Copyright of gentlerock
NEW CAR COE
COE is the permit you need to buy any personal vehicle in
Singapore. In other words, you have to buy a COE before you buy a
car.
No one knows what the future COE will be, because its based on a
public (electronic) auction system. So it depends on demand and
supply. If more people want to buy cars, they will want the COE
more badly.....and therefore, they will bid higher prices for
COE....and therefore, COE prices will go up. Its just like the
auctions you see on TV, where one says S$1, the next says S$3, the
next says $10.....and this goes on and on until there is only one
winner left standing.
There are a few types of COEs:
Category A - for cars below 1600 cc.
Category B - for cars above 1600 cc.
Category C - for buses and goods/cargo vehicles
(company-owned).
Category D - for motorbikes and scooters.
Category E - open category, for any of the above (like a "wild" or
"joker" card).
All COEs for new cars are for 10 years....and its attached to the
car (not attached to the person). So if you sell your car, you sell
the COE together with the car.
It can be very tricky.....as shown in the example below (you don't
really have to know this, but is for your info only, if you're not
too confused yet):
- Lets say that Cat A COE happens to be $10,000 now.
- Lets say that Cat B COE happens to be $14,000 now.
Lets say you buy a 1000 cc car using Cat A COE. You will pay
$10,000 for a $10,000 COE.
But lets say you buy a 1000 cc car using Cat E COE. You will pay
$14,000 for a $10,000 COE. Immediately, you lose $4,000!
More information can be found here:
http://www.onemotoring.com.sg/publish/onemotoring/en/topwebwide/faqs/faqs1.html#MainPar_0002
USED CAR COE
After 10 years, the COE (and car) should be de-registered
(scrapped). This means either you bring it to the scrapyard, or
export it. Usually, a car dealer will do all this (we have to pay
them a bit for their work), so we don't have to know the
procedures.
If you wish to keep the car after 10 years, you have to apply for
COE again. The price of the COE is explained at the bottom of this
same webpage:
http://www.onemotoring.com.sg/publish/onemotoring/en/topwebwide/faqs/faqs1.html#MainPar_0076
(Yes, yes, I know.....its very very confusing. I'm often confused
too. Very mah huan.).
PARF
Preferential Additional Registration Fee. Again very confusing
terms....I can't understand why the authorities can't use simpler
words. In the market, this simply means the value left in the
car.
You see, every car has a value. The value drops as a car grows
older. The PARF is simply the amount of money you can get back, if
you sell your car.
There is a chart showing/explaining how PARF value of cars are
calculated:
http://www.sgcarmart.com/articles/parf_rebate.php
OMV
OMV (Open Market Value) is another important term. It is a value
for each individual car, decided by the government.....and no one
knows for sure how it is calculated. When each NEW car is
registered/bought, the government will let you know its OMV. Note:
two same cars can have different OMVs (as I said, no one knows how
it is calculated). You can see the latest OMV values here:
http://www.onemotoring.com.sg/publish/onemotoring/en/motoring/information/left/buy_a_new_vehicle0/car_cost.MainPar.0019.File.tmp/Car_Cost_2004.PDF
SCRAP VALUE
This is simply the money you will get back if you de-register your
vehicle. To de-register means you either export the car, or bring
it to the metal scrapyard to be torn up for parts. In other words,
it doesn't exist as a Singaporean car anymore.
Scrap Value is: Remaining COE + PARF value
Remaining COE: If you buy a 10-year COE for $10,000, after 1 year,
you can get back $9,000, after 2 years you can get back
$8,000.....after 9 years you can get back $1,000, after 10 years
you can get back $0. In other words, the COE value is cut by 10%
each year......and when its 10 years, it is $0.
PARF Value: Already explained above.
