Car advice - buying/leasing

[Scott_Tanya]

Well you guessed pretty right. We are looking at VW Golf or a Fiat Bravo.

Even if we go japanese, do we go newer or older?

[ScoobyDoes]

You might be fine with the Golf. I think VW are doing a pretty good job here now but I don't really have any history on how well they last in this environment and what costs are like...... and honestly I was just looking at the GTi / TSi for myself as the next car.

Fiat....... they're not even very good IN Europe, let alone out here and be prepared to pay sweet if anything goes wrong.

As for Japanese cars, I don't think there is a rule that says new ones are better than old ones other than in style/economy/comfort etc. I have a Japanese car just past 5-yrs old (and about 80,000kms) and apart from putting air in the tyres and petrol in the tank I've hardly needed to do anything out of the ordinary. I did need an (expensive) O2 sensor recently but I think that had more to do with the flood I drove through than it breaking by itself.

In the end, newer is always better depending on your budget and class of car being targeted - advise is different if you look at a Lexus IS250 or Honda Odyssey.

[Scott_Tanya]

I have VW jetta 2.0 turbo back home and loved it.

The Fiats granted used to be pretty average cars but the new ones are gaining alot of respect amongst car journo's. They are putting them behind golf but level with the Focus basically. Seems similiar to the old Mazda story before they bought out the 3, 6 etc no one bought a mazda.

Thanks for the advice though, may go back to the drawing board...

[shirlyn_2009]

I think the crucial part of the decision making is to weight what is more important for you?Car Lease in singapore is cheaper then buying a car, you don't need to worry about depreciation, car breaks down, insurance or road tax due when you lease a car. {blatant solicitation removed by moderator}
hmm for example a simple calculation :
Lease-versus-Buy Example
if you LEASE a $20,000 car that will have, say, an estimated resale value of $13,000 after 24 months, you only pay for the $7000 difference (this is called depreciation), plus finance charges, plus possible fees. You return the car at lease-end, or buy it to own it.

When you BUY, you pay the entire $20,000, plus finance charges, plus possible fees. You own the car at the end of your loan, although its value is less than the $20,000 you initially paid.

Just like to share what i know doh..

[x9200]

Well, I am not convinced and think you may be comparing apples to oranges.
Say I would like to buy a car, 2007-2008, 1.3-1.9l, i.e a Nissan Latio -> ~45-50k, loan for the remaining COE period (~1.9%). This gives something like this (per month):
- loan payments ~ 750
- insurance ~ 100
- rd. tax ~ 50

so all together per month ~900.
How much need I pay to lease such Nissan Latio? 1200-1500 my guess. Is this 300-600 difference justifiable to cover break-downs and replacements costs? Doubtful. How is that cheaper?

[ScoobyDoes]

Leasing ALWAYS is more expensive...... unless you buy a pup.

[Strong Eagle]

I think the crucial part of the decision making is to weight what is more important for you?Car Lease in singapore is cheaper then buying a car, you don't need to worry about depreciation, car breaks down, insurance or road tax due when you lease a car. {blatant solicitation removed by moderator}
hmm for example a simple calculation :
Lease-versus-Buy Example
if you LEASE a $20,000 car that will have, say, an estimated resale value of $13,000 after 24 months, you only pay for the $7000 difference (this is called depreciation), plus finance charges, plus possible fees. You return the car at lease-end, or buy it to own it.

When you BUY, you pay the entire $20,000, plus finance charges, plus possible fees. You own the car at the end of your loan, although its value is less than the $20,000 you initially paid.

Just like to share what i know doh..

Patently garbage. No way a lease can be less than ownership. Maybe certain circumstances favor a lease but this poster is ignorant when it comes to true costs of owning versus leasing.

[franky-MS]

Actually we had the same discussion at home;
we decided at the end to lease a car because:

- we have just a three years expat contract with the company
- the singaporean market is sometimes strict against expats: for loans for used cars you quite often have to find a Singaporean "guarantor", or pay 50% downpayment, accept higher interest rates, higher insurances, etc.
- the depriation calculation in Singapore is correct up to the moment COE regulations might change
- the market is definetely different to the european: different fast movers, no service mentality, no buyer securities, technical history / records not available
- open market values are calculated but not taken into consideration by dealers / buyers.
So at the end, we might buy a 2-3 old japanese brand from a dealer, maybe after accident , maybe with major investment needs and no way to get your money back

So our decision was a small leased car, which is exchanged immediately when breaking down, no road tax, no insurance, no LTA check per year for us to bother about. And: no selling issue, if we want to leave Singapore earlier than today expected