The UK's biggest driving school has performed an emergency stop and a turn in the road and dropped the Fiat 500s it has been using for the past 18 months and gone back to the Vauxhall Corsas that it used to have.

The entire 3,250 strong fleet of 500s will be replaced by the Corsas, and BSM says the decision has been taken after consultation with its instructors. As many as 80 percent said that they preferred Corsa and wanted their old cars back. The original deal with Fiat was signed for four years in 2009, but BSM has activated a break clause to get out of the contract early.

One of the problems the instructors had with the Fiats was the lack of space in the back seat, which is needed every couple of years so instructors can be observed while taking a driving lesson in order to make sure they are up to scratch.

The other things that BSM said its instructors preferred about the Corsa were its uprated power steering, the bigger instruments on the panel and the inclusion of air conditioning.

The Corsas will each spend a year on the BSM fleet before returning to Vauxhall. The fleet will be a mixture of 1.2-litre and 1.4-litre 5-door vehicles, and the deal is running indefinitely.

"While we enjoyed a successful 18-month relationship with Fiat, we have found that by listening to our core audience and stakeholders, and being able to implement their feedback with Vauxhall, we are in a position to provide, quite simply, the best learner car on the market," said Nikolai Kesting, BSM's CEO.

"The fact that British School of Motoring is again supporting British manufacturing is an added bonus."

What a load of cobblers

What, that the cars are too small for the job? Seems a perfectly reasonable point of view to me. Suppose your employer gave you a piece of equipment that was unsuitable for the job. You'd grumble about it and if you were lucky, they'd listen and do something about it. BSM have done this.

They're not saying that the 500 is a bad car, just that it's too small inside for what they need it to do.

We've just been looking at new cars and discounted the 500 (and Panda) as being too small inside. Plenty of other cars were too so we didn't buy these either.

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You would've thought they would have noticed whether it was "too small or not" when they first looked at the car, before they signed any contract, after all it's plain to see.

I get the impression (reading between the lines here...) they first took the car on because it became an instant trendy car to be seen in ,and it would entice the younger generation on their books.

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me too had this thought,I spoke to a BSM instructor, who thought it`s best asset was the USB port, as he could upload how the car had been driven by a pupil, and show them where they were going wrong,bet you can`t do this with a astra?

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Hmmm. I wonder if this means a large number of 500's will find their way on to the secondhand market and pull prices down a little which wouldn''t be a bad thing as I'd certainly like one! Anybody have any idea what they're planning to do with all these 500's?

Membership Number: 12223

I`m afraid I agree with Mr Mound on this, the 500 is really only a two plus 2 in the smallest way. My wifes sister has an Abarth version and I find it extremely uncomfortable in the back; in fact I`d go as far as saying its claustraphobic.

Sorry, as much as we are all pro-Fiat, this was a practical decision and one that meant BSM could continue to carry out its business with its operators able to do their jobs.

Membership Number: 10521 yes that is a membership number!

For the sake of accuracy, here is BSM's official statement. Bet it came down to money (i.e. "commercial sense") though!! Sorry to spoil a good argument............


Welcome to BSM Instructor Academy

Switching to Vauxhall - Follow Up

The newspaper coverage of our move to Vauxhall has said that we ‘ditched’ Fiat because the cars were too small and been caused an issue with the DSA but this not true.


We have in fact spoken to DSA this morning, and they assure us that the information in the newspaper didn’t come from. Furthermore, they have offered us this quote if we want to go back to the papers.


“The Fiat 500 meets DSA’s Minimum Test Vehicle requirements. DSA has confirmed to us again today that the Fiat 500 remains suitable for driving lessons, check tests and driving tests, and that the agency was in no way involved in BSM’s decision”


To reiterate our reasons for the switch, we have listened to instructor feedback about the Fiat 500, and we have managed to come to an excellent arrangement with Vauxhall that not only makes good commercial sense and gives our instructors what they want, but which also factors in a number of instructor specific improvements:


Full size spare tyres
Steel Wheels instead of Alloys
Larger dials on the dashboard so you can see the speed
Rear headrests
Upgraded power steering
Better fuel consumption
And all cars will have 5 doors

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Wonder why they did not go for the Corsa's sister, the Grande Punto Sound 5dr?
And Fiat has just reduced the price of Puntos'
The plot thickens

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I suspect that the size thing was more about the driving istructor's use of the car as their own daily driver as much as getting instructors/examiners in the back.

As for using the Grande Punto, that falls down on the "visible speedo" thing. Liz and I have just bought a Punto Evo and about the only fault we can find with it is the almost invisible speedo!

Membership Number: 7109

Any idea why BSM didnt just go with Fiat Pandas, as surely these have got the rear space, 5 doors, steelies, better mpg, bigger dials, city PAS, and can come with air con.

For all the issues they had with the Fiat, I still say they should have noticed these before they purchased, and they bought "style over substance", (the same title I used when writing of the model in Parliamo)to entice the punters. Much as I like the 500 , I would certainly considered any practicalities before laying down the cash.

If they were too blind to see this , then what chance have they got reading a car number plate at 40 yards (or whatever distance it is...)

Membership Number: 10962

A few points spring to mind on this subject:

1 - Corsas are built in Spain and Germany, buying them is not "supporting British industry"

2 - BSM are a business. Like any other business, I'm sure this decision will have been made more on commercial grounds than any other. I would imagine the sale/buyback terms offered by Vauxhall were far better than those offered by Fiat - an extremely important factor in the current climate

3- If 80% of your staff (that's 2600 drivers out of 3250) expressed concerns over comfort and driveability, it would have been absolutely ridiculous for BSM not to act.

4- Someone raised an issue with instructors using the cars for personal use - well why wouldn't they? They pay tax on them and it forms part of the instructors salary, seems reasonable to me for them to use them for their own use

Jim's right by the way, the speedo is illegible on Punto Evo, a pretty important factor in a driving school car! And if 500 is too small, Panda is too - cutting 2 extra doors into the rear doesn't give you any more rear legroom

The 'invisible speedo' on my previous Grande Punto
If you close your eye's

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And in the Evo it looks like this-



This photo taken with flash 5 minutes ago is the clearest I've ever seen this! And the first time I've seen the red marks next to the 30, 60 and 70 mph figures!

That bezel around it makes it very dark in there. The numbers are so tiny that you have to squint to see them. The red needle disappears against the background in all but direct sunlight.

Things improve when it's dark because it lights up so you can at least see what direction the needle is pointing but it's too cluttered and the numbers are just too small.

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I never look at the speedo anyway

I don't look at it either. I GLANCE at it. Which is why this one is such a poor effort.

You have to stare at it for at least ten seconds by which time you're up the @rse of the car in front...

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This saga is a very complicated one.
In '98, as the recession started to bite, Vauxhall asked for more money. BSM went shopping. Fiat offerred a good deal, but they held the reins, so they decided on the car. They wanted 500s out there, so that's what we got. At that time there were about 2500 BSM instructors, 2499 were shocked, one, me, went "yippee!".
Instructors are self-employed and pay a franchise fee, which includes the car. It's not cheap, so many cannot afford another car as well. Prior to this, we had the option of Corsa, or Astra at extra cost. Those who had chosen to pay extra for an Astra mostly had space requirements, so the 500 was a double-blow.
I think the main reason for the return to Vauxhall is that perhaps Vauxhall have felt the drop in sales and have offerred a good deal again.
I've had a happy year in the 500, but due to other circumstances I've moved to the AA. The Fiesta is softer and easier to drive, great for the learners, but just dull. I shall miss the 500. Compensation comes from my own Panda. Its an Alessi special edition in lovely orange, with orange seats. I'd post a pic, but don't have anywhere on the net to put it. Why can't we just embed a pic?

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Thanks for that detailed 'insight' Nigel

Because space on the website comes at a cost and we don't have spare space for pictures. But simply go to www.photobucket.com and set up a free account and you can load your photos there.

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