In my previous article, we touched base on What to Look Out for When Buying a Car. In this article, I am going to breakdown the cost of buying and owning a car in Singapore to give you readers a clearer picture of the cost components of car ownership in Singapore.
Disclaimer: The figures reflected in this article is accurate at the time of writing.
1. Open Market Value (OMV)
- The price paid when the vehicle is imported into Singapore
- To find out the average price of OMV in the particular month, refer to One Motoring’s data
- For example, one of the popular car models in Singapore is the Toyota Corolla Altis. It’s average Open Market Value is about SGD $21,858 (April 2019 Figures).
2. Vehicle Tax Structure
- Registration Fee (RF)
- SGD $220
- Additional Registration Fee (ARF)
- Certificate of Entitlement (COE)
- In order to register a vehicle, have to bid for COE conducted twice a month
- The COE is valid for 10 years
- At the end of the 10 year period, you can choose to renew the COE by paying the prevailing quota premium or de-register the vehicle
- The Automobile Association of Singapore provides the latest statistics for the COE prices and Quota for each Category. A Category A COE as of April 2019 costs SGD $29,159.
- How to Bid for COE
- Bidding Schedule
- From 12pm on the first and third Monday of the month and lasts for three working days, ending at 4pm on Wednesday, assuming no Public Holiday in between
- Bid Deposit
- Category A, B, C and E – SGD $10,000
- Category D – SGD $200
- Indicate Your Reserve Price
- The maximum amount you are willing to pay for your COE
- Where to Place Your Bid
- via DBS or POSB ATMs
- Road Tax
- Must renew the road tax every 6 to 12 months
- The amount of road tax payable is calculated based on the vehicle scheme, propellant and engine capacity
- The average road tax for a Toyota Corolla Altis is about SGD $686 for a renewal period of 12 months.
Road Tax (For Petrol, Petrol-Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), CNG or Diesel Cars)
Road Tax (For Petrol-Electric or Electric Cars)
Special Tax (For Diesel or Diesel- CNG Cars)
- Excise Duty (the duty of goods manufactured in, or imported into Singapore)
- 20% of Open Market Value (OMV)
3. Vehicle Registration Number (VRN)
- No charges if the Vehicle Registration Number is automatically assigned
- Bidding charges apply if using preferred Vehicle Registration Number
- The minimum bid amount is SGD $1000, in multiples of SGD $1.
4. Vehicle Import and Registration
- The cost is 7% Goods and Service Tax (GST) based on the total cost of importing a vehicle i.e. cost, insurance, freight.
5. Vehicle Emission Schemes
If you register a car with cleaner emissions, you will qualify for emission rebates which will be used to offset the car or taxi’s Additional Registration Fee (ARF), subject to a minimum ARF payment of SGD $5,000.
If you register a car that emits more pollutants, you will have to pay an emissions surcharge.
If you register an electric or plug-in hybrid car or taxi, its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are rated by applying an emission factor to its electricity energy consumption. The emission factor is 0.4g CO2/Wh for vehicles registered from 1 July 2017 to 31 December 2019.
MAINTENANCE
1. Inspection
- Charges as listed. The average inspection fee is SGD $64 at the time of writing.
2. Insurance
- Charges according to driver’s profile with the profiles that are high risk costing more premium.
- The average cost of a motor insurance is about SGD $1000
3. Parking
4. Electronic Road Pricing (ERP)
4. Electronic Road Pricing (ERP)
5. Fuel
Source: OneMotoring, SG Car Mart