Buying a Used Car in Singapore

In Singapore, a second-hand or used car is called a "pre-owned car", ha. You get what you pay for, and with a used car, you do need to exercise more caution. The amount of work involved also depends on whom you buy it from, whether from a used car dealer or from your neighbor next door.

The sale of a used car involves a transfer fee payable to the Land Transport Authority. This is set at 2% of the assessed value of the vehicle; this amount is not determined by the seller, but by the Registrar of Vehicles.

You can be sure that in Singapore, even used cars are quite new, as their Certificate of Entitlement (COE) allows the owner to hold on to a car for only 10 years, after which the car has to be scrapped or exported to other countries. If the COE of a car is expiring, and the owner wishes to keep the car, he has to bid for another COE at the prevailing rate, to hold on to his vehicle for another 5 or 10 years.

Having said the above, if you're looking to buy a used-car, look for one that is about 2-3 years old, and ideally, the first owner has paid off his car loan in full. New cars appreciate most in their value in the first year (20%) and second year (a further 10%), so you can save as much as 30% and still have a pretty new car. The best time to visit a used car dealer is towards the end of the month. As most salespeople have pretty high sales quotas to meet, they would be eager to sell off to any would-be buyer for a song. Not a song, but at least a healthy discount.

All the above adds to the cost of ownership of a car, which as I have pointed out earlier, does not help you retain wealth.

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