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COE prices fell across the board at the latest tender on Wednesday. The premium for cars up to 1,600cc fell by more than $2,000 to close at $16,747, while COE for cars above 1,600cc softened by around $1,000 to settle at $18,389. Open COE, which can be used for any vehicle type but ends up mainly for cars, dipped by $900 to $19,000. The premium for commercial vehicles finished at $16,989 - down from $18,110 two weeks ago. And the COE for motorbikes hit $902, from $931 previously. Observers said the latest results - with the first across-the-board dips since supply was cut last month - could be because of lower buying interest. Car buyers, used to the low prices seen in the first half of this year, are shying away from showrooms despite an all-round improvement in consumer sentiment.

Is the car dealership here so dark....is very sad. First when you get a new car, the dealer will have 2 prices....those that you DIY and take little or nothing in house will cost you more. Pay full cash and car price with either remain the same or cost you even more. COE bid urself also will most likely cost you more. Then when u sell....dealer will have all sorts of excuses say mkt bad, cannot export, no demand etc and give you "PAPER VALUE". So u say ok I get used car then.....but......there is no more such thing here as "PAPER VALUE" ya they need to earn. But usually the car is 20K above paper! So dealers are looking at 10k profit just like that. If only we can form a consortium or federation where we help one another get rides...at near paper value....wouldn't this be better? If we all DIY....especially when it comes to COE.....we pay for what we bid than now the prices are more or less controlled due to the dealers? Just cannot except this paper value talk when u want to sell ur car and when u buy used are....is 20k+ paper value.....what's up man!

Used-car buyers in the slow lane Potential buyers were shying away from showrooms, and sales had dropped by as much as half last month. Tue, Nov 11, 2008 The Straits Times By Yeo Ghim Lay & Ben Nadarjan THE global financial crisis appears to have put the brakes on sales of second-hand cars, which had been motoring along nicely since the beginning of the year. A check with 10 used-car dealers found that potential buyers were shying away from showrooms, and sales had dropped by as much as half last month. "Customers are taking a wait-and-see attitude. It's like everyone is on hold since the financial crisis started," said Mr Jerry Ong, owner of Auto Inn. He used to sell 15 to 25 cars every month, but saw fewer than eight roll off the showroom floor last month. The owner of a used-car dealership at Turf City, who declined to be named, said sales had dropped by half. He expects even less business this month. Hardest hit are the sales of big cars, like luxury sedans and sport utility vehicles, which consume more petrol than smaller models. Mr Neo Nam Heng, president of the Singapore Vehicle Traders Association, said that while the market was still moving, sales were "quite slow" during the last two weeks of last month. Official figures for the month are not yet available. The slowdown marks a change from previous months, when car buyers made their way to second-hand dealers as consumers tightened their belts amid high prices for petrol, electricity and rice. Land Transport Authority statistics show that used-car sales from July to September averaged 2,538 a month ? a jump of 20 per cent from the same quarter last year. More than 23,800 used cars were sold last year, up from about 20,800 in 2006. But the global financial crisis appears to have changed all that. The failure of some of the world's biggest banks, gyrating stock markets and the drying up of credit have left potential car buyers jittery. The trend is especially pronounced in the luxury car market, where one agent said that buyers were unwilling to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a car. The agent recently advised a client to pull his Maserati off the market as no buyer was willing to meet the selling price of more than $200,000. A check on popular car website www.sgcarmart.com showed that there were 34 luxury cars available last month, compared to seven in September and just one in August. They include a two-year-old Lamborghini Gallardo going for $620,000. Meanwhile, dealers are slashing prices to get more people behind the wheel. Mr Glen Wong, a senior sales executive at Hua Yang Credit, said prices had been lowered by $1,000 to $2,000 per car three weeks ago. At Lake View Credit, a two-year-old Toyota Corolla Altis is going for about $42,000 now, down from $48,000 three months ago. Said managing director Tan Ah Chiew: "New cars are now cheaper, so used-car prices must come down too. And with the current state of the economy, customers will be paying more attention to prices."

Hm..... Very very disappointed with the buyers i met along my car modifications journey. I was in the process of upgrading my brake kit and advertise to sell my current 4pot front and 2pot rear which was customised to fit my current ride. Got it customised for like well over 2K and selling at 1.6K for whole set. Then one buyer - J ask me to reserve for him. Ok so i did and reserved it for him. Ask me for further discount which i was like ok 1.3K and swap fees on J. Then last minute tell me long short cxxk and bull story which I was not in the least interested. Then another guy - W was talking me all this while not to sell to J cos of the good deal. Why give the better deal to someone you dont know might as well give the deal to me? I knew W for a couple of years. So when J tell me stories, i told him never mind, i can sell to others. Then all was confirmed with W but in the end W also tell me cxxk and bull story. Never did i once feel so sianz in my car journey. I was like not making money and simply offering to sell off my setup to a similiar car owner cos everything now is pluck and play. The customisation took me 4 days back then. In the end, i decided to have the set-up sold back to my workshop. Very disappointing to meet people who TALK really BIG but never pull it off in the end. As simple as you dont mean it then dont say la. Why come and disturb in the first place. I guess i am still pretty much affected by these people till date. This incident happened about 2 weeks ago.

This car was sold for 77k negotiable by owner now look at how much the dealer wanna mark up. So how come people still like to buy from 2nd hand dealers huh? They stupid, suckers or what? http://www.sgcarmart.com/main/info-2AiCWxz-1057.html

Hi all, Price up for a lot of Cat A cars, as reported by Today:

New rule makes them eligible for scrap rebate but $10,000 surcharge stays MOTORISTS looking to buy mid- to high-end marques, but do not mind a used car, will have more and possibly cheaper models to choose from, with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) liberalising the import of cars. Changing a regulation put in place in the 1970s, the LTA said yesterday that used cars imported into Singapore will now be eligible for a scrap rebate - which can amount to several hundred thousand dollars for top-end cars like Lamborghinis and Rolls-Royces. Owners get the rebate or preferential additional registration fee (Parf) if they de-register their cars before the 10th year. The rebate can be used to offset taxes for a new car. The LTA's new rule takes effect from Sept 1, and applies to vehicles no older than three years. One other rule affecting imported cars stays unchanged however. Importers will still have to pay a $10,000 surcharge for used cars, on top of all the usual taxes and the certificate of entitlement (COE) required for owning a car here. Mr Neo Nam Heng, president of the Automotive Importers and Exporters Association - a body for parallel importers - cheered the move. 'Used Ferraris, Porsches, BMWs, Mercedes, Lexus - we will start bringing them in soon,' he said. 'We have been lobbying for this for five years,' he said, but added that 'we will keep convincing them to remove the $10,000 surcharge'. Parf benefits were introduced more than 30 years ago to keep the vehicle population young. But imported used vehicles were not eligible - to prevent a population explosion of cheap cars in the pre-COE days. Mr Neo said the latest move will allow car dealers to source for used cars from overseas markets. Imported used cars are likely to be cheaper than local used cars too because they will have a far lower open-market value - on which all car taxes are calculated. But because of the $10,000 surcharge, it is likely that only mid- to high-end used cars will be imported. Each imported used car will be registered using a COE lasting 10 years. But if the owner wishes to enjoy the scrap rebate, he must scrap the vehicle before its 10th year, starting from the time it was originally registered overseas. Even so, he gets a rebate on the unused portion of the COE. Will car buyers go for imported used cars? Traders think so, especially when they can have a used vehicle that is less expensive than a second-hand buy here, and which has a fresh 10-year COE attached to it. And to address concerns of 'buying blind', without knowing the car's history, potential buyers can have the cars checked by vehicle assessors. Enthusiast Kevin Kwee, 37, said: 'It's good news. But sourcing for a quality car with low mileage may be a problem. Average mileage in many markets tend to be higher than Singapore's.' Dealers of new cars were less cheerful. 'This will increase the demand for COEs, and put upward pressure on premiums,' said Motor Traders Association president Michael Wong.

All current model of 'E' is sold out as now..Left with 'S' model.

Read in today ST forum page and was amazed by one person who suggest that the buyer should bid the COE by himself rather than let the car dealers do it. I simply won't support this idea of his as I had tried many years back. Submit my bidding with an attached bank "money order" of 50% of your bidding price. All the hussle & buzzle of so many steps to take and in the end, always out bid by others. With the car dealers, just let me know the price of car and the monthly amount to pay for my loan and let them (dealers) do all the necessary documentation. Maybe, he is a first timer buying car. Furthermore, car buyer who produce their own COE does not entitle to some special discount offer by the car dealers and price of car is also different. The above is my feedback and my opinion. Would you like to share yours ?

The Nissan Sunny leather seats are not 100% leather. It is 1/2 leather, meaning only those places where your body has contact with are genuine leather (the bum and backrest area). Th rest of the seats (sides and back) are actually PVC (otherwise called synthetic leather). The PVC looks and feels exactly like leather, but if you press your fingers against the PVC, the surrounding area is smooth, no ceases. When you press your fingers against genuine leather, you see ceases in the surrounding area round your finger. Realised this only when I sat in my friend's 1 month old Sunny today. My friend was shocked too. He said Tan Chong's SE told him the car seats are "leather", but neveer mentioned anything that it is actually 1/2 leather. Pick up OK, but had to rev to at least 3,000 rpm esp in 1st 2 gears to get adequate pick up (auto). Engine relatively quiet.

please read today's "the sunday times". the car dealers make big money when they sell each car. especially Toyota cars. even the "Vios" also get Gross profit $14k. No wonder so samll market in singpore, but has so many car dealers.