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Mexican car imported to US?


Willie

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US Customs and Border patrol website and phone calls to Laredo office can help you determine whether the vehicle meets US standards and is eligible for importation. They are the ones who will determine whether you can and whether it is worth the cost. I'd recommend googling contact info for them to help you answer the question about a specific vehicle.

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Nobody on this board can answer that question for you. Every vehicle is different. You need to contact the US Goverment department that's responsible for the importation of vehicles. If you give them the make, model and VIN # (if you have it) they will give you a definite yes or no.. 

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I think the U.S. program, like the Mexican "vintage" program, is really for collectible and rare vehicles. Saying that, it is not expensive. A car blogger bought a 1991 Nissan Skyliner, right hand drive, from Japan and the agency/company charged $1,000 U.S. which included trucking the vehicle from California to the Midwest.

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Read:  importing a Mexican car into the US http://www.soniadiaz.mx/vehicles.html

You can not LEGALLY register it in an US state until it is cleared through CBP and prove it meets US emissions and safety standards. Without doing so it may be confiscated.

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Read Sonia’s info about this.  One quick way to start to see if your Mexican vehicle has a chance is look under the hood and on the driver’s door jamb.  If, under the hood, you find an Emissions placard from the EPA/CARB stating it meets US standards AND there is a DOT (NHTSA) placard on the door jamb (or somewhere) stating that the vehicle meets certain safety standards, then you can proceed to step II.... contacting CBP website or an office at the border.

It would be very interesting, if Canmex87 could/would contact his friends who moved a 2015 CRV to Florida and ask them to look for the placards I mention above, to see if the CRV complied. AND also as Sonia mentioned the first step to bring a Mexican plated vehicle into the US permanently is to “process it” through CBP at the border. If they pass it, a certain Form is provided and all/most states in the US will require this CBP signed form before a title can be obtained in their state. It does not sound like the ‘friend’ did this.... or else the “all they had to do statement” is not accurate.

 

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On 2/5/2018 at 1:35 PM, Willie said:

Is it possible to move a car purchased in Mexico to the US permanently?

Yes.  I did it.  A '69 Beetle in 2000, in Central California.  Too old for smogging though.  

Google, gray imports.  

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I think that it is 'grey' market......

I know that you have said before that you sold your Mexican VW in the US, but I still doubt that it was a 100% legal transaction. Maybe more like the 'black' market.

Here is what I found when I Googled 'Grey Market' and it fits what I already know to be true (as I have said here, I've recently been through the Importing foreign vehicles into the US with Customs).

 

..... As a result of being practically banned,[the grey market declined from 66,900 vehicles in 1985 to 300 vehicles in 1995. It is no longer possible to import a non-U.S. vehicle into the United States as a personal import, with four exceptions, none of which permits Americans to buy recent vehicles not officially available in the United States.

A vehicle not originally built to U.S. specifications can, under certain circumstances be imported through a registered importer who modifies the vehicle to comply with US equipment and safety regulations and then certifies it as compliant. Also an independent commercial importer who modifies the vehicle to comply with US emissions regulations and then certifies it as compliant.Those who import nonconforming motor vehicles sometimes bring in more than one car at a time to spread the substantial cost of the necessary destructive testing, modification, and safety certification. Destructive crash testing is not always needed if the vehicle can be shown to be substantially similar to a model sold in the U.S.

Caveat Emptor

 

 

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Somebody gave you a sad smiley.  Why?  What's sad about it?

I never even thought about importing that bug.  As you probably remember I drove it for a spell then sold it.  Wish I had it back.

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On 2/5/2018 at 5:17 PM, canmex87 said:

We have  friends who purchased a 2015 Honda CRV in Guadalajara. They moved to Florida and all they had to do to register it in Florida was provide proof of Insurance.

Very odd. To register a car in Florida you need a title, or MSO if it new and has never been titled. They have a book with pictures of titles for the past 80 years or so from every state in the US.

I have legally imported new vehicles from Canada to the USA. They had an MSO as well as all "stickers" regarding safety & emissions being in compliance. I paid a licensed importer for the  certification and to also change the speedometer to MPH instead of KPH and certify the  change had the exact same number of miles as the speedometer that they removed. The speedometer change was required at that time.

Since no Mexican state issues titles it would seem to be  very odd all they needed was proof of insurance. 

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2 years ago friends bought a brand new Nissan, they brought it up to CA and tried to import it and they had to turn right around and bring it back to sell it here, they would not let them do it in California.

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On ‎2‎/‎17‎/‎2018 at 4:31 PM, Mostlylost said:

Very odd. To register a car in Florida you need a title, or MSO if it new and has never been titled. They have a book with pictures of titles for the past 80 years or so from every state in the US.

I have legally imported new vehicles from Canada to the USA. They had an MSO as well as all "stickers" regarding safety & emissions being in compliance. I paid a licensed importer for the  certification and to also change the speedometer to MPH instead of KPH and certify the  change had the exact same number of miles as the speedometer that they removed. The speedometer change was required at that time.

Since no Mexican state issues titles it would seem to be  very odd all they needed was proof of insurance. 

I asked our friends  what was required other than proof of insurance and they advised that  Florida required the "factura" to be translated into English.

Once they provided the translation and proof of Florida insurance they were issued Florida plates. No vehicle inspection.

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7 hours ago, canmex87 said:

I asked our friends  what was required other than proof of insurance and they advised that  Florida required the "factura" to be translated into English.

Once they provided the translation and proof of Florida insurance they were issued Florida plates. No vehicle inspection.

Don't believe it.. Any vehicle you import into the US or Canada has to go through the the inspection process to check that it meets the relevant standards before you can get a set of plates.

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15 hours ago, TelsZ4 said:

Don't believe it.. Any vehicle you import into the US or Canada has to go through the the inspection process to check that it meets the relevant standards before you can get a set of plates.

Count me in this camp also. Something doesn't smell quite right.  That would never have flown in my state.

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We had a 2005 Toyota Rav-4 and on the underside of the hood was the official sticker in Spanish. Funny thing, the Spanish overlay came off and under it was the official US Dot certification. Not sure not having a US Title would fare in the whole licensing process. 

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