We owned a Chevrolet Aveo 1.4 previously.
Now we are driving a Toyota Altis 1.6.
I drove for 5 years out of the remaining 6 years. On the last year, the engine started leaking and I sold it to the workshop for deregistering value. I probably got a bad deal from that. But I wasn't going to repair the car considering only 1 year left and I didn't have much car knowledge previously and all that. The car was in the workshop and I was like. Ok fine, just get it off my hands.
I never really tracked how much the depreciation cost was when I had the Chevrolet.
What I remember was I bought it at SGD28k
Interest was computed as 3% x 6 years = 18%
Total loan was something like SGD33k
OMV was around SGD9k, when I scrapped it I got back 55% (SGD4.95k)
I got back some COE worth 1 year. Forgot the amount. Estimated SGD2k
Had gotten a prepayment charge for repaying the loan 1 year early. Around SGD300.
I repaired the car multiple times in the 5 years of driving, I estimate SGD5k total.
So the car itself costed me something like SGD31k (33-5-2+5), not including the running costs.
That's pretty much what I remember
As for my Toyota Altis.
This time I tracked it a lot closely.
Bought at SGD37,500 with 58 months remaining.
It is a COE car without any scrap value.
Car monthly depreciation is SGD646.
Petrol I get around 400km per 30L of Shell 95 petrol. (More about petrol savings)
Current approx cost after discount is SGD42 per 30L. (after rebates and cashback and all that)
4 top ups per month = SGD168
Insurance is SGD500 per ann. I know someone giving me a preferential rate on this.
Monthly is SGD42
Road tax is SGDSGD854 per year for a 10 year old car, 50% more expensive than normal.
This equates to SGD71 per mth.
Parking at HDB multi storey carpark is now SGD160 per mth.
Cashcard usage is approx SGD100 per month.
So monthly my expense for this vehicle is something like SGD1,187 (646+168+42+71+160+100)
I'll provide SGD100 per mth as "provisions for potential repairs"
So we're talking something like SGD1,287 per month.
Pretty steep for someone looking for early retirement.
At the end of 58 months, this would be SGD74,646. This is a ridiculous amount!!
The vehicle is registered under my wife's name cos she gets a vehicle allowance cos she now works in a god forsaken area of Singapore. So I can't use it to drive Uber. Find out what I feel about Uber.
The alternative if I don't drive is for my wife to take taxi or Uber.
This is estimated to be SGD20 per trip or SGD40 back and forth. Assuming no surge pricing.
This would cost SGD800 per month.
If I estimate one surge trip then the cost could be SGD50 per day, resulting in SGD1000 per month.
Still cheaper than buying the car.
Furthermore, if she changed jobs, she could just stop taking Uber.
Whereas now, we would still have to handle the vehicle if she changed job.
The few plus points about having a vehicle is
1) We go out more often on weekends. We used to be lazy to leave the house. Now we find places to go. I find this relatively ok cos she is still working so weekends tend to be more precious. If both of us are not working then we can't afford to look for entertainment everyday.
2) We get to bring our parents out for meals. It's really nice to bring our parents out for meals on weekends. They appreciate it as well. If you have a chance, please try to bring them out cos they will appreciate it.
I tend not to use the vehicle for my own purposes cos the rationale of getting the vehicle is due to her work. So I try not to use it for my own transport when I meet my friends and stuff. Potentially, I feel this helps keep the running costs lower. So I still take MRT or bus, unless the place where I meet my friends are at inaccessible areas.
So moral of the story, DON'T BUY A VEHICLE UNNECESSARILY!!!
If you want to have the experience of having a vehicle, then get a vehicle with low COE remaining.
Like maybe 3 months or 6 months or 1 year. Just for the fun of it.
So you will be able to limit your expenses to just a couple of months.
Even if you get a BMW or Mercedes, depreciation at SGD1200 per month.
You can have the experience of owning a luxury vehicle for 3-6 months.
This may only cost you SGD12k? Not too bad for a fun experience.
You can say, "I once owned a BMW."
Just don't get used to it.
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