Top Notch Driving School

Fantastic driving school — it’s that simple. Special thanks to Evan. He prepared my daughter well. Parallel parking, freeway, you name it. He even did a practice run at the DMV and prepped her with what to expect. She nailed it. Thanks Top Notch!!!

Karen is a Awesome instructor my son really liked her and so did I. She was very helpful going over what is expected on the behind the wheel test. I highly recommend this school.

I recently moved to Santa Barbara from NYC. Since I haven’t driven in years (no need for a car in NYC!) I decided to take a lesson a few days before my btw test to freshen my memory and get pointers from the instructor. Herbert was my instructor.
Super laid back dude who actually knows what he is doing. He answered all my questions and gave me useful suggestions to pass the test. Very nice and professional… i passed by the way :)

I’m so glad we decided to go with Top Notch Driving school. Evan was the instructor for my son. We feel so blessed to have gotten him. He made my son feel so comfortable with him. Evan is very knowledgeable, professional, and very easy to talk to. He helped my son acquire all the required driving skills and much more. My son felt confident and ready to take his test today and well the results speak for itself. He got a perfect score!
I am so impressed with how my son drives. He is a great driver. Thanks Evan!!! We are forever grateful. By the way we will need you in 3 years when my daughter gets her permit.

I recently contacted Top Notch Driving School to arrange a refresher lesson for my wife. After finding Top Notch here on Unilocal,I called them up and asked how it works and what the cost would be. The person was very informative and explained in detail and provided the cost. I then scheduled a time for an instructor to meet with my wife. They said Therese Carnicella would be her driving instructor and that she would call her to set the specific time. Soon after that Therese called and spoke to my wife and everything was arranged for her driving refresher lesson. On the day of the lesson, Therese called ahead of time to let us know she was on her way. When Therese arrived, she introduced herself and was very professional and asked questions of my wife in order to better understand what she wanted to get out of her lesson. She then explained what to expect from the lesson and if that was acceptable to my wife. Payment was given and off they went for a two hour lesson. My wife said that Therese was very professional and nice as she observed and provided instruction to my wife. Long story short, a few weeks later my wife passed her behind the wheel driving test at the DMV with flying colors and said she owed it all to Therese for giving her such a good lesson ahead of time that built her confidence and kept her focused on the important aspects of driving. My wife and I both recommend Top Notch Driving School and requesting Therese as your driving instructor. Therese was professional, understanding, patient and considerate while teaching and explaining everything.

My daughter just passed her DMV driving test with a score of 99. We credit Teresa for her wonderful instruction and attention to detail. We greatly appreciated her ability to connect with our daughter and giving her the confidence to pass the test. All in all, we could not have been more pleased with her performance and highly recommend her services.

I wanted to send you a thank you message for the lessons you offered me. I appreciate your full professional manner and your attention and explanation to every move. Thanks again Eddy Romo!
Leanne

This company has the best drive instructors! The are well informed and very professional! I had the pleasure of having my child instructed by Eddie and Evan, they were very kind and well versed in all things safety. Evan made my daughter feel very comfortable and assured her that she was very confident on the road. He also gives a lot of positive reinforcement. I learned a lot myself from Evan about road safety and I’ve been driving over 20 yrs. Top Notch is the BEST!

Driver Training is one of those experiences we look toward, as parents, with mixed feelings: thrilled that our kids are growing up and ready to take this next big step, and terrified that our kids are growing up and ready to take this next big step… and what if they really AREN’T ready to take this next step?
It was with trepidation that we entrusted our daughter to Evan from Top Notch, but frankly, he was amazing! She felt safe with him, which is important, and never was uncomfortable at all. That’s HUGE for us moms of teen girls. He talked her through her fears, educated her, trained her, and turned her into a pretty good little driver! Evan was encouraging, but always emphasized the law and safety. He didn’t pull any punches, but was very honest both with our daughter and us in terms of how well she was doing.
We are very well satisfied with Evan’s instruction. We have already passed his card on to a couple of friends… and will continue to refer others his direction. Well done, Evan. Top Notch, you’ve got a Top Instructor in Evan!

When i started to look up driving schools my trouble was finding a school that can fit me in before my driver’s permit expired. I had taken my test before after going with a different driving school and hadn’t passed. Unfortunately, when I started contacting school I only had about a month let. Fortunately, however, Therese from Top Notch was very helpful and spoke to me directly and scheduled me in. She even talked to me abbot where would be the best place to test and what times would be ideal. As for the actual lessons, they were an actual pleasure. Not only was Therese always calm she was also very friendly. But she didn’t coddle you with niceties. If you made a mistake she calmly explained to you what happened or what could have happened as a result but never did she stress nor did she stress me out. She is direct but has no problem answering any questions and concerns. If you are every looking for an instructor, do consider Therese. She’s the best instructor I’ve ever had (and I’ve had three others from my first driving school).Oh and BY-​THE-​WAY I passed with a score of 4! And with about a week with Therese! YAY!

This driving school is incredible from the helpful person on the other end of the phone to the instructors. They are professional, give written feedback after each session and are thorough. My son passed on the first try. The tester even commented how good of a driver he already is. Thanks go out to Eddy and Evan. You guys are wonderful.

Therese was very helpful, and answered all questions we had. My daughter learned a lot from her, and if it weren’t for Therese, she may not have passed her driving test. I believe there is another instructor, but it seems like Therese may be a better choice based on the feedback I got from my daughter.

Just passed my drivers test today and went on a drive with Therese yesterday. She helped me improve my driving skills. She’s such a kind person and loves her job. The school is very generous and not some mean boring training you take. It’s also very affordable. Again a big thank you to top notch! If it wasn’t for them I probably would have not passed my test & spent way more money elsewhere

My son just earned his license today with THANKS to Therese from Top Notch. Gavin was so prepared for today’s driving test. Therese is patience and incredibly knowledgable!!! We have referred many of Gavin’s friends to Therese and all are super satisfied as well!!!

We came all the way up from Oceanside to have Teresa teach our son as we heard of her reputation. After she taught him he took his test a week later and got 1 thing wrong. It was most definitely worth the trip. Thank you Theresa for working around our schedule.