# US Registered Vehicle in Mexico



## conorkilleen (Apr 28, 2010)

OK..I have searched the forum (even the sticky posted one on temp. importation)...I have not found the answer 100% yet on how other Expats handle the situation.

I live in NC. I need to get an inspection every year before I can renew my registration. What do other expats do to renew their registration every year in their home state that have inspections needed to keep the US registration valid? Drive back every year?

I am looking forward to taking RVGringos advice and eventually purchasing a car in Mexico, however I don't plan/want to drive back to NC every year. My company has an office in Texas, so maybe I can register it in Texas, however that is not on the "up-and-up".

I will have my FM3.

C


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Why isn't it on the 'up and up'? For example; when we moved here in 2001, we bought a used vehicle in SC while visiting relatives & used their address. On the way to Mexico, we stopped in the first TX town and registered there, using a friend's Laredo mail drop until we got our own. That evaded the SC taxes that would come due in 30 days. When TX made it difficult to use the mail drop address (thanks to Homeland Insecurity), we changed our registration to a specific county in SD, where there are no inspections & few questions asked. So, it has been registered there for some six years; though, we've never even been to SD. Our home is Mexico, our licenses are TX and our registrations are in SD and Jalisco. It works just fine.
Yes, we also have a Jalisco car and it is so much simpler without border paperwork, but the taxes on cars (not pickups) and insurance make it more expensive to renew.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

Yes, register in a different state -- nothing shady about that.
I'm lucky that Illinois has no annual inspection so I just left my car registered there. Every three years I have to get an inspection but I return frequently enough that that isn't an issue. 

Like Rvgringo says, there are a few different options available to you.


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## ReefHound (Aug 9, 2010)

Whether there is anything "shady" or "on the up and up" or not depends on the state requirements and whether you legitimately meet them or lie in order to meet them. For example, in Texas you are required to reside in the county in which you are registering. To reside means to live there, not a mailing address. Texas also requires proof of liability insurance as well.

I would be surprised if most if not all other states have similar requirements else a lot of people would be using a mailbox or friend's address to avoid emissions testing in populous counties and get lower insurance rates as well.


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## conorkilleen (Apr 28, 2010)

Sounds like alot of work no matter which way you slice it. It would be a pretty expensive trip up and back just to get the inspection in NC. Its a 2007 Ford Escape XLT that I only have one year left of payments. I bet I could sell it in the US (texas) in 1 year then just come back into Mexico and buy something local. But as I have read, it works both ways. Can't import the Mexican car to the US permanently. 

Thanks for the insight guys. I may just do as planned and drive it into Mexico for the year. I will have plenty of time to plan the rest once my family and I are settled.

On a happy note- I am flying down to Monterrey on Monday to sign the contract for the rental house!!


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## conorkilleen (Apr 28, 2010)

hahaha...got em ******!

Anyway- Will anyone with some experience in registering a vehicle in another state that you have never been to before please private message me so we can discuss offline.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

SD now requires residency for new applicants, so a PM with that information (only one county) wouldn't help now. That said, SD and many other states will require very short residency, like 24 hours, and allow use of mail drops or various other 'memberships', like Escapees, for RV owners, etc.
If you think you'll drive to TX often, try to set up a mailing address there with a friend or relative, etc.
Admittedly, it is getting more and more difficult and owning a Mexican car is much easier. Our '99 US registered car will be sold the next time we go north, if we ever do. Haven't been out of Mexico in years.


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## conorkilleen (Apr 28, 2010)

I'll check out the TX scenario. Thanks for your feedback.

"Haven't been out of Mexico in years"
ha..there is no need to. Everything you need you can find in Mexico.


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## Ana H (Feb 24, 2011)

Texas let me use my mail drop in Laredo. They are use to Americans who live in MX having to do this, so it is easy to get it done at the border in Texas. It does require an inspection though.


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## pappabee (Jun 22, 2010)

First of all, many if not all of Texas Counties require an inspection and an omission test to renew the registration of a vehicle. And yes they also require insurance.

Now for the biggie. I just renewed my Mexican insurance and was told that, as far as the insurance goes I do not have to have a current registration on my Texas plated car. They told me that you have to have a registration but that it does not have to be current and I should have the 'pink slip'. 

I have seen many US plated cars in the past year and most of them do not have current registration stickers. If it's the law or not it seems that no one cares very much. I have even spoken to two different people who have been stopped by the police (traffic) and since they had just the registration (in both cases it was more than a year out of date) along with their other paperwork there was nothing said. 

If someone can show me where it is written that you must have current registration then I'll change my tune but so far it seems that it's a "non-enforced" law and if it's non-enforced why should I care?

It sounds like the law in Ohio that says you must stop and yield, and give at least a 300' safe zone to a horse drawn cart that is carrying fruit to market. Oh, the last ticket was written in 1909 but it's still on the books.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

"As far as insurance is concerned" is the telling detail. Enforcement of current registration isn't possible in Mexico for foreign vehicles, so it just isn't done........until something really serious happens. I wouldn't want to be driving a vehicle without current registration in the event of a fatal accident, for example. Jalisco requires that vehicles have permission to operate, as in a 'tarjeta de circulacion', written into their laws. There is nothing that exempts foreign vehicles from a similar permission, as I understand it. Yet, many do drive unregistered foreign vehicles with a sense of impunity, just as many drive without insurance.


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## conorkilleen (Apr 28, 2010)

Im not about to let my registration go past due for any reason. What I actually plan to do is sell my truck in Texas within the year and just buy a car in Mexico. I have another vehicle that I will have stored in NC that I may drive that in to Mexico after I sell the first or sell that as well. I would love not to have a 400 a month car payment in the US while living in Mexico. We plan to stay in MX for 5+ years, so buying a car locally sounds much better. Insurance is WAAAYYY cheaper and where we live you can walk or take a taxi wherever you want. the car will just be used for longer trips.


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