Job Discussion Forums

[danielita]

Hi All,

My husband and I are driving to Mexico at the beginning of August. We have a 1998 Toyota 4Runner, which cleans up pretty nicely. The truck has always been ultra-reliable and we have had good luck with the previous 4Runner and expect to get another 3 years out of it (at least). After doing some research on the internet, it appears that service for Toyotas can be difficult to find (and somewhat unreliable) and the nearest Toyota dealership will be in Oaxaca city, 3 hours uphill. We resigned ourselves to selling the truck and buying a different vehicle that can be more easily serviced. Ford, Chev, Volkswagen and Nissan seem to be the ones where we will be able to find service in our area. My husband just found out what we would get as a trade-in value for our truck and is now thinking that we should roll the dice and keep our Toyota. I am worried that we will be seen as the rich gringos with the expensive SUV (even though it is 8 years old) and that we will have huge problems getting the vehicle serviced. What do you think? Will it be a problem?

Thanks for your insight!
Danielita

[MELEE]

mmmmm

One thing is that if you do trade it in, get a vehicle that is at least ten years old! You will pay less tax at the boarder crossing and you will have the possiblity of Mexicanizing it and selling it when you decide to leave the country, that is not possible for vehicles less than ten years old.

I wouldn't bring a VW. The problem is that a VW that you'd buy in Canada is probably made in Germany. And the VWs in Mexico are made in Mexico and quiet different. I have a friend with a VW bus he drove down from the US and he's looking at having to have a new engine put in it because its too expensive to get the parts sent it. His German made engine is completly incompatible with the Mexican VW parts. There may be the same issues with Nissan, I do know that the Frontiers sold in the US modles 98 to present are made in Mexico so those would be ok.

I had to trade in my beetle ! And I have a 94 Ford Explorer, no problem at all with the parts, its from the US and we had it legalized so we can sell it if we want. I only wash it every other month or so, and it has a pretty noticible but minor ding, no one seems to think I rich because of the car I drive. They think I'm rich, but not because of the car.

As for looking like rich gringos, you're going look like that no matter what you are driving. Well, maybe not in a 1978 El Camino, I don't think anyone could look rich in one of those.

[ls650]

[Samantha]

Gas prices alone would deter me from making a major road trip, but I agree with ls650. Get it serviced and it should be fine. You can easily get the necessary oil changes here in Mexico. Against all advice, I brought in what is considered a unique car (German made) a few years ago and thankfully it just keeps on running. (I do keep it covered so it doesn't rust away) If and when it needs something they can't deal with, my mechanic says that he will order through his source in Tijuana but anyway, I can order online and have someone bring it down (one of the benefits of living in a tourist town). Mechanics put a VW oil filter in place of her usual one, and it's perfect. I am in need of a brake job soon, so let's see how that goes! I brought the mechanics handbook, purchased from Canadian Tire, just in case.

When crossing the border, the cost of the temporary import permit is the same no matter what year the car is. I think it is approximately $30.00 USD these days and they put it on your credit card, so make sure you have a credit card in the same name as the vehicle registration papers and license. If you don't have a credit card, the cash bond is rather sizeable. (What WILL vary is the cost of your insurance premium, depending on coverage).

Your temporary vehicle import permit is valid for the length of your tourist card (up to a maximum of 180 days) but once you obtain your FM3 (before the FMT tourist card expires) the vehicle is legal in Mexico as long as you are. The import sticker must be scraped off by officials when you drive the vehicle out of Mexico, or you will have no hope of ever bringing another one in.

[MELEE]

After much surfing (slow day today, no classes )
I found this page http://www.aduanas.sat.gob.mx/aduana_mexico/A_Pasajeros_Arribar_al_Pais_Tierra_English.htm from customs in ENGLISH!! about coming over the boarder with your car.
I assume you will be coming in as a tourist. So keep that in mind.

[danielita]

l650 and Samantha, thanks for the advice about doing the service before...we will consider it and see what repairs are are forseen and make a decision.

MELEE, thanks for the link to aduana, it was REALLY helpful. I laugh about the EL Camino--I keep joking with my husband that we should sell our 4Runner and buy one!!

[gordogringo]

Watch for local policia especially near the border.Be prepared for frequent shake downs and never hand them your wallet to search unless it is empty.They are searching for cash and if they find any it is a donation to the police department.A nice suv will draw alot of attention.Remember with a nice car it is not the criminals you need to be concerned about.It is the cops.

[Samantha]

Sorry Gordo but that's a crock! And sorry, but you are fear-monguering. I realize living in Tijuana you may have a different view than the rest of Mexico, but come on. Foreigners cross the borders every day in droves without incident. Moving to Mexico. In nice vehicles, nice motorhomes, and on nice motorcycles. I have lived and driven in Mexico for several years, crossing the border at Nogales in various (nice) vehicles and have never been shaken down once. I have never been stopped for a traffic infraction (in a foreign plated vehicle or a Mexican plated vehicle), and I live in the wild-west State of Sinaloa! We just don't drive at night, EVER. There are different kinds of police presence in Mexico and each has it's own areas of responsibility. Learn that to be better prepared in case of even a minor incident.

[ls650]

I have to concur with Samantha. Here in my lil backwater beach town way down on the Oaxacan coast, the cops never give us much of a hassle. It's quite different from what I imagine things must be like way up there on the frontera.

[MELEE]

I also lean more to Samatha's view that gordo's. I've twice driven across the boarder at Laredo, Texas and the biggest problem was finding the place to get your vehicle sticker! We had no problems with cops, immigration or aduanas in that area at all. Within Mexico I've driven around the country quite a bit, both in cars with US plates and Mexican plates. But never a car I'd condsider a "nice" car! I've only had two problems, both in the State of Mexico, both in a car (a vocho) with Oaxacan plates. The first time was very early in the morning, before sun up. (We frequently start off on trips around 4 am, then stop driving around 2 pm and rest all afternoon.). There is a rather confusing high way junction near Stgo. Tianquitango. We'd cost ourselves about an hour's drive getting it wrong on the trip up, we didn't want to do that on the trip back, so when he saw a Transit Police Car, my husband stopped to ask them which way we should go. I told him I didn't think the police were the best option, but he's always trying to prove that Mexico is not as bad as people say.... They tried to give him a ticket on some invented charge, (We'd stopped, to ask them for help!) until I finally got out of the car and they saw that I wasn't Mexican. I got out my cell phone and pretended I was going to call my lawyer and they let us go. Several months later on another trip, during Semana Santa, not far from the spot of the previous incident, we were pulled over in an operativa, they also tried to give us what I refer to as "a Oaxacan ticket". They tired to tell us that our Oaxacan plates and driver's licences weren't valid, they impiled that my husband was illiterate ( HE HAS AN MA IN MATH!!) simply because he's Oaxacan. We got lucky when some Federales happened by, I flagged them down and they stopped and we were alowed to go.[/i]

[gordogringo]

Sorry for stating the truth.In the frontera things are not all roses like they are for you farther south.Fighting the police is a daily activity here.With the apparent decline in revenue from shaking down padrotes and club owners ,they are hitting gringos hard.A nice car guarantees police attention.True most of the shakedowns happen at night so not driving at night is advised.But plenty happen in broad daylight as well.
I have American friends here that have had police enter thier businesses and take all electronic equiptment.Then for a fine of $100 cash to the cop they can get it back.No mention of any crime.I myself as a school owner have been shaken down so many times I am considering closing the doors here and doing something else.I cannot afford to pay teachers and people to walk the teachers from the taxi drop off at the border to the entry way for US customs.But if I end the escorts the cops will shake down my teachers when they cross back to San Diego after class ends at 9pm Friday nights (also payday).I lost 5 teachers before to this.Welcome to the real world of Mexico.

[ls650]

Maybe you should consider teaching in another area of Mexico; it ain't all like the frontera.

[Ben Round de Bloc]

[Samantha]

Right. It isn't the 'real world' of Mexico. We all know the border towns CAN be quite a bit nastier, crime-wise, but that certainly is not a comparison of life in the rest of Mexico. Calling it the real world of Mexico is absurd. People crossing the borders, such as the OP of this thread don't spend time hanging out there. Nogales checkpoint for vehicle permits, aduana etc. is 21km south of the border, so if you are entering Mexico through Nogales, Sonora you continue on to the check-point.

I have a sister-in-law living in Mexicali where she has for years. She drives a nice new vehicle and she and her 2 children are still alive to tell the tale. I can't picture her entertaining the thought of bribing a cop to protect her stuff. The cop would be thinking of ways to protect himself! I also happen to have a friend living in TJ where he and his wife run a business and are raising two children. Let's just say his take on life in TJ isn't quite as dramatic as yours, but then they likely hang out in a different crowd.

[gordogringo]

Geez louise Samantha.You must get alot of exercise.You are great at jumping to conclusions.I did not say anybody would be beaten or killed.Just a tad poorer.Just budget a few morditas in to your daily living expenses and get on with it.By "real world" it was a reference to the television show.Not an implication that all of Mexico is this way.Just Mexico's more edgy and seedy side.That is the frontera. Am going to vera cruz on Monday to investigate opening a new operation there.My novia's family has some serious pull there and I think the policia won't be such a pain in my backside.And as three police officers in Ensenada lost thier heads (quite literally) last week as well as 8 others in Acapulco I am not the only one tired of being hit up for bribes.Maybe the traficantes are good for something after all.I file complaints and talk to the media.They take a slightly more direct approach.To each his or her own.Have a good weekend and safe travels original poster.