I’m too embarrassed to admit how badly I screwed up my finances.
About a year ago, I convinced myself that I finally “made it” and deserved a ride. Public transport was getting crowded, and my Grab bills were hitting $400 a month. I thought, “Hey, why not just get a decent second-hand Japanese sedan? At least the money goes into an asset.”
Biggest. Mistake. Ever.
First of all, the COE (Certificate of Entitlement) prices are absolute madness. Even for a used car, you are paying a massive premium just for the right to let the metal sit on the road. Because the paper value was so inflated, my car loans are draining over $1,200 from my bank account every single month. That’s a fixed, unyielding chunk of my salary gone before I even touch the steering wheel.
I tried looking into refining my loan to get better interest rates, but with the current market and the MAS structural rules, the savings are minimal, and the processing fees eat into any real benefit.
And the hidden costs? They hit you like a freight train.
- Insurance premiums for a 30-ish male driver in Singapore are an absolute joke. I’m paying nearly $2,000 a year just for comprehensive coverage because insurers assume everyone is a boy racer.
- Road tax renews like clockwork, extracting hundreds of dollars annually for the privilege of driving on roads that are constantly under construction anyway.
- Don’t even get me started on petrol prices. Every time I pump 95, my heart bleeds. A full tank easily clears $120+ now, and it barely lasts me a week and a half with regular commuting.
Add Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantries beep-beeping every morning, and season parking at my HDB plus office parking ($200+ a month easily), and I am spending close to $2,200 a month just to move from Point A to Point B.
If you are on the fence, please learn from my sheer stupidity. Stick to the MRT. Use Grab Premium when you feel fancy. Do not tie yourself down to a multi-year financial prison just for face value. The “Singapore Dream” of owning a car is a certified nightmare.