they charge a convenience fee!). And, if you don't like your instructor, tell the office immediately. Don't pay hard earned money to spend time with someone who isn't helping you. And again, I recommend Will. He has good tips, he has a calm demeanor and he is invested in your lesson. read more

These are the most unprofessional customer service I Have ever seen. I took the five hour class and it went well. Customer service however is like questioning a festering boil that talks back. Quick to criticize than educate customers with options. read more

This school is horrible I don't recommend this to anyone. The staff is nasty and rude unprofessional and lazy. I always had my lessons late the instructor was never on time. His breath always smelled. I had to reschedule my appointment and they didn't even put it in there records. This place is just over al unprofessional and I will be going somewhere else DONT GO THERE read more

Worst driving school in the Bx. Always late to pick up. Impatient instructor named Julio screamed at my child. The 2nd instructor named Alana dosent show up for appointments. They dropped my child off early. Go somewhere else. read more

Rude staff and appalling service. I would recommend steering clear of this establishment.

I had a very bad experience with this school. Their policies are very irrational, especially when ANYTHING CAN POP UP AND MESS UP YOUR PLANS. I scheduled a driving lesson for Monday at 12 pm. But got my job schedule late and they made changes to my availability (i usually work weekends). I called the receptionist on Monday at 9 am, while at work, (since they are closed on Sunday), trying to explain that i was unable to make it because of an unexpected., job schedule change. She was very insouciant, nonchalant, and was reluctant to compromise with me. She still insisted that I pay the $33 because according to her I was a "no show." I even asked that the instructor could pick me up in front of my job (I planned to do the lesson on my break), which is DIRECTLY across the street from my house (where the instructor usually picks me up at). THIS COMPANY IS FULL OF GREEDY, MONEY HUNGRY PEOPLE AND I WANT A REFUND!! In addition, AVOID THE DRIVING INSTRUCTOR CALLED RON!!!! He is very impolite and malicious. He insulted my intelligence on numerous occasions, instead of critiquing my driving. He even told me "You need to drive like you have common sense." That is not something you say to someone with no driving experience whatsoever. read more

horrible place !! The service from the instructor was so bad he always was on the phone while he was working supposely him he was one of the best instructors that knew how to teach -.- yea ok! He would always say the time was up already they dont usually teach all he does was talk nd then like 15 min of practice how am i supposw to learn like that -.- read more

It's a pretty bad choice as far as driving's schools go, the receptionist is quite nice. But the instructor arrived late to almost every meeting, including on the day of the road test, he is rude, and ill tempered. As suppose you know it's bad when he introduces himself by saying "Some people complain I talk too loud but I'm Puertorican and we're always loud so deal with it" It's no good if your instructor makes you more nervous than you need to be. It's a waste of Money, but if you go there make sure you don't get Julio. read more