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gailrooney1

Jan 28, 2012, 12:37 PM

Post #1 of 11 (1716 views)

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How do I bring a Mexican plated car to USA permanently

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We own a home in Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico. Right now, it is for sale and we plan to move to Tucson, AZ and rent a home until our home in Mexico sells and then to move to Tucson with all our furniture when it does. If my home in Chapala does not sell, we will rent it to someone. My question is this, We have a Mexican made and Mexican plated car. It is a 2004 in very good condition. Can we re-register it in the USA and buy US plates for it, or can we buy some kind of insurance for the car here in Mexico and drive it legally in the USA until we sell our home in Mexico and move to Tucson permanently?

Rolly

Jan 28, 2012, 2:03 PM

Post #2 of 11 (1712 views)

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Re: [gailrooney1] How do I bring a Mexican plated car to USA permanently

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If it is possible at all, "Americanizing" the car is going to be very expensive.
The safety and emissions equipment will have to be upgraded to meet USA and Arizona standards.$$$

A visitor may keep a Mexican-plated car in the USA for as long as one year.
A resident of the USA may not keep the car in the country at all.

Rolly Pirate

E-visit me http://Rollybrook.com
On Facebook as Rolly Brook

DavidHF

Jan 28, 2012, 2:52 PM

Post #3 of 11 (1698 views)

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Re: [gailrooney1] How do I bring a Mexican plated car to USA permanently

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First, check with Arizona. Many states require that you register your car withing 30 days of moving there. Here's what I'd do; get a Mexican driver's license and some NOB insurance. As long as you have the Mexican DL you can be a "visitor."

mazbook1

Jan 28, 2012, 3:07 PM

Post #4 of 11 (1687 views)

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Re: [Rolly] How do I bring a Mexican plated car to USA permanently

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And those $$$ things that Rolly refers to are often obscure things. A new speedometer that shows mile/hr AND km/hr, DOT approved taillight lens, and the list goes on and on.

I knew a guy that bought a motorcycle in Germany, then had it air-freighted to the U.S., instead of buying a U.S. export motorcycle there (through me, naturally), bought a regular production model for Germany. He finally ended up walking away from it while it was in U.S. Customs, because the cost to replace EVERYTHING required was totally prohibitive. A very, very expensive lesson.

YucaLandia

Jan 28, 2012, 3:07 PM

Post #5 of 11 (1687 views)

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Re: [DavidHF] How do I bring a Mexican plated car to USA permanently

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Before taking David's proposed less-than-legal route, it would be good to determine if your US insurance company agrees to provide insurance coverage when you are breaking the law by being a resident with an illegal unregistered car. If you were in an accident, the consequence of having to pay out-of-pocket $$$ for the other person's medical and auto damage expenses could quickly exceed the cost of buying a car in the US.

Most US insurance companies look for ways to deny coverage on claims - and operating the vehicle without proper legal registration is one condition that our agent told us would invalidate claims.
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Read-on MacDuff
E-visit at http://yucalandia.wordpress.com/

bournemouth

Jan 28, 2012, 3:41 PM

Post #6 of 11 (1675 views)

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Re: [DavidHF] How do I bring a Mexican plated car to USA permanently

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But only for a short period - I think it's best for the OP to accept that importing the vehicle into the US would be prohibitively expensive and that selling it in Mexico and buying again in Arizona is the only practical route.

DavidHF

Jan 28, 2012, 4:08 PM

Post #7 of 11 (1668 views)

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Re: [YucaLandia] How do I bring a Mexican plated car to USA permanently

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gailrooney1

Jan 29, 2012, 9:24 AM

Post #8 of 11 (1582 views)

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Re: [bournemouth] How do I bring a Mexican plated car to USA permanently

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So, can I bring the car into the US and then after a month or 2, drive it back over the AZ border, sell it in Mexico, walk through the AZ-MX border then buy a car in AZ ?

Rolly

Jan 29, 2012, 9:36 AM

Post #9 of 11 (1573 views)

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Re: [gailrooney1] How do I bring a Mexican plated car to USA permanently

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Yes.

Rolly Pirate

E-visit me http://Rollybrook.com
On Facebook as Rolly Brook

fug

Jan 29, 2012, 1:20 PM

Post #10 of 11 (1538 views)

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Re: [gailrooney1] How do I bring a Mexican plated car to USA permanently

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Rolly has given you the correct advice, as a car made in Mexico will not meet the standards for emission, safety, etc that the US requires. fug

(This post was edited by fug on Jan 29, 2012, 1:27 PM)

surebought

Jan 29, 2012, 3:49 PM

Post #11 of 11 (1501 views)

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Re: [gailrooney1] How do I bring a Mexican plated car to USA permanently

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The good news is that you can probably sell the Mexican Plated Car in Mexico for close to what you have in it. From my experience, there isn't much Car depreciation with Mexican Plated cars, even the Fronterizo Plated ones. Forget it with trying to get it back into the US legally registered(unless it was made before 1972). I am afraid that you are going to have to sell the car. If it is a Peugeot, I might be interested myself.