🚗 Singapore transport calculator · v6

Car Dream Reality Check

This version keeps the tool intentionally simple: a rough but more honest decision aid for buying a car versus staying flexible with a mix of car-sharing and Grab. It now separates the maths engine from the UI, shows a live summary earlier, and labels the rough parts more clearly.

Winner Flexible mix
Buy car $0
Flexible $0
Gap $0
Rule-of-thumb result · Adjust any field to update

Choose a starting profile

This keeps lifestyle questions light. The selected profile shapes a small convenience weighting and prefills usage assumptions, but the main recommendation still comes from cost plus a modest fit adjustment.

EditableAuto savedShareable
Option A: Buy a car

Fixed access. You pay depreciation, loan interest, insurance, road tax, parking, petrol, servicing, and repair risk whether you drive much or not.

Option B: Flexible transport mix

Use car-sharing for the times you need car control, then use Grab for simpler point-to-point trips. The slider later reallocates the same transport demand between those two modes.

Grab assumption

1 Grab ride is treated as roughly 1 hour of private-car need. This is a simplification, not literal ride duration.

Full-day rental assumption

A full-day rental counts as 10 hours of car access to reflect real idle time during the day.

Output style

Break-even numbers are back-of-the-envelope guides, not a pricing engine.

Build your flexible transport basket

Estimate a normal week without owning a car. The slider does not add trips. It just shifts the same weekly demand toward more car-sharing or more Grab.

Each full day is treated as 10 hours of car need.

Use for work days or long errand days.

For groceries, family runs, short errands, meals.

Used as a rough proxy for point-to-point car demand.

Mix preference, same usage, different mode

Your baseline pattern stays fixed in total demand. The tilt slider just changes which share goes to Grab versus car-sharing.

Left: more car-sharing. Centre: baseline. Right: more Grab.

Your weekly transport basket will appear here.

Model the car you might buy

This still assumes a simple Singapore-style flat loan when financing is enabled. Used cars work fine too if you adjust price, exit value, and holding period.

Use car loan
Flat interest using P × R × N = I.
Ownership cost uses depreciation plus the average monthly interest burden, then adds monthly running costs. Instalment cashflow is not used as the core economics number.

Assumptions and settings

These are generic defaults. This step makes the hidden assumptions more explicit so the tool feels less like a black box.

Ownership costs
Car-sharing rates
Fuel is excluded from rental price

The defaults are deliberately conservative. Efficient bookers may pay less than shown here.

Advanced petrol estimate
Calculate petrol from km/day, km/L and petrol price
Executive summary
Flexible mix

Adjust the wizard to see the recommendation.

The recommendation balances monthly cost with a small profile-based convenience weighting.

Monthly difference$0
Grab break-even*0
Rental hour break-even*0h
Buy a car
$0
Ownership estimate
Flexible mix
$0
Car-sharing plus Grab
Difference
$0
Lower monthly option

Monthly cost comparison

Owning is compared against the flexible mix, with car-sharing and Grab shown inside the mix.

Car ownership breakdown

Monthly cost split for buying a car.

Flexible mix simulator

The simulator keeps the same baseline transport demand and reallocates it between rental hours and Grab rides.

Car-sharing0h/wk
Grab0/wk
Car cost/use-hour$0
Break-even commentary will appear here.

Qualitative trade-offs and assumptions

Owning a car

Best for spontaneous access, family logistics, keeping things in the car, multi-stop errands, client visits and late-night flexibility. You carry fixed cost and repair risk.

Flexible mix

Best when trips are planned and uneven. Use car-sharing when you need private-car control, then use Grab when parking and coordination are more annoying than the ride itself.

What this model simplifies

It does not fully model surge, waiting time, trip chaining, rain-day pain, parking search, or the emotional value of always having a car.

QuestionRule of thumb
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