The Certificate of Entitlement (shortly known as COE) is a digital certificate that gives you the right to own and drive a car in Singapore. Every COE lasts 10 years, after which you’ll have the options to either renew it for another five or 10 years depending on your vehicle category and its statutory lifespan, or deregister your vehicle.

COEs in Singapore can be broken down into 5 different categories according to your vehicle class — ranging from Category A to Category E. To obtain a COE, you’ll need to participate and win in a bidding process known as the COE Open Bidding Exercise. This digital auction happens on the first and third Monday of every month and lasts for 3 working days until Wednesday (if there’s no public holiday in between).

It’s no secret that car ownership in Singapore is a costly affair, mainly due to COE prices. This is causing more and more Singaporeans to rethink the idea of owning a car and try out alternatives like carsharing and short-term car rental which offer similar benefits without any huge financial commitments, and in the long run help them save more.

For instance, when you rent a GetGo car, you’ll only need to pay for the time and mileage that you drive. Everything else that may be a hassle to car owners — like COE, insurance, car maintenance, season parking, road tax and even fuel — are all taken care of by us.

Ultimately, the more suitable option between car ownership and carsharing depends on your personal needs.

To learn more about renting a car with GetGo, visit our comprehensive guide.