SHIFT NORCAL

Did you know some companies that offer stick shift lessons in the Sacramento area don't provide a professional experience?

 

While their prices may seem tempting, their instructors are everyday folks like Uber and Lyft drivers who offer lessons for extra cash using their personal cars or even require that you provide your own. They’re classified as contractors, and this carries personal and financial risks that you should be aware of before considering them. 

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There is no guarantee that you’ll receive a proper, structured lesson. Parking lots are red flags!

Each instructor conducts the lesson their own way and there may not be a structured lesson plan to follow. Be especially careful when the entire lesson is taught in a parking lot, since you can't learn all the skills necessary to safely drive a manual car from just a parking lot. We've had numerous customers who have taken lessons with these companies, didn't learn much, and came to us for a proper lesson. The incorrect techniques that they were initially taught at these other companies shocked us!

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You’re fully liable in case of an accident.

There's a reason why these other companies require you to have your own insurance and/or use your own car. Their insurance won't cover an accident or a collision with others; therefore, they require you to provide your own insurance so that you're financially on the hook, even if the accident is not your fault.

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These companies don't have maintenance requirements for the vehicle used during the lesson.

These companies don't inspect their instructor's vehicle and cannot guarantee the vehicle used for the lesson is safe. Furthermore, the contractor does not have to follow any sort of maintenance schedule that ensures their vehicle can provide a safe learning environment. We've heard stories of customers learning for 2 to 3 hours in a car that was smoked in and barely drivable.

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The company saves money while you sacrifice quality.

When a company classifies their instructors as independent contractors it saves them a lot of money since they don't have to pay workers compensation or provide other benefits that are entitled to hired employees. They also don’t invest in training and retaining employees, which directly impacts the quality of the lesson you receive. 

 

At Shift NorCal you'll have a safe and relaxed experience.

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• We professionally train our instructors with the goal of providing you with a consistent and structured educational experience so that you can be confident your time and effort are well spent. Our 80+ five star reviews on Google highlight our unique approach to helping you learn this skill.

• We conduct our lessons on quiet open roads to ensure that you properly learn ALL the skills. We don't keep you stuck in a strip mall parking lot for hours on end.

• We own our vehicles, which means that they're fully insured, regularly inspected, and meticulously maintained to provide the safest learning environment. Not to mention, our sporty Mini Coopers are tons of fun to drive. 

• Our instructors are employees of our company, and we provide them with employment benefits and safety measures that are at the root of an ethical business.

 

Our goal is to inform you of your options and give you the tools to ask the right questions so that you can make an informed decision. As the saying goes, "you get what you pay for" and some of these other companies are cheap for a reason. Stay safe out there!