Singapore vehicular policies impact on COE

In the 1970s, there wasn't any COE. People could buy a car and drive. car ownership wasn't that a topic.

as Singaporeans got more affluence, they started wanting cars for convenience. Car population grew as much as 12% in a year.

traffic congestion became common. policies placed to address it were the two pillars

1. Road pricing. those old enough would remember to enter CDB, you needed to buy a decal to put on windscreen of the car. it evolved into our current ERP.

2. VQS - Vehicular Quota System which states at any one time, approx 1M vehicles (cars, lorries, motor bikes), 1 year old - 20 years old.. is permitted on the roads. Of which ~700 K would be our Cat A,B etc.etc

in the generic understanding, in order to get a COE, you need to scrap a car. You can download the number of cars registered in the past 10-20 years, and you will see a pattern that emerges.

car is a depreciating asset. if you really need it, then buy within your means. my input is if you chart out the numbers, every decade, years 6 (tailend), 7, 8, and 9 are the ideal time to buy, swap your cars.

forget the $500 COE that happened once (fluke). in those years I mentioned above, 2026.... 2029 would be in the region of 40-60K.