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feedback about allowing US tags to expire and any consequences. My wife is pushing me to go with the South Dakota tag strategy, which is about a third of the cost of renewing our Georgia tags and paying US Insurance etc. We have two cars here.

Anecdotal stories I've heard have ranged from driving for years with expired tags with no problem, to having cars seized. I suspect it's more of the it's ok until it's not luck of the draw, but comments are welcome.

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To me it's just 'how much do you want to risk'.... and the risk can be severe. Yes, there are plenty of cars running around, or parked mainly disabled, with plates that expired long ago.

Depending on the age of your car, SD plates can cost as little as $50/yr. For me that says it all. Why risk your car for $50/yr!?

Getting SD plates is easy.... you'll just need a US address for them to send plates/title/etc to. That address can be "a PO box in Laredo" or a friend/relative in the States.

Your choice.

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Driving with expired plates is illegal, making for a great reason for the insurance company to deny coverage if you have an accident, especially if you injure someone. Hello Mexican jail, goodbye car. That is the real danger. Up to that point, “fat, dumb and happy“ applies.

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You keep repeating this insurance thing RV - it is not true. Both GNP and Qualitas offer liability only insurance, it is the law after all, and legal services is a separate rider. You should carry $500,000 U.S. liability. Many Mexicans do not carry collision because they do not believe the insurance companies will pay out in any case. GNP and Qualitas are major insurance companies in Mexico and they also offer this insurance to UCD plated cars with U.S. plates. UCD plates cost about $60 U.S. per year.

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I simply read my insurance policy, where it states that the vehicle must be legally in Mexico.

I also read the Jalisco law, which states that the vehicle must be legally registered to operate in its home territory.

Simple, I think.

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There are also many jurisdictions, like the one where I am from, that the vehicle is registered but it has absolutely nothing to do with annual plates and tags.

Make sure you carry the best medical insurance you can afford. If you get smacked by someone with no insurance, or is a "runner" (which includes public buses by the way), or you rely on your auto insurance, you are in for a disappointment. You want to receive the best medical care as quickly as possible, and take advantage of any rehabilitation if they offer it.

Just drive locally, stay away from Federal zones like the airport. For longer distance trips, rely on the fantastic touring buses which are half price if you are over 60 (search INAPAM cards). Even going to Guadalajara, take the bus, stay for a couple nights in a hotel, and you avoid the urban chaos of driving and parking in Guadalajara.

Don't fall in love with a car, it will let you down every time. If you have the time, and some hired help, you can find a decent looking, clean running Mexican plated car in Guadalajara for $2,000 to $3,000 US.

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I believe your Mexican immigration status makes a difference, too, Elevator. If you are residente permanente, you are technically not supposed to be driving foreign-plated cars. Technically. (Or so we were told. We nationalized our car for that reason.)

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It is ironic that when people up north complain about illegal immigrants coming in to our country and break the law, when we do the same here in Mexico!!! I come across more and more people that feel it is perfectly OK to violate the law just because the police don't say anything or because they feel they can get away with it.

RV is right, if you are driving a U.S. vehicle and are a temp resident, it MUST be legally registered in the home country. If it is expired, if your registration is not up to date, then it is NOT legally registered. It seems that people think that as long as they came in with a good registration then it is OK to let it expire. NOT the case.

It s common sense and it is the right thing to do.

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Uh - sarge and Rv - how exactly is the Mexican cop going to check the status of your registration in Canada or the U.S. while standing by the roadside in Mexico? Why ask them to enforce a law, real or imaginary, without giving them the tools to do so? Also the fact that in many jurisdictions the registration only expires when you formally transfer it - in writing. The Mexican cops can't even tell if the vehicle is stolen in the U.S. or Canada, or if there are massive liens or judgments against the title. It was less than two years ago that local transitos raised money ("power to the tower" campaign) to enable duplex radio conversations with the base commander. Get real before you get judgmental.

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The law also says that you need a drivers licence and insurance to drive here. How many have that. The informador said that less than fifty percent have those. So trying to quote laws here is useless. How many observe the laws and how many are really enforced. Noise and building height laws are not enforced and if they were pay offs would take place. It's against the law for grings tom sell their US plated cars here but many do.

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I am amused by the scofflaws. It is not about enforcement. It is about possible consequences. Of course, one can get out of a Mexican jail once all of his worldly resources are gone; everything completely gone. I would not take that risk. Insurance scrutiny and enforcement can be very strictly applied if you happen to have an accident that involves a serious injury or fatality. Just being there in an illegal vehicle can put you at fault.

Sarge understands; Chillin doesn‘t want to understand or to consider the possible consequences.

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As someone who worked in the Claims Dept. of the Travelers Insurance Co. for 10 years, I can assure you that as the "value" of a claim goes up such as serious injury or death, it gets reviewed by more senior people. Many times these people are looking to please their superiors and maybe get that promotion they have been longing for. Finding a way to deny that big claim and please those bosses can be a powerful motivator. Most of the garden-variety claims are handled by overworked and undertrained worker bees whose main goal is to settle claims as their monthly "backlog" of cases growing is dangerous to their continued employment.

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Uh - sarge and Rv - how exactly is the Mexican cop going to check the status of your registration in Canada or the U.S. while standing by the roadside in Mexico? Why ask them to enforce a law, real or imaginary, without giving them the tools to do so? Also the fact that in many jurisdictions the registration only expires when you formally transfer it - in writing. The Mexican cops can't even tell if the vehicle is stolen in the U.S. or Canada, or if there are massive liens or judgments against the title. It was less than two years ago that local transitos raised money ("power to the tower" campaign) to enable duplex radio conversations with the base commander. Get real before you get judgmental.

"how exactly is the Mexican cop going to check the status of your registration in Canada or the U.S. while standing by the roadside in Mexico?"

Keep it simple: Mexican police can read. Some have even lived in the USA for a while and know exactly where to look for the expiration dates on our registration papers. I have had Mexican police ask for the registration, and they have checked the expiration dates.

"Why ask them to enforce a law, real or imaginary, without giving them the tools to do so? "

First, Mexican police can read our registration papers, and they can see whether our plates have license stickers for the current year and month, which gives them the tools to do so.

Second, Is there really a debate over whether we expect the police to enforce the laws.

Sure, some corrupt cops do not enforce the law, but does anyone here really support corrupt cops or encourage either the police or citizens to ignore the laws?

Or is this just an attempt at agitating, trying to stir things up, artificially creating conflict to feed some personal need?

Getting back to the point of the thread: The Mexican police have confiscated some foreign-plated cars that are not legal. Some insurance companies do check the legality of foreign-plated cars when there's an accident. Both of these kinds of events have been infrequent, but possible.

Another reason to keep our foreign-plated cars legal is that if the car is stolen in Mexico, Mexican insurance companies have definitely used the excuse that the car was not fully legal as justification to not pay out on insurance claims.

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Scofflaw huh - I haven't heard that term since Charles Dickens. Are you, perchance, related?

I am clearly recommending Mexican Liability insurance to $500,000 US, Mexican legal assistance insurance, and good medical insurance. As long as your vehicle wasn't stolen in the U.S., the insurance companies mentioned, now including Lewis and Lewis, simply don't care.

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Where is this law that keeps being mentioned? My TiP gives me permission to have my car in n Mexico. When I was given that permission no one asked to see proof of insurance or current registration. Nothing I received in writing mentions this. My license plate is clearly ten years old. No one has ever stopped me for this. No one has ever questioned me about this when I was stopped. My opinion is that receiving the TIP not only gives me permission to have my vehicle in Mexico legally, but by default, if nothing else, to operate that vehicle in Mexico.

If I have been a scofflaw for the last ten years, as RV suggests, may I please know the law that makes me that?

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I simply read my insurance policy, where it states that the vehicle must be legally in Mexico.

I also read the Jalisco law, which states that the vehicle must be legally registered to operate in its home territory.

Simple, I think.

What about (articulo 106 de la ley aduadanera) is that no longer valid?
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