COE packages offered by new car dealers

COE, also known as Certificate of Entitlement, is what is needed to register a new car in Singapore. Therefore, the purchase of a car would always come hand-in-hand with the COE purchase. As of such, new car dealers commonly package their cars together with the COE.

Non-guaranteed COE

Under this scheme, there is no guarantee of securing the COE. In other words, you may not get your car at the end of the process. After paying the booking fee, the dealer bids for a COE for a fixed period of time, usually three months. At the end of the three months, if he fails to obtain a COE, he will refund you the deposit. This is the cheapest COE package, but is also the least recommended as you will be at the mercy of the car dealer. He can choose to give you the car, or make you wait meaninglessly for three months before telling you that you will not be getting your car. The dealer can also tell you to make additional payment in order for you to secure a COE. Note that you cannot back out of the deal after paying the deposit, else it will be forfeited. This applies to all other packages as well.

Guaranteed COE at $XX

Under this scheme, the dealer will promise you an amount, $XX for which he will help you bid for the COE. If the COE price falls below this level, you will have secured your COE. This package is realistic only if the promised bid amount is high enough. If the promised bid price is way below the current COE price, chances are such that you will not be able to get your COE. The dealer can also tell you to make additional payments in order for you to secure a COE.

Guaranteed COE without top-up

Under this scheme, the dealer will promise you that you will get your COE within a fixed period of time, usually three months. You can get your COE anytime within the three months. The beauty of this scheme is such that your car price is fixed, and you will definitely get your car. A much recommended scheme to adopt.

Guaranteed COE with COE rebate at $XX

This scheme is commonly offered by the authorized distributors. The scheme is the similar as the "Guaranteed COE without top-up", but there is an additional clause built into it, the "COE rebate" clause.

The COE rebate is the amount that car dealer have to refund you when the price of the COE they give you below a certain amount, $XX.

Eg,	The dealer promise you a COE rebate level of $10,000. He secures the COE for you at $8,000. He will then have to refund you $2,000.

This scheme ensures a very fair deal for the buyer when the COE price plunges after the buyer has made the vehicle booking. However, unexpected COE dips are rare occurances.

Immediate Delivery

Under this scheme, the buyer usually gets a Cat E COE and will be able to get his vehicle delivered within two weeks. This scheme is for those in urgent need of the vehicle. The buyer will have to fork out more money for the vehicle because the Cat E COE will cost more than the corresponding category COE (Cat A or B). Cat E COE are transferable, therefore some dealers keep a stockpile of them to meet urgent buyers' need for a COE.

However, it is essential to note that the value of the Cat E COE will be pegged to the corresponding category COE value when deregistering your vehicle.

Eg,	You purchase a Cat E COE to register for a 1000cc motor car, the value will be pegged to that of a Cat A COE for the same month. When you decide to deregister the car, the scrap value is pro-rated with the unused portion of the Cat A COE instead of the Cat E COE.