When your temporary registration is about to expire, or it’s time to go pay sales tax and get plates/tags, you’ll be heading to your local county clerks office,
If you’ve recently purchased a vehicle and walk into the county clerks office to get plates, you may be thinking of a modified Teddy Bear Picnic song, “If you go down to the county clerks today, you’re sure of a big surprise. If you go down to the county clerks today, the fees will water your eyes”. Fret not, this article will help you calculate the fees before you go to the office so there’s no surprise.
Sales tax
The sales tax will be collected at the county clerks office when you go to get plates. The amount of sales tax you’ll pay will be determined by 3 factors; Factory cost (not blue book) of the vehicle purchased (MSRP), whether you traded a vehicle and the county tax rate of where you live. So for example, if you live in Natrona County, this would be 5%. If you live in Carbon county it would be 6%. County tax rates can be found here.
The factory cost is the amount determined by the vehicle manufacturer, it’s not the amount you paid the dealership or financed. This figure can be found on the vehicle title or a previous years registration.
If you trade a vehicle, your sales tax amount is the difference between the factory cost of the new vehicle and the trade allowance offered by the dealer.
Example:
With No Trade
Vehicle factory cost is $30,000,
You live in Natrona County (5% sales tax),
Sales tax for vehicle is = $1,500.00.
With Trade
Vehicle Factory cost is $30,000
You live in Natrona County (5% sales tax),
Trade allowance is $10,000,
$30,000- $10,000 = $20,000,
Sales tax for vehicle is 5% of $20,000 which = $1,000.
Registration Fees
County Fee
This figure is a little more complex. It is determined by vehicle FACTORY COST (found on title), and vehicle years of service (ie. how many years the vehicle has been registered for use), then multiplied by 0.03.
The year of service rate is calculated like the following;
Factory cost X years of service rate X 0.03 = county fee
Therefore, if a vehicle with a factory cost of $30,000 registered in it’s 2nd year, the calculation would be;
$30,000 X 50% X 0.03 = $450
State Fee
The State fee is $30 for cars (went up from $15.00 on July 1st, 2017). For trucks, it’s based on gross vehicle weight up to a maximum of $90 for over 6,001lbs. Commercial vehicle state fees are also calculated based on weight.
For the 2019 model year, the Chevy Silverado pickup truck will be an all-new design. Also new for new for Chevrolet will be the introduction of a diesel engine option for the 1/2 ton truck.
Mark Reuss, General Motors executive vice president of Global Product Development, Purchasing, and Supply Chain. “It has a longer wheelbase, more passenger and cargo volume, and yet, thanks to our mixed materials strategy and mass reduction expertise, the new truck is 450 pounds lighter than the current model.”
The wheelbase is up to 3.9 “long, making the overall length of the truck 1.6” longer. This, in turn, means more cargo room and more passenger room. The short-box will have 63 cu. ft of cargo volume. Chevrolet says this is, “…up to 20 percent more than a competitor’s short-box”. They go on to mention that this means a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood will fit flat in the cargo floor. Storage bins will be offered to fit over the wheel wheels, for a more organized space.
Chevy says they have managed to shed 450lbs off the weight of the truck (on V-8 Crew cab models). The weight savings, they say, come from using a variety of mixed materials and a different manufacturing process. Doors, the hood, and tailgate are now all aluminum. Steel is used for the fenders roof and bed. The upper control arms on the front suspension will be forged aluminum.
Engine and transmission choices
5.3 liter V-8
6.2 liter V-8 with 10-speed automatic transmission
All new Duramax 3.0 liter diesel with 10-speed automatic transmission
Exterior features
Power up/down tailgate (activated from key fob, from interior button or by hand)
Larger bumper corner step to accommodate steel-toe boots
12 fixed tie downs in the bed (9 of them movable)
CHEVROLET stamped on tailgate
Duel exhuast
33″ tires
Camaro inspired hood
Interior features
The all-new 2019 Silverado High Country interior. Photo: GM
Crew cabs have 3″ more rear-seat leg room (up to 43.8″ rear legroom total)
10-liter storage bins in the back
24-liter under seat storage tray
Continuing to offer 4G LTE Wi-Fi, Apple Car Play, and Android Auto
Wireless phone charging
More trim levels are added to accommodate for various uses and functionality without comprise. Base trim line model will be the Work Truck, followed by Custom then the Custom Trail Boss. The Custom Traill Boss will be the Custom but with added off-road equipment, such as a 2″ lift, Z71 off-road package, locking rear differential, Rancho shocks, skid plates and Duratrac tires.
The all-new 2019 Silverado Custom Trailboss (new trim for 2019) adds off-road equipment to the Custom, including a 2-inch suspension lift and the Z71 Off-Road Package with a locking rear differential, skid plates, Rancho shocks, 18-inch wheels and Goodyear Duratrac off-road tires. Photo: GM
Middle of line trim levels will be the LT, RST and LT Trail Boss. RST will be the street-performance styled truck and the LT Trail Boss will have the off-road package.
The all-new 2019 LT Trailboss (new trim for 2019) adds off-road equipment to the LT, including a 2-inch suspension lift and the Z71 Off-Road Package, including locking rear differential, skid plates, Rancho shocks, 18-inch wheels and Goodyear Duratrac off-road tires. Photo: GM
Top end trim lines stay with the same names. The LTZ, and High County.
Sponsored the Banff Mountain Film Festival this year in Sheridan, Wyoming. Sheridan Wyoming is just one of many stops in the Banff Mountain Festival World Tour. Banff is a mountain town in the beautiful Rockies of Alberta, Canada where the film festival originated. It seems a fitting partnership given the rugged, adventurous free spirt natures of vehicles such as the RAV4, Tacoma and 4Runner. Fremont Toyota in Sheridan have sponsored the event for a number of years. Staff from the store were also present at the event with giveaways (Clif Bars) and had drawings to win North Face outer gear and Petzl headlamps.
Automotive Performance Research (APR) is a highly regarded tuning and performance company. They are specialists in German marques such as Volkswagen, Auto, Porsche and even the Italian Lamborghini’s. Founded in 1997, their mission is to provide the highest quality and most highly engineered aftermarket performance products
Performance tuning now available in Casper, WY
The only APR performance shop in Wyoming, Fremont Motors in Casper can now tune Volkswagen vehicles (Audi, Porsche or Lambo!) Not just limited to Golf GTI’s or Golf R’s though, Passat’s, Jetta’s and more can also be tuned. Increasing horsepower can be done by adding performance parts and software mapping.
Check out this video of the carbon fiber air intake getting fitted. Parts manager Jeff Bugher also tells us a little about APR and Colbey Day shows us his Stage 2 Golf R.
Various packages (stages of tuning) are available, from a basic stage 1 tune to a full race ready stage 3 tune. A stage 1 tune with an APR plus package will also include a warranty. Finding a warranty for performance tuned cars is not something that should be taken lightly. Typically adding aftermarket parts or reprogramming the computer in your vehicle would normally void any warranty.
Colbey Day’s Golf R
Colbey Day’s Golf R
Fremont Volkswagen salesman, Colbey Day recently had stage 2 work done on his Golf R. Parts included an air intake, downpipe, exhaust and software remap. This took his car from 292 hp to around 360 hp. He says the car is transformed and now much faster and better. Although it doesn’t stop at that, as anyone with the ‘tuning bug’ will know, there’s always more to do. The exhaust ‘cackle’ is enough to make any enthusiast grin like a kid in a candy store.
Calculating gas mileage is important. Not only so you can get an accurate picture of fuel economy, but also spot potential problems with your car/truck. If fuel economy is a lot less than it’s supposed to be- contact your preferred service department.
Photo by Tim Mossholder
The mpg display in your vehicle might be wrong
To make your gas mileage better, you need to know what you are getting in the first place. Most modern vehicles nowadays will have a digital readout. Probably a display on your dash of the mpg (miles per gallon) you are getting. Ie. How many miles you can drive using one gallon of fuel.
This number will vary from about 6mpg to 60mpg depending on the vehicle you drive.
The number that is displayed on your dash may not be exactly correct.
Just like a trip computer, these can also be reset. This results in false numbers or erratic driving may also skew the results. Some vehicles may also have an instantaneous mpg readout, which is helpful in bettering driving habits to increase mpg. It’ll tell you’re getting about 70 mpg when you coast. So how do you know what you are really getting?
Gather the data to calculate mpg
Do it the old school mathematical way. Calculators are allowed this time and the only person marking your answer will be you!
Fill your fuel tank (to the pump cutoff level)
Reset the trip computer
Drive until fuel is required
Fill the tank again (to the pump cutoff level)
Make a note of the number of gallons used to re-fill and the miles on the trip counter
Reset trip
Use the formula below to calculate mpg using your numbers
Repeat this four or five times to give you a good average
How to calculate gas mileage – formula
The formula to calculate gas mileage: Miles driven ÷ gallons used to refill the tank.
Take the miles traveled (from the trip computer), divide that by the number of gallons used to refill the tank.
For example, the trip shows 200 miles since you last filled up, and it took 15 gallons to refill the tank.
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