The Cost of Owning a Car in Singapore

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. 

BUYING 

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)

5. Fuel

Source: OneMotoring, SG Car Mart