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How to dispose of an OLD US plated vehicle that doesn't run


MikeB

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Pulled this from Sonia Diaz website: http://www.soniadiaz.mx/about.html
"

Selling, Scrapping, Donating Car 

"You may not sell nor donate a foreign plated vehicle in Mexico.

If a foreign plated car is unable to be driven may it be left in Mexico? NO, it must be towed to the border.

To legally scrap a foreign plated car it is only done so at about 6 locations and you pay the cost. Once scrapped, you then deliver proof of the vehicle being destroyed to the proper authorities in Mexico City. The requirements are very specific. 

The other issue with taking a vehicle to a scrpe yard is that the vehicle may be restored. Mexicans are very creative. Or, parts such as the motor ends up in another vehicle and on a motor is a VIN. The vehicle with that traceable VIN ends up in an accident or it is involved in committing a crime. That vehicle is now traceable to the owner who thought the vehicle was destroyed."

 

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The quote from Sonia is the law..... and I'm sure there are plenty old non-running foreign plated vehicles hanging around. The problem is that the vehicle is still on the records of your Temporal (or Tourist card if that is how you got it in) and one would not EVER be able to bring another vehicle into Mexico until that one is off the records. And the only way to do that is take it to the border, cancel the TIP at Aduana and then haul it across the border into the US.... and then do what with it?

 

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How long has it been in Mexico? I had an old beater that died here. I had brought it in many years previous under a temporary residency before they got real savvy with their computers.

What I did was give it to one of my workers who had a similar car, non-running, which had some interchangeable parts with mine. I took photos of the car (it looked worse than any Mexican beater) and photos of them hauling it away. I had my mechanic write a statement that he was familiar with the car, which he was, and verified that it would never go anywhere under its own steam again, that it was a junker.

I got copies of my worker's ID, and had him write a statement saying I had given him the car for parts. I took that to a notary and had it notarized.

I didn't know if any if this would work, but had all that with me when I left Mexico and then drove in with another Canadian plated vehicle 2 months later. The old beater never came up on the customs computers when I stopped to get a new tip. I also had a more recent passport than the one I had brought the old car in under.

So while you wouldn't get away with it now, if the car has been here for 20 years, you might. 

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11 hours ago, MikeB said:

Thanks for your comments. It's an 02 Prius with a dead battery. It's been here 11 years. 

An 11 YO vehicle TIP is going to be in the computer database.  I assume you are talking about the Prius 'traction' battery, not the small 12V in the trunk.

One can purchase a re-manufactured Prius battery for $950. Have it shipped free to the US border and go pick it up with another car. Have a Mexican mechanic install it and you are good to go. Cheaper than towing it to the border and probably more fun as a 'project'. 

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33 minutes ago, pappysmarket said:

Probably could be easily converted to a coffin and you could sell it as such. About the right size.

Pappy, you are getting the Prius mixed up with a Ford Pinto.... the REAL made-to-order vehicle coffin!

 

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18 hours ago, mudgirl said:

How long has it been in Mexico? I had an old beater that died here. I had brought it in many years previous under a temporary residency before they got real savvy with their computers.

What I did was give it to one of my workers who had a similar car, non-running, which had some interchangeable parts with mine. I took photos of the car (it looked worse than any Mexican beater) and photos of them hauling it away. I had my mechanic write a statement that he was familiar with the car, which he was, and verified that it would never go anywhere under its own steam again, that it was a junker.

I got copies of my worker's ID, and had him write a statement saying I had given him the car for parts. I took that to a notary and had it notarized.

I didn't know if any if this would work, but had all that with me when I left Mexico and then drove in with another Canadian plated vehicle 2 months later. The old beater never came up on the customs computers when I stopped to get a new tip. I also had a more recent passport than the one I had brought the old car in under.

So while you wouldn't get away with it now, if the car has been here for 20 years, you might. 

Remove the VIN tags and Plates before I would try this.

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1 hour ago, lcscats said:

Remove the VIN tags and Plates before I would try this.

Oh, I definitely removed the plates. The VINs, no. But like I said the vehicle had been in Mexico from before the time they kept synced computer records. And it's been 10 years since my worker hauled it off. I don't foresee any fallout.

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12 hours ago, mudgirl said:

Oh, I definitely removed the plates. The VINs, no. But like I said the vehicle had been in Mexico from before the time they kept synced computer records. And it's been 10 years since my worker hauled it off. I don't foresee any fallout.

Yes I understand your situation. Just looked at my old  paperwork from before and it has VIN numbers on it.  Usually on top of dash and on engine.  So NOW you need to remove the VIN numbers to protect yourself.  Your car is long gone history.  

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1 hour ago, lcscats said:

Yes I understand your situation. Just looked at my old  paperwork from before and it has VIN numbers on it.  Usually on top of dash and on engine.  So NOW you need to remove the VIN numbers to protect yourself.  Your car is long gone history.  

Almost always on inside driver's door jamb, too.  

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Can't way for that year, but these days the entire car has VIN numbers on  HUGE numbers of parts, so if you tried to go this route you'd be forever trying to locate them all. MANY are under the hood.....

Know this for a fact because we bought a car from Moyo (Riberas)    that had to be plated here (from Quintana Roo) and it had to go to Guad tor a many-hours-long inspection of VIN n's all over to ascertain nothing in the car was stolen. Costly too!

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I looked it up: all cars/trucks built after 1982 have a lot of VINS in various places.

Firewall of the vehicle
Radiator Support Bracket
Dash by windshield
Left hand inner wheel arch
Steering column
Guarantee & Maintenance Book
Machined Pad on front of engine
Drivers door or post on passenger side
Component parts -e.g.- engine, frame, trunk, quarter panels, etc.
Later model years most common locations of the VIN:

Left instrumentation panel
Dash plate by window
Drivers door or post
Firewall

http://kerrywilsoninsurance.com/vin-facts/

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5 hours ago, lcscats said:

Not you but person trying to scrap car now.  Your situation is history. But removing all the VIN numbers sounds unrealistic according to Andy. 

Removing VIN numbers is illegal and removing them from the vehicle is pointless if the vehicle is in the Mexican customs data base.

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22 minutes ago, mudgirl said:

...vehicle is in the Mexican customs data base.

This is the funniest thread I have ever read. It may be in the database tied to a passport number. That passport number may not be able to get a TIP but every time you renew a passport the number changes. I made sure when introducing a "chocolate" into Mexico for sale that I factored in a new passport with the price.

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Pretty funny in my case too. The only VIN number is issued the Province of British Columbia, stamped and rivetted to inside the drivers door. All other markings are in Kanji script, referring to a record system only used in Japan. ( no VINs). It has a secret storage space, and a small lever, which if engaged, prevents the vehicle from going into gear. But I think joyriders would be put off by a 18 speed transmission, again all instructions in Kanji script. Two gearshifts.

 

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