# Van purchase a van in Mexico verses USA



## 1happykamper (Nov 5, 2012)

I have searched most of the threads on this topic and have asked the question ...sort of..before. Now I have more concise questions...

The questions are related to the best way to purchase a vehicle...all things considered ..for the sole purpose of moving my stuff to San Miguel de Allende. My Temporary Resident visa is still in process and at the time of my move... February 5th...may still be in process. My address in Mexico ...if you will...is a hotel of now. 

1. If I buy the car in the USA it has one small drawback...I have to declare it "junked " in SMA... And my purchase of perhaps $1,000 is gone... Oh well. No other down side?

2. I live near the Mexican border. If I bought a car in Nogales...given today's new rules...can I register that car in my name? Plus do I need a mexican drivers license too? The advantages are...I blend a little better... And I can sell the car in Mexico...I think...?

Cheers.


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## arturo_b (Sep 17, 2009)

Your best bet would be to talk with the nearest Mexican consulate. There's a good chance that your car can be part of the _menaje de casa_ paperwork.

Otherwise, you'll most likely need to get a temporary importation permit in Nogales, drop your stuff in SMA, and return the car to the US in order to clear the encumbrance on your credit card that was created by the temporary importation. Or you might nationalize the car for about US$500.

Once in SMA, your tags and your license would both be issued by Guanajuato. For those, you will want an FM3 or better. So, again, your nearest Mexican consulate can help a lot.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

arturo_b said:


> Your best bet would be to talk with the nearest Mexican consulate. There's a good chance that your car can be part of the _menaje de casa_ paperwork.
> 
> Otherwise, you'll most likely need to get a temporary importation permit in Nogales, drop your stuff in SMA, and return the car to the US in order to clear the encumbrance on your credit card that was created by the temporary importation. Or you might nationalize the car for about US$500.
> 
> Once in SMA, your tags and your license would both be issued by Guanajuato. For those, you will want an FM3 or better. So, again, your nearest Mexican consulate can help a lot.


A couple of corrections to arturo's post. I believe that the menaje de casa is a thing of the past, and FM3s haven't been issued in over three years.


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## arturo_b (Sep 17, 2009)

Dunno why the consulate in Los Angeles still offers both items:
PAGO DE DERECHOS / FEES

Me, I can't say with any certainty. I got my menaje at the turn of the century and never needed an FM3. Which takes me back to my old saw, don't believe a bunch of cranky old ****** ex-pats when the consulate has all the answers.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

arturo_b said:


> Dunno why the consulate in Los Angeles still offers both items:
> PAGO DE DERECHOS / FEES
> 
> Me, I can't say with any certainty. I got my menaje at the turn of the century and never needed an FM3. Which takes me back to my old saw, don't believe a bunch of cranky old ****** ex-pats when the consulate has all the answers.


You may consider me old at 67, but I'm not especially cranky. All I can tell you is that over two years ago, I had to change my FM3 for a No Inmigrante card in Mexico City. It sounds like the LA consulate is a bit behind the times .


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## kazslo (Jun 7, 2010)

arturo_b said:


> Your best bet would be to talk with the nearest Mexican consulate. There's a good chance that your car can be part of the _menaje de casa_ paperwork.
> 
> Otherwise, you'll most likely need to get a temporary importation permit in Nogales, drop your stuff in SMA, and return the car to the US in order to clear the encumbrance on your credit card that was created by the temporary importation. Or you might nationalize the car for about US$500.
> 
> Once in SMA, your tags and your license would both be issued by Guanajuato. For those, you will want an FM3 or better. So, again, your nearest Mexican consulate can help a lot.


Nationalizing a car would likely be closer to $1000 - $1300, 3 day wait, ~$100 for your plates, and in certain states you won't be able to register it. Top that off with difficulty getting decent insurance and less of a chance of being able to get top dollar when you sell it. The consulates are good for some things, but they aren't always connected with the way things are actually done.

By the way, 3 years ago when I went to get a menaje, I read the consulate page too. I visited (Chicago) and they told me that they don't really do menajes anymore and it'd be better if I just paid my tax at the border. I suppose if someone were to send their things with a moving company or had high value items it might be necessary though.

Best way in my opinion is to take a car down with you and your things on a temp permit and bring it back to sell at the border (US side).


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## FHBOY (Jun 15, 2010)

arturo_b said:


> Dunno why the consulate in Los Angeles still offers both items:
> PAGO DE DERECHOS / FEES
> 
> Me, I can't say with any certainty. I got my menaje at the turn of the century and never needed an FM3. Which takes me back to my old saw, don't believe a bunch of cranky old ****** ex-pats when the consulate has all the answers.


If you check my threads, you may find that the info you have does not jive at all. There is no FM3 any longer, and as a newbie, I have a Residencia Permanente entrance visa, my wife a Residencia Temporal. The car needs to go through Banjercito, and for that you need to get to the INM website and get a Pre-Authorization #. Banjercito will require up to $300 USD for your TIP. As to nationalizing, it is based on the Blue Book value of your vehicle and can be as high as 50% of that.

The best idea is the one we agreed to: drive us and our stuff down in our USA vehicle, get the TIP sticker, find a Mexican plated car within a couple of months to buy, then drive the USA vehicle back to the USA, get our TIP deposit back, sell it in Laredo or San Antonio and take the bus back home to Mexico.

That is the straight dope from one who just completed it, a 63 year old cranky ****** (soon-to-be) expat old fart who has nothing to give but the facts of his own experience. Good luck!

No where in all of our applications and procedures have we even heard the manaje mentioned.


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## arturo_b (Sep 17, 2009)

Isla Verde said:


> You may consider me old at 67, but I'm not especially cranky.


Yeah, that´s what all the sixty-seven-year-olds say.



> All I can tell you is that over two years ago, I had to change my FM3 for a No Inmigrante card in Mexico City. It sounds like the LA consulate is a bit behind the times .


A few years back, when the INM collapsed its FMT, FM3, and FM2 forms into the FMM, the ****** boards were full of dire apocalyptic wisdom and yet life went on as before. FMT was the tourist visa, FM3 was the non-immigrant visa, and FM2 was the immigrant visa. And they still are. It´s just that the forms called FMT, FM3, and FM2 have disappeared.

The consulate in L.A. might very well be behind the times (as Gertrude Stein said about the place, there is no there there) but even so they are an issuing authority for INM. ExpatForum is not. Rollybrook is not. If the consulate wants to issue FM2s and FM3s, who are we to tell them otherwise?

(Truth be told, I think what we´re seeing here is nothing more than semantics. "FM3" is easier to say than "visado de no inmigrante". Like, you know, the green card stopped being green sometime in the 1980s.)

As to the nationalization of OP´s transportation, we know from one of the earliest posts that it cost US$1000. Hence the minimal fee of about US$500. But that ought to be forgiven if the car might come in under the menaje de casa that the cranky gringos say doesn´t exist and the Mexican consulates say does exist.

Sheesh. Mexico was hard enough to understand even before the cranky gringos decided to retire here!

OP: ask your nearest Mexican consulate. They are the issuing authority for the permissions you seek. Cranky (and non-cranky) gringos only have anecdotal evidence to offer, which, while being useful, is hardly definitive. If you can get your car listed on your menaje de casa, pues, ya ganaste mano.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

Sorry, Arturo.

The "visado de no inmigrante" doesn't exist any longer either. Neither does the visado de inmigrante. They have been combined into "residente temporal". The new law is a drastic change form the previous three iterations.

Please see the new regs here:
Documento sin título


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## 1happykamper (Nov 5, 2012)

Thank you all so very much for your (spirited) comments and answers to my question.

All things considered I have decided to buy a USA van here in Tucson,muse it to move my stuff and drive it from SMA before six months is up back NOB. Cheers!


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## tepetapan (Sep 30, 2010)

arturo_b said:


> Yeah, that´s what all the sixty-seven-year-olds say.
> 
> 
> A few years back, when the INM collapsed its FMT, FM3, and FM2 forms into the FMM, the ****** boards were full of dire apocalyptic wisdom and yet life went on as before. FMT was the tourist visa, FM3 was the non-immigrant visa, and FM2 was the immigrant visa. And they still are. It´s just that the forms called FMT, FM3, and FM2 have disappeared.
> ...


 I added up the points and gave up a thumbs up on this post. More truth than not put it in a winning category for me. Can´t wait until I turn 67 because then I will have an excuse.


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## bxgpsy (Nov 29, 2013)

HI, i AM ABSOLUTELY NEW HERE Do you mean that I will not be able to bring my trusted van into Mexico and keep it without doing a whole lot of expensive sounding stuff?


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

This thread is almost a year old and much of the information is obsolete.
If you come as a tourist, you may bring any car you wish.
If you have been approved for a Residente Temporal visa, you may bring any car but have to take it out when you become Residente Permanente in 4 years.
Only NAFTA manufacuted cars can be permanently imported, if of a certain age, which varies with time.
Residente Permanente visa holders may not import foreign plated vehicles, or drive them unaccompanied by the owner/temporary importer.


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## bxgpsy (Nov 29, 2013)

Thank you for the quick reply. I think I will have to plan a trip down to look at some of the locations, so I am glad to hear I can drive it as a tourist. I noticed your location, can I ask how you like it? I am just starting my search so am at the beginning of info gathering. I will live on my S.S. so economy is important as well as safety and life quality. I seem to see that might be a possibility, I just cannot see living in this head grinder culture up here any longer. THX!


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

We moved down here in 2001 and have been here ever since. Looks like we like it. Our only concern now is old age and the need to downsize, but the housing market is really slow.


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

Will living on Social Security be enough to meet the $2000+/- to qualify for a resident visa. A year or so ago it was more like $1300 .... but!


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

It can be misleading. The lower requirements of a few years ago were per person. Now, an individual may qualify, but not have enough to include a spouse. No problem, since the qualifying person can get approved at the nearest Mexican consulate in his home country. They both make the move to Mexico, but one enters as a tourist, with no qualifications. Once the primary spouse gets the visa card, either Residente Temporal or Residente Permanente, the spouse, concubine or children immediately become eligible for the same status with no financial requirements. Problem solved. Can actually be less costly than in previous years. It is certainly more fair.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

RVGRINGO said:


> It can be misleading. The lower requirements of a few years ago were per person. Now, an individual may qualify, but not have enough to include a spouse. No problem, since the qualifying person can get approved at the nearest Mexican consulate in his home country. They both make the move to Mexico, but one enters as a tourist, with no qualifications. Once the primary spouse gets the visa card, either Residente Temporal or Residente Permanente, the spouse, concubine or children immediately become eligible for the same status with no financial requirements. Problem solved. Can actually be less costly than in previous years. It is certainly more fair.


RV, thanks for this succinct and encouraging explanation!


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## wonderphil (Sep 7, 2013)

RVGRINGO said:


> It can be misleading. The lower requirements of a few years ago were per person. Now, an individual may qualify, but not have enough to include a spouse. No problem, since the qualifying person can get approved at the nearest Mexican consulate in his home country. They both make the move to Mexico, but one enters as a tourist, with no qualifications. Once the primary spouse gets the visa card, either Residente Temporal or Residente Permanente, the spouse, concubine or children immediately become eligible for the same status with no financial requirements. Problem solved. Can actually be less costly than in previous years. It is certainly more fair.


I believe this may be an old requirement (part of old laws?). I talked to the Mexican Consulate in Portland last November about this and she said I could apply for a permanent visa. However, she also that said my wife has to also apply separately from me and also supply qualifying financial documentation (I understand that she might be wrong and you might be correct, because what you said makes good sense, I am just saying what I was told). I am now back in the cold for until January. so am going to go there today to apply for a Residente Permanente. My wife will stay on a tourist visa for now as it might have certain advantages this way.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Consulates are not Immigration, and they only provide pre-approval service for those applying for visas. Once in Mexico, you finish the process there, with INM.
The information is correct and INM will process a family member of a visa holder under the familial qualifications. See your local INM office, in Mexico, after you have received your visa card.


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## Fig (Jan 9, 2013)

Can a permanent resident drive a non-Mexican plated car without the registered owner.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

No, the Residente Permanente may not, unless an immediate family member of the importer of the vehicle & prepared to prove it. Even that may be a grey area.


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## Fig (Jan 9, 2013)

Figured as much. Thanks RV. Trying to keep my 2011 car. Might have to go Temporal and wait out the next few years. That'll be Nov. 2016 - is this correct?


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

When you have reached the end of four years on a Residente Temporal, you will have to change to Residente Permanente, and no longer be able to drive a non-Mexican plated vehicle. So, count carefully and plan ahead, as a Canadian car will have to go back to Canada to be sold. 
The only other option would require returning to Canada anyway, and applying for another Residente Temporal visa, if possible, after letting the first one expire for a time. They might close that loophole, though.


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## Fig (Jan 9, 2013)

Point taken. I've taken the major depreciation on the car and wanted to keep it - but I'll probably have to bite the bullet and sell it and buy a Mexican vehicle. Thanks again for your information.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

We have found that owning a car purchased in Mexico is much less of a problem than with a foreign plated car. It is not targeted by transitos and we are free to drive it anywhere, including outside of Mexico with no paperwork, fees or deposits.


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