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ST Forum Unbundle COE from car loan CERTIFICATE of entitlement (COE) prices have seen phenomenal increases across most categories during the past months ('Inflation likely to remain high next few months: MAS'; last Saturday). Many car dealers bundle COE premiums with the cost of vehicles and offer loans of up to 90 per cent to car buyers. This practice in effect facilitates would-be car owners to secure COEs through financing, which does not make a lot of sense since the very intent of the COE scheme is to deter car ownership. Given the low interest rates and ease of financing, new car owners have no qualms about taking a higher quantum of car loan, which in turn pushes COE prices up. The Land Transport Authority and the relevant authorities should review this practice and disallow COEs from being included in the quantum of car loans. Perhaps this may help bring some sanity to the price of a licence to buy a car. Tan Beng Guan