Singapore is one of the most expensive countries in the world in which to own a car. Along with the rising cost of petrol and parking, it can be a headache to balance the budget. Here are some simple things you can do to keep costs low.
Nobody pays full price for petrol. Please don’t be the first (we don’t want petrol stations to know just how much they can gouge out of us).
The easiest way to cut petrol costs is with a petrol card. For example, the Citibank Cashback card shaves 20.88% off pump prices at Shell and Esso stations and gives you 8% cashback at all other petrol stations. Assuming you spend $200 a month on petrol, that’s a savings of $41.76 per month, enough to cover a week’s worth of lunch.
Deals are always changing though, so find and compare more petrol cards at GoBear before you apply. Just be sure to look in the petrol category: plenty of credit cards have petrol discounts, but it’s best to have a card that’s optimised for it.
The other thing to consider before you pump is premium versus regular fuels.
Now it is a fact that premium fuels are of higher quality. High octane fuel (designated by a number, like 98 or 90) is less likely to cause “knock”. That’s an unexpected or unregulated explosion of fuel within the engine.
However, almost any family car produced after the year 2000 won’t be affected by this anyway. The compression chamber in the engine has been specially designed such that it won’t be damaged whether you use 87 octanes, or 98 octanes. If you buy the expensive 98 octane fuel, it’s a little like using a $200 bottle of wine for cooking: you probably won’t feel the difference and are just wasting money.
The one time it does make a difference is when your car has a high-performance engine. If you’re driving, say, a Mitsubishi Lancer, Subaru WRX, or a Ferrari, then you really do need to buy premium fuel. The engines of these vehicles are built for power, not tolerance for low octane fuels.
If you’re getting a bank loan for your car, you’re usually required to buy comprehensive insurance anyway. But even if you don’t have to (e.g. you pay it all in cash), think twice before relying on Third Party Only (TPO) insurance.
Comprehensive insurance covers damage to both your vehicle and the other driver’s, whereas TPO insurance only covers damage to the other driver’s car. Comprehensive insurance offers many important advantages, and as its name implies, covers a wide range of incidents, including fire, theft and damage from road accidents. Non-comprehensive insurance, however, might not cover damage from road accidents.
While TPO insurance might be cheaper, it could be a waste of money in the long run. For example, your car is far more likely to be scratched in a parking lot than it is to catch fire (that usually only happens in movies). Car theft is also rare in Singapore, although we feel obliged to point out that, back in 2011, one car was stolen every four days.
Comprehensive insurance covers all of the above situations, plus the more probable factors like dents, scrapes, and broken windshields. Some policies even cover your vehicle outside of Singapore, so you won’t have to pay a small fortune for a tow truck to drag it all the way back from Johor.
Before you pick the cheapest possible insurance policy, think hard on whether you want to fork out a fortune, when something does go wrong. You can compare different cheap car insurance options on GoBear.
Don’t put off maintenance work on your car. The moment something goes wrong, such as funny red lights on the dashboard, or a funny grinding sound with the brakes, take it to the workshop right away.
When you ignore physical problems, they won’t clear up on their own by next week. If anything, the problems will only grow worse, and result in other things breaking down; kind of like the human body after its 35th birthday.
For example, say you ignore the weird tilting sensation in your car, as it sags to the left even with all tyres pumped. This problem with the suspension eventually causes deformations and cracks in the lower part of the car’s chassis, which then leads to leaks. Over time, this translates to failures in fuel lines, brake lines, and your bank account’s bottom line, as a $1,000 problem morphs into a $10,000 debacle.
Some insurance policies provide free check-ups and tune-ups for your car, so be on the lookout for these extras.
Try to date someone rich, because then your car repayments…wait, this isn’t that kind of website. Never mind, use the alternative and carpool.
The simplest way to do this is to drop off some of your friends at their workplace (if it's along the way) and ask everyone to pitch in a bit for the petrol and Electronic Road Pricing (ERP). Otherwise, you can consider joining services like GrabHitch as a driver. Having someone to split the cost between your home and office might not seem like much but trust us, it’ll give you decent savings. Maybe enough to splurge on a good meal every month.
Cars are expensive enough without accidents. Once you wrap your Toyota around a street sign, you’ll be feeling faint, and not just from injuries.
Not only will you have to pay the cost of fixing the car, but you’ll also be faced with the loss of your No Claim Discount (NCD). Remember, even if your car is insured, you still need to pay the excess before your insurer chips in. Also, you might have to pay various fines — such as for speeding — if you’re responsible.
Be sure to avoid offences like not putting in your parking tickets, or parking near fire hydrants; the small savings and minor conveniences are not worth the huge fines they send your way. This is a small country, and it’s easy to get caught.
This article was first published on GoBear Singapore blog.
