Is it even worth it to get a car?

[Bounty]

Hi all,
I have a S700 month car allowance.  Can I even get a car for that?  From what I've read from other posts it seems unlikely.  I really don't expect anything fancy, just getting from A to B.

[CK]

700 SGD will cover your Taxis's. If you bought a 15 year old Merc with a couple of years COE left you maybe able to run it with depreciation for that type of amount though.

[ML]

Depends. If you've got kids, then it makes for a much higher standard of living - no lugging tired kids around; waiting in the rain for cabs; lugging bagloads of groceries, diapers, etc. If I was solo, I'd probably prefer cabs to avoid the hassle of COEs, rude/awful drivers, plus have time to catch up on some work if needed. My husband and I survived the first two years with cabs, transit and a wonderfully fun motorcycle. And then the first child came along...

[evehow]

A VERY SMALL car... like Suzuki Swiftlet or Perodua Kancil.  $700 could JUST about cover the monthly instalment... depending on how much downpayment you put down.

But if you throw in stuff like petrol, parking, ERP, maintenance and repair, accidents, insurance, $700 probably will not cover all your car-related expenses.

However, it should cover taxi charges (including call charges) quite comfortably!

You might want to consider purchasing commercial vehicles such as Renault Kangaroo.  They're cheaper (to buy and to run) and taxes are lower.  However, I do not know if there's any restriction for foreigners.

[Karena]

we have an eight year old mazda 323 which costs 700 per month.  I couldn't live without it and love having a car. As said above, it all depends on your situation.