Buying Used Motocylce - COE, ARF & Transfer Fee – again...

[Yali80]

Dear fellow expats,


I am going to arrive in Singapore mid-December and – being at the beginning of my professional life – plan to buy an old used motorcycle afterwards.

The price of the cycle will be about 1600 $. Now, as so many before me, I am highly confused with the whole Singapore vehicle ownership tax and fee regime.

I do appreciate that there have been numerous posts concerning this topic before, however I could find none relevant to the purchase of used two-wheelers.

Therefore your help would be greatly appreciated:


COE

On the ad it says that the COE is still valid till 2012, so I would guess this should have some relevance for the buyer.

I found contradictory information concerning the required COE in the case of purchasing a used vehicle.

While some sources said one only needs to bid for it, when purchasing a new vehicle, others said it was non transferable (which would then logically lead to the conclusion, that I would have to bid for another one).

So, will the COE come with the motorcycle or will I have to join the bi-monthly bidding process?

If the later is the case, how much do you reckon I would have to pay for the COE for one year or for whatever term is usual?

Are there only the 10 year COEs which I understand come for about 950 $ a piece?


Registration Fee

So the registration fee is 140 $, at least that is straight forward. Does it also have to be paid for used vehicles?


ARF

Even more confusion with the ARF: On this side’s motoring guide it says that the ARF is a shocking 110% of the OMV. Now as outlined above, I am not quite sure as to what constitutes the OMV but in the case it is the average market price for the vehicle as such, that would either be a really bad typo or the initial price of buying a car and getting it on the road would be more than double of what you pay in other countries because the buyer has to come up with the purchasing price once more in form of the ARF. Will the buyer of a used vehicle have to pay ARF upon registration?


Road Tax

Ok, that at least I get. I also get that there will be a surcharge on the road tax for an older vehicle but the resulting numbers are still reasonable (for Singapore).


Transfer Free

That explanation did not give rise to ambiguities as well.


GST / Excise Duty

I understand that these do not apply when purchasing a used vehicle?


Last Question

I do not intend to stay longer than 2 years. Will I be able to scrap the cycle and that's it or will there be another fee?

Cheers!

[x9200]

I bought a brand new motorbike that has been preregistered. The only things I had to do were reregistering it with LTA under my name (I do not remember whether that was called a transfer) and buying the insurance. I expect that's about everything you will need to do. COA is paid once every ten years and it is paid by the first buyer in full.