# Bring our car to CDMX or buy one there?



## AnneLM (Aug 16, 2016)

First timer on this forum. My husband will be starting a job at the US Embassy in Mexico City in the fall of 2017. We expect to live there 2-5 years. We currently have 2 cars, a 2004 Honda Civic and 2016 Honda Fit. We won't need more than one car in CDMX. We assume we will not bring the Civic, as it is over 10 years old so not allowed, right? We love our Fit but a friend who also works at the Embassy is encouraging us not to bring either of our cars but to buy a used one from a departing Embassy employee when we get down there. Pros/cons for bringing vs. buying? Which would be less of a logistical nightmare both when we arrive and when we eventually return to the US?


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Your immigration status will dictate your decision. Let‘s assume that you will have Residente Temporal visas with permission to work; that would allow you to bring either of your cars (one per registered owner), or both, and to keep them in Mexico on an Importada Temporal for up to 4 years.
However, your status may be somewhat different, and have different rules than those for others. That is something you would need to check with your US government associates in Mexico, and/or with Aduana.
If you want to keep a lower profile, the suggestion to buy a Mexican plated car has a lot of merit, and is what I would do, were I in your shoes. I trust that the embassy will get you and your belongings to CDMX, so having to take a car and transport your belongings should not be an issue.


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## AnneLM (Aug 16, 2016)

Thanks, RVGringo. You're right, the embassy will get us and our belongings, including one vehicle should we decide to bring it, to CDMX. Your reply is helpful in formulating questions to ask other people already working there: what type of visa will we have, etc.


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

Questions for your embassy: Is there any such thing as diplomatic license plates here in Mexico? Is it dangerous to have them (attracts attention from kidnappers) or beneficial (wards off cops looking to give traffic tickets)? 

Is there now or will there be an option to permanently import (nationalize) the Fit? Searching the internet yields all sorts of different information on age restrictions for the car. Apparently under NAFTA the car had to be at least N years old, where N was set to decrease every few years, at the option of the Mexican government, but may or may not have actually changed. On the original schedule it was to be 2 years starting in 2017, so its possible you might be able to import it temporarily and later take it out and bring it back as a permanent import. This is an expensive process, but maybe your moving package will cover it in both directions.

For me, another consideration would be whether I had any good alternative for leaving the Fit behind other than selling it, because I hate selling a nearly new car like that since you lose so much value to depreciation in the first year. For example, if you had an option to loan it to a relative that would avoid having to either sell it or bring it. OTOH if you don't really like the car, then this is an excuse to ditch it in spite of the hit to your family's gross equity.

Maybe people recommend small cars as being the most practical for mexico, so the Fit is in some ways ideal. Depending on your living arrangements, you might want and be able to have two cars, 
and on a RT-type visa you could have both the Fit on a temporary import permit and a larger mexican plated car bought locally. OTOH maybe public transport will be sufficient for one of you, again depending on where you are going to live.

You need to nail down some of the other variables and the car decision will become clear.


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## Chelloveck (Sep 21, 2013)

Well, regardless of your decision, be aware that if you don't have off-street parking, whatever car you bring to Mexico City will likely take a beating.

When I drove down to Mexico City, my car had nary a scratch on it. But after three years of parking on the street in Coyoacan, it has been sideswiped numerous times by buses, taxis, and other wayward motorists, leaving a trail of dents, dings, and scratches.


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## AnneLM (Aug 16, 2016)

Thanks for your replies. I am working on getting more answers from his coworkers to fill in some of the blanks. It sounds like the most practical thing might be to leave our cars behind (like you, I hate to sell a year old car!) and wait til we are down there to see whether we even need a car at all, then buy one if we do. We have always done fine with public transport in CDMX and buses to get around the country as tourists, and especially in CDMX the more we can get along without a car, the better, IMO.


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