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NEW CAR COE
COE is the permit you need to buy any personal vehicle in Singapore. In other words, you have to buy a COE before you buy a car.
No one knows what the future COE will be, because its based on a public (electronic) auction system. So it depends on demand and supply. If more people want to buy cars, they will want the COE more badly.....and therefore, they will bid higher prices for COE....and therefore, COE prices will go up. Its just like the auctions you see on TV, where one says S$1, the next says S$3, the next says $10.....and this goes on and on until there is only one winner left standing.
There are a few types of COEs:
Category A - for cars below 1600 cc.
Category B - for cars above 1600 cc.
Category C - for buses and goods/cargo vehicles (company-owned).
Category D - for motorbikes and scooters.
Category E - open category, for any of the above (like a "wild" or "joker" card).
All COEs for new cars are for 10 years....and its attached to the car (not attached to the person). So if you sell your car, you sell the COE together with the car.
It can be very tricky.....as shown in the example below (you don't really have to know this, but is for your info only, if you're not too confused yet):
- Lets say that Cat A COE happens to be $10,000 now.
- Lets say that Cat B COE happens to be $14,000 now.
Lets say you buy a 1000 cc car using Cat A COE. You will pay $10,000 for a $10,000 COE.
But lets say you buy a 1000 cc car using Cat E COE. You will pay $14,000 for a $10,000 COE. Immediately, you lose $4,000!
More information can be found here:
http://www.onemotoring.com.sg/publish/onemotoring/en/topwebwide/faqs/faqs1.html#MainPar_0002
USED CAR COE
After 10 years, the COE (and car) should be de-registered (scrapped). This means either you bring it to the scrapyard, or export it. Usually, a car dealer will do all this (we have to pay them a bit for their work), so we don't have to know the procedures.
If you wish to keep the car after 10 years, you have to apply for COE again. The price of the COE is explained at the bottom of this same webpage:
http://www.onemotoring.com.sg/publish/onemotoring/en/topwebwide/faqs/faqs1.html#MainPar_0076
(Yes, yes, I know.....its very very confusing. I'm often confused too. Very mah huan.).
PARF
Preferential Additional Registration Fee. Again very confusing terms....I can't understand why the authorities can't use simpler words. In the market, this simply means the value left in the car.
You see, every car has a value. The value drops as a car grows older. The PARF is simply the amount of money you can get back, if you sell your car.
There is a chart showing/explaining how PARF value of cars are calculated:
http://www.sgcarmart.com/articles/parf_rebate.php
OMV
OMV (Open Market Value) is another important term. It is a value for each individual car, decided by the government.....and no one knows for sure how it is calculated. When each NEW car is registered/bought, the government will let you know its OMV. Note: two same cars can have different OMVs (as I said, no one knows how it is calculated). You can see the latest OMV values here:
http://www.onemotoring.com.sg/publish/onemotoring/en/motoring/information/left/buy_a_new_vehicle0/car_cost.MainPar.0019.File.tmp/Car_Cost_2004.PDF
SCRAP VALUE
This is simply the money you will get back if you de-register your vehicle. To de-register means you either export the car, or bring it to the metal scrapyard to be torn up for parts. In other words, it doesn't exist as a Singaporean car anymore.
Scrap Value is: Remaining COE + PARF value
Remaining COE: If you buy a 10-year COE for $10,000, after 1 year, you can get back $9,000, after 2 years you can get back $8,000.....after 9 years you can get back $1,000, after 10 years you can get back $0. In other words, the COE value is cut by 10% each year......and when its 10 years, it is $0.
PARF Value: Already explained above.
