Drivers in Singapore face tough choices as the cost of certificates required for car ownership surges. At Richard Lim’s dealership, a one-year-old BMW X5 SUV sells for $352,000, a new Toyota Yaris Cross for $152,000, and a seven-year-old BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe for nearly $70,000. Lim said buying a car is "almost equivalent to buying a property." For 36 years, Singapore’s Certificate of Entitlement (COE) system has capped car ownership to avoid gridlock, with COEs auctioned twice monthly.

Recently, small-car COEs hit $101,000—up from $23,000 in 2020—while registration fees and congestion tolls add further costs. With 667,000 cars for 6.1 million people, Singapore contrasts sharply with Maryland’s 1.9 million vehicles for a similar population. Government incentives for electric vehicles, expiring end-December, have boosted demand and complicated purchase timing.

Transport economist Walter Theseira noted people "treat buying cars like timing the stock market." Cherry Hoang, a 56-year-old relocation consultant, paid $71,000 for her Nissan Qashqai seven years ago; extending its COE for five more years would cost ~$50,000, prompting her to consider renting instead. She said, "No matter how I do the sums, it just feels like it’s not worth it." Singapore’s public transport remains world-class, with trains every two minutes at peak hours.