Monday, January 25, 2016

Reduce cost of car ownership in Singapore


Car is an expensive item to buy and maintain but if you think you have to buy one in Singapore, consider the below tips to reduce your purchasing and maintenance cost.

Use HDB parking - There are plenty of housing areas around the island and there are usually enough number of available parking lots in HDB car parks. If you are traveling a lot for work, familiarizing yourself with nearest HDB parking lots will save you a lot of money. HDB carparks are free in the weekends and it costs only 10 Dollars for an all-day parking ticket.

Buy a pre-owned car - An affordable pre-owned car will be usually cheaper to buy. 10-year ownership of a new car in Singapore will have much higher monthly car loan payments. This is because a new car will be more expensive than a used car.

Pay your car loan faster - Singapore car loan rates is around 2.78% at the moment and early payment will provide better savings in the long run. This is because accumulated interest rate of car loans will be much higher for a longer loan repayment period.

Buy a fuel-efficient car - A Renault Kadjar uses only 3.9 litres per 100 km which amounts to 826 SGD per year compared to a more "normal car"which can use 2,683 SGD (assuming 20K kilometers per year usage).

Know your car - Using your car to the book and maintaining it in optimum conditions (regular engine oil checks, gentle driving habits, right tire pressure, keeping your car lightweight) will save you tonnes of money in the long run.

You do not need to drive every day - This seems financially obvious but when you have car, you can think of maximizing its usage by trying to use it everyday. This may be costly. For example a family trip to a nearby mall can be faster, cheaper and more comfortable with a taxi in a weekend than driving.

    

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