India by Car and Driver. I think it's the first thing that pops up when you Google it.

Had a nice new Toyota van until we got into our first wreck 2 hours into the trip. The back end was trashed pretty good so we had to switch cars. Had an old Tata car (small!) for the remainder of the trip. That car got bumped a couple times here and there but nothing serious enough to knock it out of commission. Good thing about India by Car and Driver is that they seem to be a larger firm - big enough to have backup vehicles if yours gets wrecked during your trip. (Sidebar: bodyshop owners in India must do an awesome business!!)

You must be FIRM with the driver when about where you want to go and where you do NOT want to go. If you don't want to buy a carpet or a bunch of fabric, you will probably need to firmly state this a few times. If you do not want guides at the tourist sites (the driver's buddies), you will also need to be firm about this. The guides were competent and inexpensive...we accepted them in some places...but sometimes we just wanted peace and quiet.

I'm definitely glad we hired a driver...not sure how else we could have seen the things we saw without spending more money on cabs and more time on the intercity travel. The car allowed us to hit some secondary sites on the way into and out of each city - places with no large bus tours. It's not for the faint of heart though. Fascinating at times. Terrifying at others. But probably the best way to do this trip all things considered.