Comments for Singapore Motoring

Comment on A Deep Dive into the Cash Rebate scheme by skxly

skxly — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 04:19:01 +0000

Bedhead,
I can only provide limited advice via email. I would recommend that you talk to your friends who own cars, especially those makes/models that you are interested to learn more. You can also surf local motoring forums to find relevant information.

Take your time … visit the showrooms. Talk about the offers with your friends and you should be able to make a better decision.

Good luck with your purchase!

Comment on A Deep Dive into the Cash Rebate scheme by Bedhead

Bedhead — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:04:21 +0000

Hey there, I am currently clueless about the 411 of buyin a new car. And I desperately need help and pointers. Is there anyway you can email me at my provided email address regarding the process? I would really appreciate it!

Thank you.

Comment on Accident-prone Spots: ERP Gantries by Frustrated Road User

Frustrated Road User — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 05:56:13 +0000

ERP gantries and systems, just like many carparks these days, are probably designed by non-drivers.

Comment on A Deep Dive into the Cash Rebate scheme by skxly

skxly — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 18:06:15 +0000

Please see my response at http://singaporemotoring.blogspot.com/2008/06/overtrade-for-new-ride.html

Comment on A Deep Dive into the Cash Rebate scheme by limyw

limyw — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 07:19:15 +0000

Hi, need your help to understand the relationship between overtrade, cash rebates etc in determining if its useful to buy a car. My stituation is this

- have a car coming to 5 years
- outstanding loan is still around $50k in June. unlikely to get a trade in to full redemption value at normal circumstance.

hence,
- would it be useful for me to ask for an overtrade value to offset this process of selling off my old car?
- if I combine this with the cash rebate, would it make sense?
- for cash flow, I would also look at loans 7 years or above, and maybe even 100%

so far, current car is the longest I have held onto a car. looking to selling cos am keen on other models and people have said that if I want to sell, the best time is to do so before its 5th year. If I get the right car, I would look to holding onto it for more than 3 years, maybe even 5.

any advice?

Comment on Total Cost of Ownership by skxly

skxly — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:14:01 +0000

See,
Thanks for your comment and opinion about “total”. I am also pondering on which items to include into the analysis – I am bending towards just showing the cashflow requirement without covering the book value and depreciation. A draft should be ready soon for review and your comments are always welcome.

skxly

Comment on Total Cost of Ownership by See Ho Ee

See Ho Ee — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 09:56:08 +0000

Nice to know you are working on an update. Looking at the other factors listed for “total” cost might make your spreadsheet too ‘informative’. I am not sure if I get the meaning of total correct. It would be better to segregate ownership cost from running cost.
For ownership cost – to some it is just the price of car; some owners have no idea what is OMV, ARF, duty apart from the infamous COE. Car loan should be factored in. Therefore, for the same car bought about the same time may not have the same ownership cost. Ownership cost is calculated once and is used for depreciation and book value. Comes in handy when disposing the vehicle.
Running cost should be separate and on its own, so that it can be monitored periodically and for expense budgeting. Since, it is running and varies period to period, there is no need to look at these in the total cost concept. Again, I am not sure what the ‘total’ is for.
Every car owner and potential one should know the components that go into ownership cost and running cost. From these they would get an idea how much their total expenses would be.
LTA has already got the onwership cost part without financing.

Comment on Accident-prone Spots: ERP Gantries by Reader

Reader — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 11:49:31 +0000

The issue is that LTA does not trouble themselves with a lot of work. It is always users of the ERP system who do the work. Suggestions that make them do more work mean they have to do more work. And they do not want to do more work. No have million dollars salaries, you know.

Comment on Low COE = Good Deal? by See Ho Ee

See Ho Ee — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 23:44:30 +0000

Exactly, there are profits to be make from including COE in the pricing. We all know this is one element of the entire cost of ownership that is variable not by some tens of dollars but by thousands of dollars. I don’t think it is just a ’service’, if that is so, why not just charge a flat service fee?
The motive is clearly profit in the guise if providing service and also the oft heard excuse that car-buyers don’t know how to bid.
The instance you mentioned clearly demonstrate that car-dealers are not willing to sell cars without including COE for the precise reason of making additional profits. It reinforces my assertion that there are profits to be made from COE.
Surprisingly, CASE, LTA and MTA are silent on this issue. Perhaps, you can start a new thread on your blog?

Comment on Accident-prone Spots: ERP Gantries by skxly

skxly — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 04:14:56 +0000

See, there are many good ideas among us that will not be considered after the system is implemented …. I wish that the public be consulted in the design phase. Once millions of dollars are invested, it is hard to change. I disagree to the design principles to add costly control mechanism to catch anomalies …. the system should address road users’ needs – convenient payment for appropriate road usage.

I wonder if the design team ever imagine the loss of lives due to accidents at ERP gantries …… SAFETY should be the foremost concern.