Malaysia
Singapore
Thailand
Planning a JB food trip but don’t own a car? You can now just rent one and drive across the Causeway yourself. GetGo has launched Drive to Malaysia (DTM), a new feature that lets users pick up eligible cars from locations around Singapore and drive them into West Malaysia.
So instead of squeezing into a crowded bus, waiting for a cross-border taxi, or dealing with traditional car rental counters, you can grab a GetGo, load up your shopping bags and head wherever you want in Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur and beyond.
There’s no deposit or mileage charge, which makes longer drives a little easier to plan. However, a 30% cross-border surcharge is added to the time charge.
For Select cars, this is capped at S$20 per day on weekdays and S$30 on weekends and public holidays. Plus cars have slightly higher caps of S$25 and S$35 respectively.
Bookings have to be at least 12 hours long and can run for up to 5 days, with reservations available up to 30 days in advance. At the moment, only Select and Plus vehicles are eligible, and they’ll be marked with a Malaysia badge in the GetGo app.
Before making a beeline for the Causeway, there are a few things to prepare. You’ll need a physical passport with at least 6 months’ validity, a physical driving licence, a NETS CashCard with at least S$10, and a physical Touch ’n Go card loaded with at least RM50. The Touch ’n Go card is needed for Malaysia’s cross-border charge, tolls and parking.
Your car must also have at least 3-quarters of a tank before leaving Singapore, and you’ll need to return it with at least half a tank. Only RON97 or higher fuel is allowed, and only registered drivers can get behind the wheel to drive a GetGo car to Malaysia.
You can cross through either Woodlands or Tuas, but don’t get too adventurous as the cars can only be driven within West Malaysia, so Thailand is out.
GetGo currently has around 200 DTM-eligible vehicles, with more potentially being added depending on demand. The company says nearly 2,000 existing users expressed interest during its beta sign-up, suggesting there’s clearly an appetite for a more flexible way to make that Singapore-Malaysia road trip.
