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Which COE car should I buy?


keechiu
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We mark up 5 year COE more than 10 year COE because we have to defray the lost PARF over 5 years and not 10 years lah.

Nothing to do with the lower quantum. 

:D

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11 hours ago, Toeknee_33 said:

My question still remains: why a COE car? Even with a budget constraint? Why not a 5 year old car?

COE-renewed cars may have a new leash of statutory life, but it doesn't mean that the car ITSELF has a new leash of life. Dont mix the 2 up. It may well be neglected in the 8th-10th year and on the verge of expensive repairs and maintenance. Given your lack of car experience, and given the shark-like nature of the used car trade, you may end up with a dud, unless you bring along a really knowledgeable friend.

Buying a newer car is safer. 5-6 year old Accent, Attrage, Note, Cerato, Elantra, Lancer etc are all within your budget. Stay away from ex-PHV cars though. 

My 2 cents worth. 

perhaps bcoz he is unable to fork out so much for the downpayment?
a parf altis with 5yrs remaining will easily cost you 55k to 60k, whereas a renewed 5yrs coe altis will cost you 30k.

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2 minutes ago, Mockngbrd said:

imo 5 yr coe is the worst to buy.. have to fork out to cover dealer's loss of PARF but totally no value when trying to resell. 

You are correct about the resale value, so it is import for one to consider carefullly, once he buys and COE car, he must be prepared to hold on to the car.

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5 minutes ago, Ct3833 said:

You are correct about the resale value, so it is import for one to consider carefullly, once he buys and COE car, he must be prepared to hold on to the car.

10yr COE is ok. 5yr COE is gg. 

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20 minutes ago, Ct3833 said:

It is not too bad to buy a low parf 5 years coe car but not for high parf value cars.

IF u can get from owner at low parf lo. If buying from Dealer, whatever low parf value they will also jack up.

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46 minutes ago, Mockngbrd said:

IF u can get from owner at low parf lo. If buying from Dealer, whatever low parf value they will also jack up.

I mean referring to a car that has 30k parf vs one that has 10 k parf.  The 30k parf car has to renew 10 year COE whereas the 10k parf car may not necessarily has to renew 10 years

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1 hour ago, Ct3833 said:

I mean referring to a car that has 30k parf vs one that has 10 k parf.  The 30k parf car has to renew 10 year COE whereas the 10k parf car may not necessarily has to renew 10 years

Ya, but only if you buy from private owners at close to PARF value. Buy from dealer they can also jack up their low parf value car by 10-20k. 

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2 hours ago, RogerNg_185295 said:

Owners also jack up.

then they can forget about selling and have to settle for scrap value from yard or dealers. Or just hug the car till die. 

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On 11/12/2020 at 9:14 PM, keechiu said:

Hi all. thank you very much for your informative replies. It really opened my eyes and I am certain that others who may want to purchase a COE car will find this thread very useful.

Due to budget constraints and also because I will be a first time car owner, I will get a 5 year COE car first. Once I've learned the ropes of ownership and learning more about the in and outs of the car as mentioned by a member above then I can start thinking about going up a level in terms of car brands. Can I get some advice for Vios, Altis, Civic 1.6 & 1.8 and Mitsubishi Lancer Ex COE cars? such as acceptable price range, what to look out for, reliable dealers and workshops? I'm looking at the following dealers

1) Carquotz

2) Carway

3) GV Credit

4) Prem Roy Motoring

5) Car Fleet Auto/Mugiwara Auto

If anyone has had prior experience with them could you please share? Thank you all very much. 

As I said from the start - buying a COE car (> 10 years age) is VERY DIFFERENT from buying a PARF car (< 10 years age).

I got myself a COE car with 5 years for $30+k - can't say I regret it since it was also due to budget constraints, but hey, I paid the $30+k in full cash so I'm debt-free! 🙂
Whereas compared to getting a PARF car with 5 years - that $30+k would probably only suffice for the downpayment! And one must still take on a loan!

When I shortlisted the rides I had only 3 important criteria:
1. The car must have only 1 prior owner - anything more than that and you risk the vehicle having some issue more serious than the usual wear-and-tear (hey it takes a LOT of care, patience and love to own a car from 0 year to its 10th year)

2. The dealer must allow the vehicle to be inspected with no deposit paid
- This is the deal-breaker for a lot of dealers. Many will insist you put down a $3k - $5k deposit before letting you drive away to your choice of workshop or STA/VICOM for inspection. Then they will slap in a clause of "must buy if it's C-grade hor!"

But here's the truth - C-grade cars are accident-cars - some dealers will insist that COE cars will ONLY get 'C' AT MOST. This is not true. COE cars can get 'B' grade (the usual wear-and-tear).

I would advise you simply walk away if the dealer insists you put down a deposit, or to sign any agreement to buy the car if it gets a 'C' grade.

3. A car model that is VERY common on the streets - so that you know parts and replacements are aplenty and affordable (i.e. if you can't get brand new replacement parts, at least you still can find salvaged parts - but that's another totally different topic...)

----------

On a side note, it does help if you know how to inspect the car yourself... because buying a COE car is like going into hell and trying to find that 1 unpolished diamond in the bowels of hell. Most dealers will tell you that the car is sold "as-is", i.e. no warranty on any single thing. You drive away the same day and if the car fails the very next day, you're on your own!

Adding to the fact that many COE cars are actually in very, very terrible condition; some look as if they belong in a scrapyard:
- Rusted undercarriage
- Roaches living in the engine compartment or interior panels
- Worn-out seatbelt tensioners (safety issue)
- Engines due for a head gasket change (it's leaking oil everywhere!)
- 4 tires of different brands and sizes (true story)
- and so on...

Ask on if you need more help...

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4 hours ago, Comage said:

As I said from the start - buying a COE car (> 10 years age) is VERY DIFFERENT from buying a PARF car (< 10 years age).

I got myself a COE car with 5 years for $30+k - can't say I regret it since it was also due to budget constraints, but hey, I paid the $30+k in full cash so I'm debt-free! 🙂
Whereas compared to getting a PARF car with 5 years - that $30+k would probably only suffice for the downpayment! And one must still take on a loan!

When I shortlisted the rides I had only 3 important criteria:
1. The car must have only 1 prior owner - anything more than that and you risk the vehicle having some issue more serious than the usual wear-and-tear (hey it takes a LOT of care, patience and love to own a car from 0 year to its 10th year)

2. The dealer must allow the vehicle to be inspected with no deposit paid
- This is the deal-breaker for a lot of dealers. Many will insist you put down a $3k - $5k deposit before letting you drive away to your choice of workshop or STA/VICOM for inspection. Then they will slap in a clause of "must buy if it's C-grade hor!"

But here's the truth - C-grade cars are accident-cars - some dealers will insist that COE cars will ONLY get 'C' AT MOST. This is not true. COE cars can get 'B' grade (the usual wear-and-tear).

I would advise you simply walk away if the dealer insists you put down a deposit, or to sign any agreement to buy the car if it gets a 'C' grade.

3. A car model that is VERY common on the streets - so that you know parts and replacements are aplenty and affordable (i.e. if you can't get brand new replacement parts, at least you still can find salvaged parts - but that's another totally different topic...)

----------

On a side note, it does help if you know how to inspect the car yourself... because buying a COE car is like going into hell and trying to find that 1 unpolished diamond in the bowels of hell. Most dealers will tell you that the car is sold "as-is", i.e. no warranty on any single thing. You drive away the same day and if the car fails the very next day, you're on your own!

Adding to the fact that many COE cars are actually in very, very terrible condition; some look as if they belong in a scrapyard:
- Rusted undercarriage
- Roaches living in the engine compartment or interior panels
- Worn-out seatbelt tensioners (safety issue)
- Engines due for a head gasket change (it's leaking oil everywhere!)
- 4 tires of different brands and sizes (true story)
- and so on...

Ask on if you need more help...

well said. :a-good:

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6 hours ago, Comage said:

As I said from the start - buying a COE car (> 10 years age) is VERY DIFFERENT from buying a PARF car (< 10 years age).

I got myself a COE car with 5 years for $30+k - can't say I regret it since it was also due to budget constraints, but hey, I paid the $30+k in full cash so I'm debt-free! 🙂
Whereas compared to getting a PARF car with 5 years - that $30+k would probably only suffice for the downpayment! And one must still take on a loan!

When I shortlisted the rides I had only 3 important criteria:
1. The car must have only 1 prior owner - anything more than that and you risk the vehicle having some issue more serious than the usual wear-and-tear (hey it takes a LOT of care, patience and love to own a car from 0 year to its 10th year)

2. The dealer must allow the vehicle to be inspected with no deposit paid
- This is the deal-breaker for a lot of dealers. Many will insist you put down a $3k - $5k deposit before letting you drive away to your choice of workshop or STA/VICOM for inspection. Then they will slap in a clause of "must buy if it's C-grade hor!"

But here's the truth - C-grade cars are accident-cars - some dealers will insist that COE cars will ONLY get 'C' AT MOST. This is not true. COE cars can get 'B' grade (the usual wear-and-tear).

I would advise you simply walk away if the dealer insists you put down a deposit, or to sign any agreement to buy the car if it gets a 'C' grade.

3. A car model that is VERY common on the streets - so that you know parts and replacements are aplenty and affordable (i.e. if you can't get brand new replacement parts, at least you still can find salvaged parts - but that's another totally different topic...)

----------

On a side note, it does help if you know how to inspect the car yourself... because buying a COE car is like going into hell and trying to find that 1 unpolished diamond in the bowels of hell. Most dealers will tell you that the car is sold "as-is", i.e. no warranty on any single thing. You drive away the same day and if the car fails the very next day, you're on your own!

Adding to the fact that many COE cars are actually in very, very terrible condition; some look as if they belong in a scrapyard:
- Rusted undercarriage
- Roaches living in the engine compartment or interior panels
- Worn-out seatbelt tensioners (safety issue)
- Engines due for a head gasket change (it's leaking oil everywhere!)
- 4 tires of different brands and sizes (true story)
- and so on...

Ask on if you need more help...

Seldom will you find rusted 10year old cars these days. Most cars in 2009/2010 will be pretty rust resistant. Unless it is a Blotched repair job. 
 

I have bought a 1 owner coe car and there was much to be done. but then not surprising given the car was 37years old. Granted this is a unique case. But 1 owner cars can be a little overrated.

Of the used cars I have bought over the years. only 1 car was more than 1 owner. So yes I still subscribe to a one owner car used car but also need to open eyes wide to make sure all is good. Mileage and service history is important. 
I have had best luck with one owner, low mileage or full service history, direct owners. 

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hi thought i will chip in as im currently driving COE honda civic 2009 model FD2A( 2 litre model)

Got it last year just before Xmas, its COE was renewed by 5 years by previous owner earlier and when i bought the car left only 4 years 6 months plus max till scrap date ( expires june 2024) 

It was a one owner car (verified by LTA records), i sent car for inspection and no major problems came up thankfully.

Downside is high depreciation for this car(8K plus per year), dealer asking almost 40K for this model, i traded in my  2010 old expiring ford focus 1.6 at scrap value ( existing COE was expiring in 2 weeks plus) so managed to offset price by 8k. Otherwise i would not consider this model at all. Forfeited parf value was 13.8k, so like what the senior forum members mentioned, the dealers jacked up the price

One thing i will point out for civics of this generation be it 1.6, 1.8 or 2.0, fuel consumption is not one of the cars strong points at all

You will be hard pressed to get more than 10-11km per litre for 1.6 or 1.8 models ( from what i read online)

Also take note Civics of this generation will most likely have roof lining that drops and needs to be touched up, the car tends to vibrate on and off a lot due to the aircon compressor

The vios and the altis should potentially have slightly better fuel consumption than the civic I believe, for honda the honda city should have better fuel consumption than civic 

 

Edited by Confusedboi
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9 hours ago, Mkl22 said:

Seldom will you find rusted 10year old cars these days. Most cars in 2009/2010 will be pretty rust resistant. Unless it is a Blotched repair job. 
 

I have bought a 1 owner coe car and there was much to be done. but then not surprising given the car was 37years old. Granted this is a unique case. But 1 owner cars can be a little overrated.

Of the used cars I have bought over the years. only 1 car was more than 1 owner. So yes I still subscribe to a one owner car used car but also need to open eyes wide to make sure all is good. Mileage and service history is important. 
I have had best luck with one owner, low mileage or full service history, direct owners. 

Tell me about it man - the current car (2008) I owned was listed as "1 prior owner" - and when I paid the deposit over and saw the LTA log card from the dealer's computer - to my horror it listed "4 prior owners!".

The dealer then insisted it was "3 prior owners" - saying that when he took over from the guy who sold to him, he accidentally did a transfer count that made it +1 = 4...

He asked for a few days to sort this out with LTA, and the log card eventually came back to "3 prior owners".

Still, I tried to fight with him over this owner count - he insisted that "This does not matter Boss! So what if 3, 4, or more? It's still a used car!"
I retorted that each transfer count means a lower selling value - he told me "When YOU want to sell, come back to me! I sell for you lah! So easy!"

Of course, this dealer's words were bigger than his actions - in the end I gave up and accepted my fate. 😞 

----------

Talking about rust - after taking over the car, I found that the boot door rubber seal was broken in one spot - this led to a leak whenever it rained, and the rainwater gathered in one spot BEHIND the internal body panels. I found that out one day when I removed all the internal panels to deal with a roach infestation (sigh...).

From the pool of turgid water, I found that it had caused the chassis/frame to corrode and rust. The rust had gotten in quite deep and a piece of chassis had chipped off.
I cleaned it out as best as I could, but now I have to keep watching that part of the chassis to make sure the rust doesn't spread...

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