I recently switched trucks. Went from a 2006 Dodge Quad Cab to the 2017 Ford F-150 XLT XTR 302A Supercrew Shortbox. It felt like the right time to make a change as the family was growing and having a proper crew cab for some more space in the interior seemed like the right choice. In this article I will talk about what I was looking for and why I picked this truck and some of the useful tips and tricks there are with the F-150.
Why This Truck?
I was looking for several things specific to what I wanted and I have listed them in an order that is generally more important to less important.
Large seating room in the back. The Supercrew F-150 has loads of room a the back and I have 3 children who are into the school age now, so piling into the back with backpacks and child seats takes up a lot of room.
Aluminum body. Less opportunity for rust to set in. I had this issue with my last truck. For a few reasons really. I’m not that diligent in washing my vehicle, I live in a climate where road salt is used, and I park in a heated garage where that salt can just eat away with the moisture from melting snow and ice.
XLT trim. This is only the 2nd lowest trim package they offer, but it is the highest trim package that still offers 6 seats (see below). It is also a lot more reasonable in price.
6 seats. This is related to the XLT trim, but we occasionally use that additional seat in the front middle. When you don’t need the seat, the back rest folds down for an arm console that has a storage area with flip up lid and there are also 2 cup holders. There are an additional 2 cup holders that can be made available on the floor if you need.
302A package. This is the top luxury package available on the XLT. Lots of little things such as:
Heated seats
Large console screen
Sync3 infotainment screen that supports Apple CarPlay
Remote start
LED lighting in the truck bed
400W 110V plugin in the front
Shortbox. Only a 5.5′ box, but I don’t need that much room (stores occasional work supplies, load of dirt or bark mulch, and hockey gear). This kept the truck around the same length as my Dodge Quad Cab so it fits in the garage the same way.
Has the tailgate step as well.
White – I find it easier to keep clean and not show scratches compared to black.
Better gas mileage than before. I was driving the Dodge Hemi so gas mileage was worse, but I don’t put enough mileage on for it to really matter. I always could have found a 3.6L pentastar in a Dodge too for better mileage.
What Else Is In It
I wasn’t particular about the engine, but when looking used there are a lot of the 3.5L Ecoboost engines out there, so that is what I ended up with. Mine has that auto stop/start technology, so often while sitting at traffic lights, it will turn the engine off until I’m ready to go again.
In the 2017’s, they started putting in a 10-speed transmission. Took a while to get used to when I started driving as it likes to shift a lot around town. I notice the first shift into 1st gear is a bit hard in the morning too.
I also installed the Truxedo LoPro QT tonneau cover. I had this on my Dodge as well and I loved it. Lifetime warranty and only has one release mechanisms on the left hand side, so very easy to get off. I notice on my Ford that the end gate is a bit tight to get closed, but apparently it wears in after a bit.
I have not decided on where to put my cell phone in the vehicle either. I typically use the vent mount to the right of the steering wheel, but in this truck the shifter is there and blocks the view of the cell phone as it is so close to that vent.
Large back seat area.Large display, heated seats, 110V plugin.Cupholders in flip down arm rest of the 6th seat.Lots of options on the dashPower port for the rear seating area.
I have had issues with my garage door not wanting to close depending on the time of day. I have a a north facing garage door and depending on the time of year and time of day, the sun can shine on the door sensors and interfere with them.
The door sensors are the little sensors that are attached near the bottom of the door rails. They are a pair and point at each other. If anything is between the sensors, then it will block the garage door from closing. On my opener, the door won’t even try to close or if it was closing and something got between the sensors, it would go back up. The light on the garage door unit flashes three time until the issue is resolved.
My brother-in-law has recently returned from living in France for the past decade. He earned his PhD in Canada before moving abroad and working in Labs in Nice, France and Monaco. He has over 15 years of experience in scientific research, publishing & peer-review for internationally recognized journals and teaching in the Medical and Biological Sciences.
Now living in Victoria, Canada, he is has launched his own website, S.K. Parks Consulting. He provides a variety of services such as:
I was recently helping someone switch their phone plan over to Koodo. This involved putting in their new SIM card, registering an online account, and swapping out their new Koodo phone number with their previous number from their old provider.
This is a typical activity when switching phone companies. When you sign up in store, they often take care of this, but with Koodo online signups, you have to do it on the web.
An Issue Though
To swap your number, you login to Koodo Self Serve and click Mobile services. On this screen you will have an option called Manage your phone number, click on Manage.
At this point, we received a warning message at the top of the screen.
You are not able to change your number at this time
Oops! You can’t change your phone number within 14 days of activating or renewing a phone.
Error message displaying on Koodo manage phone number page.
Not Really an Issue
Well that is really annoying if you can’t get your old number of right away. But it turns out, you can still change your number. That error message is either referring to something else or is a bug in their online system.
Simply select the option Transfer your phone number and click Next.
On the next screens you can just input your information as requested.
It will say it may take up to 2 business days, but the number switches I did (three of them now) were finished within 10 minutes.
So luckily what appears to be a potential issue is really nothing.
I read this book during my last holiday and was quite entertained.
Basically, the author writes about his experiences being the first man to circumnavigate the globe on his own power. This means using his own strength. No sailing, no motorized vehicles, etc. He cycles, walks, and rows around the northern hemisphere.
Below is a paid link to purchase the book.
The book is interesting not just because of the physical trials and setbacks that he incurs, but also the relationships he has with his teammate and fiance (who later joins him on his travels).
I won’t talk much more about it here, but I definitely recommend reading it. It is an easy read with lots of interesting tales and trivia from around the world.
By the way, Colin Angus is from Vancouver, Canada.
I have been messing around with my Nintendo DS again and trying to write some simple programs. Hello World that can be dragged and dropped on the screen somewhere is as far as I have advanced.
I have been learning the A* algorithm however. I have implemented it in Java and now I am working on C/C++ versions. I think I will also try to do a demo version in javascript to what how it works visually.
I unfortunately broke a piece of the tailpiece off on my mandolin the other day. I was restringing it and was putting on some old strings (they hadn’t been used) I purchased a few years ago. I don’t know if that was the problem or not, but one the little pegs in the tailpiece that the eye of the string holds onto snapped off.
I didn’t know what to do, so I phoned around to a number of places in Calgary and no one wanted to deal with it. Replacement tailpieces were selling upwards of $100 on eBay so that didn’t look very good either.
I ended up phoning Long & McQuade here in Calgary (Calgary Long & McQuade) and they said to bring it by and they would take a look. Anyhow, I walked in and they have a replacement tailpiece of the exact same shape and size for $20. I couldn’t believe my luck. It was the same size as my original so I could use my Kentucky tailpiece cover on it as well. It wasn’t even stored in the back. It was a plastic wrapped item on a display shelf.
I own a Kentucky KM200S teardrop style mandolin. I purchased it back around 1995 or so. It is a pretty nice little instrument so I want to keep it in good repair.
Replacing A Mandolin Tailpiece
Replacing it is really simple:
Remove the cover of the tailpiece.
Remove any strings connected to the tailpiece. Either remove them from the Mandolin completely or loosen them enough that you can slip the string eyelets off of the tailpiece pins.
Remove the screw for the knob you connect your strap to.
Remove the 3 screws holding the tailpiece onto the bottom of the mandolin.
Hold the new tailpiece in place where the old one was. The angle of the mandolin tailpiece might not quite be right, so bend it a little so that it is touching flat on the bottom side of the mandolin and the on the top.
My old tailpiece had a piece of felt along the edge that the strings dug into, but the new one didn’t have this. I removed the felt and superglued it onto the new tailpiece.
Replace the 3 screws to hold the taipiece on.
Replace the strap knob and screw.
String up your guitar and put your tailpiece cover back on.
Overall, it was super simple, only cost me $20, took half and hour of work including the restringing, and I was able to keep on my original tailpiece cover.
This blog has been offline for a number of years, but I have decided to start back up again. Mainly to just keep up with my writing skills and document more of my personal experiences.
I will put back up some of my older and more popular posts from the past. Likely some may need some updating.
I recently set up Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition and OpenGL on my Windows XP and Windows Vista computers. I had a few issues, but it is working now. I have a step by step tutorial below and also outlined some of the issues I had.
This is also a guide on just setting up your development environment on Windows for OpenGL programming. If you are like me, I am starting out doing game programming and want to add OpenGL graphics.
2. Install Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5
This is the equivalent to the Windows? Server 2003 SP1 Platform SDK that Visual C++ 2005 users installed. It contains the main OpenGL libraries. You can download the Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 and .NET Framework from the Microsoft website.
The installation will take a little while.
3. Install the GLUT Libraries
These are additional libraries that come in handy down the road. Some code samples you find may use them, so I find it best to just have them around right off the bat.
GLUT itself is a bit old, but there is another one called freeglut that is a little more actively maintained. I install both of them. Download freeglut from the freeglut SourceForge page. I download the original GLUT from Nate Robins’ site.
For both downloads, unzip them and do the following:
Copy all the .h files into the C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.1\Include\GL folder. This should be glut.h, freeglut.h, freeglut_ext.h, and freeglut_std.h.
Copy all the .lib files into the C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v6.1\Lib folder. This should be freeglut.lib and glut32.lib.
Copy all the .dll files into the C:\Windows\system32 folder. This should be freeglut.dll and glut32.dll.
4. Create Your First Project
Create a project in Visual C++ with whatever name you like and set the template as Win32 Project. Click OK.
Click Next on the following screen and you will be taken to Application Settings. Check on Empty Project and then click OK. Your new project has been created.
Declare the dependencies for your project.
Click on Project -> [project name] Properties.
Expand Configuration Properties.
In the Configuration dropdown, select All Configurations.
Select Linker -> Input.
In the Additional Dependencies field, enter in GlU32.Lib OpenGL32.Lib freeglut.lib glut32.lib. Then click OK.
5. Create Your First Source File
I recommend a .cpp file. I recommned downloading the source code from NeHe’s Lesson 2 and copying into the file you just created.
Press F7 to compile it and F5 to run it.
It should be working at this point. If not, post a comment and I will try and help out.
Problems Setting Up OpenGL and Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition
Character Set Error
When I try to compile the project, I get the following error:
------ Build started: Project: Test, Configuration: Debug Win32 ------Compiling…main.cppc:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(87) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [29]' to 'LPCWSTR' Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style castc:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(92) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [34]' to 'LPCWSTR' Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style castc:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(99) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [31]' to 'LPCWSTR' Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style castc:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(105) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [24]' to 'LPCWSTR' Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style castc:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(109) : error C2664: 'UnregisterClassW' : cannot convert parameter 1 from 'const char [7]' to 'LPCWSTR' Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style castc:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(111) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [28]' to 'LPCWSTR' Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style castc:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(147) : error C2440: '=' : cannot convert from 'const char [7]' to 'LPCWSTR' Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style castc:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(151) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [37]' to 'LPCWSTR' Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style castc:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(169) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [94]' to 'LPCWSTR' Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style castc:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(176) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [24]' to 'LPCWSTR' Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style castc:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(209) : error C2664: 'CreateWindowExW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [7]' to 'LPCWSTR' Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style castc:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(212) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [23]' to 'LPCWSTR' Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style castc:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(241) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [34]' to 'LPCWSTR' Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style castc:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(248) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [35]' to 'LPCWSTR' Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style castc:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(255) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [27]' to 'LPCWSTR' Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style castc:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(262) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [37]' to 'LPCWSTR' Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style castc:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(269) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [41]' to 'LPCWSTR' Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style castc:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(281) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [23]' to 'LPCWSTR' Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style castc:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(358) : error C2664: 'MessageBoxW' : cannot convert parameter 2 from 'const char [42]' to 'LPCWSTR' Types pointed to are unrelated; conversion requires reinterpret_cast, C-style cast or function-style castBuild log was saved at "file://c:\Documents and Settings\Neil Galloway\My Documents\Visual Studio 2008\Projects\Test\Test\Debug\BuildLog.htm"Test - 19 error(s), 0 warning(s)========== Build: 0 succeeded, 1 failed, 0 up-to-date, 0 skipped ==========
This can be fixed by doing the following:
Project -> [projectname] Properties
In the Configuration dropdown, pick All Configurations.
Expand Configuration Properties.
Select General.
Change the Character Set to be Use Multi-Byte Character Set.
The errors should go away the next time you compile.
Can’t Include glaux.h
The first time I compiled, I received the following error:
—— Build started: Project: Test, Configuration: Debug Win32 —— Compiling… main.cpp c:\documents and settings\neil galloway\my documents\visual studio 2008\projects\test\test\main.cpp(12) : fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: ‘gl\glaux.h’: No such file or directory Build log was saved at “file://c:\Documents and Settings\Neil Galloway\My Documents\Visual Studio 2008\Projects\Test\Test\Debug\BuildLog.htm”Test – 1 error(s), 0 warning(s) ========== Build: 0 succeeded, 1 failed, 0 up-to-date, 0 skipped ==========
This is because the glaux.h has not been added to the include folder. You can do this if you want, but the glaux.h library is old and out dated based on most user comments on the internet. A lot of the examples, especially from NeHe, do not even use the code inside it anymore. I can usually just comment out or remove the
#include
from the code and it will be fine.
Set Up Dependencies For The Project
When the dependencies are not there, I received the following error trying to compile:
------ Build started: Project: OpenGLTest, Configuration: Debug Win32 ------Compiling…WinMain.cppCompiling manifest to resources…Microsoft (R) Windows (R) Resource Compiler Version 6.0.5724.0Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.Linking…WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol _gluPerspective@32 referenced in function "void __cdecl ReSizeGLScene(int,int)" (?ReSizeGLScene@@YAXHH@Z)WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glLoadIdentity@0 referenced in function "void __cdecl ReSizeGLScene(int,int)" (?ReSizeGLScene@@YAXHH@Z)WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glMatrixMode@4 referenced in function "void __cdecl ReSizeGLScene(int,int)" (?ReSizeGLScene@@YAXHH@Z)WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glViewport@16 referenced in function "void __cdecl ReSizeGLScene(int,int)" (?ReSizeGLScene@@YAXHH@Z)WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glHint@8 referenced in function "int __cdecl InitGL(void)" (?InitGL@@YAHXZ)WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glDepthFunc@4 referenced in function "int __cdecl InitGL(void)" (?InitGL@@YAHXZ)WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glEnable@4 referenced in function "int __cdecl InitGL(void)" (?InitGL@@YAHXZ)WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glClearDepth@8 referenced in function "int __cdecl InitGL(void)" (?InitGL@@YAHXZ)WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glClearColor@16 referenced in function "int __cdecl InitGL(void)" (?InitGL@@YAHXZ)WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glShadeModel@4 referenced in function "int __cdecl InitGL(void)" (?InitGL@@YAHXZ)WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glEnd@0 referenced in function "int __cdecl DrawGLScene(void)" (?DrawGLScene@@YAHXZ)WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glVertex3f@12 referenced in function "int __cdecl DrawGLScene(void)" (?DrawGLScene@@YAHXZ)WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glBegin@4 referenced in function "int __cdecl DrawGLScene(void)" (?DrawGLScene@@YAHXZ)WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glTranslatef@12 referenced in function "int __cdecl DrawGLScene(void)" (?DrawGLScene@@YAHXZ)WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__glClear@4 referenced in function "int __cdecl DrawGLScene(void)" (?DrawGLScene@@YAHXZ)WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__wglDeleteContext@4 referenced in function "void __cdecl KillGLWindow(void)" (?KillGLWindow@@YAXXZ)WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__wglMakeCurrent@8 referenced in function "void __cdecl KillGLWindow(void)" (?KillGLWindow@@YAXXZ)WinMain.obj : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __imp__wglCreateContext@4 referenced in function "int __cdecl CreateGLWindow(char *,int,int,int,bool)" (?CreateGLWindow@@YAHPADHHH_N@Z) MSVCRTD.lib(crtexe.obj) : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol _main referenced in function ___tmainCRTStartupC:\devkitPro\projects\OpenGLTest\Debug\OpenGLTest.exe : fatal error LNK1120: 19 unresolved externalsBuild log was saved at "file://c:\devkitPro\projects\OpenGLTest\Debug\BuildLog.htm"OpenGLTest - 20 error(s), 0 warning(s)========== Build: 0 succeeded, 1 failed, 0 up-to-date, 0 skipped ==========
To set up OpenGL dependencies for a project, refer to the declaring the dependencies section in Create You First Project section above.
That should fix the problem, try recompiling now.
Change the Application Type
I have also experienced the following error when I compile:
------ Build started: Project: OpenGLTest, Configuration: Debug Win32 ------Linking…MSVCRTD.lib(crtexe.obj) : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol _main referenced in function ___tmainCRTStartupC:\devkitPro\projects\OpenGLTest\Debug\OpenGLTest.exe : fatal error LNK1120: 1 unresolved externalsBuild log was saved at "file://c:\devkitPro\projects\OpenGLTest\Debug\BuildLog.htm"OpenGLTest - 2 error(s), 0 warning(s)========== Build: 0 succeeded, 1 failed, 0 up-to-date, 0 skipped ==========
This was caused by not picking the right application type when I created the project. In this example, I chose Win32 Console Application at the startup. To change it, I did the following:
Click on Project -> [project name] Properties.
Expand Configuration Properties.
In the Configuration dropdown, select All Configurations.
Select Linker -> System.
Change the Subsystem field to be Windows (in the case it was Console or try the opposite if it already is Windows). Click OK.
My wife’s car has just about had it and I am looking at used vehicles in Calgary. It has been awhile since I purchased a vehicle. The last time I puchased one, it was through the old faithful Buy and Sell guide at the local gas station. This is my second time buying a used car in Calgary.
It has really changed now. I am using a number of different sites to find stuff now. Basically, it is the used listing sites and the car dealer sites for Calgary.
Don’t take my advice as I haven’t purchased yet, but I have done a fair bit of looking.
Used Listing Sites
The ones I am finding the best selection with right now are:
Calgary CraigsList – Not as flashy, but free and a ton of people use it.
BuySell Classifieds – This one isn’t free, but you get a ton of listings. It comes out on-line a bit later than the print version I believe, so it is harder to get a deal if you just look on-line and the vehicle goes quickly.
Auto Trader – Not as many pictures posted and it is the same story as the BuySell. Paper print comes out on Thursday and it is released on the Internet on the Monday.
Autohound – This is a Canadian site speciailizing in used vehicles through participating dealers. Very handy to sort and find what you are looking for. There appears to be some basic buying guarantees offered as well.
eBay – Old faithful is still a very useful tool and you can find deals all over. More U.S. vehicles are on here, but a lot are from dealerships so it is fairly legit. You only have to pay a small deposit and can pay the remainder when you go take a look at it.
classifiedextra.ca – These are the classifieds from select newspapers (Calgary Sun is one of them).
autocatch! – It has some interesting ways to search for vehicles.
autoHunter.ca – Few different search methods and you can browse be dealer as well.
Dealer Sites
Basically pull up the sites for any of the dealers that you know of that sell new or used vehicles. They will have tons of listings and contact information to use. I think you are less likely to find a deal here, but it is a good reference point and you might just find exactly what you are looking for in terms of the specs as well.
Getting The Car Book Value for Free
There is that handy little black book to get the trade-in values for used vehicles or what some people call the “trade in” price. Quite often you have to pay for this book periodically or pay an on-line fee to get access to it. I found a handy way of getting a quote.
On the GMC website there is an Appraise Trade In tool that will let you punch in information and then give you a range of what your vehicle is approximately worth. This is more for the trade-in value, so chances are it will sell for higher privately.
What Costs Might Be Upcoming
When looking at a used vehicle, take note of the service work that has been done to it. Sometimes a little research on-line can tell you what has been a typical problem for that vehicle or things that might need to be replaced soon. Tires, brakes, fluid changes, and more are good to take note of. It is a cost that will have to be done anyways, but it is nice to know if you will be doing it within the year or if it is a couple years away.
A lot of cars have major service at various mileages. For example, the next major service for a 2005 Matrix is at 192,000 km. If you are looking at a Matrix that is already at 160,000 you will be thinking about soon. If you are under 100,000 you have a longs ways to go.
Automatic or a Standard
Also called a manual transmission, a standard is usually $1,000 cheaper off the new sticker price. A lot of the cheaper used vehicles you see will be a standard. If you don’t want a stick-shift, pay attention to that.
Factor In Taxes
When comparing vehicle costs, the taxes can be significant as well. 5% GST will add $500 for every $10,000 you are putting into it. If you buy privately, you may not have to pay GST. I believe you are supposed to, but it is difficult to enforce. If you buy from a dealer, you will be paying the GST.
Also consider that province or state that you are buying it in. They may other applicable taxes depending on where you are from yourself.
