Auger, another option which was brought up in this thread was to find a club that has club owned trainers. Our club does, and we use them all the time. This way, you can get stick time with out losing money if a crash occurs. I have only seen one club trainer crash before, and that was due to structural issues in the wing, not PIC issues. We also don't allow someone to solo with these planes. They are always flown with a buddy box if they are being used for training. I have used one of my personal trainers to buddy box with people that wanted stick time. The club you were at may have this capability or there could be people around that would want to help. Most beginners usually get bored with trainers after a period of time and give or sell them to other people who are starting out. Just a thought.