1. Re purpose Your Old Toothbrush
When you’re done with it, you can still use it to scrub off dirt in your vinyl as well as get crumbs out of the seams of your seat cushions.
2. Clean AC Vents Using Foam Brush
You can make a DIY AC vent cleaner from a cheap foam brush glued to a stick.
3. Toothpaste Your Way To Brand New Looking Headlights
When spread on a grimy headlights and left there for a few minutes, toothpaste can make it look brand new!
4. Magic Eraser Is Your New Best Friend
Gently rubbing a magic eraser can magically remove gross sticky things off your vinyl and leather like it’s never been there.
5. Olive Oil Isn’t Just For Cooking
Moderate amount of olive oil rubbed onto leather seat and dashboard, occasionally, can give your vehicle extra gleam.
6. Banish Animal Hair
Spray water using a spray bottle on surfaces with animal hair then wipe it with a squeegee. Vacuum the clumps after.
7. Dryer Sheets Can Wipe Off Dried Up Bugs
Wipe off the bugs on your grille without breaking a sweat! Just wet a dryer sheet and use that to clean those areas.
8. Peel Off Stubborn Stickers With The Help Of Goo Gone
Eliminate stickers in your bumper and make it smooth again using Goo Gone.
9. Make Your Wipers Run Smoother On Windshield Using Rubbing Alcohol
A small amount of rubbing alcohol can do wonders. Wipe it on the rubber part of the wiper blades and it’ll surely run smoother next time and prevent smearing.
10. Baking Soda As Air Freshener
Baking soda is great when eliminating bad smell. You can make your own car air fresher by putting a jar, covered with breathable fabric, full of baking soda and an essential oil of your choice mixture. Put it where the stink is.
11. Don’t Forget The Top Of The Window
The very top of the window can get really gross. Roll it down, start cleaning from there and work your way down.
12. Include Clay Bar In Your Car Cleaning Supplies
Clay bars are great for picking up bits of grime that water can’t rinse off.
13. Take On The Nooks And Crannies
A piece of cloth over the top of a screw driver is the trick to clean those nooks and crannies in your ride.
14. Coffee Filters Have Numerous Uses
Put a little oil in it and it can make your car shine, while a little vinegar and water in it can wipe stains out.
15. Conditioner For A Shinier Car
Look for one that has lanolin in the ingredients. Put some on a cloth that you use for wiping to give your car a shiny finish.
Do you live in Singapore and planning to buy a car? Before anything else, answer this question. Do you know the real price of owning one? If you don’t, here’s a rough estimation, get you calculator and compute all the expenses that comes with having a ride.
Down Payment
Open market value or OMV of the car is an essential factor when calculating how much the down payment will be if you’re applying for a car loan. You’d be eligible for the maximum Loan-to-Value of 60% of the vehicle’s price tag if your OMV is S$20,000 or less. This means DP will be 40%.
But if OMV is more than S$20,000, DP will be 50%, because you’ll be entitled for a maximum LTV of 50%.
Total Car Loan Cost
Monetary Authority of Singapore or MAS implemented 5-year tenure in car loans. So, to abide that restriction you will have to increase your monthly amortization.
So, subtract the down payment from your car’s purchase price. With the difference you get add the 2.28% interest, and then the result will be the total of your car loan cost. Just divide that to 60 mos. (5 years) to know your monthly amortization.
Car Insurance
If you happen to be a safe driver with a 10% No-Claim Discount (NCD) if you don’t get into any trouble every year (up to the maximum 50%) and given the S$3,600 initial car insurance annual premium with excess S$1,000 for comprehensive policy that’s S$24,520 (factoring NCD) in 10 years.
Road Tax
Your dealer might be paying a year worth of your road tax but you still have to brace yourself. Land Transportation Authority factors the road tax in Singapore by:
S$950 + 1.5 (1,911 – 1,600) X 0.782 = a road tax of S$1,108 (In case it’s a Mercedes-Benz E-200 AVANTGARDE with 1991cc engine capacity) because road tax is calculated based on your car’s engine capacity. So that’s S$9,972 as your overall cost of paying the road tax.
Gasoline
With the gasoline, your expenses may differ depending on changes of your yearly mileage. But let’s say you drive about 19,000km a year and your car has 16.7km per liter of petrol as average fuel consumption rate, then that’s S$26,213 for the cost of petrol in total. Considering 3% yearly price hike on gas, on the S$1.95 cost per liter of 98UL petrol, due to inflation.
Maintenance
Car servicing in Singapore could easily exceed S$300 per trip and you have to do it every 6 months to ensure your vehicles’ good condition for 10 years. You also have to keep in mind that rising cost of services and mechanical reliability of your car play a huge part on your car maintenance expenses.
So, with your car’s price tag and all the computations above from all the requirement of owning a vehicle, you probably have a pretty good idea on how much does it really cost to own a ride in Singapore. I say think about it a million time before you decide.
