7 replies to this topic

[Renee D.]

My family and I are heading from Vancouver to Ajijic in about 6 weeks, and I'm trying to sort out the car (a 2003 Subaru Outback). We are doing the 6-month tourist visa and planning to renew, possibly several times. We will not be replating the car.

Any advice or clarification on the following issues would be greatly appreciated.

1. TAGS: Our car is currently BC plated, though we have US citizenship and could re-register there if we had to. We're looking for the simplest and cheapest strategy to keep our tags current somewhere in North America if we decide to stay in Mexico for a year or more (We don't want to keep up our ICBC insurance while we're gone just to stay tagged.) Is the Clay Country South Dakota registration only available to vehicles with current US tags? I'm going round in circles on this one....

2. VISA RENEWALS: Can we cross into Guatamala to renew our tourist visas, or must we go back to the States to do it?

3. CAR INSURANCE: Can we get annual insurance from a Mexican provider if we're traveling on the 6-mo visas? Do most of you do full comprehensive insurance, as well as liability? Any Mexican insurers to avoid?

I've done quite a bit of research but would love to hear some personal experiences & advice. (If you've blogged about these issues, I'd appreciate links to your posts.)

Thanks in advance everyone!

Renee

[suz]

cross into Guatamala? what? separate issue or error?

sounds like you might be worrying too much in advance about everything. But, it is probably true that you will receive much confusing, contradictory info on here.

Safe travels.

[Jeanette]

I can answer the insurance question. Yes, you can get annual coverage from a Mexican provider when you are on a tourist visa for your foreign plated car. We purchased full coverage and liability, others do not. Like anyplace else, Insurance coverage limits are an individual situation.

And I do NOT agree that researching these very important issues 6 weeks before departure is "worrying too much". Sheesh - it's common sense and personal responsibility!

[phxfunguy]

[1] Tags: As you have figured out, many states and provinces require the vehicle be home to undergo emissions testing for renewing plates, so if that is the case, changing the registration to SD is your only answer as they have no such requirement. You can also avoid the US insurance that you wouldn't be using full time and just buy the temporary policies you need for when you do drive through the US. To do this you retitle your car in SD, so you should be able to do that from a Canadian registration the same as from any US state and have the plates sent to whatever US forwarding address you plan to use to receive them down here. Renewals are through the mail and cost $25. I know they can't be sent to a Mexican address and I'd assume not a Canadian one either. You will have time to do that after you arrive and get your TX address or whatever US based forwarding address you plan to use.

[2] You automatically renew your FMM by leaving and re-entering the country walking or driving across any land border or via any international flight as you have to fill out a new form when coming back in so that gives you a fresh 180 day period each time.

[3] Jeanette already answered the car insurance question. I got mine through the Parker Agency locally online so I had an emailed policy copy to print out when I left on my trip down to carry with me.

Don't forget to order your car import permit online before you leave. It will be valid starting one week from the date you order it and will arrive at your door in Canada by DHL in as few as 2 business days later. I did mine from Phoenix on a Thursday, it arrived Monday morning, was valid for that Thursday, we stayed in Nogales Wednesday night and crossed first thing Thursday morning. We got our FMM's at the border after crossing with only 3 vehicles in front of us, we were the only ones in the office at 9 AM, the permit was checked at KM 20, they waved us through and we went to our first night at Navojoa.

Follow the English link on this homepage to see how to do it: http://www.banjercit...ario/index.html

[Ajijic]

As a Canadian who has lived and worked in both the US and Canada and now lives in Mexico I can say this is totally erroneous and this advice should never have been given!!!! It is not so easy to have your car titled in the US. You have to prove it meets US safety and emissions standards and import it into the US. Most cars sold in Canada especially when made in Canada or the US meet most of these requirements but not necessarily all and especially those requirements before Canada more recently aligned their emissions and safety standards with the US. And, your Subaru I bet was not made in either so possibly more issues. Then you need a US social security number.

For insurance you can email Bob at mexicobob@aol.com. Many of us use this insurance:

http://www.mexican-autoinsurance.com/

One year coverage on a car valued at approx $10,000 should be $300 per year.

[phxfunguy]

As a Canadian who has lived and worked in both the US and Canada and now lives in Mexico I can say this is totally erroneous and this advice should never have been given!!!! It is not so easy to have your car titled in the US. You have to prove it meets US safety and emissions standards and import it into the US. Most cars sold in Canada especially when made in Canada or the US meet most of these requirements but not necessarily all and especially those requirements before Canada more recently aligned their emissions and safety standards with the US. And, your Subaru I bet was not made in either so possibly more issues. Then you need a US social security number.

For insurance you can email Bob at mexicobob@aol.com. Many of us use this insurance:

http://www.mexican-autoinsurance.com/

One year coverage on a car valued at approx $10,000 should be $300 per year.

The OP stated that they had US citizenship so they'd have SS numbers. They didn't state where they'd bought their Subaru, so if it's a Canadian model, then that could be a problem as you pointed out. Yes, I didn't realize the safety standards were different between the US and Canada in 2003. So if they decided to stay longer than their BC registration lasts, then they'd have to do the out of the country notification with the DMV, now I'm assuming that's available in Canada as well, and then re-register when they return. In many places you can get a temporary paper print out license "plate" for 3 or 7 days while driving an expired car back.

[Ajijic]

Sorry, I missed the US citizen aspect. This certainly helps for registering a US car as you recommended in Clay County SD as you suggested.

[Renee D.]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. Yes, the car in question was bought in America and later moved to Canada where we re-registered it. I think we're going to register in Washington State for the time being, since that's where our forwarding address is.

phxfunguy — Thanks for the tip about ordering the car permit online. I'm doing that now.

-Renee