# Cars - bring or buy local?



## alexdz (Nov 18, 2012)

This is a topic that I've done a lot of searching on and I believe conditions affecting the decision have gone through some recent (ish) changes so it's been tough getting a sense of the right answer. So, is there any consensus on what the "right" choice is as far as importing a US-plated car or buying something local?

I'm some months away from starting hardcore planning but I just got another expensive repair bill from the Mercedes dealer and I think it's not too early to start planning for how and when I'm going to replace that thing. I didn't want to take that car anyway as I figured a small SUV would serve me better down there, but if the best option is to buy local it doesn't really make much sense to go through the process of replacing it now and then look at replacing the replacement within a year--although I suppose if I do replace it now then I would in effect be deciding on the US-plated choice, at least for a couple of years.

So, option A, drive the current car down and buy local and then drive it back to sell, or option B, buy the car I'll keep here and just keep US plates.

A related question, if I were to decide to buy a replacement here, do I really need to avoid Toyota/Honda/etc. because of maintenance concerns? My plan right now is to head to Puerto Vallarta, and when I look at pictures from there I see all kinds of cars, including Asian cars.

Thanks!

Alex D.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

Asian cars but all made on this side of the pond.

Assuming you are coming to live then you would have a legal US car for 4 years with a Temporal visa ... or you couldn't do it at all with a Permanente visa. Lot less hassle with a Mexican plated car


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

No contest. Buy Mexican but only from a reputable dealer.


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## cuylers5746 (Mar 19, 2012)

*The Correct Answer right now is NO Answer*

Sorry, but now Aduana (who is in charge of vehicle Importation) has no current answer. That's my
take on it after visiting the INM Office last week and putting in my papers for a new Residente Perminmente and the clerk calling a Supervisor over at Aduana.

I'd wait 1-2 months and let the dust settle out. They still have the old rule posted, but everything
is up in the air with regards to Foreigner's Importing Foreign Vehicles. You read their web site
in Spanish and it's the old rules. Even a Supervisor recently called can't give you an answer?

"Maybe" if you had a current Visa and rushed to the border you could get a permit? But, for how long? It's a real mess, and they're still trying to find the right way to treat the whole situation. Now if you're Mexicano those changed rules since 2004 will apply to you, but I don't think that's you?

Let the dust settle here and also on your what will be your new status as far as Visa for you.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

Aduana is not going to change their usual stance on permanent residents. The only reason it's "up in the air" is a name change with Immigration. Get rid of your US car if permanent is an option or take a chance


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## alexdz (Nov 18, 2012)

OK so there's more to this than I expected. After all the reading I've done I didn't get that if you went with a "permanent resident" visa that you couldn't have your US plated car (if I'm reading you right). Honestly the books I've read all still had the old visa information, so at this point I'm not sure what I'd be trying to get. Regardless it sounds as though the best plan at the moment is to keep the car I have now--but even if I don't get the TIP (?) I'd still be able to drive it down to get set up or is that an issue too?

I realize that it's probably best to wait and let things settle out, but I've got a big repair bill looming that I have to decide whether I want to deal with or not. If I'm going to sell I'd rather not. I also clearly need to revisit the whole visa issue.

Thanks!

Alex D.


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## cuylers5746 (Mar 19, 2012)

*Foreign Cars for Perminent Residents IS going to change*

Wow, wait a minute here.

Why do you think Aduana's got no clear resolution on the status of Foreign Registered Autos here in Mexico by those on Visas?

Those who had Temporary Visa renewable were able to keep a Foreign Registered Auto here and now if you're to the end of those renewals ...."you have to go Residente Perminente". That throws open probably a couple hundred thousand cars in that situation.

That IS why Aduana is holding back and trying to really rationally think this whole thing through. They don't want another "Chocolate" even to occur here, and same time they want to get it right and be fair to us Foreigners converting to Residente Perminente that have Foreign Cars here in Mexico and still not penalize it's owns citizens for conforming to the law themselves. 

Why do you think they've been grandfathering in Temporary Residents, waiving the Financial Requirements, etc. They got a huge uproar at all the Embassy's and a lot of heat - for getting it wrong the first time.

Think again. I wouldn't and present we are not making any decision about our auto or a new one which we were planing on purchasing until we hear from the new rulings by Aduana - WHICH HAVEN'T COME OUT YET!!!


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## alexdz (Nov 18, 2012)

So I saw this post from Yucalandia (via Expats in Vallarta) which a seemed rational she may mean upcoming limitations on US-plated cars, at least for new Residente Permanente visa holders.

http://yucalandia.com/driving-in-me...de-obsolete-by-inms-new-residency-categories/

It seems the rules for current residents are dependent on where you are located, but is there a particular policy being applied at the border for new entrants? It seems people are still getting TIPs but I don't recall what the visa versions were.

If keeping US-plated cars becomes a problem (I'd intended to apply for Permanente) does that mean I would have to choose between driving myself and things down and then quickly returning to get rid of the car (assuming there's a permit for that)? Or would I be obligated to put things in storage, fly down and get a Mexican car and then drive back up in that to get my stuff? 

Another option would be to buy a car here that I can nationalize, but that limits my choice of vehicle too much unless I want to pay excessive import duties.

None of these options is appealing, but I guess it's not their job to make my life easy. 

It's probably still true that it's too early to tell but I can't help asking...


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## cuylers5746 (Mar 19, 2012)

*Foreign Cars in Mexico*

I recently (last week) finally received my "Green Card", Visa "Residente Perminente", and then my wife a Mexican National and I spent an hour with an Aduana Lawyer down here in there offices here in Tepic discussing the situation for us Visa holders for Foreign Registered Cars here in Mexico. My wife was well armed with about 20 questions. It was interesting seeing the two of them pour over the 7" thick Ley de Aduana 2009? A couple of questions had the Abogado stumped, so she referred to her boss another Abogado.

Here is what I've been able to gleen between the INM and Aduana Offices.

1.) INM used to have Adjuana at the border issue FM-3 holders that imfamous reflective sticker on the windshield, that signified your car went with your FM-3 and was legal to be in Mexico - and did not need to turned it in at the border - unless you were relinguishing your Visa.

2.) INM really has NO say in matters to do with Foreign registered Vehicles. No that's the purvey of Aduana - period! In the past with the Fm-3 holders it was a mutual agreement with INM and Aduana to come up with that sticker to make it easier to identify any Foreign Vehicle that was legally in Mexico.

3.) Aduana has the sole authority for all Foreign Registered Vehicles in Mexico and here is the gist of their Articles. By the way there are some excellent blogs on Mexconnect where a nice lady has actually dug through the 7" thick Ley de Aduana and come up with the pertinent Articles. 

So unless you've received one of the new named Visa's from INM the game is exactly the same nothing changes until you get to "Residente Perminente" after 4 revisions on your FM-3 or Residente Temporal?

But many as I have been forced to switch to "Residente Perminente" (which is probably a good thing when all is filtered out), and INM say's you have to either Nationalize your Foreign Registered Car to take it out of the country and sell it and buy a Mexican plated, and registered car here in Mexico (if you still want a car).

Well, NO, INM has legal say in this - they're involved in keeping track and permitting Visitors and Foreigners into Mexico - not cars.

So here's the gist of the Aduana Articles; Foreigners that have legal status in Mexico (meaning a legal Visa), can have Foreign Registered cars in Mexico. Is there going to be a hell of a lot of confusion about this at Federal Highway Police Checks, PJG Stops, and even at Aduana station at the border - Hell Yes!

Next an article clearly states than no one but an Officer for Hacienda can legally take your vehicle or a Federal Officer in conjunction with the Office of Hacienda. Need to show this to anyone giving your a hard time about keeping your Foreign Registered car in Mexico too.

So, we're going to test it out the end of next month. We're going to California for a wedding and we plan on taking photocopies (blown up) of the Articles that our local Aduana Offices say's pertain to Foreign Registered Vehicles (in Spanish of course), so that we can show them to anyone who has a question about this. We're going to actually stop at the Aduana Border Office we plan on returning into Mexico via, and sit down with their boss and go over this even before we leave the country and turn in our now defunct window sticker. Just to make sure

It seems, that Aduana has not keep up with the new INM Law by updating their Law. Since Aduana is a huge organization compared to INM it might take even over a year for them to do this? So, many people might think they're in limbo, but the Aduana Law is clear as I stated above "so far", so stay tuned.

Any Mexican Abogado's here have any additional take on this, or your Abogado given you any different guidance on this?


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

alexdz said:


> This is a topic that I've done a lot of searching on and I believe conditions affecting the decision have gone through some recent (ish) changes so it's been tough getting a sense of the right answer. So, is there any consensus on what the "right" choice is as far as importing a US-plated car or buying something local?
> 
> I'm some months away from starting hardcore planning but I just got another expensive repair bill from the Mercedes dealer and I think it's not too early to start planning for how and when I'm going to replace that thing. I didn't want to take that car anyway as I figured a small SUV would serve me better down there, but if the best option is to buy local it doesn't really make much sense to go through the process of replacing it now and then look at replacing the replacement within a year--although I suppose if I do replace it now then I would in effect be deciding on the US-plated choice, at least for a couple of years.
> 
> ...


Asían cars in México do not have maintenance or parts problems at all, this is if they are models sold in México 
Parts are more expensive for european cars and newer models, we build several brands here, vw, Ford, dodge, etc. 
I think it's much easier to go around with Mexican plates. A car is a car to me and we do have a wide variety of brands and models.


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## makaloco (Mar 26, 2009)

GARYJ65 said:


> I think it's much easier to go around with Mexican plates. A car is a car to me and we do have a wide variety of brands and models.


Totally agree, for those who plan to live in Mexico full time. I'll never understand why so many people think importing a US car is worth all the hassle and expense involved.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

makaloco said:


> Totally agree, for those who plan to live in Mexico full time. I'll never understand why so many people think importing a US car is worth all the hassle and expense involved.


Maybe plates are much better!


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## CARamos (Feb 25, 2013)

*Buying cars in U.S. or Mexico?*

My wife and I are also wondering whether it would be better to buy our cars in the U.S. or in Mexico. I don't really have any wisdom to add to this thread as I'm just now exploring some of issues associated with ultimately making the move.


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## alexdz (Nov 18, 2012)

makaloco said:


> Totally agree, for those who plan to live in Mexico full time. I'll never understand why so many people think importing a US car is worth all the hassle and expense involved.


I really wouldn't want to deal with car importation issues because of the limited pool of vehicles to choose from. I'd like to be able to consider a RAV4 or CR-V in addition to a Ford Escape (all of which have Vallarta dealers and are available on the used market), but importation would pretty much limit me to the Escape. Even if the others are actually manufactured here I would still be limited to an 8+ year old car if I remember correctly. Only reason I considered it was to do the move in one trip rather than two.

No I think my preference would certainly be to buy down there. Actually my original question was based on the mistaken premise that the TIP option was even available on a Permanente visa.

So what do people do for transportation during the transition? I seem to recall FHBOY (perhaps someone else) mentioning that he would be driving his car back across the border to sell to Carmax once they got settled. Is that what people generally do if they don't plan to keep their car long term? It makes sense that it should be possible to bring your car in temporarily even if you're on a Permanente visa. That would still mean doing the trip twice if you drive your stuff down, but this seems preferable to having to deal with storage and then rushing to buy a car in an unfamiliar market to go back up and get it. So is there some form of time-limited permit that they issue to drive across the border if your visa is Permanente?

(BTW, sorry about the first sentence of this morning's post. The auto-correct mangled it so badly I can't even recognize what it was I was trying to say. At least it didn't do anything profane!)


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## Mainecoons (Nov 25, 2010)

CRV is made in Mexico now.

If you are going to get another car when moving here, skip all the hassles and get a Mexican plated one. However, if you're like us and already had a CRV (2006 made in Japan unfortunately) then you're faced with taking a loss on the car you have and paying more for the Mexican car.

Between the loss and the more expensive cars here, you could easily be out $5K. That makes the decision a little tougher.


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## CARamos (Feb 25, 2013)

Good advice here on cars. It appears that the consensus is that buying a car in Mexico is the way to go. My wife and I currently own a Mercedes and A Jaguar respectively. In line with scaling down, simplifying our lives and not drawing any undue attention to ourselves, we were thinking it would probably be best to get rid of them before making the move. 

I'm thinking (and I still need to consult with my wife on this), that since we'd both be in retirement mode (Lake Chapala area), we could initially get a used car (something less ostentatious and more utilitarian), in good working order and simply go about our business together and otherwise take turns using it as the need arises. I suppose we could take our time shopping around for a second car at a later date if need be.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

CARamos said:


> … I suppose we could take our time shopping around for a second car at a later date if need be.


Good idea. You might find that, with the change in country and lifestyle, you won't need two cars.

Some of us get along fine with no car at all.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

TundraGreen said:


> Good idea. You might find that, with the change in country and lifestyle, you won't need two cars.
> 
> Some of us get along fine with no car at all.


Indeed!


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## alexdz (Nov 18, 2012)

Mainecoons said:


> CRV is made in Mexico now.
> 
> If you are going to get another car when moving here, skip all the hassles and get a Mexican plated one. However, if you're like us and already had a CRV (2006 made in Japan unfortunately) then you're faced with taking a loss on the car you have and paying more for the Mexican car.
> 
> Between the loss and the more expensive cars here, you could easily be out $5K. That makes the decision a little tougher.


Out $5k? That would be a step up for me, I'm a notorious "loser" when it comes to car deals.

I reread FHBOY's thread and there does seem to be a disconnect between the car permits and a Permanente visa. It seems the answer is you get the 6 month tourist permit, hope nobody notices, and then bring the car back to get rid of it and get on with your life. Works for me.


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