We've got 2 kids a new born and a 3 year old and have no car... The only real time it's a real pain is when it rains as it can be quite hard to get a taxi. If you get a quinny trolley you can clip in a maxi cosi car seat which will get you through the first 6 months.
I guess at times a car could be really handy but then again if you have one it can be a real pain parking centrally. Cars are roughly 1&1/2 to twice the price of the UK new but petrol and running cost are cheap. The second hand market doesn't really exist in the same way over here as the UK and cars values only drops off gradually and not dramatically as in the UK due to something called the COE( a ten year tax). I'd probably recommend trying without to start with and see how you go ... Have a good look around before buying.
For a car .
Flexibilty
Place to store junk when you go shoping
No issues with taxi's in the rain
If you all get in a taxi, 5 people requires a people carrier or larger taxi which the meter starts at 8 dollars which is around three times the price of a normal booked taxi.
Against
Taxi's are cheap very cheap between 2-3 pounds anywhere central from Clarke Key.
Car prices are high so even leasing isn't particarly cheap as this needs to reflect the purchase price and contracts are normally a min of 2 years as most things in Singapore?
Parking, although most
condo's have a free spot central parking isn't cheap and at weekends can be really busy.
Also in town exists alot of ERP zones(charging spots) If you were to use your car alot they slowly start to add up.
Children normally travel to school on a bus picked up at the door of your condo hassle free.
For when you need a car weekend hire isn't expensive around 200 dollars for fri-mon.
The joys just another thing to deal with, I was originally intending to buy a car but got put off by the costs and the fact it'd only get used over the weekend. Please be aware you can get a cheap COE tax for just weekend use which can bring down the costs ...
