Buying COE car.

[Arbalest]

HI all,

I intend to buy a COE car. And this will be my first time owing a car.

 

I saw in the newspaper that, they are selling '93 Honda ESI at 21.2K. $0 down-payment and monthly of $200++. COE until 07/2011

 

Is it wise to own one of those.

 

Thanks for your advise.

[Emperor]

Brother.....no matter how nice it sounds there are always hidden costs. An ESI at that price, I dont think so. Check first cause the loan might be more than that. I drive a COE car with a low downpayment so I know what I'm talkin about. And on top of that the ESI is usually driven by bengs.....hence there might be small faults that is undetectable till driven hard! Check with the paper....is it really true?? Are there any other costs? You gotta be sure cause its your money. Dont regret after buying it. Took me 1 year 2 months to start regretting.....

[Arbalest]

thanks for sharing your views...

 

i understand that the monthly 250+ is excluding road tax and insurance.

with gas , parking and maintenence, the monthly cost should be in the

$600+ range. this figure is reasonable with me.

 

what i fear is getting a car with many hidden problems...

on top of this, i only intend to keep the car for not more than 2-3 years.

so wonder if it is wise to buy such car.

 

i also like the civic esi 3 dr alot....hehe

[Arbalest]

Question:

 

how accurate is the value given to the OMV of a car?

i mean is it the paper value at the point of transaction

and will continue to depreciate to $0?

 

and how will it affect a used-car buyer?

It is prefered to buy a used-car with high COE and low OMV or

low COE and moraderate OMV??

 

Advise really needed...

[Redeel]

The wisest thing to do is to not buy a COE car. Unless the particular model is your favourite and it can't be found anymore, or you are able to fetch a really good price (unlikely).

 

eddie

[Arbalest]

So u are suggesting that its better to live with public transport

and wait until we can afford a new car???

 

i wonder if i can wait a few years...

 

honestly, if buying a COE car is that bad a choice to you, how about

getting a relative newer second-hand car say in the 2000's??

is it still more ' centsible' than buying a new car??

[Redeel]

Anything but COE car. Be it new, used or public transport... Just think about this... You're paying for an old car, no idea what the condition is(prob leaking somewhere), need to pay expensive road tax, high finance cost (interest)... And the paper value most of the time is only between 12 to 15k, but you buy at 20 to 23k... Interest haven't factor in, and if anything happens and render the car 'not roadworthy', you top up like mad just to get rid of it. Worth it? Might as well save more to get a better car.

 

eddie

[Arbalest]

i see your point . Many thanks for your advice.

will you be so kind as well to answer my previous qns??

 

Question:

 

how accurate is the value given to the OMV of a car?

i mean is it the paper value at the point of transaction

and will continue to depreciate to $0?

 

and how will it affect a used-car buyer?

It is prefered to buy a used-car with high COE and low OMV or

low COE and moraderate OMV??

[Porker]

If you drive the COE car for the full term, you'll lose all the money.

 

As for used car, there are 2 scenarios (simplistic way of looking)

 

(1) If you plan to drive it all the way till the 10 year mark is up, get the one with the highest OMV.

 

(2) If you plan to drive and then sell halfway through, you still have to get one with high OMV

[DarkLord]

Aiyah, no need to look at COE cars liaoz! Just store power for a while and put down higher downpayment for new cars! More worth it!! That's what I am planning liaoz! Unless you are in a rush to get your ride!

[Reliable]

when u buy a car its an expense already. U sure to do lose money no matter what car you buy(COE, Brand New, 2nd hand with OMV). Unless u are a trader then maybe u can earn from buying car.

 

When buying cars, i feel that depreciation per year is the most important thing. Then you add in the rest such as road tax, insurance and petrol. Cause the depreciation will be the money u are throwing away. As for cars with omv(parf value). People should less it off before calculating the depreciation so that it will make a real comparision.

 

which ever car ppl get is ok. main thing must be able to afford. alot of ppl cant pay their instalments and end up having their cars tow away to turf city for auctions by finance companies.

 

Always think twice and do proper calculations

[DarkLord]

 

Hang around the forum for more advice! I have been here for a few months and it really helped me a lot! Now I understand more about owning a car in Singapore!

[Redeel]

The OMV of a car is fixed the moment it is registered. Exact values will depend on the currency exchange rate at that particular point of time of registration. (High value of Euro = Higher OMV for Conti car)

 

What we call Paper Value is the total value of PARF Rebate + COE Rebate upon deregistering the car. PARF Rebate is calculated from the OMV value. i.e. Higher OMV, higher PARF. But there have been changes in LTA guidelines (ARF) over the years, so in general, older cars have higher PARF value as compared against new cars.

COE Rebate will depend on the value of the COE used to register the car. It depreciates daily.

 

For a Used car buyer, the main concern is the yearly depreciation. It is best to get one with Paper Value close to buying price. This means that, if anything big happens, the car can be deregistered easily (no worries about not being able to sell, and provided no need to top up to finance company).

Having said that, cars with higher paper value may mean that the car is more expensive.

 

Here's an example:

2 Cars, same OMV, are priced at depreciation of $6,000 per year but of different ARF schemes due to 1 month registration difference.

 

1) Ford Focus (80% PARF)

OMV $17,000

PARF $13,600

Registration April 2002

Asking Price $58,600

 

2)Ford Focus (65% PARF)

OMV $17,000

PARF $11,050

Registration May 2002

Asking Price $56,550

 

Understand?

 

So, in this case, whether you want high paper or not, depends on your preference. You can choose 2) for it's low price, but 1) for the peace of mind (can scrap easier).

 

 

Hope i've helped.

 

eddie

[Mojoe]

thanks for sharing your views...

 

i understand that the monthly 250+ is excluding road tax and insurance.

with gas , parking and maintenence, the monthly cost should be in the

$600+ range. this figure is reasonable with me.

 

 

 

may be a bit optimistics actually...

 

loan payment is $250?

 

parking at home or office? if office, may be 150 to 250 depending on area. plus home seasons another $75 to $90 right?

 

petrol would be around $250 (estimated... based on mine... 9.7km/litre and avg mileage - car 8 months old and still less than 12k on the tacho).

 

for COE cars, you need to set aside a sum for repairs and stuff.. how much? not sure actually...

 

all-in-all, you are probably looking at $800 to $1k?

[Lohloh28]

it not harm driving the coe car,,,, u should ask one of the inspector form vicom to go down to the car dealeer to inspect it before u buy it... vicom proivde such service all u nneed to do is just pay them 80 dollars...

 

like mi i ask my friend who work as a car mechecical to go down to the second car dealer take a look of car before i brought ....

 

after that i just spent 1.5k to repair and my caris in good condition/...

 

anyway i m driving a renew coe sunny b13

[Lewfs]

Hi Lohloh28,

I'm wondering the last message before you was posted at 2004, and how do you get to find such an old post and do a reply.

And I'm also curious to know if Arbalest had gotten his car, be it a COE or below 10yrs or new one?

[Arbalest]

Hi lewfs,

 

Ha ha....U are very shape to notice that the last post was at 2004. I'm stunned too when i receive an email to inform me of the reply. I set a thread watch. Damn power!!

 

Anyway, i scraped the idea of a coe Car. never got a car till now after realising the high cost. been saving up for my house!!! don't wish to take up a reno loan u see... 35K 1 shot!

[Looneytune]

time flies & its been 1.5 yrs..

congrats on ur new home & most imptly, being debt free..