# Looking to move to Manzanillo, Mexico



## akpinette (Jun 9, 2013)

Looking for any and all information (good or bad)

About moving to Manzanillo and the drive there from Manitoba,Canada


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Have you been there before; especially in the summer months, when it is very hot and humid?
It is a decent place to visit in the winter, and we have done that a few times, but is otherwise pretty boring, in my opinion.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

I live an hour north in Melaque Jalisco. I drive the west coast so no help there. Manzanillo does not have a large Expat population so getting rental referrals won't be as easy as other areas. The first place I would look is ManzAmigos Manzamigos Main Menu. They have meetings at least once a month and may be able to email you some info before hand.

Manzanillo is spread out so I would focus on the Santiago area in the north for a smaller town feel and better beaches


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## akpinette (Jun 9, 2013)

We have been there before and toured around the area and find it quaint and the people were also very nice.
We also like the fact it is not a huge tourist area like other mexican destinations.
We would be making it our home and also looking for a business venture at the same time


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## akpinette (Jun 9, 2013)

Also looking on info on importing vehicles , crossing the border into Mexico , any insight and/or problems or tips.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

There is a lot of information on those topics, if you search. However, the basics are:

You may come to Mexico as a tourist, pay for a 180 day tourist permit and temporary importation of your car, with a fee and a $200 to $400 USD deposit. You must leave, with the car, before 180 days.

Or, you may apply at the Mexican Consulate nearest your home for Temporary Residency, renewable annually and good for up to 4 years and requiring some serious proof of financial assets/monthly income for approval. If you do not work, you can bring your car as above. In 4 years, you must leave or become Permanent and remove the car from Mexico. If you work in Mexico, you cannot have a US car.

Permanent Residency visas cost more and require higher financial proofs, permit working but not foreign cars; you would have to buy a car in Mexico, for example.

Each person in the family must qualify and all must have passports.


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## akpinette (Jun 9, 2013)

Thank you for the place to start.

We have very little info so far , so any info is really helpful.
We would be looking for permanent residence in Manzanillo so we would have to import the vehicles so they can stay with us.
Hopefully worth the it , looking forward to NO SNOW!
Any other tips or insight would be well received


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Importing vehicles is just not practical. Only NAFTA produced vehicles with VINs beginning with a number, not a letter, can be imported if old enough. That age varies but is now about 10 years old and the cost is around $3000 USD per vehicle via a broker at the border. On temporary importation, you are limited to one vehicle per person and only 180 days unless you are Residente Temporal.
You know the rest.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

akpinette said:


> Thank you for the place to start.
> 
> We have very little info so far , so any info is really helpful.
> We would be looking for permanent residence in Manzanillo so we would have to import the vehicles so they can stay with us.
> ...


There is a problem with you only having a Mexican consulate so called visa in your passports to apply for Permanent Resident at your local INM office and nationalizing a qualifying 1984 to 2007 NAFTA built vehicle when you cross over. I feel you need to have your finalized INM Permanent Resident visa in hand first before nationalizing your vehicle, proof of a residence, and need to return to the border when you have these.

In the meantime they will give you a 30 temporary import permit for any vehicle you cross over with because your visa in your passport is good for 6 months but once you have it stamped on entry you have only 30 days to go to your local INM office to finish the visa process.

You could drive to the border, store the vehicle there, fly or take the bus to where you are going to live, get setup and fly or take a bus back to nationalize your vehicle, if it qualifies. If not drive both ways again in about 6 weeks. You need an address in your area to finalize your visa.


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

RVGRINGO said:


> Importing vehicles is just not practical. Only NAFTA produced vehicles with VINs beginning with a number, not a letter, can be imported if old enough. That age varies but is now about 10 years old and the cost is around $3000 USD per vehicle via a broker at the border. On temporary importation, you are limited to one vehicle per person and only 180 days unless you are Residente Temporal.
> You know the rest.


Not necessarily. You can nationalize a 10 year old non luxury NAFTA vehicle for $500.00 to $700.00 US at 2 brokers on the border, one in Nogales and one in Mexicali. 

Nuevo Laredo brokers are gouging Expats and they would charge about $1600 to $2500 US for the same services. The 10% duty and the 16% IVA on the duty and the $50.00 US fee to ADUANA is calculated from the same current value chart from the SAT ADUANA website. The difference is the fee the brokers are charging for their services. I am sure Mexican Nationals in Nuevo Laredo don´t pay anywhere near that much.


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## mexikatz (Mar 16, 2013)

AlanMexicali said:


> There is a problem with you only having a Mexican consulate so called visa in your passports to apply for Permanent Resident at your local INM office and nationalizing a qualifying 1984 to 2007 NAFTA built vehicle when you cross over. I feel you need to have your finalized INM Permanent Resident visa in hand first before nationalizing your vehicle, proof of a residence, and need to return to the border when you have these.
> 
> In the meantime they will give you a 30 temporary import permit for any vehicle you cross over with because your visa in your passport is good for 6 months but once you have it stamped on entry you have only 30 days to go to your local INM office to finish the visa process.
> 
> You could drive to the border, store the vehicle there, fly or take the bus to where you are going to live, get setup and fly or take a bus back to nationalize your vehicle, if it qualifies. If not drive both ways again in about 6 weeks. You need an address in your area to finalize your visa.


Every time I read advice like this (and I'm not giving you a hard time honestly) I wonder if we got away with something or if we were just very lucky. We imported our 2001 vehicle in March. We did not return to any border and we did not visit a port. Today our car has Mexican plates. 

You are correct about the 30 day TIP - we lost our deposit. 

When we came across in January we did have our 1 year rental agreement in hand - we had an address. I truly wish I had been smart enough to have pursued importing the car on that cold January morning - instead of getting that 30 day TIP. No we didn't yet have our RP creds - but I wonder if there wasn't some way... As it is we started our import paperwork before we had our credentials and then in the process added the info after receiving them.


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## mexikatz (Mar 16, 2013)

On the topic of Manzanillo - that is one of the places we checked out when deciding where to settle down. We spent maybe 4-5 days looking at real estate - which was reasonably priced. My impressions looking back - it is a port town - although the port is kind of isolated to the one side of town. I was concerned that the beaches were not really swim-able (safely). The people were nice and the traffic wasn't bad. There were super markets but I was worried I'd have to drive to PV to do shopping. I did get the sense that it had a large Canadian presence.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

Manzanillo now has a Walmart, Sams Club, Home Depot, Office Max/Depot, Burger King, Auto Zone and Starbucks. The city of Colima is an hour away and has all those and more. Only thing missing is Costco


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## mexikatz (Mar 16, 2013)

sparks said:


> Manzanillo now has a Walmart, Sams Club, Home Depot, Office Max/Depot, Burger King, Auto Zone and Starbucks. The city of Colima is an hour away and has all those and more. Only thing missing is Costco


When you live in Melanque (sp?) - which we drove by on the ride from PV - do you shop in Colima or PV ? We didn't stop in Melanque - is it a small fishing village as I seem to recall from my reading ?

Sorry - don't mean to steal anyone's thread here.


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## akpinette (Jun 9, 2013)

No worries

Any and all info is great on the area.
Learning lots as this thread continues on and hoping it carries on.
Another question I have is , is there ultra low sulfur diesel in that area?
I have a 2011 dodge ram diesel and am hearing the regular diesel will mess with the sensors .


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

mexikatz said:


> When you live in Melanque (sp?) - which we drove by on the ride from PV - do you shop in Colima or PV ? We didn't stop in Melanque - is it a small fishing village as I seem to recall from my reading ?


It's Melaque and Barra de Navidad is also on the bay. There is tourist fishing and the local fisherman. The main economy for both is general tourism


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

akpinette said:


> I have a 2011 dodge ram diesel and am hearing the regular diesel will mess with the sensors .


I would read this article 
Problems with Mexican Diesel

You realize that vehicle is too new to import and I've heard there are rules against dualies


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## AlanMexicali (Jun 1, 2011)

akpinette said:


> No worries
> 
> Any and all info is great on the area.
> Learning lots as this thread continues on and hoping it carries on.
> ...


If you enter Mexico with your passport with the attached Permanent Resident visa you get at a Mexican Consulate and get a 30 day TIP your vehicle will become illegally in Mexico 30 days after you enter, not able to be nationalized and fair game for ADUANA agents and police and problems from that point on. You might even have it seized or impounded. Not a good situation to be in. IMO


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

mexikatz said:


> do you shop in Colima or PV ? .


Forgot to say that Manzanillo is an hour away and Vallarta is 4 hours away


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## akpinette (Jun 9, 2013)

So if my vehicle is too new to import, what age of vehicles are permitted to stay?
Also would the truck be allowed as a travel permit to get our belongings down there?
Then drive it back out of Mexico.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

AlanMexicali said:


> If you enter Mexico with your passport with the attached Permanent Resident visa you get at a Mexican Consulate and get a 30 day TIP your vehicle will become illegally in Mexico 30 days after you enter, not able to be nationalized and fair game for ADUANA agents and police and problems from that point on. You might even have it seized or impounded. Not a good situation to be in. IMO


Ditto to that!
If you plan to stay in Mexico, you could make the move and bring your stuff in your own vehicle, but you would have to take the vehicle back to the USA and dispose of it there. Plan on buying a vehicle in Mexico.
The good old days are gone!


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## mexikatz (Mar 16, 2013)

akpinette said:


> So if my vehicle is too new to import, what age of vehicles are permitted to stay?
> Also would the truck be allowed as a travel permit to get our belongings down there?
> Then drive it back out of Mexico.


Some people aren't going to like my response - but - sites like this are GREAT for ideas and such but you really need to get answers closer to the source. If I were in your shoes (and I was not 6 months ago) I would call Aduana in Mexico City and ask them how to get in touch with a good customs agent in Mexico. There is a country wide association of customs agents. Get the list. Try calling one in Manzanillo if that is your destination. Maybe try calling on in Mexico City as well. 

Ask THEM what they can and can't do for you (and costs).


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## akpinette (Jun 9, 2013)

No offense taken on my part.

I am totally new to this importing stuff and am trying to get any insight to the whole experience.

I figure anyone that went through it has 100% more knowledge then I do .

I know there is a lot of dumb questions, but better to ask and know then not ask and be totally surprised at the border.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

2007 is the cutoff age for import .... and combine that with the diesel problem, sounds like a no brainer. Yes you could drive your stuff down and make a fast turn around. Might be easier to start with something older


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