# cars



## deborahc9133 (Nov 27, 2010)

Can anyone answer this question? We brought a US car to Mexico with the intent to move here and registered it and got Mexican plates. WE decided to go back after two months. The car is still registered at California DMV with valid stickers and we still have the plates. It is also insured in the US, but we reactivated it, but it is still open for reactivation. Can we bring it back across the border? Who should we ask? Thanks so much


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

*Why Not?*

What does this mean

" It is also insured in the US, but we reactivated it, but it is still open for reactivation"

As long as you have plates, current reg. with tabs and insurance of course you can return to California.

It would be the same as if you were a tourist for 2 months and were going home, do not forget your TIP return and deposit......


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## deborahc9133 (Nov 27, 2010)

chicois8 said:


> What does this mean
> 
> " It is also insured in the US, but we reactivated it, but it is still open for reactivation"
> 
> ...


What it means is that the Geico insurance is just on suspense - it was never cancelled - they said that once we went over the border then just call and is valid immediately. The car's information is still in their system as registered in Sacramento. My husband says that we have to leave the car at the border and sell it. I understand this if we cancelled the US registration and insurance, We have the CA plates and valid registration through August of 2014. I am panicking because I have my two dogs and a cat and don't want to be stranded.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Are you going back to CA for good or going to reside in Mexico? You say in your OP that we decided to go back after 2 months...

I had a problem last year when I suspended my insurance, it was reported to the DMV and they cancelled my reg. which I did not know about until arriving home in San Francisco 4 months later, had to pay a reinstatement fine..


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Do you still have the California Title? If the car was properly imported to Mexico, it may also have been properly exported from the USA by the broker. If that was done, the title will have been stamped as exported and the car is now Mexican and cannot be re-titled in the USA.
However, many cars are imported into Mexico without being formally exported from the USA. If that is your situation, and it very well may be the case, you will have all of your California documentation and can simply put the California plates back on the car after you get well into the USA, after having activated your USA insurance before crossing the border, and keep your Mexican plates as souvenirs if you do not intend to return.


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## deborahc9133 (Nov 27, 2010)

Our plan was to move here but I find that I love to travel here, but not live here, at least for now. I have other factors that have nothing to do with the country but with my family there. We have all of the CA documentation - pink slip, valid insurance, tags to 2015, CA plates and we have been here with tourist visa, though my husband is a dual citizenship using Mexican passport, so here he is considered Mexican. It seems logical that we could go back, but we all know that logic does not work!


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## deborahc9133 (Nov 27, 2010)

Yeah that's what I'm thinking. The worse thing is we could get to TJ, leave it my husband's uncle's house to sell - have my bro in law in LA pick us up, then buy a car there and recoup the $$$$ later. We found that people here will pay lots of money here for a US car; more than we could get in the US for a Ford Escape. Not an impossible situation, just inconvenient.


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## Playaboy (Apr 11, 2014)

Deb, you can bring your car back to CA. Just put your CA plates on the car AFTER you cross north. Your CA registration and plates are current. I would be willing to bet that CA doesn't even know you brought the car into Mexico. If you title was stamped "exported" speak with DMV about getting a new title after you are back home.

Even if the car was "exported" you can still bring it back into the USA DUTY FREE since the car was "originally" titled in the USA. That is one of purposes for exporting the vehicle in the first place and to collect fees.

There is really nothing for you or your husband to worry about.


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## deborahc9133 (Nov 27, 2010)

Thanks for your response. No, DMV has no idea that the car left the country nor do they care I imagine. I can see if we had no current plates, registration or insurance, but we do, so..... we're ok. Take care, Deborah


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