My brother-in-law walked away from a 60 kmph collision on the Bhopal-Indore highway last year. Not a scratch on his head. The helmet – a mid-range full face he had almost not bought because it was Rs 1,200 more than the open face he originally wanted – absorbed an impact that would have been fatal. … Read more
It was 11:47 PM on NH-48, 90 km from the nearest city, when my front tyre blew. No spare (tubeless repair kit was at home). No cell service for 15 minutes. When I finally got a bar of signal, I called three different numbers from the car’s service manual before someone answered. The tow truck … Read more
My first week with an electric scooter was genuinely stressful. I didn’t know how often to charge, whether I should let the battery drain fully, where to charge when I was caught in traffic far from home, or whether fast charging was damaging the battery. Three years and about 28,000 km later, I understand EV … Read more
I drive approximately 22 km per day to work and back. My neighbor drives 140 km daily for his business. We both pay almost the same annual car insurance premium. This has bothered me for years – I’m at risk on the road for a fraction of the time he is. Telematics insurance is the … Read more
I used to buy whichever tyre the mechanic recommended. Then a friend – a mechanical engineer who spends his weekends on the racetrack – spent 20 minutes explaining tyre sidewall codes to me and I realized I’d been paying for mediocre grip while thinking I was saving money. The cheapest tyre isn’t the safest tyre, … Read more
In 2023, India recorded over 4.6 lakh road accidents and 1.72 lakh road accident deaths – making it one of the most dangerous countries to drive in, statistically. I’m not writing this to scare you. I’m writing it because most vehicle owners in India have comprehensive car insurance but zero personal health coverage for the … Read more
Three years ago, I financed a Maruti Suzuki Brezza. I walked into the showroom, signed what the finance manager put in front of me, and drove away feeling like I’d won something. Two months later, I sat down and actually calculated what I’d agreed to – the interest rate was 13.75%, the processing fee had … Read more
I once watched a man at a Honda service centre spend ₹38,000 on a transmission repair on his four-year-old City. His extended warranty had expired six months earlier. He had declined the two-year extension at the time of purchase to save ₹6,500. This guide doesn’t tell you to always buy extended warranties – but it … Read more
When I bought my first car on loan, my EMI was ₹14,200 per month – a number I picked somewhat arbitrarily by choosing the 48-month option at the dealership. A year later, after learning more about how vehicle loans actually work, I reduced that same EMI to ₹11,800 without paying off the loan. The savings … Read more
A friend of mine had his Royal Enfield stolen from outside a mall in Hyderabad. No GPS tracker, no recovery. Two months later, another friend had his Pulsar stolen from the same city. He had a ₹1,200 GPS tracker installed. The police recovered the bike in 11 hours. The difference between those two outcomes was … Read more