We always recommend checking with your embassy, a clearing agent in Singapore or the authorities in Singapore to ensure you have up to date information on the rules and regulations.
The information here is for guidance purposes only and should not be used as hard and fast rules.
Only vehicles that are less than 3 years of age may be imported and registered for use inSingapore. A surcharge of $10,000 is payable for each imported used car registered inSingapore.
The age of a used vehicle is reckoned from the date of its first registration in a foreign country. For example, if your car was first registered on 16 September 2002, it would be deemed to be 3 years old on 15 September 2005. If it is not possible to ascertain the first registration date of the vehicle, the age of your car will be reckoned from the first day of its year of manufacture.
Other technical requirements to take note of:
Compliance with Road Traffic Act Rules All imported cars must comply with the Road Traffic (Motor Vehicles, Construction & Use)Rules and Road Traffic (Motor Vehicles, Lighting Rules) and Road Traffic (MotorVehicles, Seat Belt) Rules.
Registration Inspection After the pre-requisite importation documents for your car have been submitted to LTA for verification and clearance, your car will be required to pass an inspection at any LTA authorised inspection centres before it can be registered. For authorised motor traders, once the model of the car has been approved, subsequent imported units of the same model need not be inspected.
Safety Glass All safety glass fitted onto your car must meet one of the recognised international standards e.g. ECE, DOT, BS, JIS, etc. The safety glass must meet the following requirements: (i) Not less than 70% light transmittance for front windscreen and front side window glasses. (ii) Not less than 25% light transmittance for rear windscreen and rear side window glasses. (iii) The glass of the front windscreen fitted to a motor vehicle shall not be made of a material or be of a design such as to prevent, obstruct or interfere with transmission of signals between an in-vehicle (IU) unit installed in such vehicle and any ERP facility. Windscreens that contain metallic oxide coating or are designed with defroster are known to have caused such interference.
Exhaust Emission Standards The National Environment Agency (NEA) requires all petrol-driven vehicles to be registered in Singapore to comply with the exhaust emission standards as specified in the European Union (EU) Directive 96/69/EEC i.e. Euro II standards. Evidence of your car’s compliance with the exhaust emission standards will have to be submitted to theLTA. The following documents are accepted as evidence of compliance with the exhaust emission standards. i) A letter of certification from the vehicle manufacturer that the car complies with the Euro II emission standards. ii) The EEC Certificate of Conformity issued by the vehicle manufacturer for the car. iii) Get your car tested and certified by any of LTA/NEA recognised vehicle test laboratories (listed in Annex A). The laboratories are required to issue a certificate of compliance and test report in the format specified atAnnexes B and C. Alternatively, evidence of compliance with the exhaust emission standards will be waived if it has been registered as a new car in a foreign country which adopts the same or higher exhaust emission standards as Singapore (at the time of its registration as a new car in Singapore).
Right-hand DriveOnly right-hand drive cars are allowed to be registered for use in Singapore.
Safety belts Your car must be fitted with approved front and rear safety belts. The safety belt and the safety belt anchorage points must meet recognised international standards (e.g. ECE standard, British standard) and labels must be mounted in the car.
Modifications to Car You are advised to consult the car manufacturer and seek approval from LTA before carrying out any modification to your car. Such modifications must be approved by the car manufacturer. In addition, the modification work has to be carried out by either the manufacturer or an agent authorised by the manufacturer. The vehicle manufacturer or the authorised agent must certify that the modification is done according to the procedures and requirements set out by the manufacturer.
Asbestos-free Brake and Clutch The National Environment Agency (NEA) requires all newly registered vehicles to have asbestos-free brake and clutch linings. The requirement is gazetted under the PoisonsAct by NEA.
CFC-free air-conditioners The National Environment Agency (NEA) requires the air-conditioners installed in all newly-registered vehicles to use CFC-free refrigerant
Use of Hydrocarbon (HC) refrigerants in vehicle air-conditioning systems The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) would like to inform you that with effect from1 April 2012, the use of Hydrocarbon (HC) refrigerants in vehicle air-conditioning systems shall be disallowed. For more details, you may wish to refer to SCDF’s circular at http://www.scdf.gov.sg/content/scdf_internet/en/buildingprofessionals/publications_and_circulars.html
High Intensity Discharge (HID) HeadlampsWith effect from 1 January 2010, the LTA will require all newly registered vehicles fitted with High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlamps to be equipped with an auto-levelling feature.
Speedometer Your car must be able to permanently indicate/display vehicular speed in units of kilometres per hour (kmh).
If you are able to comply with the above, please see additional steps below: Obtain the following from the agent or car manufacturer: (a) Document to prove that the car is new or has never been registered for use (e.g.manufacturer’s invoice, V308 Registration Document issued by Dept. ofTransportation, London, etc.). For a used car, the vehicle registration document issued by the foreign authority is required. The engine and chassis numbers, inclusive of the prefix and suffix, engraved on the car must also be identical to those appearing on the vehicle registration documents. If the car has been registered as a new vehicle in a foreign country which adopts a higher or equivalent safety and emission standard as Singapore; de-registered within fourteen days of its registration in the foreign country for export to Singapore and arrived inSingapore within three months from its de-registration in a foreign country, the original registration, de-registration and export documents from the foreign country must be submitted for verification. (b) Document to prove that the car complied with the exhaust emission standards as specified in the previous section. (c) Technical specifications of the car issued by the manufacturer if it is a new make or model previously not imported into Singapore (e.g. technical catalogue, etc.)
For further steps, please see the source of this information at www.onemotoring.com
