6 Ways To Save On A Driver’s License in Singapore

Although Singapore is widely known for its crazy car prices, it doesn’t put off people from taking up driving licenses. For one, having a driving license can be very handy in a variety of situations, such as when travelling or for work.

The average price of getting a Class 3A driving license here stands between $2,000 to $3,000, but there are ways to do it cheaper. Here, we share a number of tips to help you optimise the money paid for getting a driving license in Singapore.

Go Private

Instead of going through the structured driving programs provided by the various driving schools, you can choose to go with a private instructor that would probably cause you less. While you definitely need to take your basic and theory tests in schools, the bulk of the cost of getting a driving license comes from taking the practical lessons.

Compared to doing it in a school, you can save up to $20 per lesson when you go through a private instructor. Taking into consideration that most people typically requires about 25 lessons, you actually save about S$500 for the entire term.

Take lessons during off-peak hours

If you have flexible work hours or are still studying, it is highly advised to take lessons during off-peak hours. The price difference between peak and off-peak hours is about S$8, so even if you can take about half the lessons during these hours, it can save you close to S$100 dollars.

Self-Study For Theory Lessons

While lessons for theory lessons are provided at the school. It is common knowledge that you can easily buy the book and self-learn. What’s more, it saves you time from going to and fro the school just to attend the lessons. There are now a number of mobile apps and online simulator where you can learn from, so save yourself the time and money and opt to self-study for the tests.

Consider Getting An Auto Car License Instead Of Manual

If you are taking up the license just so that you can drive in Singapore,  you might want to consider taking up the license for auto car instead of a manual car instead. This is because you can find an abundant of auto car these days, auto car is much easier to learn compared to a manual car.

How this translates into cash savings is that you will most likely require fewer practical lessons, which will then cost you less. Considering that most people require about 25 practical lessons to pass their manual car license, you might only need 18 to 20 lessons for the auto car. This simple choice alone can save you over S$500 if you opt to learn driving with a driving school.

Use A Credit Card To Help You Save Money

Since the average cost of getting a car license in Singapore is around $2,000, you can consider using a good miles credit card or cashback card to help you earn miles or cashback when you pay for it. Just using the right credit card that gives you a 5% flat rate rebate can already save you S$100 without doing much, not to mention that there are cards that rewards you with up to 10 percent in rebates. Whats more, a lot of credit cards offer attractive rebates on fuel, so its best to find a credit card that can serve you well past your driving lesson days.

Convert A Foreign License

If you are a foreigner who has driving experience in your home country and is considering taking up a car license here, listen up. Instead of going through the whole learning cycle again (and paying the full price) when you obviously don’t need to, consider converting your foreign car license to a local one.

The process is fairly easy – you need to still take the theory test in order to familiarise yourself with local rules and pass it. Once you passed the theory test, you can apply for a conversion using a copy of your foreign driving license. The processing fee for this is only S$50.64. Including the four theory lessons and the price of taking the theory test, doing it this way will cost you around S$500, which is far less than the S$2,000 average to go through the entire process of obtaining a license here.

Looking for a good credit card to help you save on driving lesson and fuel costs? Check out our results page of all the best credit cards below.

Read More:

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• What’s the Average Cost of Car Ownership in Singapore?
• Your Essential Guide to Buying a Used Car in Singapore
• Benefits of Green Loans and How To Apply For Them
• Car Subscription vs Car Ownership: Which Is More Affordable?

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