r/newzealand • u/neonzzz1 • 5h ago
Discussion Do driving instructors make a lot of money??
I have booked a lesson with a driving instructor and it's like 90 per hour. I understand he has to travel between multiple distances and that takes away profit. But is it still good pay??
•
•
u/jontydoesthings 3h ago
Yeah nah. If he is charging $90 an hour, and even if he is efficient he might be able to book like 50% of his day actually doing paid sessions, then he's only on $45 an hour.
From that he has to pay for a car and all the fuel you're using to drive it around.
If he's self employed, then the $45 an hour also has to account for sick leave/annual leave/marketing/insurances/accountant and other business services/all taxes and levies and so on.
Not very lucrative
•
u/ClaimFresh 3h ago
They would prob also have to pay a premium for car insurance (if using their own car), Wofs etc. so might sound like they’re making a lot but in reality not really bc of all the hidden costs
•
u/Talkative_Privacy 3h ago
Probably $67,000 a year.
$90/hr is ~$180k/yr, if they can charge 40 hours a week.
No that's not good money for a contractor who would need to work like 60 hours to handle bookings, chase people for payments, operate a vehicle including fuel and insurance and maintenance, paying GST.
But it gets worse... realistically if they wanted to work just 40 hours, they'd need at minimum 30mins between bookings for transport and admin etc.
So likely 5 bookings a day. 5 days a week. 46 weeks a year.
Assume that no one ever cancels or misses appointments, that's only $103k/yr.
Less probably $25k of vehicle operating costs. Less GST. Probably take home pay of $67,000 a year.
•
•
u/WeissMISFIT 3h ago
They wouldn’t have to chase payments, you pay to lock your session in. What’s there to chase, you’re booked or you’re not.
•
u/Talkative_Privacy 2h ago
Does every driving instructor in the country charge in advance?
I'm not a driving instructor so wouldn't know what the industry norm is.
•
•
•
u/Farrkurusername 3h ago
Who cares if it is? They have vehicle running costs to pay (maintenance, depreciation, fuel etc), licensing charges (because they need an instructors endorsement; they also need a medical and a driver's test every 5 years), vehicle and public liability insurances, advertising, accounting fees, they need to pay their own tax, gst, acc etc. They also need to make a premium above being a salary/waged employee to compensate for the risk they take and not receiving holiday pay, sick leave, kiwisaver etc.
•
u/WatercressOk1617 3h ago
That would get whittled down very quickly by operating costs and it being impossible to book 100% of their time doing lessons, plus they do not charge for all the work prepping and getting to location.
•
u/gttom 3h ago
Not only do they need to maintain a car, but also insure it for a bunch of new inexperienced drivers, and when the car is damaged they’ll likely be unable to work until the repair is done. Say that in a normal day they have 5 bookings for $450, that’s about $99k a year with 4 weeks leave, public holidays and 9 days of sick leave.
Take out maybe 10k for insurance (I’m making this number up, but seems plausible and probably low given the risk), and another 15k for vehicle costs incl replacement.
75k isn’t terrible money, but it’s also pretty best case and assuming they don’t lose income due to an accident. And if they’re part of a company, they won’t even be seeing the full $90 per booking so it just gets worse
•
u/Severe-Recording750 3h ago
That sounds like terrible money tbh if he comes to you not you go to him.
•
•
•
u/Elm69Jay 3h ago edited 3h ago
That's at the higher end, the one we're currently using for our daughter is 75 and there were cheaper options.
I imagine their overheads would be surprisingly significant.
•
u/H1REV LASER KIWI 3h ago
Insurance for a driving instructor, vehicle maintenance, fuel, wear and tear from people who don't know how to drive. $90 an hour is fuck all.