Paper value of a car

A recent search for a car by a friend of mine sets me thinking about the effect of paper value of a car and the value of the car itself.

For those who do not know what paper value is all about, it is simply the amount the authorities will pay you if your car is deregistered before it is 10 years old. Anything more that that means the car value is only its body value, which the car dealers will pay for.

There are 3 factors that determines the paper value of your car:-

COE
ARF
Body

1. COE

It adds up to the value of car as longs the car is not more than 10 years old because by then the value is $0. The formula is simple

COE x number of years left/10

So if you either sell or deregister your car say in 5 years, the value of your COE is then 1/2 of what you paid. This amount adds up to the paper value of your car. In this instance, the higher your COE value, the more the paper value is

2. ARF

This is the registration fee aka tax you pay for you car. Depending on when the car was registered, the ARF can vary. At the end of 10 years, the authorities will pay you a certain amount to compensate for your loss, called the PARF

Same rules here. The longer you use the car, the less the PARF. This link has details on what your PARF formula is.

To have both the COE and PARF rebates calculated for you, go here

3. Body

This depends on what type of car it is. Normally, the more expensive the car is, the more body value it has.

So when you buy plan to buy a car with higher COE and ARF, regardless if it is new or 2nd hand, it will mean the returns you'll get will be higher. That sound good right?

But for those who do not know, the depreciation value is tight directly to the two of them. Depreciation value is the amount of money you'll lose every year. So higher COE and ARF means higher depreciation value.

So forget about the COE and ARF when you buy a car. Take note of the depreciation value instead because at the end of it all, that is what you stand to lose.

New Canberra station (NS12) of the NS Line

As mentioned in my earlier post, there will be a new Canberra station, the missing NS12 of the North South Line.

It is now confirmed by the Transport Minister, Lui Tuck Yew in a few news report

More new MRT lines to be built by 2030 - Straits Time

MRT network size to double by 2030 - AsiaOne

S'pore to have two new MRT lines by 2030 - Channel News Asia

Plans to build two new MRT lines by 2030 - InSing


UPDATE: 

Below is the latest LTA Masterplan where the NS12 is mentioned a couple of times

Tracking item with SingPost

I am currently waiting for a shipment from overseas and when I tried to track the item on SingPost website, it resulted in

REGISTERED ARTICLE / SMS MAIL/ SMARTPAC STATUS

Sorry, there are too many request to the service at the moment, please try again later. We apologize for the inconvenience caused.

What's up SingPost? Is their system poorly maintained? Or do they have more items than they can handle?

So I went to SpeedPost and the results were even more amazing. Since they cannot find my tracking number in their system, it instead gave a different tracking number that is in the system and I can view the details and even enter in my email address for notification.

Amazing.

International shipping

Shopping online at overseas sites is not really something that is foreign to me (pun intended) but most of the time, the shipments are arranged by the seller and I just need to pay accordingly.

However this is the first time that I actually did quite a bit of research on how to ship something back home and it was educational.

For one, shipping with well known couriers like DHL Express, UPS and FedEx can be very expensive as they provide a premium service, starting from picking the item up and delivering them right to the door. The items can also be tracked online with a tracking number assigned to each delivery. 

They are also expensive because they charge base not just by weight but also volumetric weight, whichever is higher. Volumetric weight is a weight calculation base on the size of the item using a certain formula. Therefore, shipping in a bulky item can be costly even if it do not weigh much.

One thing I learnt today is that DHL Express is a subsidiary of Deutsche Post (German Post). While DHL Express is a premium service hence expensive, there is another DHL service called DHL Paket.

DHL Paket however is handled by Deutsche Post directly (not by DHL Express) and is much cheaper. The reason is because they will not be involved every single step of the way. Instead, they handle the shipment within Germany and when the shipment reaches the destination country, they pass the responsibility to the local postal company. So for example, if the destination is Singapore, it will then be handled by, for example, SpeedPost once it reaches our shores. You will be provided with a tracking number and the items can be tracked by both postal service depending on where the items are currently.

The good thing about DHL Paket is that they do not based the shipping cost on volumetric weight but on a flat  maximum actual size and weight rate so long as your item can fit within the limits.

You can also opt for premium service that includes insurance for your item for up to 500 EUR (about 750 SGD) for an additional sum.

You can view the details of DHL Paket service to Singapore here. (Use Google translate)

The catch here is, DHL Paket only delivers from Germany. There are also other postal service that has similar arrangement, such as USPS which ships item from the US.

Also, it depends a lot on who is the local postal company that will be handling the item. With so many complaints about SpeedPost lately, shipping with DHL Paket and the like requires a serious consideration.