A car in Singapore is one of the most expensive things you will buy that loses value the moment you drive it. The sticker price is large because of taxes and a permit, not the metal: a Certificate of Entitlement (COE) for a mainstream car closed at $123,847 in the June 2026 bidding, on top of registration tax that can exceed the car's import value. Then the running costs start. Add insurance, petrol, parking, road tax, ERP and servicing, and a typical mass-market car costs roughly $1,800 to $2,500 a month all-in once you fold in depreciation over a 10-year COE. This guide breaks down where every dollar goes, with the verified 2026 figures, and a worked monthly example so you can decide whether the number makes sense for you.
Owning a car in Singapore has two cost layers. The first is the upfront cost of getting the car on the road, which is dominated by the COE and government taxes rather than the car itself. The second is the running cost you pay every month for as long as you keep it.
For a typical new mass-market car bought in 2026, the on-the-road price is often in the region of $180,000 to $230,000, of which more than half is COE and tax. Spread over the car's 10-year COE life, the largest single cost is depreciation: the gap between what you paid and what you get back when you sell or scrap it.
All-in, expect a typical new car to cost somewhere between $1,800 and $2,500 a month once depreciation, road tax, insurance, petrol, parking, ERP and servicing are counted. A second-hand car cuts the depreciation portion but inherits a shorter remaining COE. The exact figure swings with the car you pick, how far you drive, and where you park.
Most of what you pay for a new car in Singapore is not the car. It is a stack of taxes and a permit layered on top of the import value. To see where the money goes, you need four numbers: the OMV, the COE, the ARF, and the smaller fixed fees.
Start with the Open Market Value (OMV). This is the price Singapore Customs assesses for the car based on its cost, insurance and freight to get it here. A mass-market sedan might have an OMV of around $25,000 to $40,000. Everything else is built on this base.
| Component | How it is calculated |
|---|---|
| OMV | Assessed by Singapore Customs (cost, insurance, freight) |
| Registration fee (RF) | $350 flat |
| Excise duty | 20% of OMV |
| GST | 9% of (OMV + excise duty) |
| ARF | Tiered 100% to 320% of OMV |
| COE | Set by bidding (Cat A $123,847 in Jun 2026) |
Before you can register a car, you need a COE, a permit that lets you own a vehicle for 10 years. The number of COEs is capped, so the price is set by a twice-monthly bidding war. In the June 2026 second bidding exercise, Category A (cars up to 1,600cc and 110kW) closed at $123,847, and Category B (larger or more powerful cars) at $123,502. Category E, the open category, closed at $129,002.
The COE alone often costs more than the car it sits in. It is also the single biggest reason cars here cost several times what they do overseas. COE prices move with each bidding round, so check the latest LTA result before you budget.
Bidding runs twice a month, usually from the first and third Monday, over three working days. A dealer almost always bids for you and bakes the result into the car's price, but you can bid yourself if you buy a used car or want to control the price you pay. You submit a bid deposit of $10,000 for a car category, enter a reserve price (the most you will pay, minimum $1), and the system nudges your live bid up in $1 steps until it either secures a COE or hits your ceiling. Win and the deposit goes toward the COE; lose and it is refunded.
The ARF is the main registration tax, charged as a percentage of the OMV on a rising scale. For cars with a COE obtained from February 2023, the rate climbs from 100% on the first $20,000 of OMV to 320% on the portion above $80,000. A pricier car gets taxed harder on its upper slice, which is the point of the tiers.
Worked example for a car with an OMV of $40,000: you pay 100% on the first $20,000 ($20,000) plus 140% on the next $20,000 ($28,000), for an ARF of $48,000. That is before COE and before the smaller fees.
On top of the ARF sit three more charges. A flat registration fee (RF) of $350 applies to every car. Excise duty is 20% of the OMV. GST is 9%, charged on the OMV plus the excise duty. These are smaller than the COE and ARF but still add several thousand dollars.
The headline taxes can be reduced or increased by the emissions scheme, and EVs get an extra rebate. Two schemes matter in 2026.
The Vehicular Emissions Scheme (VES) was revised from 1 January 2026 and now rewards only the cleanest cars. A car in the top band gets up to $22,500 off the ARF, while pollutive cars carry surcharges: $7,500 for Band C1, $22,500 for Band C2, and $35,000 for Band C3. Hybrids no longer get a rebate from 2026. These surcharges and the C-band penalties step up again in 2027.
Electric cars get a further rebate through the EV Early Adoption Incentive (EEAI): 45% off the ARF, capped at $7,500, running until 31 December 2026. Combined with the VES rebate, an EV registered in 2026 can take up to $30,000 off its ARF, with an ARF floor of $0. That narrows the upfront gap with petrol cars, though it does not erase the COE, which an EV still has to pay.
Depreciation is the biggest cost of owning a car here, and it never shows up as a monthly invoice. It is the difference between what you paid and what you get back when you deregister or sell the car.
When you scrap or export a car before its COE expires, you get a PARF rebate (part of the ARF back) plus any leftover COE value. The PARF rebate schedule was cut sharply for cars registered on or after 13 February 2026: it now returns 30% of the ARF capped at $30,000 for a car deregistered within 5 years, falling to 5% by year 10. Cars registered between 15 February 2023 and 12 February 2026 still follow the older, more generous schedule of 75% capped at $60,000. The newer, smaller rebate raises real depreciation for cars bought from 2026.
A rough way to think about it: take the on-the-road price, subtract the rebate you would expect to receive at the end, and divide by the years you will keep the car. For a $200,000 car with, say, a $40,000 rebate at year 10, that is $160,000 over 10 years, or $16,000 a year, around $1,333 a month before anything else. This is why depreciation, not petrol, decides whether a car is affordable.
| Age at deregistration | PARF rebate |
|---|---|
| Up to 5 years | 30% of ARF (max $30,000) |
| 5 to 6 years | 25% of ARF (max $30,000) |
| 6 to 7 years | 20% of ARF (max $30,000) |
| 7 to 8 years | 15% of ARF (max $30,000) |
| 8 to 9 years | 10% of ARF (max $30,000) |
| 9 to 10 years | 5% of ARF (max $30,000) |
| More than 10 years | Nil |
At the 10-year mark you face a fork. You can let the COE expire and scrap or export the car, or you can pay to keep it on the road. The decision is its own cost, so it belongs in any honest budget.
Renewing means paying the Prevailing Quota Premium (PQP), a moving average of COE prices over the past three months. Pay the full PQP for another 10 years, or half the PQP for 5 years. The 5-year option can only be taken once, after which the car must be deregistered. There is a catch most first-time owners miss: once you renew, the car is past 10 years old, so it no longer qualifies for any PARF rebate when you finally scrap it. You have already had the rebate baked into your original depreciation; renewal buys time, not money back.
Renewal also revives the running costs of an old car. Road tax carries a surcharge for cars older than 10 years, climbing each year up to 50% extra. Insurance and repairs tend to rise too. Renewing makes sense when the PQP is low relative to a fresh COE and the car is still sound; scrapping makes sense when the PQP is high or the car is tired. We cover the exit options in detail in our guides to scrapping a car and the PARF rebate and selling a car in Singapore.
| Vehicle age | Surcharge on road tax |
|---|---|
| Up to 10 years | None |
| More than 10 years | 10% |
| More than 11 years | 20% |
| More than 12 years | 30% |
| More than 13 years | 40% |
| More than 14 years | 50% |
Once the car is yours, the meter never stops. These are the recurring costs, roughly in order of size for a typical driver.
Pump prices in mid-2026 are around $3.46 a litre for 95-octane and close to $3.97 for 98, before the credit-card and loyalty discounts most drivers get, which can knock 18% to 21% off. A typical car driven 15,000 to 18,000 km a year burns roughly $3,500 to $5,000 in fuel, more if you drive a thirsty engine or sit in a lot of traffic. EV owners pay for electricity instead, which is cheaper per kilometre but offset by a higher road tax structure.
Motor insurance is compulsory and renews yearly. An experienced driver with a clean record and no-claim discount typically pays $700 to $1,150 a year. Drivers under about 27, or with little driving history, often pay $2,500 or more for the same car. Your premium also climbs with the value of the car and falls with each claim-free year. The no-claim discount stacks each year you stay claim-free, up to about 50% off, so a careful driver pays a fraction of a new driver's rate. Shop the renewal rather than auto-renewing; our car insurance comparison shows how much the same cover varies between insurers.
Road tax is the recurring licence fee, set by engine capacity for petrol cars and by motor power for EVs. A 1,600cc petrol car pays about $743 a year. It rises with a surcharge once a car passes 10 years old. See our guide to road tax in Singapore for the full bands and the EV calculation.
Parking is two costs: where you keep the car and where you go. HDB season parking for a first car runs about $80 a month for a surface lot and $90 to $110 for a multi-storey lot, with GST and a central-area premium on top. Add short-term parking at malls and offices, which can easily total another $50 to $150 a month.
ERP charges you for using priced roads at busy times. Under ERP 2.0, charges for cars range from $0.50 to $6.00 per charge point, and a March 2026 review raised several expressway rates by about $1. A daily commuter through the city can rack up $50 to $150 a month in ERP alone, while someone who avoids peak roads pays almost nothing.
Routine servicing, tyres, brakes and the occasional repair come to roughly $1,000 to $2,500 a year for a typical car, rising as the car ages and the warranty runs out. Budget on the higher side once the car passes its fifth year.
Here is a realistic all-in monthly figure for a new mass-market petrol car bought in 2026 and kept for the full 10-year COE, driven about 15,000 km a year. Treat it as an illustration: your insurance, parking and ERP will differ.
The total lands around $2,100 a month, with depreciation alone making up well over half. That is the number worth sitting with before you commit, because it is what leaves your account whether or not you drive much.
| Cost | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Depreciation | ~$1,250 | ~$15,000 |
| Petrol | ~$350 | ~$4,200 |
| Insurance | ~$120 | ~$1,440 |
| Road tax | ~$62 | ~$743 |
| Parking (season + ad hoc) | ~$180 | ~$2,160 |
| ERP | ~$60 | ~$720 |
| Maintenance | ~$130 | ~$1,560 |
| Total | ~$2,150 | ~$25,800 |
If you take a car loan, interest is an extra cost on top of the table above. In Singapore the maximum loan is 60% or 70% of the purchase price depending on the OMV, over a maximum 7 years, and rates are quoted on a flat basis that works out higher than they look. A loan does not reduce the cost of the car; it spreads it and adds interest. Run the numbers through your personal budget before signing.
The monthly figure is useful, but the total over a full COE is what really tests affordability. Stretch the worked example across 10 years and add the interest on a typical loan, and a new mass-market car runs to roughly a quarter of a million dollars before you sell a thing. The table below is the same car as the monthly breakdown, rolled out to its full life with financing folded in.
Two things stand out. The car itself, after the PARF rebate you get back at the end, is less than the running costs and interest combined over the decade. And the loan adds tens of thousands purely in interest. Try your own car and loan in our car cost calculator before you decide the number is liveable.
| Cost | 10-year total |
|---|---|
| Depreciation (price minus end rebate) | ~$150,000 |
| Loan interest | ~$18,000 |
| Petrol | ~$42,000 |
| Insurance | ~$14,400 |
| Road tax | ~$7,430 |
| Parking (season + ad hoc) | ~$21,600 |
| ERP | ~$7,200 |
| Maintenance | ~$15,600 |
| Total over 10 years | ~$276,000 |
The cheapest way to cut the biggest cost, depreciation, is to let someone else take the early hit. A car loses the most value in its first few years, so a 3- to 5-year-old car with COE left can cost far less per year to own, even though its remaining COE is shorter. The trade-off is older mechanicals, a smaller PARF rebate at the end, and usually a larger cash outlay because loan limits are tighter on used cars.
Neither is wrong. A used car wins on pure cost per year; a new car wins on warranty, a full 10-year run and predictable upkeep. Match the choice to how long you plan to keep it and how much risk on repairs you can stomach. If outright price is the deciding factor, our roundup of the cheapest new cars in Singapore is a useful starting point.
| Factor | New car | Used car (COE left) |
|---|---|---|
| Early depreciation | You absorb the steepest drop | Previous owner absorbed it |
| Cost per year of ownership | Higher | Usually lower |
| Remaining COE | Full 10 years | Whatever is left |
| PARF rebate at the end | Larger | Smaller or none if past 10 years |
| Maintenance and reliability | Warranty cover, predictable | Higher risk as it ages |
| Loan limit | Up to 60-70% of price | Often lower, more cash needed |
The honest comparison is against the alternatives, not against a cheaper car. A monthly EZ-Link or SimplyGo spend on buses and trains is often under $150 for heavy use. Even adding regular taxis, ride-hailing and the occasional car rental, most people who do not own a car spend a few hundred dollars a month on transport, against $2,000-plus for a car.
The gap is the price of convenience: door-to-door travel, no waiting, boot space, and freedom on weekends. For some that is worth it. For others, the $1,800 to $2,500 a month is better invested. Putting even $1,500 a month into a low-cost fund instead of a car compounds into a large sum over a 10-year COE period.
A car makes more financial sense if you genuinely need it: young kids, irregular hours, a job that requires it, or living far from an MRT line. It makes less sense as a status purchase you stretch to afford. Be clear which one you are doing before you bid for a COE.
You cannot avoid the COE, but you can shape the rest of the bill.
For a new mass-market petrol car kept for its full 10-year COE, expect roughly $1,800 to $2,500 a month all-in. Depreciation is usually the largest piece, followed by petrol, parking, insurance, ERP, servicing and road tax. The exact figure depends on the car, your mileage and where you park.
Most of the price is tax and a permit, not the car. You pay a Certificate of Entitlement (COE) that closed at $123,847 for Category A in June 2026, plus an Additional Registration Fee of 100% to 320% of the car's import value, excise duty of 20%, and 9% GST. Together these can more than double the car's underlying value.
OMV is the import value Singapore Customs assesses for the car. ARF is a registration tax charged as a tiered percentage of the OMV. COE is a separate permit, set by bidding, that lets you own the car for 10 years. The OMV is the base; the ARF and COE are the big taxes built on and beside it.
EVs have lower fuel and servicing costs, and in 2026 get up to $30,000 off the ARF through the EEAI and VES rebates. But they still pay the same COE, carry a road tax based on motor power plus a flat component, and often have a higher OMV. Run both through your own numbers rather than assuming the EV always wins.
Depreciation is the on-the-road price minus the rebate you get back at the end, divided over the years you keep the car. For a $200,000 car kept 10 years it can run around $15,000 to $16,000 a year. Cars registered from 13 February 2026 get a smaller PARF rebate (30% capped at $30,000), which raises real depreciation.
An experienced driver with a clean record typically pays $700 to $1,150 a year. Drivers under about 27, or with little driving history, often pay $2,500 or more. Your premium rises with the car's value and falls with each claim-free year through the no-claim discount.
Used cars or cars with a few years left on the COE cost less to own because the previous owner absorbed the steepest early depreciation. The trade-off is a shorter remaining COE and potentially higher maintenance. For pure cost, used usually wins; for a full 10 years of ownership, a new car can make sense.
Renewing means paying the Prevailing Quota Premium (PQP), which is the average of recent COE prices, for another 10 years, or half the PQP for a one-time 5-year extension. Renewal makes sense when the PQP is low and the car is still in good shape. The catch is that a renewed car is past 10 years old, so it no longer earns any PARF rebate when you finally scrap it, and it pays a road tax surcharge that rises with age.
Yes. Bidding runs twice a month over three working days, and you can submit a bid as an individual using your NRIC or FIN. You place a $10,000 deposit and set a reserve price (minimum $1), and the system raises your live bid in $1 steps until it wins or hits your ceiling. Most new-car buyers let the dealer bid and price it in, but self-bidding gives you control if you are buying used.
There is no legal minimum, but the maths is unforgiving. With an all-in cost of roughly $1,800 to $2,500 a month, most budgeting rules suggest your transport spend should stay within about 15% of take-home pay, which points to a monthly income comfortably into five figures before a car stops crowding out savings. Run your own numbers in a budget before committing, not after.
For a new mass-market car kept the full COE, expect a total in the region of $250,000 to $280,000 once depreciation, loan interest, petrol, insurance, road tax, parking, ERP and servicing are added up. Depreciation alone is more than half of that. A used car or one driven lightly lands lower; a thirsty car driven hard in the city lands higher.
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.