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Due to some circumstances I might need to go and stay for work in Singapore. What is the cheapest way to have a reasonable car in Singapore for 6 months to a year? I love the MRT in Singapore, but I need to have a car due to my long commute.

My commute will be around 30 minutes by car, and the reason for the car is that the work is in the high traffic/industrial area; and some taxis won't take me there! Unless I call them. Let's say I have a budget of 5000$ a year, can I own a car, and pay monthly payments; and then sell the car when Im dont working?

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    If you don’t want to buy or rent one long-term, you could consider Car Club carclub.com.sg
    – Traveller
    Commented Aug 2, 2019 at 7:23
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    Describe long commute - your question is not answerable if you're not specific.
    – user6860
    Commented Aug 4, 2019 at 8:30
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    Worthy of note is that Singapore is the single most expensive place in the world to own a car
    – Scott Earle ♦
    Commented Aug 5, 2019 at 4:08
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    And I can't believe that $5k/year is anywhere near enough.
    – Mawg
    Commented Aug 5, 2019 at 8:32
  • Could you cart pool with someone from work?
    – Mawg
    Commented Aug 5, 2019 at 8:34

2 Answers 2

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Taxis are plentiful in Singapore. For S$20 you can get a ride half way across the country (literally).

Unless you are planning on commuting to home and back for every lunch and coffee break, taking taxis would be far cheaper than operating your own vehicle.

And you'll save time getting dropped off at your destination rather than searching for a parking space.

The parking itself will probably cost more than what a taxi would have charged for the ride. Depending upon location parking can be two to four dollars an hour.

Unless you need to drive around a lot more than most people do, the main reason for a car in Singapore is status.

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  • You do not know (yet) how long the OP's commute distance is, so this answer may not apply (Unless you give a distance up to which distance your advice applies).
    – user6860
    Commented Aug 4, 2019 at 8:31
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    @JanDoggen, Singapore isn't a huge place. One can drive from the far east end (Changi Airport) to the far west (Tuas Checkpoint) in 37 minutes according to Google Maps. I can't imagine that the OP lives and works so far apart.
    – Ray Butterworth
    Commented Aug 4, 2019 at 13:42
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    When I was in Singapore visiting friends, no-one owned a car and they all said taxis were the most common and easiest way to commute, for pretty much the reasons given in this answer.
    – Traveller
    Commented Aug 4, 2019 at 18:24
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    When I lived there for 9 years I would not have considered a car. Taxis are cheap and plentiful, and buses & MRT are frequent, clean & air-conditioned (good luck getting a seat on the MT, though :-)
    – Mawg
    Commented Aug 5, 2019 at 8:34
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There are no cheap cars in Singapore. A bog-standard Toyota Corolla will set you back on the order of $100,000, or $10k/year if amortized out over the 10-year span of the required Certificate of Entitlement (COE), and that's before registration, insurance, petrol, road tolls, etc. More detail:

https://www.valuechampion.sg/costs-car-ownership-singapore

That said, if you only need the car for 6-12 months, you might be able to find a comparatively cheap used car with a COE expiring soon... but even then a yearly budget of $5000 is unlikely to cut it. Public transport or even taxis/Grab will be cheaper.

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