Car buying in Singapore is a total minefield to a non-Singaporean. Here you have to take into account the value of the Certificate of Entitlement ( COE ), the Preferential Additional Registration Fee ( PARF ), the Open Market Value ( OMV ), Scrap Value etc etc. Then you have the Off Peak cars ( those with red number plates ) which can only be driven at certain period of the day.
The COE is a certificate that entitles one to own a car. This certificate is valid for ten years, at the end of which one must either scrap the car and get back the OMV which goes towards the purchase of a new car and a new COE. If one chooses, one can keep the old car and purchase a new COE for it and continue with the old car.
It is a total mystery to a non Singaporean why sometimes it actually is financially beneficial to scrap a perfectly good 3 or 4 year old car and trade in for a new one. Of course to an outsider it will seem wasteful, but Sngaporeans do it on a regular basis. I am told that this is due to the fluctuation of the value of the COE.
It is a very complicated system and one must understand fully all the mind boggling rules and regulations before a car purchase.
In Singapore, owning a car is a luxury and it is very expensive to keep and run a car. Public transport is excellent and many Singaporens have chosen to do without it. Eleswhere in the world we take it for granted that a vehicle is an essential possession and a necessity but not here in Singapore.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment