Frequently Asked Questions — COEkaki

COE stands for Certificate of Entitlement. It is a licence that gives the holder the right to register, own, and use a vehicle in Singapore for a period of 10 years.

There are five categories: A and B for cars, C for goods vehicles and buses, D for motorcycles, and E for eligible vehicles other than motorcycles. Car categories use engine-capacity and power limits, with separate power thresholds for fully electric cars. See the category definitions in the COE guide.

LTA normally holds two exercises each month. Check the official calendar for the actual opening and closing dates, including holiday changes and exceptional cancellations.

COE uses open bidding. A bidder submits a maximum reserve price and may raise it during the exercise, but cannot lower or withdraw it. The Current COE Price is one dollar above the highest unsuccessful reserve price. At the published closing time, the final current price becomes the Quota Premium paid by successful bidders. Follow LTA instructions and the actual exercise calendar.

A guaranteed COE package is a dealer contract. Read its number of bids, delivery deadline, top-up conditions, refund terms and COE rebate level. A lower eventual premium does not automatically entitle you to the full price difference: the signed contract determines any dealer rebate.

An unused Temporary COE and a registered vehicle are different things. Transferability depends on the TCOE category, holder type and LTA conditions. Transferring ownership of a registered vehicle generally includes its existing COE; do not assume the TCOE rules prohibit a vehicle sale.

PQP is the monthly renewal premium based on the three preceding months in which bidding took place. Months without bidding are skipped. Use the applicable category and renewal month.

Renewal eligibility, period and subsequent renewal rights depend on category and any statutory vehicle lifespan. A five-year car renewal uses half the applicable PQP and cannot be renewed again. A ten-year renewal uses the full PQP. Early renewal forfeits unused validity of the previous COE.

You cannot continue using the vehicle on public roads after COE expiry. Check the deregistration or renewal deadline with LTA. Unused COE value is zero after the term ends; PARF depends on separate age, cohort and vehicle eligibility rules.

Additional Registration Fee is a vehicle registration tax based on the assessed Open Market Value and applicable vehicle type and registration rules. The ARF calculator uses the maintained car tax bands; other vehicle types can have different rules.

The PARF rebate is a partial refund of the Additional Registration Fee (ARF) you receive when you deregister a PARF-eligible vehicle within 10 years of its registration.

A new-car loan from a regulated financial institution is subject to motor-vehicle loan-to-value and tenure limits, with a threshold based on OMV. The loan calculator reads those limits from the shared rules catalog. Lenders may be stricter, and used-car assessments differ. Property-loan TDSR is not a universal income cap for every standalone car loan.

Depreciation is purchase value minus the eventual resale or deregistration recovery. Dividing by years owned gives an average annual loss, not a forecast of the path each year. Residual value depends on the vehicle, market and eligible rebates. Do not add both the full purchase price and depreciation in the same total-cost calculation.

Add the actual purchase outlay, financing interest and running expenses, then subtract any eventual resale or deregistration recovery. Include insurance, road tax, fuel or electricity, parking, ERP and maintenance. Avoid double-counting COE or taxes already included in a quote. No single monthly figure applies to every vehicle and household.

Vehicle emissions incentives depend on the registration date, vehicle type and approved emissions band. Check the current LTA VES and EEAI tables and whether a dealer quote already includes them. The EV-versus-petrol calculator uses your final quote and does not determine incentive eligibility.

Vehicle registrations reflect several factors, including the available models, prices, incentives and charging access. Registration statistics alone do not establish why buyers chose a vehicle. Compare dated LTA fuel-type data; fully electric and hybrid vehicles are different categories. EV road tax is not necessarily lower than petrol-car road tax.

LTA determines each quota period from the applicable deregistration averaging method, vehicle growth policy and announced adjustments. Use the published quarterly allocation rather than assuming the preceding quarter alone determines supply.

Category E can register eligible vehicles other than motorcycles. Its premium is determined by its own bidding exercise and is not guaranteed to exceed Category B.