TAKING A CAR INTO MEXICO VS. LEAVING IT IN MEXICO PERMANENTLY?

You are best not to leave it. You will lose the $300.00 Bond and your vehicle will be subject to immediate seizure.

You will Never be allowed to bring another car into Mexico again. It is very difficult to get it plated these days, in fact, it is next to impossible. Used to be you could hang around the Transito office and catch an employee and pay him for a set. Your vehicle will be registered on Fiscal computers.

The registration does have to be Valid and must conform with all other requirements as in your Name must appear on Drivers License and Insurance.

Bottom line is , whomever you leave it with will most likely have it seized.

Larry,

The only clarification I would make to what has been previously stated is that in the "frontier" region --for instance the border region of northern Baja-- you can easily take your car to Mexico, keep it there and wait the 5 additional years years until it is 10 years old.

However... I don't think it is a difficult process to nationalize your car... but you will have to pay a fee. Fortunately it is a percentage of the value, and at $2,000 if you compare registration in a expensive state like California, it may be worth paying the fee rather than pay annual registration. If you are keeping the car in a border region... not too bad. Into Mexico proper, it will cost more. They charge less for Mexican plated cars that stay in the border region, than for cars that can travel throughout the country.

On the other hand... since it is not an expensive car... sell it in the US and get what you can; and since you appear to be going to live in Mexico just buy another car here with the kind of Mexican plates you want. For a $2,000 car... how much grief are you willing to go through?

The process is a total hassle, and for the value, you are probably better off buying a used car in Mexico. There are two possible routes, the most popular is to legalize the car as a "border zone" car (fronterizo) once that is done, the car can be imported to the interior and be issued a new title at the state of destination. The other alternative is to import the car as farm equipment to be used in collective farms (permisso ejidatario,procampo,union campesina) this is complicated, because you must be a licensed member of a farm collective. in any of these methods, you must keep in mind that only a very few models are admitted for importation. Sports cars or cars that are too recent are not allowed, and the permitted years change all the time.

The last that I heard was "Only vehicles exactly 10 yrs old can be imported into Mexico" So, only cars built in 2000 can be imported. Not 1995, 96, 97, 98, 99, 01, 02 etc.

your 1995 car cant be permanently imported only cars that are less than 10 years of age can unless its a collection car, you can get a tourist permit for a temporary use and u will need to have valid usa stickers on it.