How much salary to comfortably owe a car?

newcomer SG

At least how much is your income to owe, say Nissan March or Kia Picanto(2nd hand)? Put fuel cost aside cuz it’ll be covered by the company. Every opinions are welcomed.

tiggersgd SG

does ur company provide transportation costs to u too (besides the fuel)? if so, it is even less than what u need to pay monthly.

if not, then i think to be comfortable, should be in the region of 500-700 for the loan repayment. u can minus off this amount from ur nett salary and see if you can accomodate ur other living expenses.

PS - u need to take into account of servicing n maintenance, road tax and insurance of the car as well. u can minus off another 100-200 of ur monthly pay to save up for it if u dun want to pay upfront one shot when the time comes to renew these things.

jmo.

nullifi3d SG

The best is to set aside $1k a month. And you'll be free of worries for the time being

newcomer SG

I used the calculator in sgcarmart and got these results:

It's only 230/mth. I know it's an over simplified calculation that's why I need feedbacks on what are the hidden costs involved like maintenence, taxes, insurances, etc. Fuel cost and parking fees not included cuz they'll be covered.

Gazelle SG

I am sure this is not the first time we have seen this question. maybe you would like to do a search on this topic

tiggersgd SG

if i read u correctly, and with the interest rate at 4.25%, u should be looking at a 2nd hand car?

a 2nd hand car, if relatively new, and assuming it is only 1 yr old exact, then ur can safely assume your loan amount to be 9 yrs. but then it will not be realistic bcos loan approval from financial houses/banks takes time. by the time u collect ur car, will easily be less than 9 yrs of car loan. u may like to re-do ur calculations again?

for maintenance and other questions u have asked, it has been asked many times over in cars forum. would u like to search in the forum for answers?

a rough summary of what u asked -

maintenance>fuel (company paying), things like tyres, battery, various cables/hoses, 10K servicing, additional "poisons" to ur car etc.

road tax> pretty straight forward..no other hidden costs.

insurance> if no accident, per yr insurance will depends on ur current NCB (if any), age and driving experience. part of it will also depends on what car u r gonna drive. a typical sports car can set u back as much as a few K (depending on age grp). for ur kind of ride, shouldn't be very huge on the insurance. u might like to check up with various agencies.

tiggersgd SG

newcomer, maintenance should also incl. monthly installments of the car.

cheers!

bounce34 SG

What i think is that, if u have a monthly salary of around 3-4k it should be enough to own car on 10 years or 7 years loan, or even a season car. Most people i know, earn a salary of around 3-4k. Still can drive a car, driving a car, u need to plan ur money wisely on the car : example , is it a worth buy ? , can it last ? scrap value high ? haha..

Since now car is quite cheap , a salary of around 3-4k should be enough to get u a japanese car ? Very Happy

No9 SG

it all depends on what kind of car u wana buy isnt it?? personally i feel a minimum salary of 3k is a must. I will never splurge on a stupid tin can and allow my parents and family to enjoy a lower quality of life..

anyway public transport is so efficient nowadays and in time to come, i am sure every part of Singapore will be 'linked' up!I understand the SMRT is doing construction in Sentosa..sooner or later, private vehicular transportation will be rational for people who simply enjoy driving.

secret_boy SG

I see ur loan amt is 18k only, so i guess u are looking at 2nd hand renew COE cars. If thats the case, the loan very likely they allow u to take max 7 years only .

SnowFlag SG

x 2 Cool

mushigen SG

If you need NINE years to pay off $18,000, you are definitely not ready to own a car.

Don't start digging a hole you cannot afford to close up. It will swallow you.

newcomer SG

Thanks for pointing that out.

After days of reading up, here's another calculation. Hopefully it's more realistic.

Since it's a 5 years COE left, I can only take 4 years loan rite? Assuming interest rate is 5%, and I take 11k loan:

Montly installments = 275/mth
Road tax = [500 + 0.75 x (1324 - 1000)] X 1.5 = 1114.5 PA = 92.875/mth
3rd party insurance = 1000 PA = 83/mth
Parking Fee = 65/mth (HDB overnight parking)

Total = 516/mth

Other than fuel, ERP, outside parking, maintenence, and other unfixed costs, I believe I haven't miss out anything rite?

My question is, is my calculation realistic? The 3rd party insurance price is just an estimation. My friend said he could get one which is only 600+ for 3rd party. Or is it just a gimmick?

If I scrap the car after the COE is used up, do I get any PARF rebate or such?
If I sell the car after 5 years, which I highly doubt there'll be any buyers, what's the body value of the car? Is it Car Price - Dep Value X No. of years used?

Thanks for any opinions.

drumstick SG

Huh? Company pay for your fuel?
A traveling package would be better. Ask your boss for $500 allowance per month, that would likely half your expenses needed.

If you are talking about salary wise...of coz the more the better.

3.5k / mth including allowance should be reasonably enough .

remember... dun spend more than 1/3 of your salary on cars expenses(which includes installments, insurance, petrol, tax etc etc). You will feel a tight pinch in the pocket.

mushigen SG

You might not be able to go for 3rd party insurance. In the case of newer cars, the finance company will insist on you taking comprehensive insurance to cover for the loss of car in accidents/etc.

There is no PARF when you scrap your car.

As for body value, I don't believe you can get anything. Hell, you will need to pay for people to scrap the car for you.

Do check out the TOTAL price you will have to pay, and get the dealer to write it all clearly in black and white. Call me discriminatory or whatever, but second-hand car dealers are not the most honest bunch of guys around.

Lastly, if I were getting a car like the one you are aiming at, I'd be very worried about its reliability. Poor reliability = more downtime = more expen$es.