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We have to make a decision ASAP and need some advice from the experinced crew here.

Due to Our future Financial situation we would like to bring the vehicles that we presently own down with us.

We are trying to way out the losses vs cost's of this happening.

Both our vehicles are paid for>>>

2008 Ford Escape
2009 Ford F150

Both vehicles are Ontario Plated (expiry late 2012)

We are planning to drive one down first week of September the other later in the year (Maybe around December)
I don't know if it is possible to get some pro's and con's in short form format to assist us in our decision's.

We don't imagine we would be planning on driving them back to Canada as we are fully expecting this move to La Paz to be .... well permanent

You can each bring one car in, as long as both your names are on both vehicles or one in each of your names I believe.

You will need:

1) Mexican Insurance,

2) FMT (Tourist Visa), FM2 or FM3,

3) registration/title in your name

3) a credit card or cash to cover a bond for the vehicle.

The government will then provide you with a temporary importation permit, and a sticker for the windshield.

Remember that you must turn this registration and sticker into customs when leaving Mexico with your vehicle.

If you enter Mexico by vehicle on a Tourist Visa (FMT), you must drive the vehicle that you entered with back out of Mexico.

It is illegal to leave the vehicle in Mexico that you entered with unless you obtain an FM2 or FM3 while you’re here.

According to Mexican custom officials, you are not allowed to have more than one foreign plated car registered in Mexico per person.

Not everyone follows the rules of course, but your illegal car could be confiscated.

It is illegal to sell your foreign plated vehicle in Mexico.

Ummmmmmm, you might want to consider South Dakota registration/title.

Also for Mexican auto insurance I recommend BajaBound:

Mexican Auto Insurance Online - Baja Bound Mexico Insurance Services

Is it easy to go from Canadian/Ontario registration to US/South Dakota?

What 'chu talking about with your second 3) BG??? I agree with 1), 2) & the first 3)....but unless something major has changed, there's no bond nor temporary import permit required/assigned for Baja....mainland is a whole nuther story, but all of Baja is a free-zone.

Is one of us smokin' something funny?

CDN_JOHNNY, IMO, it's a smart plan to bring your present vehicles down, you know how they've been maintained etc. & there's a Ford dealership here, as well as a lot of independent mechanics familiar with Ford vehicles. You can either do a permanent import on them at a future date or when maintaining Canadian plates gets to be too much of a hassle....maintaining foreign plates here does get old fast!

Have you bought a place already? Where in La Paz will you be living??

There you go - I thought BCS was the same rules as mainland.

So no need for them to worry???

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

Is it easy to go from Canadian/Ontario registration to US/South Dakota?

Dunno, but might be worth a call to the Clay County Assessor.......

Clay County, South Dakota

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

There you go - I thought BCS was the same rules as mainland.

So no need for them to worry???

Uhhhhhhhhhh.....did YOU get temporary import permits on your vehicles? Or were you one of those you were referring to in your statement "Not everyone follows the rules of course...." ??? Naw, I assume you're squeaky legal & have officially & permanently imported your vehicles. But on the off-chance that you thought you were doing something illegal & I've eased your mind....da nada!

No need to worry CDN_JOHNNY.....carry the registration in the vehicle, get Mexican insurance at the border & if you don't yet have FM3 or FM2, get a 180-day FMM (tourist permit) at the border & you'll be all set to proceed legally. There will most likely not be any questions whatsoever about your vehicle when you cross. Then once you get settled, but before your FMM expires, you can start the more permanent resident process.

Originally Posted by BajaGringo

So no need for them to worry???

Well, that's kind of a stretch. The catch to driving a foreign-plated car here is that the foreign registration and driver's license have to be kept current. If that involves zipping back to Ontario from La Paz for each renewal, it may not be very practical as a long-term solution. Probably a good idea to look into importing the cars and registering them here.

@ longlegsinlapaz
Yes we have purchased already :)

It is in the new community on the bay side north of the Home Depot, Wall mart....
I am sure you know the place or area at least :)

Re: The vehicles

"No need to worry CDN_JOHNNY.....carry the registration in the vehicle, get Mexican insurance at the border & if you don't yet have FM3 or FM2, get a 180-day FMM (tourist permit) at the border & you'll be all set to proceed legally. There will most likely not be any questions whatsoever about your vehicle when you cross. Then once you get settled, but before your FMM expires, you can start the more permanent resident process."

That sounds like the plan to follow. Thank You.

PS: longlegsinlapaz might it be ok to PM you I may have a few more questions?

I'm brain-dead on the name of the place right now, but I'm guessing you're talking about the condominiums directly across the highway from Walmart?

Of course you can PM me....though it might be more beneficial to you to get various peoples experiences to pick 'n choose from. Not too much is cast in stone here, there are the official laws/rules, which are then subject to interpretation, so how their applied can vary from one person to another, what day of the week it is, was the last person in line nice or nasty to the guy behind the desk just before you got to the front of the line, etc! There are several La Paz folks who frequent this site....at least a handful.....or maybe it's just a few!

Kate is correct on it being a hassle to try keeping foreign-plated vehicles down here for the long haul, but since you're current plates are valid through late-2012, that gives you some breathing space to decide how to best proceed once you get settled in.

Keep the questions coming....if we can't come up with an answer, we'll certainly be able to point you in the right direction to get answers!

If coming from Canada to mexico you have to export the vehicle from Canada before the U.S. or Mexico will touch it . I had a motor home the owner brought it down with out exporting it and wound up spending a lot of money to no avail. wound up practicaly giving it to a local to live inn

Pray you don't get #36 at the counter!



¡MieRdA!

@ longlegsinlapaz, no it is the new Gated community that is still under construction closer to Centinario ( I think it is called ) :) . We bought a house.


@ Marty Cortez: I was looking for that :)
My wife just went through a simular situation at the Mexican Consulate in Toronto.

Ah! Puerta Azul??? On the hwy between Centenario & Chametla....new places fronted by a small strip mall? Robert Renfro is the builder/developer? I haven't toured them in person, but have seen some of them online. You'll be about 2 miles from my place! Welcome to the neighborhood!

Yep that is the place.

Arch. Robert Renfro Nice guy>>> :)

We seemed to hit it off.

Originally Posted by CDN_JOHNNY

Yep that is the place.

Arch. Robert Renfro Nice guy>>> :)

We seemed to hit it off.

What other projects has he done? The style looks familiar...

He was involved with one on the Las Cabos corridor.

I don't recall the community name.
Might have been "Ventanas" !!!

So let me get this straight. I thought with the free trade agreement in Baja that a TIP for vehicles here is not required. I also have drove a vehicle to Cabo from Canada and have no difficulty maintaining current Canadian registration on it with out having to take it back to Canada. I have mexican insurance on it. Is there any other issues with leaving it down here. I only have a tourist visa when down(FMM) and do not intent on getting resident status in the near future.

"Technically", you are not allowed to leave any property in Mexico while on a FMM - "Tourist Visa".....although a lot of people do it........ However I would not want to chance it.

Originally Posted by kingrich

So let me get this straight. I thought with the free trade agreement in Baja that a TIP for vehicles here is not required. I also have drove a vehicle to Cabo from Canada and have no difficulty maintaining current Canadian registration on it with out having to take it back to Canada. I have mexican insurance on it. Is there any other issues with leaving it down here. I only have a tourist visa when down(FMM) and do not intent on getting resident status in the near future.