Cost of Car Ownership

It's important to work out the cost of owning (and using) a car for many reasons: budgeting your cashflow, cost-benefit comparison with other modes of transportation, etc. Many car owners jump into buying a car without fully understanding all the costs involved in owning and driving a car. Hopefully, this short guide can provide some useful information.

Fixed Monthly Costs

Road Tax and Radio License (compute 1-month cost): Use the LTA Road Tax Calculator.
Insurance (compute 1-month cost)
Monthly Loan Repayment: Alternatively, you may want to consider using the monthly depreciation cost instead.
Fixed Car Park Fees: For season parking at your home, work place, etc.

Variable Monthly Costs

Variable Car Park Fees: Estimate from coupon parking, Cash Card, etc.
ERP Charges
Petrol
Servicing/Maintenance (compute 1-month cost)
Tyres: Take cost of 4 tyres, divide by 50,000 and multiply by monthly mileage)

Example

40% NCD

Item	Cost	Notes
Road Tax:	$870 / 12 = $72.50
Insurance:	$945 / 12 = $78.75
Monthly Loan Repayment:	$638.23 (depreciation cost)	Personal preference to use depreciation cost
Fixed Car Park Fees:	$20	Season parking at work
Variable Car Park Fees:	$30
ERP Charges	$10
Petrol	$200
Servicing / Maintenance	$600 / 12 = $50
Tyres	$320 / 50000 x 2083 = $13.33
TOTAL:	$1112.81

If you're trying to work out your cashflow budget, make sure you can afford this sum of cash every month. Of course, if you're going to be driving about town, remember to take out or reduce the cost of other transportation (bus, MRT, taxi, etc) from your budget!

In many cases, it is likely that owning a car will still be more expensive than had you taken a taxi to everywhere you wanted to go. Owning a car may bring you more convenience... but remember that driving has its own set of problems: sitting through traffic jams, finding parking space, etc.

Depreciation Costs

Refer to: Depreciation Costs