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- Drivers in Singapore have to bid for a Certificate of Entitlement to own a car there.
- The city-state requires those certificates to control how many cars operate in the country.
- The cost can skyrocket when demand is high, and is now worth more than $76,000.
If you want to own and drive a car in Singapore, you're going to have to pay up: Drivers have to now shell out a whopping $76,000-plus to get the right to buy a vehicle there.
Since 1990, drivers in Singapore have had to bid for a Certificate of Entitlement, or a quota permit, in order to operate a vehicle there. It's a system meant to limit the number of cars on the road, minimizing traffic and emissions. Those licenses are sold in auctions by the government in limited quantities, depending on how many older cars are in operation.
Over the years, that 10-year certificate to buy a car has run drivers thousands of dollars, often more than the value of the vehicle they're looking to own.
That certificate is now upwards of a record 146,002 Singapore dollars, about $106,000, for an SUV, Reuters reported. For context, that's about the price of four hybrid Toyota Camry mid-size sedans.
It costs at least 76,000 Singapore dollars just to own a smaller vehicle, or what's considered a standard Category A car. Categories are based on engine capacity or power output.
The expense comes on top of the cost of the car itself, making vehicle ownership in Singapore unobtainable for many.
With demand recovering post-COVID, more and more citizens are looking to drive in Singapore, which is small enough to drive across in about an hour.
Singapore tied with New York as the two top most expensive cities in the world last year.