Job Discussion Forums

[nancycoates]

hi guys,

my boyfriend and i are hoping to drive to mexico when we move to teach. it's partly based on the amount of stuff that we need to move (surfboard, bikes, tools for renovating) as well as the beautiful trip that we'd have down the coast (we live in toronto but would drive out to vancouver and start south). i'm trying to avoid being a dreamer and think about the safety of this idea. any thoughts? has anyone brought their own vehicle into mexico and dealt with the paperwork involved?

thanks!

[M@tt]

i'm going to tell you what everyone told me when i was thinking about driving to veracruz from indiana. do not drive through the northern part of mexico at night. there are very long stretches of highway that are desolate and very dangerous. mexico still has bandits and the police will be of no help if there are even police nearby.

if you only drive in the morning and afternoon you should probably be okay.

[Like a Rolling Stone]

Holy Cow! Is Mexico still dangerous?

[nancycoates]

thanks for the 'heads up'. i'm thinking that we'd be quite a good target both for bandits as well as not so honest police who might be able to find a number of reasons to 'ticket' us. did you end up driving veracruz to indiana or just fly?

[danielita]

I have seen one approach to special gringo tickets and heard about the second from a Canadian who drives to Mexico anually

1) speak English constantly (not a word of Spanish) so as to frustrate la policia, making like you don't understand the bribe tactic. --this one worked --the driver even managed to slip in "we're not the droids you are looking for" into his conversation
2) roll down the window a crack (so you can hear them), then slap your license to the window so that they can write down your information and give you the ticket (avoiding the bribe).

Granted this was in Mexico city and not on the highways, it may be a little different....

How has everyone else dealt with this?

D

[thelmadatter]

Mexico is not as dangerous to drive in as it once was. However, if you are driving a car full of stuff and it looks obvious that you have stuff of value, you should take precautions.

Not driving at night, esp. in the north is one of them for the reasons M@tt lined out but I think a bigger concern is smashing into a wandering cow (much of the north is free range still).

However, I think that since you are looking to drive down the coast, you have an advantage of being near the more touristy places and the government is a bit better about taking care of visitors in tourist places than anywhere else in Mexico. I say go for it but drive during the day, stay on major highways unless you go off to a particular stop (that is, dont just wander aimlessly looking for a "scenic" route) and when you stop for the night, look for a well-kept, well-lighted hotel/motel with enclosed parking. With all that stuff in your car, Id worry about it being broken into.

Two other things you should know. On the plus side, esp on major roads, Mexico has what are called the "Green Angels," which are teams in little marked trucks and they are there to assist foreign travelers on Mexico's roads. Often they speak some English, but dont completely count on that. They will, however, help you out if you have car trouble or something. Ive heard only good things about them. On the negative side... all major roads... esp. the north-south ones ... are toll roads and tolls are mighty steep here in Mexico. As is gas. You will spend about double or perhaps more per km than you would expect in Canada or the US to road trip.

My ex and I used to drive a lot in Sonora when we lived in Arizona (station wagon with camping gear ) and never had a bit of trouble.

[Ben Round de Bloc]

[sickbag]

[delacosta]

I've drove the route your considering doing a few years ago. ie Vancouver to Puerto Angel Oaxaca. It was an incredible experience. I don't have much time to go into details right now but I highly recommend it, and do follow the advice of not driving at night. I was hit up once for 200 pesos by a federal. Oh well.
I took the more scenic coastal highway all the way down, through Baja and crossed over by ferry to Mazatlan THe trip along the US Pacific coast is in itself stunning, along the 101.
I'd like to do the same trip again some day, but by bike.

[bootsy]

Hi, I've done this trip several times from Seattle. I have always gone down Baja and then taken the ferry. Its completely safe but, like everyone else has said, dont drive at night. Also, make sure to bring an extra plastic gas can because soemtimes gas stations can be few and far between or closed for whatever reason (wedding, funeral, World Cup etc). I once spent the night in an empty soccer field across from a gas station as it was closed for some reason or another.

Like delacosta said the drive down is beautiful. If you go down Baja PM me and I can send you the names of some nice camping spots.

Also, dont be intimidated by the federals and the checkpoints. They are usually teenagers and generally friendly. My car (an old Subaru station wagon filled with four female twentysomethings) usually got stopped often and one of the first questions after of course, where are you from? was if we had boyfriends.

[MELEE]

You've already got some good advice and we've had some good threads on this in the past, so be sure to do a search. You should check out the people's guide to Mexico http://www.peoplesguide.com/
Especially the driving section http://www.peoplesguide.com/1pages/chapts/drive/1driveindex.html
I highly recommend you get their book. Your local library might have an old copy you can look at before you decide whether or not you want to buy it. There are some other guides to driving in Mexico, but I haven't personally seen them, so I can't recommend them.

I've driven quite a bit in Mexico, mostly in the south, (Thema, there is a lot of danger of hitting a cow down here too! ) I would never pretend not to speak Spanish myself, I've had some great conversations with all kinds of Mexican officials in Spanish, they usually tell me about their frustrations about times they stopped tourists who didn't speak Spanish, I write some English phrases on a card for them to use in the future and they send me on my merry way.

Keep in mind that signs and signals are a little different in Mexico, if you get the Sanbourne's auto insurance they give you a book that describes all the traffic signals. Also keep in mind that most Mexicans don't know the signs and signals themselves, they think "knowing how to drive" means that you know how to operate the vehicle.

Also carefully select which vehicle you are going to bring into the country. Do not enter Mexico with just any car. A guy I work wanted to bring a Kia to Mexico. We all just laughed. The best vehical would be a VW bus with a copy of How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive
tucked in among your things.

[nancycoates]

excellent advice guys! i'm now feeling like we'd be making a more informed decision if we drove down instead of just thinking that it would be a wonderful way to see that whole coast. cheers!

[magpie]

I drove alone to and from the US to San Andres Tuxtla (about 3 hours south of Veracruz on the Gulf) twice in the last 2 years. I had my Honda Civic packed full and 2 cats crated together in the font seat. I had absolutely NO problems traveling alone and I'm in my late 50s. I was never in fear, and I found most of the roads alone the coast BETTER than those in the US--except for a couple of patches of pot-holed roads south of Veracruz.

Now, I do NOT recommend traveling at night, but I did do this for a couple of early morning hours on an emergency return trip as I needed to be back in the US ASAP due to my daughter's grave illness. I would not have done this under any other circumstances, more because of the fog that covered the winding roads and limited visibility and lack of lights along the way than fear of bandits. I did follow along with several trucks and cars so I was not totally alone and again, I would not have done this if it were not necessary.

I find it helpful when traveling with a lot of stuff packed in a car to take the spare tire and jack from out of the tire well and put in the rear seat area. I have not had a flat, but if I did I would not have unload all my stuff out of the trunk to get to the tire. I also carried plenty of water and some snack food, blanket, a good emergency kit and don't let my gas tank fall below 3/4 full. These are just common sense tips.

[magpie]

Duh, as to gas, I meant never going less than 3/4 empty. As you may guess I'm an optimist--always thinking on the full side of life.