Car rental in Singapore: daily, weekly, monthly or long term?

The question is how long you need the car. Daily and weekend rental is for a trip, a visitor, or the days your own car is in the workshop. Weekly rental covers a fortnight of visiting relatives or a short project. Monthly and long term rental, from three months to a couple of years, is for a work posting, a family that has outgrown its car, the wait for COE prices to settle, or the gap before a purchase.

There is a fourth kind that looks similar and is not: private hire rental, where a car is rented to drive for a ride hailing platform. That is a commercial arrangement with its own licensing and insurance. SYRF rents for personal use only.

The cost per day falls. A daily rate is priced for the risk and the turnaround of a short hire, so keeping a daily rental for months is the most expensive way to have a car. Monthly rates are set on the assumption that the car stays with you, and the longer the term, the lower the monthly figure tends to be.

What is inside the rate also changes. Short hires usually bundle insurance with an excess you pay per claim. Monthly rental moves the ownership costs into the rate: with SYRF that is third party insurance, road tax, scheduled servicing and roadside assistance, with no mileage cap. Fuel, ERP, parking, fines and repairs to the car after damage stay with you.

The paperwork grows with the term too. A daily hire needs a licence and a card. A monthly rental needs identification, a licence accepted in Singapore, proof of address and, for work pass holders, a pass with enough validity left, and a deposit.

Answer these and the kind of rental usually answers itself.

• Is the end date within two weeks? Daily or weekly hire, from a company that does short terms.
• Do you need the car for three months or more, with a rough end date? Monthly rental, with a term that matches.
• Is the end date unknown? Monthly rental on a shorter term you can extend, rather than a long one you may need to leave.
• Will you drive for a ride hailing platform? Private hire rental, which is a different product with different insurance.
• Are you deciding between renting for years and buying? Do the sum with current COE prices before choosing.

SYRF rents cars by the month only, on terms from three months to two years, for personal use. There is no daily or weekly hire. If you need a car for a weekend, a daily rental company is the right call and we would rather say so than sign you up for three months.

For a term of three months or more, the usual rates are $1,500 to $2,200 a month for Japanese and Korean cars and $1,900 to $3,000 for continental ones, depending on engine size. Each car page shows its range.

Two rental quotes with the same monthly figure can be very different products. Ask these of any provider, whatever the term.

• Is the insurance third party or comprehensive, and what is the excess?
• Is there a mileage cap?
• What is the deposit, and when does it come back?
• Can the term be extended, and can it be ended early?
• Is road tax included, and who handles servicing?