# Mexican vehicle



## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

I have RT visa status, a US driver's license and no car (here or in the US), and no insurance either.

If I want to end up with a Mexican drivers license, Mexican car, Mexican car insurance, and Mexican license plate for the car what's the order that I need to go after those things in? 

My RT 4th year expires in September, someone I know who's been here a long time suggested it would all be lots easier if I waited until I had an RP and then tried to get the other things.

I'm trying to figure out whether it's all a giant catch-22 or if it's possible to untangle the knot of prerequisites that these things seem to have on each other.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

eastwind said:


> I have RT visa status, a US driver's license and no car (here or in the US), and no insurance either.
> 
> If I want to end up with a Mexican drivers license, Mexican car, Mexican car insurance, and Mexican license plate for the car what's the order that I need to go after those things in?
> 
> ...


The driver's license and the car are independent. You could get a Mexican driver's license any time. It was one of the easiest bureaucracies I have had to deal with but that may depend on where you are. If you buy a car from a dealer, they may be able to arrange the insurance and registration for you.


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## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

TundraGreen said:


> The driver's license and the car are independent. You could get a Mexican driver's license any time. It was one of the easiest bureaucracies I have had to deal with but that may depend on where you are. If you buy a car from a dealer, they may be able to arrange the insurance and registration for you.


Insurance, the kind that covers a Mexican plated vehicle with a NOB clause is curious about licensing .Mine permits anyone to drive _in Mexico_, but to be covered in the U.S. one needs a valid _Mexican_ DL..


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## surabi (Jan 1, 2017)

As mentioned above, you can apply for a driver's license at any time- there are plenty of people who have valid driver's licenses who don't own a vehicle themselves.
And obviously you would have to purchase a vehicle before registering it, getting plates and insurance.
None of that stuff is some giant catch-22, nor is there any knot of prerequisites- not sure where you got that idea. It's all pretty straightforward. Best to buy a vehicle which is already registered in the state where you are residing, though- if the plates have to be changed from out-of-state plates, it can be a bit more rigamarole.
It isn't really necessary to wait until you get RP, either, although if you do, it'll avoid having to maybe go back to get your status changed on your documents. But I don't recall my registration papers or insurance papers having my residency status on them, although my driver's license does. But all that varies by state as well.


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## lat19n (Aug 19, 2017)

I've never been an RT, only RP (and citizen).

My Mexican drivers license : Possibly even easier than acquiring one in the US. I didn't have to make an appt, but they did honor that I am a senior citizen and moved me to the front of the line. I might have shown them my still valid US license. There was a written test in Spanish. The test wasn't terribly difficult but I probably got an 80 or so. At the time I was RP but my license says my nationality is Mexican. My license has my blood type and my choice of organ donation as well as my address. I changed my address and went for a new license and took the opportunity to correct my blood type. Good for 5 years. My drivers license does have my CURP. 

When we purchased our new Mexican car (with RP) it was from a dealer in another state. Took maybe 1-2 months for the car to be delivered (from Japan). When the car finally arrived the salesman drove the car to our house using dealer plates and we signed the paperwork at that time. The car then sat in the garage until we had the title, insurance, registration and plates (in that order - here you need proof of ins. to register a vehicle). We were in no particular rush - took maybe a couple of weeks. I prefer shopping for my own insurances. 

There were no catch-22 situations that I recall. However, the same cannot be said for the US car we imported into Mexico.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

My wondering about a catch-22 was because I thought you would need a driver's license to get insurance and you'd need insurance to drive a car, and you'd need to be able to drive a car to take the test for the driver's license.

What you're telling me is I can get insurance without a license or with only a US license - that's good, it breaks the catch-22 cycle I was worried about. 

I read elsewhere that when you register a vehicle, you can do so without a Mexican driver's license, but you then have one year from when you register the vehicle to get a Mexican license. I don't know for a fact that this is true.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

eastwind said:


> My wondering about a catch-22 was because I thought you would need a driver's license to get insurance and you'd need insurance to drive a car, and you'd need to be able to drive a car to take the test for the driver's license.
> 
> What you're telling me is I can get insurance without a license or with only a US license - that's good, it breaks the catch-22 cycle I was worried about.
> 
> I read elsewhere that when you register a vehicle, you can do so without a Mexican driver's license, but you then have one year from when you register the vehicle to get a Mexican license. I don't know for a fact that this is true.


For what it is worth, I don't know about Cancun, but in Guadalajara, you take the driver's test in one of their vehicles. I got both a car and motorcycle license taking the driving test on their vehicles. It was pretty simple. One loop around a parking lot stopping at a couple of stop signs then parallel park. The motorcycle test was even simpler, just the loop and stop signs.

There was a line of about 10 people waiting to drive around the lot. I went to the head of the line because they had one car with a standard transmission and no one else in line knew how to drive with a clutch.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

One of the ironies of driving in Mexico is that, although there were two stop signs on the driving test. I hardly ever see a stop sign on the streets in Mexico. And when I have seen one, no one stops for it.


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## [email protected] (Nov 12, 2017)

*Stop and Go signs*



TundraGreen said:


> One of the ironies of driving in Mexico is that, although there were two stop signs on the driving test. I hardly ever see a stop sign on the streets in Mexico. And when I have seen one, no one stops for it.


Ahh . . . but those RED and BLACK arrows on the sides of buildings . . . grins


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## xolo (May 25, 2014)

eastwind said:


> I have RT visa status, a US driver's license and no car (here or in the US), and no insurance either.
> 
> If I want to end up with a Mexican drivers license, Mexican car, Mexican car insurance, and Mexican license plate for the car what's the order that I need to go after those things in?


My understanding is that it varies somewhat by state. Here in el Estado de México I did the following order:

1. Got my residence visa, CURP, comprobante de domicilio, and constancia de CURP 
2. Got my licensia de conducir
3. Bought a car and insurance from the dealer
4. The dealer did the emplacamiento for me with plates from EdoMéx, overcharging me in the process but I didn't care.

So, kind of just common sense. You don't want to buy the car before it has insurance and plates nor before you can register it.


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