Luxury motoring doesn’t have to belong to the domain of the ultra-rich, even in Singapore as these selections from the CarBuyer Marketplace prove

SINGAPORE

How do you define a luxury car? It’s not just about the price of the car, but the way it drives, its interior appointments, how well it is constructed, and how much leading edge technology is packed into it. They come in all types, from SUVs to sedans to hatchbacks too, so there’s a type of luxury for every desire.

Luxury cars may seem out of reach to many of us in the middle class, but that’s not entirely true. The used car market offers an astonishing amount of variety as drivers trade up from luxury cars that they have simply got tired of owning and driving. 

Rising Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums are also making used car buys a more palatable choice than buying brand-new. The caveat is that many luxury cars in this price bracket are the tail end of the COEs, so don’t expect to keep them for long, or at least, budget for a COE renewal. Here is a selection of what we think are ultra-luxury cars that you can find on CarBuyer Marketplace for under S$100,000, or less than the price of a Category B COE today.

2006 Bentley Continental Flying Spur
COE Expiry: 02 Mar 2026
S$96,800

Own a proper Bentley for under S$100k! There’s little to fault with the Continental Flying Spur, and as far are luxury cars go, a Bentley is only one step down from a Rolls-Royce. Be prepared for a hefty road tax bill though, as the 6.0-litre, 12-cylinder engine is quite a behemoth. The brand has plans to go entirely electric within the decade, so these years are the last hurrah of the internal combustion engine in a Bentley sedan. 

2008 Porsche Cayenne
COE Expiry: 30 Sep 2027
S$96,800

Want a big SUV, sports car, and luxury driving experience all rolled into one? The Porsche Cayenne is where it’s at. There are a bunch of Cayennes on sale in the used car scene, with some rapidly approaching the end of their COE lifespans but example is good to go until 2027. The 3.6-litre V6 engine is a pretty dependable piece of hardware, but either way you do need to account for the fact that maintaining a Porsche isn’t a cheap affair.

2009 Audi Q5 2.0L TFSI Quattro
COE Expiry: 27 May 2029
S$89,502

A more down to earth luxury SUV can be has in the form of this Audi Q5. With a good six years left on the COE, it’s still a nicely understated family car that delivers plenty of comfort. It’s a couple of generations removed from the present Audi Q5 launched in 2021, bu the driving experience is still very similar. You could raise your budget a little and go for the big 2010 Audi Q7, which is in reality a reskinned Porsche Cayenne anyway. 

2013 Mercedes-Benz E250 Coupe
COE Expiry: 10 Nov 2023
S$58,800

Perhaps you don’t want to stray too far from the classic luxury sedan package. A Mercedes-Benz E-Class coupe does fit in nicely under the S$100k budget but this sporty car has just slightly over a year left on the COE.  There’s also this 2015 E200 sedan, for a little more but you do get two years out of it before the COE runs out. The Mercedes-Benz E-Class has been the quintessential luxury sedan of choice for plenty of people for decades, and it’s well within reach at less than S$100k if you shop smart.

2014 BMW 428i
COE Expiry: 26 Aug 2024
S$86,800

A BMW 4 Series coupe isn’t in the same league of luxury as a Bentley, but the road presence of the muscular 428i is undeniable. This example has very low mileage for its age and while it is no M4, it does offer classic BMW dynamics in a sporty, low-slung chassis that will still turn heads wherever you go. 

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