Singapore family Sedan matches cost of a US home Vinay Mathur gave up on buying a new car in Singapore as the cost of a permit rose to the highest in 17 years. He settled for a two-year-old BMW 3-series. "By the time we began seriously to think of buying a car, licence prices had shot up," said Mathur, 42, referring to the so-called certificates of entitlement, which are auctioned by the city-state and used to control congestion. At S$86,889 ($67,000) just for a permit, the total price of a Volkswagen Passat in Singapore is about the same as the median US metropolitan home. A 25% jump in residents in seven years, coupled with the world's highest proportion of millionaire households, has fueled a 10-fold surge in license prices over three years. The government said last week it will postpone plans to cut the number of permits available and slow traffic growth, responding to the outcry over soaring prices. After the ruling People's Action Party lost a by-election in the opposition-led Hougang district on May 26, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong reiterated a pledge to change the way the party governs a population that opinion surveys show is most concerned with issues such as high living costs and an influx of foreign residents. The PAP remained in power last year with the smallest general election victory since independence in 1965. "The COE system is well-intended in that it does limit the traffic to some extent and pollution, but it bumps up the price of even entry-level cars to a ridiculous level," said Mathur, a senior executive who moved to Singapore from Mumbai with his wife and young son two-and-a-half years ago. Mathur said he was entitled to an interest-free, five-year loan of S$130,000 from his company, and didn't want to spend more than that. A new 2012 Passat sedan made by Volkswagen AG (VOW), the world's second-largest carmaker, costs about $152,000 in Singapore, including the license, according to classified ads website SGCarMart.com. The median price of a US metropolitan area home is $158,100, National Association of Realtors data show. So-called open-category permit, which can be used to buy any type of vehicle, reached S$92,010 in April, the highest since the end of 1994 when a record of S$110,500 was reached. At the latest auction May 23, the licenses went for S$86,889, compared with S$8,501 three years ago. The permits give the right to own a car for 10 years. :Flush:
-
Amazon Deals - ToS - Warp
cost of car ownership in singapore
- Thread starter Toocool
- Start date
- Replies 4
- Views 1,298
frankly speaking you do not even need to own a car in singapore. a friend has been living there for a couple of years now and he tells me that they can travel anywhere on public transport which is amazing in itself. here in india, cars are not really a luxury as the government believes. it is a necessity because of the ****ed up public transport we have. that's why we are amazed at the things in countries like singapore.here at my place, we have three people in a family of six. and three people knows how to drive. if the public transport was actually usable here in gurgaon, i think we would have been quite happy with a single vehicle.
In Singapore right to own a car is auctioned (via Dealers)The vehicle permits are priced differently for Budget( below 1200cc), Full sedan (Around 2 litre) and Luxury. Due to supply and demand prices change like stock market.There is a seperate category called "week end permits" .These cars can be driven only during Friday night to Monday early morning.Lot of low income couples buy that.Also there is a Road tax. All vehicles entering CBD (central business district or TOLL roads ) carry a prepaid card that gets debited say S$0.10c per every 300 metres as you drive.Overall Car Import price+100% Customs duty + permit( more than car price !) + road taxes cost quite a bundle.Having lived both in Sing & HK for a long time ,I never bought a car .Only in California USA, I learnt driving as you can not live with out one. (Automatic there. Later adapted here to stick version), Public transport in Singapore,Hong Kong is so efficient ,one does not need a 4 wheeler.Same Rechargeable Ticket card can be used in bus/MTR/MRT and also in 7/11 (convenience stores & super markets)For A FAMILY OF 4 (2+2) for short distances, taxi is cheaper than by Bus (4Xsay S$1.20= almost same as taxi fare say 5-7$)I wish in India they introduce a crushing First registration tax on private cars above 1200cc and monthly Road tax for all big vehicles!!