Coding Tech Life: 2021

How to buy a car in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

Car is a must in Canada especially when you living with family. I decided to buy my first car before the winter so that shopping during winter will be easy. My conditions,

accident free. ( Check the Carfax report for accidents)
budget: $10-15k
year: 2014+
km : below 120k
transmission: automatic

I had following models in my mind -Toyota Corola, Camry, MiniCooper, Honda Civic, HRV, CRV, Nissan Rogue. Many of my friends were using Toyota Corolla, very old model, still they were reliable.

I have started my search in Facebook market place and Kijiji. Initially I just replied to ad and never went to see the vehicle. It became habit, and one day I went out to see a vehicle. It was a Nissan Rogue 2014 model which I didn't like because it looked very old even though in picture it looked good. Many of my friends recommended SUV because it will be convenient for trips and moving items.

After that every weekend I rented car and went out to see different vehicles. Honda Civic and CRV at Precision Honda. I didn't like Civic because some sound was coming from the vehicle. Toyota Corolla, Camry at Attrel Toyota. Corolla was good but expensive. There were showrooms of almost every auto company near by Attrel Toyota, Brampton. We have explored maximum there. Every time I found some problem or the car value was out of budget.

I have created custom filters kijiji auto. Also started looking at other sites - Carguru, autotrader,... One day I went to see a VW Jetta - 2017 model. It was a good vehicle and cheap. It was almost closed the deal. Then I figured out that resale value of Jetta is very low, don'y know why it is so. Another day, we found one of our neighbour has listed their MiniCooper in Kijiji. It was really a good car. We were confirmed to buy it. But unfortunately they changed their mind and they didn't sell their car.

Finally, fall already started, I found Nissan Rogue from a private seller in Kijiji. Even though vehicle is old, the owner explained everything well which I really liked. The vehicle looked in great condition. Also he provided winter tire. He did safety and did everything for registration. I just needed to arrange the draft on his name and Insurance proof.

Insurance

Insurance is expensive in Canada. Also it is mandatory and required for registration. I have took quotes from different companies in the weekend and started calling different insurance companies early Monday morning. Took quote from TD Insurance, RBC, Allstate, Cooperators, Aviva etc. The insurance company will ask for the description of the vehicle. All the information will be available in the CARFAX report. if VIN is available we can take the carfax report. TD gave the cheapest quote so bought it.

Registration
Need to arrange following for changing ownership from Service Ontario,

The Used Vehicle Information Package - Need to fill.
A signed Bill of Sale with your name, the buyer’s name and address, the date and purchase price .
A completed and signed Application for Transfer — this is found on the back of an ownership permit, under the vehicle portion.
A certificate that verifies the vehicle meets safety standards.
Proof of insurance in your name for the vehicle.

We met at Service Ontario. I took appointment so no needed to wait. It was smooth process. Gave all the documents. Officer verified all the docs, paid 13% tax + fee for plate. Officer then went inside to get the plates and sticker. She came back with my plates. And yes, we became the new owner.

Here are the links that I found helpful:

https://www.ontario.ca/page/buy-or-sell-used-vehicle-ontario#section-1
https://www.ontario.ca/page/safety-standards-certificate
https://www.ontario.ca/page/register-vehicle-permit-licence-plate-and-sticker#section-2

G2 Driving Test Experience in Brampton, Ontario, Canada

G2 Driving Test Experience at Brampton, Ontario, Canada

I had my G2 driving test yesterday at Brampton DriveTest Centre, Ontario. I was well prepared and have taken many practical driving lessons from a driving school. I have used the same driving school car for the test. I have reached Brampton test center about half an hour before the scheduled test time with my g1 license. The driving school teacher made me drive through the G2 test route and parked at one of the numbered spots.(noted slot number). I was bit nervous as everybody, driving teacher also accompanied and guided me.

There was big crowd of people in front of the center, but for road test no need to follow the queue. We just need to wait near the door and they will call when it is our turn. They called me at correct time, I needed to sanitize my hands (COVID protocol) and enter details on the kiosk inside. We need to enter

1. driving license number

2. make of the car

3. colour of the car

4. car plate number

5. parking spot number.

Also the there were 2 question asked in kiosk,

1. Any vision problem?

2. Any medication?

A slip will be generated after providing the details and I am instructed to wait inside the car with the slip. A driving instructor came after some time. He told me to horn, put left and right indicator, etc. Then he got into the car and confirmed my license details again with his tablet. After verifying, he told me to take the car left when it is safe. I put indicator, checked mirrors and blind spot and moved carefully. Then followed 3-point turn and parallel parking. Road rote was similar to this video route - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhVyRNO6HSM, (means took left from drive test center). There was no flashing speed signal as school was closed for vacation. Also did uphill parking and in the end forward parking. I made small mistakes like missing checking blindspots in some places, however I passed the test. The instructor was really good and helpful.

After passing the test, I went again inside drive test centre for temporary g2 driving license. There was separate line for this. I got my upgraded driving license in 5-10 minutes. Overall process was smooth at Brampton DriveTest Center.

Prepare for G2 Driving Test in Ontario

I have done following for the preparation for Ontario G2 (G1 Exit) Driving Test in Ontario.

1. Refresh knowledge on Ontario driving rules and signs

2. Watch videos from youtube on driving, especially test video at drive-test center.

3. Find a driving instructor and get familiarized with the vehicle (Switching on the vehicle, operating indicators, vipers, parking, changing gears, accelerator and brake, etc.)

4. Starting vehicle:

a Make sure to put seat belt and adjust seat and mirrors.

b. Left signal and check mirrors and blindspot.

c. Move forward.

5. 3 point turn -

a. Right signal, check mirrors, blind spot move right of street.

b. left signal, check mirrors, blindspot, full left and move left.

c. signal right, check all around, change gear to reverse, steer full right, move backward

d. signal left, check mirrors and blindspot, steer left and move forward

Videos - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpTbAnNAKww

http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/driver/handbook//section2.6.12.shtml

6. Parallel parking

a. Right signal, check mirrors, blind spot move near to the reference car so that tail lamb is visible at back small window of the car.

b. One full round steer right, reverse gear, check around, move backward so that front side mirror is parallel to back of reference car.

c. Straighten wheel (steer one full left) , check all around, move backward so that back wheel near to curb in the sideview mirror.

d. Full left steel lock, check all around, move backward, when parallel, straighten wheel, park, hand break

References: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mpo6fcaWfC4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=097tL24VJDo

http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/driver/handbook//section6.10.0.shtml

7. Check mirrors often

8. Full stop at stop sign and count 1, 2, 3 and move forward. (difference between stop and all-way - stop).

9. Left turn: Signal, check mirrors, blindspot, pedestrians, incoming traffic, correct lane.

10. Right turn:

a. Signal, check mirrors, blindspot, pedestrians.

b. if red, stop, check, no vehicle, no pedestrian and go. if green, no stop, check no pedestrian and go

11. Follow speed posted. If not posted 50km/hr. Check for flashing speed post. If traffic, follow traffic speed.

12. Lane changes:

a. signal, check mirrors, blindspot and change lane if safe.

b. Follow speed, steer smooth while changing lane.

c. Move to right after left turn

13. Follow traffic signals. Do not enter in yellow.

14. Uphill and Downhill parking:

a. signal right, check mirrors, blindspot.

b. park, hand break. max 1 feet(30 cm) from curb

c. Up hill -> steer left, down hill -> steer right

d. Turn on hazard light, if emergency stop

15. Look both sides while pass through intersection, railway cross, drive ways, etc.

16. Pull ove for emergency vehicles

17. Yield for bus

18. Forward parking:

a. signal, check mirrors, blindspot, move to parking spot

19. Reverse parking

a. Signal right

b. Count 1, 2, 3. Shoulder middle of 3.

c. Steer full right, check mirrors, all around, move reverse

d. Straight wheel when vehicle straight

e. park, hand break

Videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQOTf4YF1ec

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0VFdKYz9u8

Assembling a Bedframe - Zinus - Amazon

I bought a new bed-frame from Amazon. Zinus Upholstered Diamond Stitched Platform Bed in Dark Grey, Full - https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01M580E2K/. It is good and easy to assemble. Below are the pics how I assembled it from a single box to full bed-frame.

Download private video from youtube

I wanted to download video from youtube. It was a private which I had access for a limited time period. I tried different extensions in chrome browser but nothing worked. Downloaded many desktop applications but they were not helpful to download private videos.

Finally I tried with Edge browser and it worked. Similar to chrome browser, there are add on/extension in edge browser. I added extensions to download video (video downloader, all site video downloader,.. you will find many) and while playing video in youtube, the video can be downloaded. I could save the video in my computer using this method, hope you will also able to do it.

How to clean up phone storage: Clean up Whatsapp Data in Android Phone

How to Clean up Phone Storage: Clean up WhatsApp Data in Android Phone

whatsApp has been eating up all the space in my phone. I followed below method to delete data came from WhatsApp which saved a lot of space in my phone and it is faster now.

1. Go to Settings > Storage and data

2. Go to Manage storage

3. WhatsApp will show which all files/data are forwarded/huge in size. We can simply select and delete.

This option was very helpful for me. There was around 30-40gb data present in WhatsApp folder. Using this option I could recover the space efficiently.