Berkeley Driving School

I was really happy to stumble on the Berkeley Driving school when I was in need of lessons for my driving test. With very little help from my family and friends, I needed to learn the rules of the road and quickly. I ended up scheduling some lessons with Dee Fong, who was an amazingly professional and patient teacher. He was calm and just a nice guy while he helped me navigate different areas in the east bay and even accompanied me to my test in Corte Madera. Needless to say I passed my teach with flying colors and owe him a great deal of gratitude.

In contrast, I had one lesson with the instructor Lule Varela and found her to be quite annoyed with me and unpleasant to be in the car with. On top of being on her phone and doing paper work, she yelled at me multiple times and gave me a few very sarcastic remarks.

Wonderful to work with Berkeley Driving School. Their instructor (Lule) was fabulous---calm, supportive and very kind. My daughter's driving improved dramatically with each lesson---she became more skilled and confident. They are easy to work with and absolutely lovely. Would give them my strongest recommendation for any one with teens learning to drive! (Or anyone, really!)

took my driving test for the first time and I passed. THANK YOU DONALD !!!!!!!!

Great experience. I had 4 lessons, one with Dee Dee and three with Donald. Both were patient and gave practical tips and advice. In my last lesson with Donald, I practiced driving skills including those that tend to be on the test (turns, switching lanes, pulling over, parking, driving appropriate speed, and more). Also, Donald even got me to the point where I felt comfortable to practice on the highway. This was big for me, given my fear of driving, especially on the highway.

Some other useful information:
The instructors usually meet you at your home or place of convenience for lessons. One could schedule driving lessons online. Lessons usually last 2hrs. Arrangements could be made for one to use the car they've been practicing with for driving test.

TGCULA - This is a messege from the Berkeley Driving School owner. ALL of your many calls were returned the same day even though you didnt leave your tele # on my voicemail many times and even though your cell isnt accepting calls at this time" and/or "your voicemail is not set up. We dont offer stick shift lessons - no where is that stated. I work so hard everyday to accomodate our many happy clients.

For the past 3 years, two of my teens have done their driver education and driving lessons with the Berkeley Driving School. Everyone on staff was knowledgable and knew their job well. They had a consistency that assured me constantly that I chose the right driving school. I have had copmplete trust in them with my 2 teens. They have been one of the most organized small businesses Ive seen in years. The owner in the office was always on the same page as me with payments and schedules. The driving instructors in the car were logical, prompt, and taught my teens thoroughly. They even passed the written permit test on the first try after the education class. I had friends who are parents also that have had struggles with other driving school. Im very happy that I did not have to go thru any complications of several other driving school. I would highly recommend them - they are BBB certified with zero complaints, driving lessons are private, Ive over-paid them once by accident and got a call the next day from the owner letting me know that I have a credit, the cars are great, the instructors are excellent - I give them an A++.

They have both an online drivers training course (excellent) and classroom setting (no info). Once this was completed we moved to the driving phase and they were very accommodating in both scheduling appointments and where they would pick up and drop off, e.g. pick up at school and drop off at home. I highly recommend them.

My son is a teenage driver and as a parent I was very relieved when I found such a great driving school. He was given great instruction and was much more comfortable behind the wheel after only the first 2 hours. They showed him how to drive on hills and how to negotiate a busy intersection and much more. I was very impressed with his confidence.



I wrote this in an email to the school and feel this best described my experience.



These are such wonderful and exciting milestones in life, yet they can be so scary too without the right support and help. It's obvious that to your instructors and yourself this is more than just a job, you truly care for the individuals, their safety, there accomplishments and self esteem.

I recently hired the Berkeley Driving School to help my daughter with her driving lessons. The instructor arrived right on time and was very professional. My daughter said he was very patient and thorough . When I had a question about my daughter's permit, I called the owner in the office and she was very helpful in regards to helping me through the whole process. I was grateful to have worked with such a great staff. My daughter has since passed her driving test. I would highly recommend this driving school.

The woman in the office answered all my questions clearly and patiently. Which was great because I was very confused by the whole process for my teenager to get his permit and drivers license. I was mailed complete info, DMV application, and DMV handbooks. After my son got his permit, we were able to schedule the first lesson within a week. The car was in great shape, clean, and had dual-control brakes. The teacher was soft spoken, very thorough, kept my son comfortable, and kept the lesson at his pace. He learned alot in just one session - now he corrects my msitakes when I drive. They are very nice people - I can trust them in all aspects. They offer a great service on the phone and for driving lessons. Their voicemail and website state they are a BBB member which makes me feel secure about how they operate.