Done both the IMC a Night just to make me a better Pilot and then to consider taking things further. CPL and Stuff......
Night
Do this at the same time as your PPL if you can hack it. It's a bit different and make sure you listen when your instructor talks about Radio Navigation. After Qualifying the world looks different at night and sometimes you cannot just rely on SVFR Nav especially in an unfamiliar area. Alot of the responses in this thread just consider Qualifications and things are different when you are all alone in the AC at night. My advise is do it! Enjoy and remember I know IR pilots who would not fly SVFR in an area they did not know without the use of Radio NAV aids at night.
IMC
The cost is probably south of 3k. If you want to do IR then ask the Instructor to teach most of the letdowns (Procedures) as many are happy to teach mostly the Vectored ILS as this is the common approach Method. Even this for a new Pilot is not easy to fly in proper IR conditions. I did it to improve my skills and see if I could hack an IR. For me I could just do all the letdowns but not that well.(in 15 hrs)..NDB only is another story.
My Instructors response when I commented this was difficult was that it does not get any easier, you just get used to the difficulty!
.....do the IMC and make yourself a better Pilot when your Hour Building !!
would think the total time counts in some way anyway.
F345