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importing a car help


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I agree. It is not worth the hassle to try, especially if you get there and find that the car is not eligible, or they are not importing for individuals now, or you end up with false papers, etc., etc. Take it NoB and sell it at a CarMax location; the one in San Antonio is easy to find and close to the airport for a flight back to GDL. Buy a car in Mexico. It will be less expensive and less hassle.

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Ask this question over on Vallartascene.com. No one over there is complaining about "fraudulent" papers. There are three different people facilitating - one is a large law firm in Guadalajara, one is former Chief of Police who owns a large local private security company, the other is a facilitator of some type. They are up front that this is not "nationalization" but "legalization". I know that at least three of them were older, well loved, Japanese vehicles that they were told were ineligible for import. I believe the facturas are reissued by car dealers (car dealers are allowed to import, otherwise they could not accept trade ins). Basically you are selling the car to the dealer, then you buy it back. They dealers pay the amount owing to Aduana, but I believe they hold back the full nationalization title, you only get the "driving" copy you might need if stopped. The plates come from Mexico City by courier. The V.I.N. and plates checks out on the computer and can be renewed online, the pedimentos check out at Customs, and they have had no problems getting Mexican auto insurance of their choosing. The people taking this approach think it was the best 10,000 pesos they ever spent I don't know what's involved getting the full pedimento title, probably a trip to the border, U.S. export papers, and all that monkey dance. I know one of them went through a full Federal inspection because a vehicle was reported stolen, same model, same color, the only discrepancy was that it was still under a TIP, the facilitators did not know to remove it. The facilitator paid a "fine" to stop further hassle and time. Yes, I know very well that Federales would never accept mordida bribes.

Another friend says that Mexico D.F. plates can draw heat in Guadalajara, but my Mexican neighbor has three Mexico DF plated cars and drives to Guadalajara every day, except the weekends. Out of state plates are very common in Puerto Vallarta.

Its all about your personal comfort levels. Some on this forum will now begin their "but the Lord will smite thee" sermons. It is an option. I wouldn't risk on a newer car, or luxury ride - you are better off trading in at the dealer if it is a highly desirable model under 2009 (thanks Sonia), and get a full, fresh 2015 and Jalisco plates.

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It was a great answer but I am of the impression that the dealers will not take U.S. plated cars on trade in. We tried it without success on a 2006 CRV in mint condition with low miles.

We took ours back to the states, sold it there and bought a Mexican plated car here. It was expensive and I got rid of a perfectly good low mileage car to do it but the mordida stops have ceased. The consolation is that the 2012 CRV is a much nicer car in many respects.

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Chillin,do you have contact info for the Guadalajara law firm,the chief of police or the facilitator that you referred to in your post?

Absolutely not - your responsibility and hard work, not mine. If I had paid to receive this information, I would not be sharing it on a public web board. Simply not done.

In other words,you can't back up your claims.
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You have no interest whatsoever in nationalizing or legalizing foreign plated vehicles.

Wrong again,chillin..I'm going Permanente next month and need to figure out what to do with my Tacoma.

Posts like yours that you can't back up with verifiable information don't help anyone.

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My first sentence on this thread "Ask this question over on Vallartascene.com". Where there are people who have been through this process. If that is not helpful, I do not know what is. You live in Guadalajara, supposedly speak Spanish, and you can't figure this out.!?!??!

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According to the famous broker in Nogales ..... imports are not being done

Lic. Oscar Angulo
Email: ancomercial@hotmail.com
AnCo Comercializadora
Mexican Cel: 045 6311 20 10 15
US Cel: (520) 988-1936
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Jayme Littlejohn and Tim Welch are still running their advertisements in the Guadalajara Reporter that they will drive your car to the border and get it nationalized for you. They claim it is done legally. Are they still offering this service? Are cars now being nationalized at the border?

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The lawyer we spoke to said imports were not being done right now. He said they were awaiting new rules and that he would let us know when and if that time ever comes. He would then put us in touch with a facilitator at the border that he knows. We will see which happens first ... us taking it to be sold or this thing getting settled.

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My advice is call and get accurate answers. Are cars being nationalized? Canadian registered or just American registered? Cost? Year of Vehicle? Time to process? Do they export?

Enrique & Jose Bautistia. Enrique has a Laredo office and speaks perfect English.

Enrique Bautista email: superimportaciones@yahoo.com.

Also, enrique_bautista@yahoo.com.

The website is: www.superimportaciones.com. Enrique's phone is 956-722-6476. Cell - 956-645-8073.

Jose Bautista email: jgbm60@hotmail.com

He is located in Nuevo Laredo 2 blocks from Aduana.

Enrique is at 2500 Pinder Ave., Laredo, TX 78040.

Information changes daily but recently I was told only possible at Laredo for 2006 and 2007 American registered vehicles and not uncommon to be quoted $4000!

After someone calls please report back.

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The Vallarta thing sounds like a temp fix, I doubt the dealers pay and do things right as if they did then they would give you Jalisco plates but if the papers dont pass the muster that is why they give you DF plates, if your car is in an accident or impounded the ins company will probably not pay and you will not get your car out. They dont give you fake papers they give you no papers. Dealers have no secret way of importing used cars. Please be aware. I dont care if lawyers do it, one firm in Ajijic sold stolen license plates and fake papers, another referred to a gringo who sold fake papers, etc.

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Our friends with a 2006 NAFTA Temporary Import Permit van waiting to be imported that is stuck at the border at Matamoros have received emails that their van's import is still on hold, waiting for Aduana.

Like Chillin's proposal: They had tried to use the "legalization" route, as a "paper only" deal, where their Mexican customs broker told them that a Mexican car dealer near the border would "buy their van" on-paper.

The Mexican dealership would then import the van in the dealer's name, by including their van's paperwork for the "legalization", in with a stack of legitimate imports sent to Aduana for processing.

The Mexican dealership said they would then re-sell the van back to the gringo friends. The friends were promised Tanaulipas plates and registration, good for 1 year. That promise then shifted to a promise of Estado de Mexico plates.

They were told this could be done last December.

They are still getting emails every 2 weeks from the Mexican broker saying that imports are still on hold at the border, and that he repeats his hopes that a new amparo will be put in place "soon" .

Sonia's and Spencer's understandings fit what we've heard and read much better than some promises of "paper-only" imports and "paper-only" "legalizations" by dealers with "contacts" at the border.

Two final observations on Chillin's process of using a Mexican car dealer buying our cars, "legalizing" them, and selling them back to us: Car dealers have to file tax records (documenting the factura) with SAT for every car they sell. They have to pay 16.5% IVA taxes on the value of every sale back to us. That would seem to add some serious extra $$ to the process, on top of Aduana fees + Broker's fees.

There's another apparent inconsistency or gap in Chillin's PV stories: If the "sale" was legitimate, the car owner then would get a factura from the Mexican car dealer for their vehicle - which is just like a US vehicle title - and the owners could use that factura to easily get Jalisco plates and registration.

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In an alternative perspective on Chillin's PV stories: If the car dealer has "bought" the car "on-paper", and then "resold" it back to the owners with just "legalization" and plates (no factura in the gringo owner's name), then, the dealer or the "facilitator" is keeping the factura for the car, and only gives the owners some license plates

That seems even scarier to drive around a car that is legally still owned by the broker/facilitator or the dealer.

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Oh well - a lot of thinking and guessing which is at odds with happy customers going through this route and what they are reporting. I never wrote that the owner never got a factura. The owner gets an incomplete pedimento, which is held by Aduana. The fellow from Mexico City said you have to get a new Mexican factura, based on the foreign plated title, and it required the service of a Notary to complete.

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There is no incomplete pedimento either one was issued or not, when you need one and dont have one that is when you either have it and are safe or have to pay big $$$ to get out of trouble.

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After all this time, with all the corruption, shut-downs, serious problems, etc., I wonder why some folks even ask about trying to import/nationalize a vehicle any more. Is it wishful thinking or just asking for trouble and expense.

For well over a year, I have suggested that those coming to reside in Mexico plan on buying a car in Mexico and disposing of their foreign plated vehicle back home or at CarMax in Texas, if they want to use it just for the move. Even if it becomes possible and secure, paying many thousands of dollars to import a ten year old car makes no sense. Sell it for wholesale NoB and pay for the new one in Mexico; consider it a trade with a trip involved.

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