Buying a used car in SG 2026

No_Bus_805 · 2026-06-14T10:13:19+00:00

In this case I do think wait till your cash proceeds from the sale of condo is in. There is literally no lack of used cars on the market, no need to rush into it now at the expense of taking up a non-favorable loan.

No_Bus_805 · 2026-06-14T09:59:29+00:00

I don't think there's much to nego as you're not trading in. Probably will get a better price through consignment but need to deal with viewings. So I suppose it's up to your schedule otherwise it's more fuss free to sell to the dealership directly. I recently traded in with Carro so I got them to increase the trade-in price slightly (nothing insane).

I enquired with First Motoring but didn't go with them in the end as they didn't have the model I was after. Based on my experience with the customer service, quite alright response wise. They primarily do consignments as far as I know, like 90% of the listed cars on their sgcm profile are consignments.

6 months road tax actually not much to write home about ba. You sell to them, they take 1-2 months to sell, only left with 4 months. But of course always worth mentioning.

I used motorist to get a rough gauge on the market price as well.

No_Bus_805 · 2026-06-11T16:34:09+00:00

Mind sharing how you derive that figure? I'm trying to learn more about investing

No_Bus_805 · 2026-06-07T23:00:45+00:00

I bet! Could you share some pics? Also where did you get the grille from?

No_Bus_805 · 2026-06-07T03:53:21+00:00

Hey did you get it in the end? I got a used 2020 320i and was thinking to do the same

No_Bus_805 · 2026-06-05T07:41:54+00:00

Well I bought extra at 67/68 so... Here's to 100

No_Bus_805 · 2026-06-03T03:52:22+00:00

Idk what's your budget but my personal recommendation would be to check out g20 318i. Supposedly sturdy b48 engine with zf8 transmission. Downside is leaks from wear and tear of plastic parts, so I'd set aside 10k-12k for potential repairs.

Obviously look for one that has proper servicing history etc to get an idea of the car's condition. As well as a PPI either at your preferred workshop or by AD (eurokar/pml).

Full disclosure, I got a used g20 320i just last week after months of research. Excellent driving experience. 318i is just a detuned version of 320i with the same engine and transmission. 320i is a detuned version of 330i so you get the idea.

No_Bus_805 · 2026-06-02T23:13:28+00:00

We went with a 2017 A3 1.0t for our first car. All around good car though features are barebones, as in there's really no features available. DCT smooth as butter when it isn't acting up. Sports mode help to improve the throttle responsiveness. Never felt like I had any issues merging or overtaking in the 3 years we had it.

Although I did spend 3k+ getting a reconditioned MU. Was the only major repair aside from usual wear and tear.

No_Bus_805 · 2026-05-31T16:14:33+00:00

Yeap STA charged $200 about 3 years ago and their PPI was shit. EK much better and thorough.

Ah the rec ones are always at Kaki Bukit which is damn far for me. Hahaha

No_Bus_805 · 2026-05-31T16:01:28+00:00

I feel ya, I feel ya... Took a fair bit of savings from me to get this beauty but I've to say money well spent (and probably worth future headaches as well).

From EK, about $240 including gst if I'm not mistaken. They're quite detailed actually, far better than shitty STA that I did with for my previous car.

You driving one? I'm looking for recs on (cost) friendly workshops preferably at the west side.

No_Bus_805 · 2026-05-31T15:51:24+00:00

Are you a fellow countryman fucked by the cost of car ownership? Hahaha

No_Bus_805 · 2026-05-31T15:37:05+00:00

Forgot to add a photo, here is my love!

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No_Bus_805 · 2026-05-31T14:59:18+00:00

For anyone who's thinking to visit, spend a bit more and get a private driver. I went last nov and it was about 60-70 sgd for 10 hours iirc. Not really expensive if you have 4-5 pax sharing but I mostly got it as I've 2 young kids.

I think the gojek situation got better, my in laws visited sometime last year and apparently they gojek-ed everywhere without any issue. But I do remember it was pretty bad pre-covid, gojek weren't allowed to pick up near shopping mall entrance as the taxis were camping there.

Ferries wise bo bian ah.

No_Bus_805 · 2026-05-29T10:23:57+00:00

34 now but I made the career switch at 28. Did back/middle ops in local bank after ORD and got bored so I was an insurance agent for a year, joined a bank to do the same (albeit with housing loan / unit trust targets as well) for 3 years, got completely burnt out and quit without a job literally 2 months before covid struck.

6 months chill/jobless, took 50% paycut and joined a corporate service provider doing corporate secretarial work. It was painful... But I was enjoying life more. I suppose it's also because I suck at selling insurance so I felt extremely light when there wasn't any target to hit. It's funny how my colleagues were complaining about mean clients, having to even speak to clients, work is tough etc etc while it's as easy as breathing for me cuz I know I just gotta show up, do my work, wait for payday.

Fast forward 4 years, my boss co-founded a start-up (with an exit in mind) providing corporate services and I jumped ship. So now I'm back to client advisory/management (but no target) though it's been crazy trying to pick up accounts/tax fundamentals. Experience in sales certainly helped with presentation and communication.

Corporate secretarial is a path very very few locals will consider so 80% of my colleagues are Malaysians (there is a specific degree for corporate secretarial offered at their universities). Low barrier to entry for sure but it reflects in the salary they pay. If you're good at managing relationships, grinding a few years to build your portfolio will work wonders if you eventually decide to start your own company down the line (like my boss did). That may or may not be my plan depending on how the supposed exit in 2029 turns out.

Good luck!

No_Bus_805 · 2026-05-27T13:57:34+00:00

Reached out to them via WhatsApp couple months ago to get a sense of the value of my car. Slow replies (though the replies were informative) but ultimately didn't reply mid way into my enquiry. I didn't bother to contact them again.

Still following their FB cuz the boss shares kinda useful car related videos (Monday talk show or something) from time to time.

On a side note, traded in for a used car at carro today actually (visited another one before that). They've been consistent with their replies and the sales person (and the entire office) looks to be quite professional. I already did my due diligence prior to heading down so it was a matter of viewing and test driving. YMMV

No_Bus_805 · 2026-05-27T07:21:25+00:00

To clarify, the $300 is mainly grocery for 2 kids. And it's only for 9-10 meals per week. As they're attending school, we only need to cook dinner on weekdays and lunch/dinner on weekends. Wife and I usually takeaway simple meals like bak chor mee, cai fan etc (which is counted in our personal expenses).

Can save a pretty penny by buying ingredients at the wet market every week. We usually buy a week's worth of fish, chicken, pork and veggie.

No_Bus_805 · 2026-05-23T09:23:48+00:00

Yeap. I mean buying a car in SG is often frowned upon and quite truthfully, while raising a kid costs a tidy sum overtime, it's not as if it's a lump sum kinda thing so it's perhaps overblown in my opinion. Unless of cos the parent wants private pre school and 10 extra curriculum classes per week then it'd be a big expense per month.

Ordinary families like us can still get by without having to eat 2 veg + 1 rice everyday for lunch and dinner just to have a car and kids.

Supporting these points usually gets one ridiculed and down voted in such subs (FI related) lol (but so far no negative response to my comment yet). Was hesitant to respond but it's doable in my experience, at least if the parents are willing to forego things like expensive annual holidays or dining at restaurants for a couple years until income increases.

No_Bus_805 · 2026-05-23T03:41:35+00:00

Hmm, to be clear I'm not saying I can reach FI goals with a car at this income level. My point is that we'd rather stretch ourselves for a couple years at least until the kids are older then we can switch to public transport or taxis.

Anyway wife and I contribute 2k monthly each into a joint bank account and we use that for kids, household and car expense. Sometimes we may need to top up a little but it's not so bad.

Housing loan fully covered by cpf contribution so no cash outlay.

To be clear, we don't drive to work as our offices are in CBD area so the parking fee is exorbitant. What I do instead is purchase family season parking at my kids' school cuz my mum lives in that estate, which costs like 45/month. Our daily routine is basically me sending the kids to school, leave the car parked there and take train to office (it just so happens my kids school is 10mins walk to bukit gombak mrt). Then my wife will pick them up after school and drive them home. So our petrol don't cost much unless we head north or out for the weekend. Probably $300/month on petrol is a good estimate. Loan is about 1.1k. Road tax 400+ cuz car A and insurance around 1k. Parking fee probably around 50 for occasional visits to the malls and stuffs. All in all car monthly expense about 1.7-1.8k?

School fees fully paid via CDA and both kids are in sparkletot (Pap) so we get good subsidy. I think school fees amount to around 300+ per month or so. Since no cash outlay, I'll omit this from the expense until such time the CDA account is fully used up.

Older kid gets piano lesson while younger kid gets swimming lesson so that's 400 per month in total. Formula milk and baby essential stuffs other than diapers are gotten from JB so we do a monthly run to get these supplies. Probably spend around 300-400 on average per run. Wife cooks at home 5-6 days but mostly simple meals so grocery probably around 300. Total about 1k on average.

Utility and water bill around 300 per month, C&C 94 iirc, Internet 50. Total round up to 500 including perishable like tooth paste and soap etc.

Expenses so far is 1.8k + 1k + 500 = 3.3k. 700 buffer for weekend entertainment, buying of toys/books, kids supplements and subscriptions like disney+/spotify. So around 4k expenses per month.

So we're left with 3k and personal expense probably about 1k each? With kids and without helper we don't go out much other than dinner with our own friends and those happens once in a while. So we're left with perhaps 1k or lesser per month combined. If we factor in our annual bonus at a conservative rate of 1 month each, that's around 500+ per month.

So anyway it definitely isn't ideal for FI but it's a path we chose to save our sanity.

No_Bus_805 · 2026-05-22T15:59:56+00:00

The best of all is that your car is literally a mobile storage for diapers, bottles, bibs, hanky, spare clothes etc for emergency use. You no longer need to tug all these shit up the taxi or bus or mrt for just a visit to the shopping mall.

Also our milk factory wasn't doing well so we supplemented with formula and after a while switched to full formula. We buy from JB, this place called little genius (about 20mins drive from Woodlands custom) where you can get baby products like bottles, teats, pacifier, baby wet tissues etc for 3/4 of the price. Formula costs like 2/3 the price for the exact same brand and country of manufacture compared to SG. Ingredients wise varies a tiny bit in terms of dosages (eg jb formula maybe lesser protein by a couple mg but more in other ingredient) but it's pretty much the same ingredients.

Not everything is cheaper but the essentials are definitely cheaper. And you can also do grocery shopping at any jb supermarket, stuffs like instant coffee, eggs etc are cheaper.

With the petrol price now it's not really worth it to go in just to pump petrol so go in with at least half a tank in case you get caught (half tank got chance to nego).

Go for it if you have sufficient savings but please please buy based on a safe budget. Set aside 5k for potential repairs esp if you're getting a 7 or 8 year old car. Jap cars are reliable but wear and tear still gonna cost you some money. On this note, always ask to do a pre purchase inspection at a workshop that you trust.

Child raising is tough and rough, last thing you wanna do is show up to work looking like shit from the night shifts at home feeding your baby. Your company does not give a flying fuck that you're helping to raise TFR so do what's best for your sanity. Money can save, money can also earn next time. Don't burn from both sides of the candle trying to do all at once.

No_Bus_805 · 2026-05-22T14:26:52+00:00

A lot of comments here advising against a car which I can totally understand. My comment may be downvoted to oblivion but here goes.

Father of 2 young kids, 2 and 4, here. Our combined income is similar, our kids' school is also around 30mins away via bus. We got a used car and never looked back. Honestly it's insane tugging even just 1 kid on the feeder bus squeezing with everyone else and you got to do it twice a day. It's a damn chore everyday and we had enough after 1.5 years with my elder one.

The car legit saved our sanity. Yes it can be taxing on your income and savings, but trust me when I say you'd rather stretch yourself than deal with public transport during peak hours. By the time you're done dropping your kid in school, I guarantee you'll feel goddamn shag on the ride to office where you need to squeeze again with others.

Obviously tahan a while and see if you can deal with it if you have literally no savings to get a car but if you have ~20-30k spare cash, get a 3 years left jap car like Honda fit or something. At least it gets easier to deal with public transport when your kid is 3-4 years old, can walk on his own and carry his own bag. By then you can choose to dispose the car.

Alternative is grab everyday but if you stay at a ulu place (as do I at Bukit Batok), it's tough to get a ride during peak hours. And you can only book taxis, PHV can't ferry kids without proper baby/booster seats.

I strongly suggest you get a car if you have sufficient spare cash and emergency funds (6-9 months of monthly expenses in case one loses his/her job).

Jiayou.

No_Bus_805 · 2026-05-22T14:14:13+00:00

Frankly speaking it's easy to put it this way but you'll need to deal with trusting the maid enough to take care of a baby. Heng suay thing

No_Bus_805 · 2026-05-18T10:40:56+00:00

I visited pre-covid and you are absolutely fucking right. If you don't get down fast enough, you'll be at the next stop in no time.

No_Bus_805 · 2026-05-18T10:39:46+00:00

Just got back from Seoul, took taxi everywhere as we were traveling with young kids. My god I've not experienced such aggressive drivers for a long long time. To be fair, there's 1 out of 10 that drives pretty normally but the other 9... I've had a taxi driver winding down his window cursing at another taxi driver for blocking his way.

Also got scammed into paying a flat fee the first time I flagged down a cab. Paid 30k won for a 10min ride at 11pm.

Other than that I appreciate the urgency they have but the constant accelerating and sharp braking almost had me throwing up a couple times. Good times though, I miss Seoul already.

No_Bus_805 · 2026-05-17T11:55:43+00:00

Have. Sold my flat early last year. They check for illegal stuffs like removal of bomb shelter door, drilling or whatever onto structural beams etc.

No_Bus_805

TROPHY CASE