The most obvious factor, of course, is your budget for your next car – be it new or used; your first set of wheels or a replacement for an existing/COE-ending ride; your own or shared.
For the average car buyer, the downpayment (30 percent of the purchase price if the car’s OMV is $20,000 or less; 40 percent if the car’s OMV is above $20,000) would cost an arm and a leg – just an arm if the buyer in question has a car he can trade in or sell.
Thereafter, the monthly repayments (84 in total for the maximum seven-year tenure allowed) would cost a hand and a foot – less painful than the downpayment, but still a drag on a motorist’s finances.
And don’t forget about the other recurring costs – car insurance, road tax, refuelling, repair/maintenance, parking and ERP. These expenses add up in the long run.
No matter how you massage your motoring budget or stretch the proverbial shoestring, buying/using a car will definitely cost much more than relying on some combination of private-hire car, taxi, train and bus.
So, to make the most of your big-ticket item, you probably need to prioritise when getting it.
For example, if interior space and day-to-day practicality are important to you, a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV), sports utility vehicle (SUV) or station wagon should be parked higher on your shopping list than their equivalent saloons or hatchbacks.
MPVs, SUVs and wagons are designed to be roomier and more versatile, while remaining easy to drive/park/manoeuvre.
These days, all but the most basic mass-market cars are well-equipped with the essentials and then some. The trick is to differentiate between needs, wants and frills.
For instance, do you really need cruise control if your commute is short and mainly on minor roads? And do you really require a machine with more horsepower than usual if you never hurry to anywhere or seldom carry more than one passenger? And how much more informative/entertaining can a fancy infotainment system be if you’re already distracted by gadgets and you just listen to the radio?
Even the simple stuff should be thought through more carefully. For example, having an electrically adjusted driver’s seat is pointless if it doesn’t come with memory settings. And paddle shifters are only fun for a while before they’re left untouched most of the time. And upsized wheels thrown in by the dealer look great, but affect the ride comfort and require larger, costlier tyres in due course.
And different driving modes become pretty useless when the default driving mode for the vast majority of motorists in Singapore is “indifference”.
For the minority who care about the environment, they can consider eco-friendly cars such as petrol-electric hybrids and opt for fuel-saving features such as auto stop/start. Engines tend to be more efficient when they have turbocharging, a capacity of under 1600cc and numerous gears in their gearbox (seven, eight or even nine).
Happy shopping for your next car.
Singletons on Singles’ Day can consider the Mazda 2, a supermini for the swinging single.
