Sarita Posted January 8, 2014 Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 I drove my Cndn-plated 4Runner back to Canada last winter so avoided all the hassle & controversy over nationalizing, but now I want to buy a little old car to keep at my casa for snowbird visits. I expect I will be going Permanente this spring, if that makes any difference. I believe I would have to buy a car that is already Mexican-plated to avoid the problems (logistics, expenses & potential headaches) of getting it switched over. If that is true, where should one go looking for a GOOD, reliable used car- preferably locally!- as opposed to days lost in Guad. Also- what vehicles are most recommended? Need automatic, under $2500US. I loved my Toyota but feared breakdowns since parts are not available locally & cost $$$ to get even with long waits. So something not only very reliable but that local mechanics can easily fix with parts available when the inevitable happens. Something that can clear topes in a single bound.... something not on every theives 'most wanted' list... All suggestions welcomed- thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVGRINGO Posted January 8, 2014 Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 Yes, you will want a Jalisco plated car, free of debt and with a continuous paper trail back to the original factura. At the price you suggest, it may not be easy to find a good one. Perhaps you should spend the fee to hire S&S Motors to help you find one, or to call you when a suitable one comes onto their consignment lot in Riberas del Pilar. You will want something with normal tires on 15 inch rims to clear topes well; not a low-slung sedan. VW and Nissan are the most popular and durable in Mexico, I think, but no matter the brand, you will need to know your cars to decide if a vehicle at that price range is worth anything. At double your price range, you can find still good vehicles that are about 15 years old, if you know how to look. There are Mexican websites for used cars, and you should narrow your search to only those in Jalisco. Be sure it has the emissions test and current registration, factura, no debts, etc. Otherwise you cannot register it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarita Posted January 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 $5000 for a 15 yr old car- in Mexico? OMG!! That is insane! I paid $7000 in Canada for my 8 yr old 4Runner which cost $35,000 when new. Maybe I'll just get a scooter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowyco Posted January 9, 2014 Report Share Posted January 9, 2014 In that price range for used cars, Nissans are likely your best bet. VW's are more expensive to maintain and at those high km's they generally have more problems than Nissans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainecoons Posted January 9, 2014 Report Share Posted January 9, 2014 Check with Rafael the car wash guy in Riberas, north side of the carretera across from Cafe Magana. Used cars are expensive here. You just have to bite the bullet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ezzie Posted January 9, 2014 Report Share Posted January 9, 2014 S&S won't be of much help to you to find a car in that price range - his fee for finding a used car is $5000 MX so you would have to add that on top of whatever you select. Your idea of just getting a scooter makes the most sense. As RVGRINGO pointed out, anything decent in the way of a small car is going to be in the $50,000 MX range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klm Posted January 9, 2014 Report Share Posted January 9, 2014 Check with Mark Turford. I bought a 2000 Ford Focus wagon from him 3 years ago for $3,500 and it is still going strong. I have had to fix some stuff but it was easily done here and very affordable. It came with all it's papers and Mark took care of the transfer and all the other stuff. I was very happy with his service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcscats Posted January 9, 2014 Report Share Posted January 9, 2014 Do not Do not buy a Nissan which is actually a Renault. Two example are Platina and Aprio. Sentra/Micra/March/Altima/Note/Versa are all full Nissan vehicles. Nissan still sells Tsuru (we bought them years ago as an 90 to 94 Sentras in US) and Hardbodies (sold in US 10 years ago) pickup trucks but they lack some safety stuff. $2500 won't buy you much here. I would add a 1000 to your number unless you can work on cars yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudgirl Posted January 9, 2014 Report Share Posted January 9, 2014 Vehicles are basically double the price here as what you would pay up north. Make sure that in addition to the original factura and all the other paperwork, there is paperwork showing that the previous owner has paid his yearly registration fees. I got caught out on that one and it cost me an additional 1000 pesos for back payments owed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVGRINGO Posted January 9, 2014 Report Share Posted January 9, 2014 No, vehicles are not double here when new, but used cars in good shape are in higher demand in a cash economy. As such, they are a bit higher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagles100 Posted January 10, 2014 Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 We have been car window-shopping online + 1 trip to Guad with Spencer from S&S Auto. I don't think Spencer would be interested in finding you such an inexpensive car. We had a budget of $10k Canadian and he told us upfront he didn't think he'd be able to find us anything good for that amount and he didn't. He did find us a $12k Canadian car but we ended up not buying it. We're still without a car, waiting on saving a bit more money. Used cars are more expensive here compared to NOB. New cars here are quite comparable to Canadian pricing but obviously more than the US. Good luck. One thing: Be sure, as others have advised you, to check that all is paid on it. Someone I know, a Canadian, bought a car in the Cancun area and it ended up being stolen. She landed in jail for a few days until her parents paid many thousands of dollars to get her out of jail and back in Canada. Do your due diligence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVGRINGO Posted January 10, 2014 Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 The safest way it to have the seller go with the buyer to the offices of the recaudadora. Do the transaction there. If the car or plates are stolen, tickets or taxes unpaid, they will know and you can walk away. If it is just tickets or taxes, the seller can pay them before you do the transaction; or you can walk away if he cannot or will not. If a seller refuses to go to the recaudadora with you, do not buy the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarita Posted January 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 Holy crap! What a hassle! I sure don't need to get stuck with a stolen car- even having to go to Guad with a translator to make sure this doesn't happen is more than I want to deal with. And the idea of paying way more than a similar vehicle up north, when the fact is that vehicles take such a beating on the roads of Mexico that their life spans are effectively about half of that of a NOB driven car, makes it that much worse. I think I'll forget about buying a car altogether. Just not worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
More Liana Posted January 11, 2014 Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 If you're considering buying a used vehicle, why not find out before you purchase it whether or not it has ever been reported as stolen? There's a simpler way than wondering, worrying, guessing, forcing the seller to go with you to the recaudadora and assuming that because he/she can't or won't that the car is questionable. From the comfort of your home, go here:http://www.repuve.gob.mx/quieres_conocer.html. On that page, click that you accept the terms. A new window will open; just type in the número de placa (license plate number) of the vehicle you are researching. You don't need to type in any other information. Click BUSCAR (search). The website will give you the information you want to know.If you have a vehicle with Mexican license plates, try your own car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcscats Posted January 11, 2014 Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 In your budget go get a bug that has been rebult or is in good shape. Yep no air probably but it is in your budget and cheap to work on and parts are nothing. A little more money maybe a used cheby Comfort. Not much in your budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin K Posted January 11, 2014 Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 Lots of good advice on this thread, and thought I'd add my two cents having bought (and, unfortunately, sold) two pretty decent village "beaters." As others have said, sound used cars are in high demand, and cars really do take a tremendous beating down here. A "basic" car here means something entirely different from the U.S. or Canada: no safety equipment (i.e. no airbags, ABS), often no radio or A/C, shoddy quality. Disposable cars in the lower price ranges include the Chevy Pop/Comfort, Atos, Ka, Platina and several others. If you're clear that all you want a car for is short drives between the villages and will be content to take the deluxe bus or make other arrangements to go to the beaches or for any sort of road trip that involves highway speeds, you might get by. The "need" for a high clearance car for topes is a myth: the Nissan Tsurus which are the ubiquitous taxi car make it over the topes just fine as long as they are driven slowly and carefully, and we never had a problem with our Ka or Renault Clio, both low-clearance classic village cars. You just have to drive them properly. Otherwise, as others have said, finding a decent car for $5000-6000 will be enough of a challenge; for $2500 better to spend the money 50 pesos at a time on taxis. I believe that Mark Turford is only in the car rental (as opposed to finding) business these days, and as others have said Spencer at S & S is only interested in helping you buy a new or near-new car. The used VW bug idea isn't bad either, provided you can live with no A/C and zero protection in the event of an accident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainecoons Posted January 11, 2014 Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 For those of you following this thread who might be interested in buying cars, I was just over at Rafael's car wash in Riberas (across from Cafe Magana). He has two very nice CRVs, one a 2006 with only 60K miles and Jalisco plates for less than $12K U.S. and the other a very low mileage 2010 with Campeche plates. Rafael walks every sale through plating so you don't have to worry about stolen. The Jalisco plated car can be switched over in Chapala. We've had three CRVs now, they have all been excellent, reliable cars that work very well on the cobblestones and topes and carry lots of stuff when you need too. So, if you are concerned about buying cars with too many miles from unreliable sellers I suggest you go look at these two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
More Liana Posted January 11, 2014 Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 Lots of good advice on this thread, and thought I'd add my two cents having bought (and, unfortunately, sold) two pretty decent village "beaters." As others have said, sound used cars are in high demand, and cars really do take a tremendous beating down here. A "basic" car here means something entirely different from the U.S. or Canada: no safety equipment (i.e. no airbags, ABS), often no radio or A/C, shoddy quality. Disposable cars in the lower price ranges include the Chevy Pop/Comfort, Atos, Ka, Platina and several others. If you're clear that all you want a car for is short drives between the villages and will be content to take the deluxe bus or make other arrangements to go to the beaches or for any sort of road trip that involves highway speeds, you might get by. The "need" for a high clearance car for topes is a myth: the Nissan Tsurus which are the ubiquitous taxi car make it over the topes just fine as long as they are driven slowly and carefully, and we never had a problem with our Ka or Renault Clio, both low-clearance classic village cars. You just have to drive them properly. Otherwise, as others have said, finding a decent car for $5000-6000 will be enough of a challenge; for $2500 better to spend the money 50 pesos at a time on taxis. I believe that Mark Turford is only in the car rental (as opposed to finding) business these days, and as others have said Spencer at S & S is only interested in helping you buy a new or near-new car. The used VW bug idea isn't bad either, provided you can live with no A/C and zero protection in the event of an accident. Kevin, I've copied and pasted this information regarding the Hyundai i10 from the Dodge Mexico website (Dodge sells the Hyundai i10, formerly known as the Atos, in Mexico): i10 GL MT AC Plus 2013 Mismas características que i10 GL MT más: Aire acondicionado Manual Radio - AM / FM -CD- MP3 / WMA, con entrada Aux, conector USB y sistema manos libres Bluetooth Control remoto para Radio 4 bocinas i10 GLS MT Safety 2013 Mismas características que i10 GL MT AC Plus más: Bolsas de aire conductor y pasajero Frenos ABS Cabeceras con ajuste de altura (4) Seguros eléctricos centralizados Seguros con apertura a control remoto Asiento de conductor con ajuste de altura Asiento trasero abatible 60/40 Cristales eléctricos delanteros y traseros Apertura del conductor de un solo toque Cristales tintados Encendedor Cenicero Espejos laterales eléctricos al color de la carrocería con luz intermitente Faros de niebla Limpiaparabrisas intermitente Limpiador trasero Manijas exteriores al color de la carrocería Molduras al color de la carrocería Parrilla con molduras cromadas Rines de aluminio 14" Spoiler trasero I think some of your information regarding the Atos as a disposable car is out of date. And the list price is a little over $156,000 pesos--or $151,000 if you pay cash. I owned a 2005 Atos until 2010 and as most of you know, have posted here repeatedly about its dependability, economy, comfort, and about my personal satisfaction with the car. I drove it all over central Mexico, on back roads and superhighways, and only sold it when we moved to Mexico and no longer needed a second car. The new owner still drives the Atos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin K Posted January 11, 2014 Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 It sounds like you had exceptionally good luck with your Atos More Liana. A friend in San Miguel de Allende had the steering wheel on theirs come off while they were driving (at low-speed on an empty road, unfortunately) and I base my characterization of the Atos and the other cars on Mark Turford's ~20+ years of dealing with Mexican cars here at Lakeside (the "disposable" characterization of the Atos, Pop, Platina, etc. is his). As intensely competitive as the car business is one would expect to see continual improvement in quality, and I'm glad to see that the brand new Atos has safety equipment that the older cars did not. The OP was looking to spend less money than even the most basic of basic local used cars cost, and I wanted to make sure they knew what "basic" means in a Mexican context. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcscats Posted January 11, 2014 Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 I10 is a new car. We rented one in the Yucatan. Yes it is a very good car and is the Atos replacement I believe. I have also notice some older models have no safety items but newer ones have basic airbags for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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