Buying a used car in Mexico

This might be worth considering for a STICKY:

http://www.telediario.mx/local/recomedaciones-para-adquirir-un-vehiculo-sin-reporte-de-robo

Translated via the BING Translator:

"If you plan to purchase a pre-owned car in this upcoming holiday season, we invite you to review the following recommendations that http://www.seminuevos.com puts at your disposal so that the vehicle you buy is not one that is stolen."

The site above is an extension of the US CNN network in Mexico (community service paid by car dealers in Mexico)

The article also gives a link to a Federal Government website to check if the vehicle is clearly registered:

http://www.repuve.gob.mx

Each Mexican State runs its vehicle registration system, but all new cars are registered in the Federal Registry. If you click on the images in this article, it will show you Print Screen website pages of the Vehicle registration site for the State of Nuevo Leon, which is near the Texas border, but each of the Mexican States has its own such site. Other images show more procedural steps to ensure that you're buying a clean car. Useful stuff to know, if you want a RUST-FREE vehicle from Mexico. You don't want to get to the US Border with a car that's been reported stolen.

The Mexican authorities love abbreviations for their different services:

O.C.R.A. (Oficina Coordinadora the Riesgos Asseguradas) Coordinating Offices of Insured Risks)

The next item is the State Police (Policia Ministerial). They suggest you take the paperwork and car to them to verify its status.

Earlier this year (September 2012), in Nuevo Leon State, the top two executive bureaucrats were ordered to appear in Court about 300,000 missing sets of license plates. One guy showed, the other is gone to who knows where. Some of those plates were never logged into any State or Federal registry. They were sold to the Drug and theft cartels and gangs. Puts a whole new meaning to Untraceable, eh?

http://www.telediario.mx/negocios/dan-calificacion-negativa-a-instituto-de-control-vehicular


http://www.telediario.mx/local/defensa-de-homero-gonzalez-pide-arraigo-de-ex-titular-del-icv

The State government denied hiding the plate audits, until it was forced to:
http://www.telediario.mx/local/estado-niega-ocultar-auditorias-de-icv

If you run a Search on that news site for:
"Instituto de Control Vehicular" (no quotation marks), you'll get a whole bunch of articles on this issue. The Customs folks at the US Border are checking everything on wheels from Mexico, except baby carriages.

Regardless of all that, the cars we'd look for aren't up to snuff, for the bad guys, unless its hotrods, but the process is worth going through. Most Mexican authorities in the northern border states, and larger cities can speak English, or you can go to any of the local ESL schools (English as a Second Language) and get some help with translators.

I bought my Fairmont Squire in 1997, in central Mexico (Guadalajara, Jalisco State) and used their State and Federal Services, without any hitches or hidden 'fees'. At that time, the drug cartels and police gangs controlled the car theft industry. Now, its the State governments themselves, sadly. But the civil servants in those registries are usually very helpful, when it comes to older cars.

Link to BING Translator:
http://www.bing.com/translator/

I gotta tell you that it works great. I used it to translate articles from this Russian woodworking site. It does a great job on user instructions, enough to get the gist. Used it on a DIY article to build quality tripane windows, and got enough to grasp the details, like 80%.

http://woodtools.nov.ru/index.htm

or their mirror site:
http://mirror.woodtools.nov.ru/

 

Now there's the kind of post we all know and love from Norm.

 

When do we go?

 

I would be worried that the vehicle is a Cheech and Chong special and that it might go up in smoke

 

One heck of a lot better (read that warmer) climate to go to for a wagon than Alberta this time of year.

 

Once you get into central Mexico (AguasCaliente, Guanaguato, Guadalajara) people keep their cars in nice shape, the border towns seem to mistreat their older cars.

I listen to one of two Mexican music stations, most of the day, from the North East (Monterrey, Mexico):

Radio Recuerdos (Memory Lane music from the 50's to the 90's)
http://www.mmradio.com/player/50

and this one (Inolvidables) (Unforgettable Mexican classics) - they start broadcasting the news at 6:00 AM until 10:00 AM, and then, you get you get some of the best acoustic guitar musicians ever, as well as tunes from some of the world famous composers of romantic songs, ballads, movie classics, by Spanish, Mexican, and Latin American singers and writers.

http://www.mmradio.com/player/376

Both of them give you Weather updates. I keep talking back when they mention temperatures over 60 F (16 C), like 'Share the Warmth, eh!'

 

The only one of those who even play anything old is that XHAW 101,3

That 2nd link is better. Not only the audio

 

Same coming into canada you have to send title to us cutoms so they can check for stolen cars.

I would love to have a 2000 ramcharger. from Mexico

 

EPA and DOT regs make it nearly impossible to get anything less than 25 years old. So vehicles 1988 and older are good to go now, and 1989's become USA OK in January.

I want four Mexican market vehicles that were not available in or are significantly different than the ones here in the USA.

1) 1977-1979 Dodge Dart wagon, Slant Six, 3-speed manual on the column (looks like a US model Aspen/Volare mishmash, and US models didn't have manuals on the column).

2) 1975-1978 Ford Galaxie wagon, 351W, 3-speed manual on the column (just like a basic Country Sedan but manual shift)

3) 1987-1989 Chevrolet Celebrity sedan, 2.8 V6, 5-speed manual floorshift

4) 1994+ Chevrolet "Chevy" Pop, 2-door hatchback, four cylinder, 5-speed, like an Opel/Vauxhall Corsa or Holden Berlina. Cute little cars. Nice and basic. Gonna be a few more years for this one.