Page 1 of 1
Importing a Classic Car
Posted: Thu, 10 Mar 2016 1:22 pm
by slimbalato
I'm thinking of buying my Dads 1977 Jaguar XJ12 (mint condition)
Price is £5000 ($10,000) but it's probably worth twice that and I was wondering about importing it to Singapore.
A quick look appears to show that it would cost about 27k (working below)
Questions:
How will the LTA value the car?
Does anyone know an agent that can handle this kind of thing?
Do classics with limited use tend to have lower resale value?
Anyone have any idea what the value of this car might be after import?
Car 10000
Car: 20% of Open Market Value (OMV) 2000
10% of the relevant Prevailing Quota Premium 5000
Registration Fee 140
Additional Registration Fee (ARF) (100%) 10000
27140
Cheers
Re: Importing a Classic Car
Posted: Thu, 10 Mar 2016 2:49 pm
by sundaymorningstaple
Try this. You will only be able to drive it a MAXIMUM of 45 days a year. (28 days a year free and 17 additional days a year @$20/day).
https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/dam/ltaw ... ic-Car.pdf
Unless you are immigrating (and from your earlier posts I seriously doubt that-though I may be wrong), you might want to buy it and put it into a good storage facility at home for when you return. The cost will probably the the same or less and you probably won't get hit by a Black BMW like you will here.
Re: Importing a Classic Car
Posted: Thu, 10 Mar 2016 10:17 pm
by Strong Eagle
Taxes and fees are based upon the open market value, not what you paid for it. I don't know the formula for an older car but no doubt there is one.
You must add in all the additional fees to get the car into Singapore to the OMV. Shipping, insurance, inspections... one poster here has actually imported a late model motorcycle I think... a search may provide more information.
Re: Importing a Classic Car
Posted: Fri, 11 Mar 2016 9:23 am
by slimbalato
Yes, I understand it will be expensive but the thinking is, let's say it costs 30-40k to import, I keep it for 4 years and can then sell it for 100k then I'd say that's a worthwhile exercise.
I don't have any particular attachment to the car so it has to be a monetary no-brainer really.
Hence the questions on OMV and potential value.
Re: Importing a Classic Car
Posted: Fri, 11 Mar 2016 9:32 am
by PNGMK
I don't think you'll get that much on resale... have you had a look through the sgcarmart and others to see what older cars are selling for here?
Re: Importing a Classic Car
Posted: Fri, 11 Mar 2016 1:10 pm
by sundaymorningstaple
I'm afraid I'll have to agree with PNGMK. I don't reckon you'll get 2/3s of the original cost of getting on the road here. You might get a little more if it were a pristine XKS but even then I'm not impressed. Now if it were an XJC 6 or 12 it would be a different story. Those are collector's cars. Styling wasn't great by my reckoning, but other's feel otherwise, but their rarety makes them valuable.
Re: Importing a Classic Car
Posted: Mon, 24 Apr 2017 10:11 pm
by renorenoreno
Saw this website a few days ago while browsing the net.
www.classicmotors.sg . Seems like a specialist in classic vehicles. Says they can do classic car import too. Could give it a shot

Re: Importing a Classic Car
Posted: Fri, 27 Oct 2017 9:26 pm
by thuyhoa37
I have a plan to live and work in Singapore. I bought a car 2 years ago and I would like to bring it to Singapore. I wonder if I pay any taxes or transport fees? Thank you!
Re: Importing a Classic Car
Posted: Fri, 27 Oct 2017 10:17 pm
by Strong Eagle
thuyhoa37 wrote:I have a plan to live and work in Singapore. I bought a car 2 years ago and I would like to bring it to Singapore. I wonder if I pay any taxes or transport fees? Thank you!
Read this and you'll probably change your mind. Is it right hand drive? Here's just a few of the costs.
- Surcharge of S$10,000 for importation of a used vehicle.
- Around $50,000 for a Certificate of Entitlement to legally drive it on the road.
- And additional registration fee that averages 150 percent of the total value of the vehicle... think of $100,000 at least.
Never mind all the technical and inspection hurdles you must pass.
Do you get the idea that the gahmen is trying to dissuade you from importing a used vehicle?
https://www.onemotoring.com.sg/content/ ... tion_.html
https://www.onemotoring.com.sg/content/ ... es/Car.pdf
Re: Importing a Classic Car
Posted: Sat, 28 Oct 2017 4:12 pm
by thuyhoa37
Strong Eagle wrote:thuyhoa37 wrote:I have a plan to live and work in Singapore. I bought a car 2 years ago and I would like to bring it to Singapore. I wonder if I pay any taxes or transport fees? Thank you!
Read this and you'll probably change your mind. Is it right hand drive? Here's just a few of the costs.
- Surcharge of S$10,000 for importation of a used vehicle.
- Around $50,000 for a Certificate of Entitlement to legally drive it on the road.
- And additional registration fee that averages 150 percent of the total value of the vehicle... think of $100,000 at least.
Never mind all the technical and inspection hurdles you must pass.
Do you get the idea that the gahmen is trying to dissuade you from importing a used vehicle?
https://www.onemotoring.com.sg/content/ ... tion_.html
https://www.onemotoring.com.sg/content/ ... es/Car.pdf
Thanks for your support. Maybe I should sell the old car.
Re: Importing a Classic Car
Posted: Sun, 29 Oct 2017 12:47 am
by Strong Eagle
You should know that all new cars on the road also pay additional registration fees of 140 percent of open market value, and must get a COE as well. So, a car that might cost you $25,000 to drive in another country can easily cost you more than $100,000 in Singapore.
There is a lot of work to getting a car imported. We had a member here who did import a motorcycle. What you need to figure out is your total costs and decide whether you are better off importing it, storing it, selling it, or buying a car here, or no car at all.
Re: Importing a Classic Car
Posted: Tue, 07 Nov 2017 7:18 pm
by jagermeister
Just a heads up that you’ll get all the stares in the world on the road for driving a rare car ya. It’s not you, it’s just us.
Re: Importing a Classic Car
Posted: Thu, 07 Mar 2019 7:26 pm
by PNGMK
An issue in the woodpile might be the NEA. They screwed collectors of "old" bikes over recently with a forced COE deal and I expect they may look at cars next.
NEA's definition of an old old bike is pre 2003.