How to legalize your imported vehicle in Mexico?

Legalizing your imported car in Mexico, is your car worth it?

First the car that you brought from the US or Canada must meet two requirements; the vehicle must be 2007 and older and must be built or assembled in North America thus meeting the NAFTA agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico.

Secondly, finding an honest and reliable representative to import the car without asking for funds upfront can be hazardous! We highly recommend Oscar Fco. Angulo. Here is his contact info: LIC. Oscar Fco. Angulo.

                                                                                               AnCo Comercializadora.
                                                                                              Tel: 631-31-52571
                                                                                              Nex:62*259663*2
                                                                                              Cel Mex 045 6311201015.
                                                                                              Cel Usa 520 841 6797

Oscar will need copies of your driver’s license, any photo id. (Passport), copy of your car registration, photo of the VIN, and a copy of your electrical or telephone bill to establish your current residence. These documents can be emailed to Oscar at ancomercial@hotmail.com. Oscar will start the legalization process and he will have the documents ready for you within 48 hours. Oscar works at the Nogales border.

At kilometer 21, Nogales, Mexico you will stop at Administracion General de Aduanas to remit your TIP (temporary import permit), your car info will be removed from the database. Ensure you keep the Banjercito receipt, which is proof that your vehicle has been taken out of the country legally. There they make a first physical inspection to verify and take a photo of the VIN. Upon returning your TIP sticker, you will meet with Oscar across the highway at the Immigration and Importation building, he will guide you up the road to SAT (Aduana) or Customs. At the SAT office, you will provide the original registration title of the vehicle and the “pedimento”, form containing legal information about the car (this was prepared in advance by Oscar).

Officials will then review the documents and issue a blue sticker which is your car importation sticker (Registro Publico Vehicular) and at this point you will not stick it on your windshield! After this you will drive further south for another 500 meters where a vehicle inspection will be done, matching and taking more photos of the VIN. They will issue a stamped document that confirms that your car was inspected and is free of liens. This inspection costs $ 59.94 USD. It is at that point that you affix the Mexican importation sticker on the window.

You will then return to kilometer 21 with your “pedimiento form” and the vehicle inspection document where officials will review it and issue a stamp stating “cumplido” fulfilled. Then you return to the broker’s office, which in this case was AutoTrack importation they will issue a receipt showing a break down of the fees charged. Verify that your name is spelled correctly, and the address matches your physical address in Mexico.

The process is vey easy and took approximately 45 minutes so it really depends how busy the border is! I would not recommend legalizing your imported car at the height of the snowbirds’ invasion.

Legalizing your imported car in Mexico, getting your Mexican plates!

We live in Bucerias, Nayarit so we needed to go to Tepic at the Palacio del Gobierno to get a free document stating that they reviewed the import petition (Revision de pedimento de importacion). You need three photocopies of the documents you received and the originals in order to proceed with this. The (Direccion General del Ingresos) office is located on the second floor, and the contact person is Sergio. This will take at least 8 days to obtain this (tramite) document. Going to Tepic is time consuming! We later found out that Tonio, which we met at the government office and later in San Vicente, can process your document in Tepic for 700 pesos. He speaks English and lives in Mezcales. We have not used him but it would be worth hiring him! Tonio's contact is 322 278 9052

Finally! You are ready to go on to the registration office in San Vicente where your vehicle will be inspected again; a pink slip will be issued. You wont be able to register your car without it! The contact person is Isidro; call him ahead of time to ensure that he is not busy. His contact is 322 156 9748. He will take imprints of the VIN and call the federal police to ensure that your vehicle is not stolen and is no longer a temporary imported car showing up in the Mexican database.

We obtained our plates for 1200 pesos, plates must be replaced every three years and tenancy “registration fee” was 300 pesos, which is paid yearly.

Buyers beware!

You can’t legalize an imported car without driving it to the border although some have claimed to do it successfully. We do know from one report that Oscar was able to legalize an ex-pat vehicle by picking it up in Mazatlan, Sinaloa, driving it to the border to legalize it and then returning it to the owner in Mazatlan. Really, if this could be done any other way, why would a custom broker go through all this trouble to do this?

Unfortunately expats are being taken advantage and pay excessive amounts of dollars to imposters to cut corners. Some may be getting Mexican plates from another Mexican state where they do not reside for a fee, but they are only buying time, future will tell when renewal comes up? Our plates match our names and our legal address in Mexico. Yes, It is a lengthy process but it is the legal way of doing business.

Total cost to legalize our vehicle was $1 100 USD. It was well worth our peace of mind!

Sunday, July 28, 2013

A home to house your dreams in Bucerias, Mexico!: How to legalize your imported vehicle in Mexico?