Not cheap, but they do genuinely teach defensive driving and they make the whole process from lessons to test very easy

Defensive Driving Academy was wonderful! I can't say enough positive things about our instructor Sean Hickey. We had the honor of having him work with both our boys when they each turned 16! He was great to work with and the boys both felt so comfortable driving with him as he was a patient instructor! Highly recommend for an easy, stress free experience - no need to go through the stress of sitting and waiting at the DMV in hour long lines! read more

Lessons are great. Scheduling is a nightmare. Unless it's summer and you have the middle to the day free, expect to be jumping on the computer on the 10th of every month to try to get an appointment on a weekend or day off. 9:30 - 2:30 windows of availabilty for school students makes no sense and this includes the drivers test M-F. Know that you can schedule later test times from Penndot directly. I got a 3:30pm appt and even though hours of operation say 7:30 - 3, they don't have instructors who can perform the tests until usually 9:30am during the week. Your teen will miss school and you will need to get them back to class after the appt. We ended up scheduling 6 hours of just lessons and scheduling the test direct with penndot. read more

I paid $459 so my daughter could have driving lessons. Unfortunately, she had to move back to another state so she was not able to start the lessons. These people have refused to refund the $459. I mean, how can they justify just keeping my money when they rendered zero lessons or service. Never seen anything like it. Blind robbery and totally unethical. read more

We had used them before with our other son and he got his license no problem however apparently things have gone dramatically downhill in the past two years. We had trouble getting appointments at the times convenient for us, they constantly changed instructors so there was no consistency and most of our calls were simply ignored. Weeks ago we were forced to ask for a refund for pre-paid lessons and still have not gotten it. BTW we paid $399 for three lessons but when you ask for a refund, you only get $199. That's how they do business. There are too many other choices with better ratings so don't risk using DDA read more

Thanks to Sal , our daughter was well prepared for the test and learned valuable skills. Teaching the basics and the realty of always being alert when driving. Driving is not only about how you drive, but about how all the other people are driving around you. Well done, money well spent for knowledge and experience for our daughter. Also, nice credit for lowering auto insurance rates! Thank you Sal....Abbie's Dad..... read more

My son is about to take his test and went through the drivers training. The instructor was good and on time and gave good training. If you try to schedule a session or try to get a hold of them forget it unless you have a very open schedule and a lot of patience. read more

My mom had her first lesson with Michael Fiocca and it was fantastic. He did a great job with her explaining in a simple way. He made us very comfortable since my mom doesn't speak English. He learned words in Arabic and used them to help my mom understand him. He is a quick learner and a smart guy. read more

Easy to schedule and very friendly staff. Highly recommend this vs waiting for months to get a spot at the DMV for driver's license testing. Check out the $25 parallel parking lesson they offer. Very helpful and as Lynn said when we booked it - their instruction is foolproof. Gave my daughter and I great confidence. read more

Thanks to Dave and the folks at DDA in Exton for a great experience for my 16 year old son in both on-the-road instruction and testing. DDA has highly trained yet practical instructors who take some of the stress out of learning parallel parking and real-world driving. My son felt Dave was easy to talk to, provided excellent training and really instilled a level of confidence needed at this age. I highly recommend them for new drivers. read more

We love DDA! Terry was awesome! She was on time always. She was very thorough and patient with our daughter! John the tester was wonderful! This is a fabulous service for new drivers! Our family will be back! Thank you, thank you, thank you! read more

The "award winning customer service" is not true. They "don't play phone tag" which just means they take two to three days to respond to a request. I was under the impression that they serviced all of philadelphia, which they do not. I asked for a refund like 12 days ago which I am still waiting for and I think that is ridiculous considering how fast they snatch the money out of your account. Overall I was not impressed and will going with Confident driving school. Now here it is 15 days later and they JUST processed my refund on 10/28. I paid for the class on 10/05. This school is a rip and I found a much cheaper school charging only 70 dollars for a 2 hour lesson and they actually answer their phone. Google Safe driving school in Philly. Thanks for nothing Defensive Driving Academy. read more

I had lessons from DDA was I was trying to get my license at age 27. I was very nervous and anxious about it, and I wouldn't say the lessons were a fun experience, but after 3 regular lessons (plus a parallel parking lesson) and some practice, I passed my exam on the first try. read more

We went to the location in Newtown Square (4618 Squire Court). Very nice, very professional and friendly.

Tempting to go this route when your child wants to take the test without waiting for the DMV, but they are WAY more hassle than they are worth in my opinion. You can only speak to someone between 9 and 12 and only when you have your registration in, which takes forever and they will tell you they didn't get it at least once. I was told a test only could be scheduled to take place within 48 hours, and by that they meant 7 days - hmm. To a 16-year-old, that's an eternity. I will be asking for a refund as they misrepresented the timeframe and I can wait another week for the DMV for free, but looking at Aspen J.'s review, I guess I will not hold my breath. So save your sanity and just go through the DMV - how scary is that statement, lol. read more

My husband and I were referred to DDA by family and friends and we could not have been happier! Teaching triplets to drive was an extremely daunting task but not with the experts at this fine institution. The driving teachers were professional and timely, giving all three of our girls an excellent experience on side roads, highways and with parallel parking. The driving test was scheduled by the staff in Broomall (NEW TESTING SITE) so no waking up at wee hours of the morning to schedule a test date in Frazer six months in advance or driving to Penn State to take a test at a more convenient time. Our daughters, thanks to DDA are more confident behind the wheel and we are grateful. If we were able to give a 10 star rating, we would. Thank you so much DDA! read more

Pickup was 30 minutes late, and testers were strict/take points off undeservingly. Got points off for 'sudden braking/accelerating' even though I've been driving almost everyday in Malaysia for 2 years. Also there was a red light turn that the instructor told me to wait till it was red before turning, however the tester took points off because I waited till it was red. Huge waste of money and time. There are other 3rd party driving schools in other counties. I passed the test easily at another driving school in Montgomery County instead read more

I would like give to kudos to coach mike,brian and anthony on teaching my son phil, the right way to drive it was well worth the money and hats off to the academy. read more

Our first lesson was on May 12. For some reason I am unable to receive their emails to schedule second lesson. They refuse to schedule over the phone. It is now June 14. No lesson, no refund, no call back. read more

my instructors were so nice! they helped me learned to become less nervous and i passed my test! scheduling lessons and even your license is so much easier and convenient. read more

I strongly advise finding someone else to teach you how to drive. Things started out badly, which should have been my first hint to get out while I could. I was only in the car a mere 10 minutes before my instructor started to complain about her personal life. I didn't mind this at first, but she started talking about how much she hated her job and how mad she was because she was giving me my first lesson, as she was giving the next student her first lesson also. She said she hated doing two in a row and that she wished I would have cancelled because of the rain. She continued to talk about this and also mentions how much she hates her child's father...at this point i have no idea what to say: she's not teaching me at all and it's my first time driving on a busy road. She then proceeds to yell at me and calls me 'rude' for not answering her. Before we had gotten in the car she had told me how to switch lanes and that would be the focus of the lesson.... so, she teaches me how to do this by grabbing my steering wheel (I honestly had no idea what was happening...she gave no hint to what she wanted me to do) and proceeded to yell at me for not checking my mirrors. By the end of the lesson, I was upset to say the least. A week later they e-mail me to give me my instructor's availability. I responded with an e-mail explaining what had happened and asked for a different instructor. They apologized, made me a lesson with a new instructor and I thought that would be the end of it. It was not. An hour later (I was in school) they sent me an e-mail saying my mom had cancelled my lessons because she did not want me taking my driver's license test. I would have no way to contact my mom until the next day, so when I got home I got in touch with the manager, who worked things out with me to the best of my ability. I later learned that the company had contacted my mother and told me I did not have enough experience to take their driving lessons..which I thought was slightly strange. Anyway, the next day I came home and was told, by my mother, that the manager had called her and said that I was the most rude person she had ever come in contact with and that I had badmouthed one of her employees and she was very upset... after a long, strung out battle, I gave up trying and asked for my money back. I was told I could receive a partial refund ($200/$350) and it would take 3 days. I had to call 2 weeks later when I saw that I never got it...she had 'forgotten' to give me it...I finally received it 3 days after that. LONG STORY SHORT, DO NOT. DO NOT GO HERE. read more

I took a set of three lessons with DDA and would not really recommend it to others. I had different instructors for all three lessons so nobody knew what the previous person had told me. The first was nice and helpful, the second was very enthusiastic about getting me on the highway and made me feel much less frightened of going high speeds, but the third was rude and complained about her job and personal life the entire time. I get nervous easily and am used to working through it, but even after I explained this, she must have asked me a hundred times in the span of two hours, "Are you OK?" which only made me more nervous about the test and parallel parking. She was impatient and spent more time on her phone texting people than helping me learn the test or check that I was driving safely. I have been hesitant to contact the company in regards to her behavior, especially after seeing a previous review here about their reaction to a complaint. Also, DDA raised their price for the lessons partway through my set and made me pay an upcharge to get the last lesson (the test prep) from them even though I had prepaid for the set. I do not think this was fair or reasonable. read more