To buy a car in Singapore in 2026 you are not really paying for the car, you are paying for the right to drive it. A Toyota Corolla Altis that costs roughly US$23,000 in its home market lists here for around $200,000, because four government charges sit on top of the actual vehicle: the Certificate of Entitlement, the Additional Registration Fee, excise duty and GST. In June 2026 a Category A COE alone closed near $123,847. This guide breaks down every cost, the MAS rules that cap how much you can borrow, and the exact steps to buy a new or used car without paying more than you have to.
The price on a dealer's brochure already bundles several taxes, so it helps to see what each layer is before you negotiate. The base value of the car itself is the Open Market Value (OMV), assessed by Singapore Customs from the price paid plus freight, insurance and handling. Everything else is policy designed to keep the car population in check.
Five things drive the final figure. The OMV is the floor. The Additional Registration Fee is a tiered tax charged on that OMV. Excise duty and GST are flat percentages. The Certificate of Entitlement is the open-market licence to own the car for ten years, and it is the single biggest and most volatile line. On top of all that sits the dealer's margin.
The ARF is the part most buyers underestimate. It is charged on the OMV in rising bands, so a more expensive car gets taxed disproportionately harder. The registration fee on top is a flat $350. You can sanity-check the whole stack against the car cost calculator before you visit a showroom.
Worked example for a car with an OMV of $30,000: ARF is $20,000 (first band at 100%) plus $14,000 (the next $10,000 at 140%), giving $34,000. Excise duty is 20% of $30,000, or $6,000. GST is 9% of ($30,000 + $6,000), or $3,240. Add the $350 registration fee and you have $43,590 in taxes before a single dollar of COE or dealer margin.
| Portion of OMV | ARF rate | Tax on a full band |
|---|---|---|
| First $20,000 | 100% | $20,000 |
| $20,001 to $40,000 | 140% | $28,000 |
| $40,001 to $60,000 | 190% | $38,000 |
| $60,001 to $80,000 | 250% | $50,000 |
| Above $80,000 | 320% | varies |
Pulling the layers together shows why even a modest sedan crosses six figures. The figures below use the $30,000 OMV worked above and a Category A COE close to the June 2026 second-bidding level of $123,847. Real listing prices also fold in the dealer margin and dealer-arranged COE, so treat this as the tax-and-licence skeleton, not the final invoice.
Notice that the COE is larger than the car and all its taxes combined. That is the design of the system, and it is why timing your purchase around COE cycles matters more than haggling over the trim.
| Component | Amount |
|---|---|
| Open Market Value (OMV) | $30,000 |
| Additional Registration Fee | $34,000 |
| Excise duty (20% of OMV) | $6,000 |
| GST (9% of OMV + excise) | $3,240 |
| Registration fee | $350 |
| Certificate of Entitlement (Cat A) | $123,847 |
| Subtotal before dealer margin | $197,437 |
You cannot finance the whole thing. The Monetary Authority of Singapore caps motor vehicle loans by the car's OMV, and no bank or finance company is allowed to exceed those limits. The cap is what forces the large upfront cash outlay that catches first-time buyers off guard.
If the OMV is $20,000 or below, you can borrow up to 70% of the purchase price, so you need at least 30% in cash. If the OMV is above $20,000, the cap drops to 60%, meaning a 40% cash downpayment. Maximum loan tenure is seven years, and for a used car the loan must end before the car turns ten. The downpayment must be genuine cash or cash equivalents, not topped up with a personal loan or credit card.
Your monthly repayment also feeds your Total Debt Servicing Ratio, which is capped at 55% of gross monthly income across all your debt. Car loan rates in 2026 typically start around 2.78% per year on a flat-rate basis for new cars, with used-car loans priced a little higher. A flat rate looks small but works out roughly double as an effective annual rate, so compare on total interest paid, not the headline number.
Buying new is the simpler route because the dealer handles COE bidding, registration and paperwork. The trade-off is that you usually accept the dealer's COE bid result, which can land high.
Confirm whether the quoted price guarantees the COE or only bids up to a cap. A non-guaranteed COE means you top up the difference if the premium clears above the dealer's bid, which can add thousands.
A used car skips most of the upfront tax shock because the previous owner already paid the COE and ARF. What you are really buying is the remaining COE life and the car's PARF rebate, which together form its paper value. A car with five years of COE left is worth far less than one with eight, even if they look identical.
Two terms decide the resale economics. A PARF car was deregistered before its tenth year and qualifies for an Additional Registration Fee rebate. A COE car has passed ten years and renewed its COE, so it has no PARF rebate left. The difference is worth real money, which is explained in our breakdown of PARF cars versus COE cars.
Before you commit, get an independent inspection from a centre such as STA or VICOM, check the logbook for accident history, and confirm the outstanding finance is cleared. Budget for the LTA ownership transfer fee of $25, and use the COE bidding guide to understand how the remaining COE was priced.
Owning the car is its own annual bill, and it is the part most people forget when they fixate on the COE. Road tax depends on engine size: a 1,600cc petrol car pays roughly $1,500 a year. Motor insurance for a typical sedan runs about $1,200 to $1,800, more for younger drivers.
Parking, fuel and ERP add up faster than expected. An HDB season parking label plus daytime parking can run $1,200 or more a year, fuel for an average commuter sits around $3,500 to $4,500, and maintenance adds $1,500 to $2,500. Realistically, budget $10,000 to $16,000 a year just to keep a mid-size car on the road. If those running costs make you hesitate, the same budget could anchor a much larger goal in our FIRE retirement calculator.
If you are weighing an electric model, the Budget 2026 changes matter: from 13 February 2026, newly registered cars get a smaller PARF rebate (down to a $30,000 cap), and the EV early-adoption incentives are tapering off. Read the full sums in our guide to what an electric car really costs in Singapore.
Even a basic new car now starts above $120,000 and a typical mid-size sedan crosses $190,000 to $200,000 once COE, ARF, excise duty, GST and the dealer margin are included. The COE alone was near $123,500 to $124,000 for cars in June 2026, which is why prices sit so far above the actual vehicle value.
It depends on the car's Open Market Value. If the OMV is $20,000 or below you can borrow up to 70% of the price, and if it is above $20,000 you can borrow up to 60%, under MAS rules. That means a cash downpayment of 30% to 40%, paid in genuine cash, with a maximum loan tenure of seven years.
A used car is usually cheaper upfront because the previous owner already absorbed the COE and ARF, so you are paying for the remaining COE life and PARF rebate rather than the full tax stack. New cars cost more but come with a fresh ten-year COE, full warranty and no hidden mechanical history to inspect.
OMV is the customs-assessed base value of the car. ARF is a tax charged on that OMV in bands from 100% to 320%. COE is the separately bid licence that lets you own and use the car on the road for ten years. OMV and ARF are fixed by the car's value, while the COE price moves with every bidding round.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.