Getting a used car in Singapore? Things you should be concerned about

Getting a used car in Singapore? Things you should be concerned about

Singapore is one of the highest populated countries in the world and also at the same time one of the most urbanized. When it comes to the car population, it definitely is also one that many people are concerned about. Because of her limited land size and huge population, the government of Singapore are concerned on how to control the population of cars because this could take up valuable land that Singapore does not already have.

Singapore has a unique way of managing her car population. Other than taxing most of the cars that enter into Singapore very heavily. Owners will have to pay $50-100K for a certificate of entitlement for you to be able to even own a car in Singapore. This brings Japanese cars to $100K to own and most German cars to at least $150K and above to own. This makes sure most people will not be able to afford one even if they had a decent income compared to people from overseas.

This has worked for a while, but with the growing wealth of the nation, such prices do not stop the wealthy from buying many cars. Thus the government only release limited numbers of such certificates a year.

With such a strong competition for cars, young aspirants of car owning are locked out of buying new cars.

With recent new financial rules, car owners must also put a down payment of 40% before they could even buy the car and this has made it almost impossible for many people.

With such a situations, used cars in Singapore has become a popular option. Used cars that are about 5-6 years old are the common cars that people will purchase because they are mostly depreciated at the start by the first few owners and would cost a lot lesser. They are also still decently in good health. Most owners will make sure they get the cars checked properly before buying them over.

Dealers are one of the common options because some of the more reputable ones will make sure they check that the cars are in good condition before they even buy them over and then reselling them to the next owner.

You should also check the records of the mileage because there could be a possibility of the mileage being tempered by the seller to make the car seem more attractive to someone who is looking to buy.

One should also note that certain makes of cars are also more prone to issues than other brands because they are old and the maintenance of such cars could be a major burning issue when the time comes for you to send it for repairs.