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Car Confiscation ??? What Happens Next ??


Fox

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OK, so I drive my old beat up SD plated car that isn't worth taking back to the border.

So now what happens IF I have Permanente and get caught and they want to confiscate my car. OK, no problem, I don't care. BUT anyone, anyone, really know what else might happen?

I just wish I could buy a license or Whatever, to just drive this car from Joco to Chapala!! Its perfect for the narrow streets and the hit and runs! LOL

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I just wish I could buy a license or Whatever, to just drive this car from Joco to Chapala!! Its perfect for the narrow streets and the hit and runs! LOL

Are you willing to self-insure? That's what would worry me the most about your scenario. Have you asked your insurance company if the car is covered if it is being driven by a person who is not legally authorized to drive the car?

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giltner68, I don't think that's really what the question is about. Unless I misunderstand, I think it's:

What happens after Mexico impounds a vehicle? What happens if local authorities confiscate your vehicle and you do not try to retrieve it? If you don't care about losing the car, is there any potential downside?

I'm curious too, because this has always been in my bag of possible end strategies (once I clean out the glovebox and trunk, of course).

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OK, so I drive my old beat up SD plated car that isn't worth taking back to the border.

So now what happens IF I have Permanente and get caught and they want to confiscate my car. OK, no problem, I don't care. BUT anyone, anyone, really know what else might happen?

I just wish I could buy a license or Whatever, to just drive this car from Joco to Chapala!! Its perfect for the narrow streets and the hit and runs!

LOL

What might happen?

You could find yourself in jail, indefinitiely, without food or water, by getting in an accident while driving an illegal car. If you get in an accident, even if it is not your fault, you must prove that you can pay for any and all medical bills of everyone else involved in the accident, plus pay for up to $5 million pesos of damages per accidental death, and also any property damages associated with the accident.

The police can and often do hold all parties in jail until each one proves their ability to pay and and all damages. Most people rely on their insurance companies to cover these fiscal bonds to keep you out of jail, but Mexican insurance companies can and do deny coverage on accidents when they find out the car owner was driving an illegal car. Most people call their insurance company and the adjustor comes out and settles things with the police and with the other insurance company.

If you choose to drive around in an illegal unregistered unlicensed car, then all four other parties benefit from determining that you are driving an illegal car. Your insurance company adjustor is happy to find out the illegality, because they then are off the hook. The other driver's insurance adjustor is also looking for excuses not to pay, and your illegality gives them grounds to challenge your reliability, and your choice to drive an illegal car (intentionally flaunting the law) proves your lack of integrity.

Since many accidents turn into "He-said, She-said" situations, both the Police and the other insurance adjustor quickly look for ways to identify who tells the truth and who follows the law. Police, Transitos, and especially Peritos do use the illegality of vehicles to determine which driver is telling the truth and to determine who they believe is at fault.

A foreigner who intenitonally breaks the law by intentionally driving an illegal car seems like a great invitation to solve your insurance company's problems, to solve the Police and investigators problems, to solve the other driver's problems, and to solve the other driver's insurance company's problems. All 4 parties benefit by looking for and discovering your choice to intentionally break the law - raising your chances of getting caught.

The prospect of sitting in a Mexican jail for days or weeks without food or water, and the prospect of giving your insurance company an out, to deny coverage, leaving with you up to $20 million pesos of liability if you accidentally killed a family of 4, would sure discourage me from intentionally flaunting and breaking the law.

You write LOL, but I think you are giving other people entirely false impressions that breaking Mexican laws are somehow a laughing matter.

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Ruling out the fear factor, if no pesos, no insurance, NO worries!

Suz,

Do you know people who have spent time in jail, no food no water for days, when they were completely innocent in a car accident?

Before giving such bad advice, read: http://jailbirdwhome.blogspot.com/

and http://www.yolisto.com/index.php?/topic/4441-if-you-think-you-dont-go-to-jail-after-an-accident-think-again/?hl=%20think%20%20don#39;t%20%20jail

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Suz,

Do you know people who have spent time in jail, no food no water for days, when they were completely innocent in a car accident?

No food or water for days,seriously??
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No food or water for days,seriously??

Seriously. We know the person quoted in the 2 links, and he spent 3 days in jail without food or water. If you read the links, you would know. We have also had 2 other friends incarcerated since Bendita's detention, each for different accidents, each for 2 days due waiting to resolve auto accident issues of just what the damages cost, and just what medical treatments might be needed, and determine their costs. Each of them also had no food nor water, except for what their spouses ultimately brought, inspected and permitted by the jail guards. Both jail bird friends had good insurance agents and insurance coverage, but it took 2 days each to determine how big the $$ liabilities were and then for the insurance company to prove their ability to pay for all of the newly determined damages.

People who want to roll these dice should have a spouse or family member to rely on to bring food and water.

Is this really something that people with illegal cars want to prove by first person experiments, to show that you can keep your car's illegal status hidden from police and insurance companies, while risking $ millions of pesos of liability?

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I think the OP was asking what was the worst thing that could happen, since he isn't concerned if his "old beat up" car is impounded. And, like All Day, we are more concerned about the un-insurability of such cars and the potential liability issues involved that could wipe out our retirement nest egg. I want good insurance-- in the case of an accident, no matter who's at fault, I want my Mexican insurance adjuster on site ASAP.

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Snowyco wrote:

You write LOL, but I think you are giving other people entirely false impressions that breaking Mexican laws are somehow a laughing matter.

I respect your answers, but I certainly didn't mean to create any false impressions

I wrote:

Its perfect for the narrow streets and the hit and runs! LOL

When I wrote LOL, I was talking about my CAR being perfect for the narrow streets and the hit and runs.

Lots of good feedback here. It was just a question I am sure others have thought about also.

Fox

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Snowyco wrote:

You write LOL, but I think you are giving other people entirely false impressions that breaking Mexican laws are somehow a laughing matter.

I respect your answers, but I certainly didn't mean to create any false impressions

I wrote:

Its perfect for the narrow streets and the hit and runs! LOL

When I wrote LOL, I was talking about my CAR being perfect for the narrow streets and the hit and runs.

Lots of good feedback here. It was just a question I am sure others have thought about also.

Fox

My mistake.

I misunderstood, thinking that you thought it was funny to break the law, and drive around without valid insurance protection, The time in jail was not fun for Bendita or for either of the 2 friends.

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In Northern Mexico they don´t only take the car but arrest the driver for breaking tax laws. Although there the law is enforced more by federal and tax police and here just transitos where they only take your car.

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Snowyco wrote:

You write LOL, but I think you are giving other people entirely false impressions that breaking Mexican laws are somehow a laughing matter.

I respect your answers, but I certainly didn't mean to create any false impressions

I wrote:

Its perfect for the narrow streets and the hit and runs! LOL

When I wrote LOL, I was talking about my CAR being perfect for the narrow streets and the hit and runs.

Lots of good feedback here. It was just a question I am sure others have thought about also.

Fox

Another thing I have noticed from reading gov´t. websites is there is a clause that states a person when applying for: an INM status, car registration, vehicle nationalization, and a TIP must be of moral standards. With this in mind in theory if you run amuck with the law you "can" loose your temporary immigration status and be given 30 days to leave the country, as in deported.

When applying for a TIP you signed an agreement you would remove the vehicle when it becomes illegal in Mexico. You also claimed to be a person of moral standards.

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What might happen?

You could find yourself in jail, indefinitiely, without food or water, by getting in an accident while driving an illegal car. If you get in an accident, even if it is not your fault, you must prove that you can pay for any and all medical bills of everyone else involved in the accident, plus pay for up to $5 million pesos of damages per accidental death, and also any property damages associated with the accident.

The police can and often do hold all parties in jail until each one proves their ability to pay and and all damages. Most people rely on their insurance companies to cover these fiscal bonds to keep you out of jail, but Mexican insurance companies can and do deny coverage on accidents when they find out the car owner was driving an illegal car. Most people call their insurance company and the adjustor comes out and settles things with the police and with the other insurance company.

If you choose to drive around in an illegal unregistered unlicensed car, then all four other parties benefit from determining that you are driving an illegal car. Your insurance company adjustor is happy to find out the illegality, because they then are off the hook. The other driver's insurance adjustor is also looking for excuses not to pay, and your illegality gives them grounds to challenge your reliability, and your choice to drive an illegal car (intentionally flaunting the law) proves your lack of integrity.

Since many accidents turn into "He-said, She-said" situations, both the Police and the other insurance adjustor quickly look for ways to identify who tells the truth and who follows the law. Police, Transitos, and especially Peritos do use the illegality of vehicles to determine which driver is telling the truth and to determine who they believe is at fault.

A foreigner who intenitonally breaks the law by intentionally driving an illegal car seems like a great invitation to solve your insurance company's problems, to solve the Police and investigators problems, to solve the other driver's problems, and to solve the other driver's insurance company's problems. All 4 parties benefit by looking for and discovering your choice to intentionally break the law - raising your chances of getting caught.

The prospect of sitting in a Mexican jail for days or weeks without food or water, and the prospect of giving your insurance company an out, to deny coverage, leaving with you up to $20 million pesos of liability if you accidentally killed a family of 4, would sure discourage me from intentionally flaunting and breaking the law.

You write LOL, but I think you are giving other people entirely false impressions that breaking Mexican laws are somehow a laughing matter.

Excellent reading for anyone contemplating a visit to Mexico driving. Remember this is Mexico, where things are different than where you came from.

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I know a few people from around these parts who have experienced the Mexican jails due to auto accidents and it was enough to put a permanent scare into all the people who heard the stories.

No car is worth that kind of aggravation. Better to just get a small Mexican plated car, new or used. Peace of mind: Priceless. :unsure:

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