A neighbour bought a three-year-old Honda City last year from an online listing. Looked perfect in photos, drove smoothly on the test drive, priced Rs 80,000 below market. What the photos did not show: it had been in a significant front-end collision, the airbags had deployed and been non-professionally repacked, and the chassis had a … Read more
I have spent money on at least 40 different bike accessories over six years of riding. About half are still on my bike or in regular use. The other half are in a drawer. This guide is the result of that expensive education – 10 accessories that have genuinely earned their place on every ride, … Read more
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