COE Certificat of Entitlement

To limit the number of vehicles running in the island of Singapore, the government came up with the COE scheme where those interested in purchasing cars could bid for a certificate to own a car in 1990.

When I first purchased my pre-owned Toyota Starlet in the 1993, the COE for vehicle <1600cc cost 10-20k.

I subsequently "upgraded" to Toyota Corolla in year 2000 (after I returned from US), then to Camry in 2008, and Toyota Wish in 2015. The COE for Corolla (<1600cc) was around 50-60K, Camry (2000cc) 60K, and Wish (1800cc) 30-40k respectively. But alas, the price of COE for various categories of cars has shot through the roof over the past 6 months.

Just imagine having to cough out $126K for a piece of paper to own a car!

This is absurb!

I think I probably have to "upgrade" to MRT travel when the COE of my current vehicle expired in 2 years time (unless the COE price drops miraculously).