This Category describes some of the issues with Importing Vehicles, Dealing with the Police, Auto Maintenance & Repairs, City Driving, and Cross Country Driving, plus a bit of fun.
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- Cross Country Driving?
- See Dave & Shirley’s excellent site:
Driving Through Mexico
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- Access Individual Articles by clicking items below, or
Click on “Driving In Mexico” in the Page Header
“Give me my Ticket . . . Please ” (“Dame mi multa, por favor.)
Spanish Phrases to Use in an Emergency
Importing & Driving a Car in Mexico
Mexico Driving: What would you do?
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Special thanks to bbc.uk, it.stlawu.edu, jansochor.com, gallery.photographyreview.com, Tommy Images.com, cars-pictures-cars.net, & travelweekly.co.uk for the terrific fotos & much credit to resourceful Cubanos for keepin’ ‘em runnin’!
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Feel free to copy with proper attribution: YucaLandia/Surviving Yucatan.
© Steven M. Fry
Read-on MacDuff . . .
Hi Steve, I have a friend visiting in Mexico who drove her car in, got an FMT for 180 days and Car permit. The charge was made to her credit card for the car. She needs to fly out for one week well before the FMT expires. I know that she will have to turn in the FMT at the airport when leaving and get a new FMT on the way back in but what about the car? Can she leave it in Mexico while away?
Thanks for any information you can provide.
Hey Ron,
Her plan has some gaping holes. Does she live close to a border?**
When she applied for the Temporary Import Permit, she agreed to take the vehicle out of Mexico before her INM visa/permit expires. If she leaves Mexico, especially by flying, INM cancels her FMM (there have not been FMTs since May 2010). When she leaves Mexico, without taking the car out, then her car becomes illegal. If she then returns later under a new FMM or whatever, and drives the car – if the police stop her, they can permanently confiscate her car on the spot for violating the agreement she signed.
She must either take the vehicle out of Mexico, or get an FM2 or FM3 before leaving Mexico. If she gets an FM3 or FM2 Rentista, that would extend the expiration date of her INM visa by a year. If she gets a No Inmigrante FM3 Rentista, then she could keep the car here.
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**There is one exception/loophole she might wriggle through: If she drives exclusively in one of the Free Zones, then she could drive out of Mexico, have Aduana remove the Import sticker from the windshield, and then re-enter again with NO Temporary Import. This only works for driving in the Border Zone (25 km of the border) or in the special free zones of Sonora, Baja California, or Quintana Roo.
Under this special program, she is not allowed to drive outside of those special free areas, and her car could be permanently confiscated if she drove into other Mexican States.
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Happy Trails,
steve
Hello
I will be visiting a friend in Puerto Morelos and he has offered the use of his car to me.
It is a Canadian plated car? Am I able to drive it.
Chris,
Do you have a valid drivers license? Do you have the same type of INM visa as your friend? (FMM, FM2, FM3) Is the car legally in Mexico? Does the car have current registration? If yes to all of these, then yes, you may drive it-
steve
It is a yes to all the above.
Some more info. The owner of the car drove it into Mexico on Jan 5, got his car permit and a FMM. He is however going to be flying out of Mexico for a week in mid February, the week he said I could use the car. Is it still okay for me to drive the car when he is out of the country?
Chris,
When he got a Temporary Import Permit (TIP) for the car, he agreed to take the car out of Mexico before his INM visa expires.
When he flies out of Mexico, his visa expires, and the car becomes illegal to drive for everyone, because the FMM expires when he leaves Mexico, and he automatically loses his deposit for not keeping his agreement. Any driving of the car after he leaves, puts the car at risk of being permanently confiscated by the police.
He has several options:
1. Take the car to the border, turn in the TIP, and then sell the car in Belize, before he leaves Mexico.
2. Get an FM3 before he leaves (which is what most expats with TIPs do), which adds a year to the car’s TIP expiration date.
3. Leave Mexico, return later, do not drive the car, forfeit the security deposit, get an FM3, apply for a 3-5 day Safe Returns program permit to take the car to the border to turn in the expired TIP, and use the new FM3 to qualify for a new TIP, pay a new deposit.
4. If he is willing to only drive the car in Quintana Roo, he could drive to the border now (Chetumal), and surrender the car’s TIP now – having Aduana remove the windshield sticker, and recovering the cash deposit. Since Q. Roo is a Free Zone (special tourist zone like Baja California), he can return with the car into Q.Roo with no permit, but the car CANNOT be driven outside of Q.Roo, or it is liable to be confiscated.
Under Option 4, he could use the car inside Q.Roo, get an FM3 later, and then make another trip to the border with his new FM3 to get a new TIP. This means 2 trips to Chetumal, but it saves the car, saves the deposit, and gives 2 chances to enjoy Chetumal, duty free zone shopping, and the duty free zone casinos.
steve
Thanks Steve
One more thing to add. He owns a home in Q Roo and does not plan on driving the car back to Canada only in Q Roo. He also does not have time to go to Chetumal before he leaves Mexico.
As he only plans to drive it in the free zone of Q Roo can he wait until he returns back to Mexico to have the TIP removed and am I able to drive it?
Chris,
I don’t know how the Q. Roo police handle people driving with expired TIPs. He will forfeit his deposit if he flies out of the country. In theory, the police could confiscate his car for driving with an expired TIP – but because Q. Roo is a special zone, they likely do not check – but I have not read any reports either way of how they handle the issue. Most traffic stops do not involve having the TIP checked. Accidents and insurance may be another matter.
steve
Thanks Steve
If Q roo is a free zone would a TIP actullaly expire seeing that one is not required?
Do you have a link that states Q Roo is a free zone?
I would like to print it off and have in the vehicle to present to the police in case then question it.
Again thanks for all your help Steve.
Chris,
Here is the Spanish version of the Aduana website reference to Q.Roo’s special status: http://www.aduanas.gob.mx/aduana_mexico/2008/pasajeros/139_10128.html
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“Franja y región fronterizas
Franja fronteriza norte
Es el territorio comprendido entre la línea divisoria internacional del norte del país y la línea paralela a una distancia de 20 kilómetros hacia el interior del país en el tramo comprendido entre el límite de la región parcial del estado de Sonora y el golfo de México, así como el municipio fronterizo de Cananea, Sonora.
Región fronteriza
Los estados de Baja California, Baja California Sur, Quintana Roo y la región parcial de Sonora; la franja fronteriza sur colindante con Guatemala y los municipios de Caborca, Sonora, Comitán de Domínguez, Chiapas, y Salina Cruz, Oaxaca.”
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Here is an english translation version of the Aduana website reference to Q.Roo’s special status: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aduanas.gob.mx%2Faduana_mexico%2F2008%2Fpasajeros%2F139_10128.html
Frontier and Border Region
Northern border
It is the territory between the international boundary in the north and the parallel line a distance of 20 kilometers into the country in the section between the boundary of the partial region of the state of Sonora and the Gulf of Mexico, as the border town of Cananea, Sonora.
Border region
The states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Quintana Roo and the partial region of Sonora bordering the southern border with Guatemala and the municipalities of Caborca, Sonora, Comitan de Dominguez, Chiapas, and Salina Cruz, Oaxaca. ”
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This official Aduana description of Q. Roo as being part of the special border region shows that Q. Roo has the same rights for tourists to drive their cars without permits etc. in the special border zones.
Even if the car owner keeps the car only within Q. Roo, he is still required by law to return his TIP to the Aduana office at the border, BEFORE he flies out of the country cancelling his FMM. He definitely loses his deposit, and he also risks having the car confiscated by not returning the sticker.
By signing up for his Temporary Import Permit, the car owner agreed to return the car to the border before his visa expires or is surrendered.
Hope this information helps. We don’t write the laws, we only report them.
Please write back and tell us how this plays out,
steve
Steve,
I see you don’t touch on Mexican car insurance here, but I have come across some horrid tales that even if you are in an accident with full coverage of Liability ($500,000 USD) and ‘fianza garantizada’ y asistencia legal hasta $50,000 USD that you could STILL be sent to the police station for a couple days if there is an injury. Is this true? It almost makes me want to take public transportation. I’m a safe driver, but I can’t imagine being treated like a criminal for an accident. I love Mexico, but it sure is different here!
Hi Chad,
We touch on these issues in a different article. There is no official or standard of “full coverage liability”. Basically, our agent said for minimum protection, we need “Gastos médicos occupantes”, “Responsabilidad civil”, “Asistencia juridica”, and “Asistencia en viajes”.
This combination of liability coverages is supposed to cover damages to any other vehicle(s), passenger(s), other injured parties, damages to property, and fiscal bond protection to guarantee enough $$ protection to cover any and all injuries to people or property – to keep you from going to jail.
If your limits are determined to potentially be to low to cover the damages in an accident, then your fiscal bond protection must be high enough to cover any anticipated damages, or you go to jail to wait until the police determine what the upper limits of the damages/injuries may be.
Finally, it is VITALLY IMPORTANT to NOT talk with the other parties. DO NOT move the vehicle. DO NOT get out of your car, unless necessary (we had a friend who was run-over while standing in the street – struck violently hard by the other driver’s car as the turkey fled the scene, Why: because they moved the vehicles NO CHARGES WERE FILED against the driver who hit our friend – putting him in the hospital). You really must keep a working cell phone in the car, and CALL YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY. Sit in your car until your Insurance adjuster/representative arrives on the accident site. SAY NOTHING, except to your Insurance rep. and give minimally necessary answers to the police. Let the Insurance rep handle everything.
If the driver deviates from any single one of these cautions, or has too small of $$ limits, or does not have the 4 types of liability coverage, then the driver potentially sits in jail for 2 – 4 days, without food or water, until the police are convinced that you have enough $$ to pay for any and all injuries and damages…
Happy Trails,
steve
thanks again, Steve! I’m confused about the four types of liablity coverage. Do you have the link you can share on this topic? I searched your site under “Driving in Mexico” for an article, but no luck. I can keep searching. GNP Seguros only offers Liability of up to $500,000 USD which should be enough, one would think. I know with the new insurance law, many insurance companies are suggesting $500,000 liability with the $50,000 legal assistance.
Never mind… I see your reference of the 4 liabilities above. I think it may be different on mine since it is a Mexican policy for a TIP car. But, it does include those, just not under liability.
Glad to hear you are covered !
steve