To Get A Car Or Not?

skyline34_ SG

Hi folks,

I'm kinda in a fix now so I hope you guys can advise me. I'll be graduating in May 2008 and I'll be starting work in July 2008. So everything seems good. However, my work place is at Changi Business Park and I reside in Yew Tee! I reckon I'll spend close to 2 hours traveling to work everyday. The job offer is really good though and there is no way I could have refused it.

I'm contemplating getting a 2nd hand Japanese car like the Lancer or Sunny. To be honest, I really don't want to buy a car so soon because it's just so expensive over here and I don't think it makes good economic sense considering this is my first full time job. But the traveling time is just too much and it's definitely gonna affect my work performance in the long run.

So yea, that's the crux of the issue. I hope someone can advise me on it.

Thanks a million in advance! :)

gabrielhrteo SG

Buy a 2nd hand Honda Fit. FC is good. Save more money! Some more your work place is so far away from your house. Actually, also got to depend on how much you are paid. If u find that u can afford a car and live comfortably, go ahead!!!!

a-Lost-9uY SG

uhmm u shld get a car..

zerocool85 SG

dont get either the lancer or the sunny

try getting a 2nd hand toyota vios or perhaps a honda jazz. these 2 cars are top notch in reliability and fuel consumption.. sunny are well known for drinking petrol.. u can refer to one of the earlier posts on "WHY IS NISSAN SUNNY SO CHEAP" or smth like that.

get a car, why not.. since u already mentioned that the offer was good, im sure u wld not have problem maintaining the car.

NoobBOY SG

Might as well try to get the latest Proton Saga instead

skyline34_ SG

Thanks everyone for the advice. :)

Well to be honest, even though I think i'd be able to maintain a 40k second hand car, this really isn't what I planned out to be. My initial plan was to save up (really hard of course :/) for a few years and get a Lexus IS250 or whatever base model in the future with a 20-30 percent downpayment. I figured that'd be a wiser choice as my instalment payments would not be too high. A car afterall will only depreciate and it's definitely not an investment that's gonna bring in any positive returns. I really don't wanna spend more than 20percent of my pay on a car.

How much do you guys reckon I'd have to spend on maintaining a second hand 40k car, assuming I take a 90 percent loan and including stuff like petrol, erp and parking?

LH83 SG

Hrm.. would an OPC be better for you? Think it depends on what time you have to leave home for work I guess... As a rule of thumb, maintaining a normal saloon car in SG should require about $1.2k monthly to cover just about everything... might be lower for a 2nd hand car.. but $1.2k is a safe bet...

BrUtUs SG

hv u check if the company got any transport from ur home area?

BangHong SG

1.2k i afraid its just barely enough..... prepare at least 1.5k

skyline34_ SG

an OPC car is pretty much out of the equation because I reckon I won't get to start work that early..

Actually, I'll definitely not plunge in so quickly. I'll see how it goes for the first few months of work and see how it goes. To be honest, I really don't want to buy a car so soon unless the long traveling time really starts to take its toll on my work performance.

T.Ryousuke SG

U r new to car? u noe Lexus IS250 drink alot?
Now 1 litre petrol is $1.90. The cost of owning a car is about $1k plus. But if u change car often, u will lugi more, plus u loan 100% for 10yr the interest will be high even tho they give u rebate. So go check with dealer and AD for the interset rate, insurance and OMV b4 u buy. U can go to mycarforum and car weekly meetup to check.
Coming April tax cut for car from 110% to 100%, which is about $1500 for a 1.6 car. So it’s good to go for new car altho they tell u old car parf(scrap) is high but it just not worth it cos u loan more with extra intersest which end up LPPL. Think for u better go for low FC, not Mz 3 or sunny. Manaul car like out going Lancer model. Altis coming out new model which cost about $63k which is very ex. Lancer EX too noisy. New Jazz FC claim to be 17km/l but cost $57k.

HolySniper SG

juz for transport purpose, get a parf car or some reliable coe cars.