Market Watch: These Used Cars In Singapore Have Very Unique Specifications

It’s quite safe to say that post-pandemic car shopping hasn’t been the most exciting affair. Microchip shortages and accompanying price hikes drive manufacturers to think of ways to restrategise. In Singapore’s new car context, some brands opted to dip their toes in the more “wallet-friendly” Cat A COE category. Tesla and BYD are key examples in the EV sphere, which makes us ponder - do cars offered in less common specs belong to the more desirable bunch?

Before interest in EVs peaked, manufacturers had to differentiate either by tweaking powertrains or go more than skip deep to repackage, all for the sake of serving a different customer base. Even a nameplate as familiar as the Volkswagen Golf was offered as a GTI Cabriolet for at least five years from 2012. Although we did not see many plying local roads, we acknowledged efforts made by VW to expand the buffet spread.

What other specifications of familiar models flew under the radar? Let’s find out.

2017 BMW 2 Series Active Tourer PHEV

Wait, isn’t the Active Tourer the most practical hauler of the 2 Series bunch? Older variants came with a 7-seater option. Some were even propelled by a diesel motor. Latest versions came with turbo petrols, but it is this niche predecessor that went against the grain. A plug-in Hybrid 225xe iPerformance M Sport felt like nothing else back in 2017.

Brake regeneration wasn’t available and charging of the 7.6kWh battery understandably wasn’t as fast, but more than 200hp and 385Nm of torque means less effort is needed to uncork its potential. Only two examples remain in the used car market.

2018 Hyundai Kona Manual

On one end of Hyundai Kona’s forward-thinking spectrum you have the self-charging hybrid and electrified versions. But special mention needs to be placed on how it started life in Singapore. 2018: 2 variants were offered - a higher-spec all-wheel drive 1.6-litre turbo (already considered oddball by 2018’s standards) sat beside a 6-speed manual, 3 cylinder 1.0-litre turbo.

Mind, this is no peasant-spec Kona - it came with Apple CarPlay / Android Auto and as pointed out in our feature back in 2022, came with “a full-suite of safety assistance systems (for the era), automatic xenon headlights/wipers, curtain airbags”.

A new manual family car was rare back in 2018, unless you were willing to dip your toes in the performance hatch route…

2018 Range Rover Evoque Convertible

Ad claims that there are less than five chopped-top Range Rover Evoques in Singapore, which makes this as rare as hen’s teeth. Production ran for only two years (2017 - 2018). Well, when viewed from a glass half full standpoint, not many luxury manufacturers had the guts to transform pipe dreams (from its 2012 concept) into reality.

This in itself deserves praise. Nissan tried it with the Murano from 2011 to 2014 with mixed reactions, understandably. The SUV / crossover craze hasn’t subsided, but they are mostly in raised coupe form factors. Who’s up for another, perhaps electrified, attempt?

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