COE Expiry Singapore: What Happens When Your COE Expires and How to Check It

Your car's COE is a 10-year licence to use the vehicle on public roads. When it expires, you cannot legally drive the car. You have three options — renew for another 5 or 10 years, deregister and collect the scrap value, or export the car — and which option makes financial sense depends heavily on the car's current condition, the Prevailing Quota Premium (PQP) at the time, and your driving needs.

Here is what to know before the expiry date arrives.

How to Check Your COE Expiry Date

The simplest way is through OneMotoring:

1. Go to onemotoring.lta.gov.sg
2. Select Vehicle → Enquire Vehicle Details
3. Enter your vehicle plate number
4. Singpass login required; the result shows your COE expiry date, category, and current PARF rebate value

The expiry date is also printed on your vehicle registration card (the blue card). If your car has had its COE renewed, the renewal date is the reference point, not the original registration date.

You can check any vehicle's COE expiry date, not just your own — the vehicle details enquiry is open for any plate number, though PARF-related financial details require Singpass to view.

What Happens If Your COE Expires Without Renewal

An expired COE means the car is no longer authorised to be on public roads. You cannot drive it, cannot sell it as a running vehicle, and must either renew or deregister it.

The LTA typically sends reminder letters in the months approaching expiry. However, the renewal decision takes time — if you are planning to renew, the process can begin up to three months before the expiry date. Leaving it to the final weeks is not advisable because you need to arrange financing (if taking a loan for renewal) and make the actual payment via OneMotoring.

If the COE expires without action taken, the vehicle must be deregistered. You lose the ability to renew at that point.

Your Three Options at COE Expiry

Option 1: Renew for 5 Years

You pay 50% of the current Prevailing Quota Premium (PQP) to keep the car for another five years. As of early March 2026, the Cat A PQP is approximately S$106,541, making a 5-year Cat A renewal cost roughly S$53,270.

Key constraint: a 5-year renewal is terminal. Once done, the car cannot be renewed again. At the end of the 5-year period (when the car is 15 years old), it must be deregistered. No further PARF rebate applies because the PARF was forfeited when you made the renewal payment.

A 5-year renewal makes the most sense if the car is in reasonable mechanical condition, you don't want to commit to another 10 years, or you expect your circumstances (family size, work location) to change significantly within a decade.

Option 2: Renew for 10 Years

You pay 100% of the current PQP — for Cat A, that is approximately S$106,541 as of early 2026. This is a substantial outlay, though unlike buying a new car, the money goes entirely to the COE rather than the car's purchase price.

The significant advantage: a 10-year renewal is itself renewable. At the end of the 10 years (when the car is 20 years old), you can renew again for another 5 or 10 years. Theoretically, a well-maintained car can be kept indefinitely under successive 10-year renewals, provided you're willing to continue paying PQP.

However, the road tax surcharge for vehicles older than 10 years increases by 10% per year of age, up to a maximum 50% surcharge. A 10-year renewal on a 13-year-old car means paying the standard road tax rate plus 30% extra. This ongoing running cost is often underestimated when comparing renewal against buying new.

Option 3: Deregister (Scrap or Export)

Deregistering means surrendering the vehicle and collecting the PARF rebate plus the pro-rated COE refund for remaining months. If the car is at exactly 10 years with no time left on the COE, the COE rebate component is zero — you receive only the PARF portion.

Export is an alternative to local scrap. Depending on the car's make and model, an export dealer may offer more than a local scrap yard because the vehicle's body value is higher in overseas markets. Japanese and German makes tend to command the strongest export premiums.

COE Category B: What Makes a Cat B Car

Category B covers cars with an engine displacement greater than 1,600cc, brake horsepower exceeding 130bhp, or electric vehicles with a power output above 110kW. This includes most luxury sedans, larger SUVs, and high-performance EVs.

The historically unusual fact in early 2026: Cat B premiums (S$105,001 at the second February 2026 exercise) have fallen below Cat A (S$106,501). This is a crossover that almost never happens — Cat B has traditionally commanded higher premiums because luxury car buyers are less price-sensitive. The gap has closed because mass-market demand for affordable EVs and smaller cars has pushed Cat A higher while Cat B demand softened slightly.

If you hold a Cat B car approaching expiry, the PQP you pay for renewal is the Cat B PQP — which was approximately S$115,938 as of early March 2026, still meaningfully higher than Cat A despite the spot price crossover, because PQP is a three-month moving average.

Planning Around COE Expiry

The financially optimal approach is to start evaluating your options at least six to twelve months before expiry, not three months. This is because the renewal decision interacts with several variables that need time to model:

• Current PQP vs. expected PQP movement — there is no reliable way to predict short-term PQP, but if you wait for a "dip," the PQP may go higher instead
• Car's mechanical condition — independent inspection at year 9 helps you decide if the car can realistically serve another 5–10 years without major repairs
• PARF rebate forfeiture — once you renew, your PARF is gone. For a 9-year-old car under the old schedule, that could be 50–55% of ARF — a real cash value you're surrendering permanently
• New car depreciation comparison — post-Budget 2026, new cars have near-zero PARF terminal value, which changes the buy-new math significantly compared to even two years ago

The Singapore COE Navigator includes a side-by-side renewal vs. new-car comparison framework that works through the full cost of each option using the current PQP rates and post-2026 PARF rules — so the decision is based on numbers specific to your car, not generic advice.