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viejogatomalo

Apr 27, 2004, 3:09 PM

Post #1 of 16 (1365 views)

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I posted this inquiry some time ago, but it was somehow eliminated. ADDRESSes.
Besides my cats, my black Jeep is my passion. I wanted to keep it legal in the US in case I want to buzz back to California for some shopping at Frontgate or
l'Occitane or just plain toot about living in Mexico.
Would it be best to get Mexican plates? If so - how so? So maybe keeping it legal in US is not so necessary (same with drivers license).
I,m at that point of mentally moving there for all these little sniggly issues to pop up. Which probably don't amount to much but still cause pause.
I am doing a trip in Jan to settle on location and want to bring my laptop for communication and banking issues.....can I?
Thank you, Richard

Esteban

Apr 27, 2004, 8:13 PM

Post #2 of 16 (1318 views)

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Re: [oldbadcat] address

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You have part of your mind in the right place. Go to Mexico and ask the questions there. You'll find your perceptions will be completely different when you actually arrive and sleep for a few days. The rest is bull shit. No one can answer your questions here. To be there is like being in a different culture with a different set of rules and priorities. Meditate tonight and don't worry. If you haven't been there you won't know anything till you arrive. Be patient. I'd recommend not speaking for three days after you arrive. Observe only.
Sincerely,
Esteban

viejogatomalo

Apr 28, 2004, 5:40 AM

Post #3 of 16 (1285 views)

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Re: [Esteban] address

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I don't understand why you feel that my inquiry is, as you say bull-shiit. I thought it was valid and certainly not too off the mark from others I have read. Please clarify your insult.

Esteban

Apr 28, 2004, 6:40 AM

Post #4 of 16 (1271 views)

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Re: [oldbadcat] address

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I'm sorry if I offended you. I was not attacking you personally. What I meant to convey was that some of your questions can't be answered until you move to Mexico or at least try an extended stay. The comment was directed at the question itself and the un-real possibility of a valid answer coming down the pipe. Honestly, no insult intended. Again, I guess I should have re-read the post and worded it clearer.

Estanislao

Apr 28, 2004, 6:52 AM

Post #5 of 16 (1267 views)

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Re: [oldbadcat] address

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You DID ask specific, answerable questions. I know long-time residents of Mexico with US plated vehicles - a little bit of searching of this Forum will probably tell you how you do it. There should be no problem bringing your laptop, but as Internet cafes abound, it might be easier to leave it behind on your investigative trip.
--
"It is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool again."
John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts - The Log From The Sea Of Cortez
--
Estanislao

viejogatomalo

Apr 28, 2004, 7:03 AM

Post #6 of 16 (1264 views)

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Re: [Estanislao] address

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Thank you for the curtious answer to my questions. I had begun to feel that perhaps the Mexico Connect was a group of good-old-boys who can't relate to someone nieve about the big move.

jennifer rose

Apr 28, 2004, 7:31 AM

Post #7 of 16 (1253 views)

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Here are your answers

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A new or used laptop is no problem.

Legalizing your US-plated black Jeep will cost you plenty of money and aggravation when doing so is absolutely unecessary. With sequential FM-3s, you can have the use of your foreign-plated vehicle in Mexico until you draw your last breath on planet earth.....at which time the vehicle must be removed from the country or surrended to SAT.

These folks have given you good and sincere advice. Read the prior posts on these fora, and spend some time listening.

Bubba

Apr 28, 2004, 7:54 AM

Post #8 of 16 (1243 views)

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Re: [oldbadcat] address

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OldBadCat:

You are being overly sensitive. You were given good advice and shouldn't take offense at what was said. Mexico is full of us good ole boys. Expect that or stay where you are. On the other hand, come on down. Mexico will bring down that blood pressure if you have the right attitude.

As for foreign plated vehicles, Ms. Rose is correct that you can keep it here until you expire but not sell it here nor be buried in it. You may not be able to renew the registration of your vehicle in the state in which it is registered at present. That's perfectly OK as far as the Mexican authorities and Mexican insurance companies are concerned. They have no interest in whether or not your foreign plate is currently registered. However, if you return to the states to sell the vehicle (you should not attempt to sell it here in Mexico), you may find that the state in which it is registered is claiming fees and assessments from you because you failed to renew your registration every year. For instance, my cars were registered in California and I could not renew my registration because I couldn't get smog clearance or California insurance. When I returned to the states to sell one of my cars, the state of California tried to slap me with a $750 fine. They had no lien on the vehicle but caused me a lot of trouble.

viejogatomalo

Apr 28, 2004, 8:50 AM

Post #9 of 16 (1229 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] Here are your answers

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Thank you for your post. I had asked these questions because I had not seen any related old posts on these subjects. I shall be more circumspent in the future about what I ask and, of course, listen.

viejogatomalo

Apr 28, 2004, 8:55 AM

Post #10 of 16 (1224 views)

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Re: [Bubba] address

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Somehow having my post called bull shit does make me a little sensitive.

Bubba

Apr 28, 2004, 9:27 AM

Post #11 of 16 (1209 views)

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Re: [oldbadcat] address

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Not to belabor this but Estaban did not refer to your post as "bullshit". He was telling you that much of what you hear about Mexico while abroad is bullshit and that, no matter what you read or hear, you need to be here to really understand the country and its ways. This is singularly good advice and you totally misread his point. I am not posting to tell you this but to tell others who may be reading this discussion to heed Esteban's advice.

For instance, I just posted some information on how to sell a foreign plated vehicle on this site. I am speaking there about my experience. You would not believe the misinformation I got over various forums about the procedure for selling a U.S. plated vehicle. I cannot speak for Esteban but will tell you that Mexico is the land of circumstance and mood. Anyone who tells you that rules are rules and that's the way it is has never really lived here. Listen now or regret later.

viejogatomalo

Apr 28, 2004, 10:10 AM

Post #12 of 16 (1194 views)

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Re: [Bubba] address

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Thank you for the post on foreign plated cars. It was to the point and informative.
In any event.....I finally got a reply to one of my posts/inquires. Gee....did I!

(This post was edited by oldbadcat on Apr 28, 2004, 10:13 AM)

Bubba

Apr 28, 2004, 10:59 AM

Post #13 of 16 (1179 views)

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My pleasure, Oldbadcat and fellow Californian.

Watch out. If you move here with you California plated car, the California Gestapo will follow you forever. They told Carmax that I owed them all of these fees and penalties and when I told them I had not lived in California in three years and could not maintain current registration because of their own rules, they told me that that was my problem and that I should have informed them that I moved to Mexico. As a consequence, Carmax would not buy my car until I registered it in Texas.

I lived in California for 30 years and was actually stabbed in Salinas at the Hyatt there while attending the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1967. Those were fun times but that state has the most unreasonable bureaucracy on the planet.

(This post was edited by Bubba on Apr 28, 2004, 11:01 AM)

Esteban

Apr 28, 2004, 11:20 AM

Post #14 of 16 (1173 views)

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Re: [Bubba] address

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You hit my point exactly Bubba! Thanks and from now on, I should probably run my posts for your editorial approval (that's no joke!) . And I reiterate...absolutely no disrespect to the original poster...

viejogatomalo

Apr 28, 2004, 12:38 PM

Post #15 of 16 (1152 views)

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Re: [Bubba] address

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Yes, Salinas does have it's entertaining side. But one has to realize that there isn't much else to do besides drive-by shootings and stabbings. Even Steinbeck moved to Monterey.
It makes me laugh when no-nothings say that Mexico is too dangerous to live in.
Now that gas is $2.16/gal here...there shouldn't be much of a shock in that direction.
Thank you

Bubba

Apr 28, 2004, 1:26 PM

Post #16 of 16 (1140 views)

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Re: [oldbadcat] address

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Oldbadcat:

I'm beginning to like you. I have an idiot friend who disdained my move to Mexico as way too dangerous and then moved to New Orleans. New Orleans for God's sake. The single most dangerous place in all of Noth America. I used to live in Aptos on Monterey Bay which was famous for Big Ed Kemper who murdered his mother, cut off her head and raped the headless corpse. Whatever this place may be it will never be as perverted as Santa Cruz County, California.