How does the budget 2013 affect you?

[adamteo]

going to spend on watches instead of car......sigh.......

[kiwitan]

Well, 'affordable' by whose standards? How many are willing/can afford to take out $40,000 to $50,000 cash to buy a car? How many can afford the (higher) monthly installments with the reduced loan repayment period (5 years)? Will banks and financial institutions raise the car loan interest rates, since now that they can only lend for 5 years?

This particular new policy favours the wealthy and rich who have the cash to pay. It practically remove most of the aspirations of the middle class to own a car. Come 2016 we got to vote wisely. For many years the pap policies tend to favour the wealthy.

[turboducky]

I think this will affect the hamburger class, most of us are stuck; not poor enough to receive handouts nor rich enough to stay retire. My car will be be sent to the car heaven in 2017 & honestly, I doubt I could afford to get another with such crazy COEs. The rich will have no issue paying S$100,000 for a piece to paper, but for a regular family with parents & kids, it will be hard. I do think this group of people deserve a car more than those with a few hundred thousands to throw on an automobile. The sickest thing I just learnt is that the top few richest men in the world could end world poverty just with their annual salaries! Anyway, yes vote wisely, not just for ourselves but for the next generation too...... well, if there's a next generation of Singaporeans at all.

[P88]

It's a scheme to make cars affordable to those who have cash and willing to drain a larger portion of their pay monthly.

As some bro mentioned, workaround will be on the way.

IMO that doesn't stops businesses to bid high for COE as they have the cash to submit bids.
Car dealers should not bid for COE as they are not the car owners.

Car owners can bid for their own COEs already right?

[pegasi]

Car owners can bid for their own COEs already right?

Can lah, but most people don't do it.

What Watcha means is that car dealers should not even be allowed to bid.

[diapers]

We complain about high property prices, high COE, but look at the subscription rates. Still in very high demand.
If im in the ministry, i will also ignore. Pple complain but still can buy. And its true that there are many rich pple in our small red dot.
In MBT's words, cannot afford then buy something you can afford, dont complain.

I need a car, but i always say I cant afford cos too ex. Then my friends will point out my watches. So its subjective. The very fact that maybe even just owning a Rolex is way too luxurious an item to have, yet most of us here own one or multiples. Some pples collection are way more than others lifetime savings, but where should we benchmark? What is the definition of rich in Sg now?

Raising the prices for property and car will hit the middle class hardest. The rich will still continue to buy and make money out of property. Middle class hard to catch up. The below average will still just live in contentment and the occasional struggle. But Sg only so big, and we all want face, so how?

Anyways with regards to PAP, i think its a lost cause for them alrdy.
But we are here today because of them. Everytime i travel and come back to SG, i still am thankful for being a Singaporean nonetheless.
Much of what i have seen from opp parties leaves a lot to be desired actually. Most cant converse well, cant even articulate their ideas effectively across, and seem to offer big promises. Will they deliver, nobody knows. But except for a minority of inspiring individuals, most dont attract any confidence of the public.

So changing out of PAP might not necessarily be the light at the end of the tunnel for us.

Just my 2cts worth.

[diapers]

To treat the ailment, you have to first treat the root.

I think we the citizens are the root of most problems.

FT issue largely stemmed from the lack of talents or the choice of jobs we deem as ideal. If i own a company, i would most prob employ all foreigners if i had the option to. Cheaper, less complaints, mostly more dilligent, and specifically from certain countries, more value for money in ratio to the degrees they hold. We are just too choosy and fussy most of the time.

[eastsider]

I think the max coe i can accept for cat A is $50k. Anything more than that is ridiculous. I would rather take cab all the time than buying car liao

Just hope that i will be able to work out some arrangement to get a decent car nx yr when i scrap my abused car. Haha

[ac_wong75]

Think most bro here are right there are alternatives to buying new cars
Ie car share or second hand cars are all options. This policy
Hopefully will push down the coe cos the only reason why we have reach this
Sky high Coe is plp willing to pay (demand).
As long as I can borrow the full sum I will bid until there is mo tomorrow.
With the limit on the borrowing this should take out demand and with high coe
Everyone choose to buy BMW or merc .making them the number 1 selling cars.
This should put some sense back to the market ie in terms of car choice. To me this is the
Bitter medicine that should have been implemented long time back. Cos I am seeing
Junior staff of my coy driving BMW and mercs which IMHO is a bit excessive.

Just my 2 cents worth
Cheers

[roguehog]

Erm......
Why die die must buy new car ah?
Secondhand no face?
cOE car no face?
Anyone can afford a car in Singapore, question is what car?
And what a pampered bunch of face loving Singaporeans we have become.

Not really about face. Personally I feel, there are some practical reasons.

1) a new car would mean the owner gets to enjoy full warranty protection for at least 3 years or 100,000km. I personally realized how important this is thanks to my current car. If you purchase a car that has no more warranty, you'll end up sending a bomb on repairs, not to mention, the down time as well.

2) a Coe car is not cheap to own, let alone maintain. You pay higher road tax and have to pay an accumulative Coe. Older cars would usually mean more mechanical issues too.

3) the price difference between née car and a 1 1/2- 2 year old car is very close to a brand new car. As such, it makes sense to get a new one.

Just my take.

I hope the new measures kick in soon cos I'm intending to change to a new ride within the next 1 1/2 years.

[pegasi]

3) the price difference between née car and a 1 1/2- 2 year old car is very close to a brand new car. As such, it makes sense to get a new one.

Is that what it is now? I have always been told that new cars depreciated the most during the first 2-3 years if you sell them. So supposedly the 2nd hand cars around that age should not be "very close" to a brand new car?

There again, maybe how "close" is subjective, and it is a different (but more correct imo) concept when we talk depreciation per year...

[Seaman]

Is that what it is now? I have always been told that new cars depreciated the most during the first 2-3 years if you sell them. So supposedly the 2nd hand cars around that age should not be "very close" to a brand new car?

There again, maybe how "close" is subjective, and it is a different (but more correct imo) concept when we talk depreciation per year...

Apparently it is the phenomenon now due to the COE price hike for the past 2-3 years. People who bought their car 2-3 years ago may fetch the buying price of their car when they sell it now.

My cousin bought a Toyota wish in 2009 @ $59k when the COE was $5k. The secondhand market price for a 2009 Toyota wish is now ~$75k. So in some cases, car actually appreciates instead of depreciates.

[lefty]

I for one agree with this radical change. Even though a 7years / 70% ruling may have been more palatable to most

I am one of those boarderline cases who normally do a 30% / 7 years so this does affect me somewhat. However, it is about time the govt did something to arrest the madness of spiralling COE prices and also get those who normally take a 100% /10year loan to take a reality check.

For those who just bgt their cars months back paying 90k COEs, if they wish to / NEED to offload 2 or 3 years down the road, the next buyer will have to do a 50% / 5 years repayment. And the seller (having bought high with the 90K COEs), will have to peg his selling rate accordingly vs the new car prices at that point in time (which should soften since COEs are now expected to drop).

Those on 10years / 100% are worse off. They had better pray sh1t doesnt happen where they reach a point that they NEED to sell the car. The value of their car then could probably be half of what they still owe the bank - interest and all accrued.

The "biggest winners" from this would be those currently driving late 2003/ 2004 cars due for de-registration. The PARF $$ they get back should come in handy and coincide with the softening of the COE which means cheaper cars (both new and used).

[Watcha]

Althought it affects many of us, including me. At the end of he day high car price and high private property price is not a problem.

High public housing price is a problem. I seen young people stressed on that. Not like Japan, sleeping on street is not allowed here.

Overcrowding of public transport is a problem, especially with the breakdowns. When I don't drive, I would like to be able to go work on time.

High medical bills is a problem. Citizens do not get hospitalized by choice. From my experience, public hospitals are already at capacity due to population increase. There are no doctors to be seen, resulting nobody knows what's happening.

[pegasi]

Althought it affects many of us, including me. At the end of he day high car price and high private property price is not a problem.

High public housing price is a problem. I seen young people stressed on that. Not like Japan, sleeping on street is not allowed here.

Overcrowding of public transport is a problem, especially with the breakdowns. When I don't drive, I would like to be able to go work on time.

High medical bills is a problem. Citizens do not get hospitalized by choice. From my experience, public hospitals are already at capacity due to population increase. There are no doctors to be seen, resulting nobody knows what's happening.

I like what you say and I can see a lot of passion there.

You need to be in a position where you can drive changes. And by that I don't just mean making use of your one vote.