I posted your question to me here on our forum to see if anyone reading it may  have had experience bringing a car in through Belize.

As far as I know t would be the same as entering from the USA. Have libility insurance. Have the title documents. The driver should be the same as the Titled owner.

If there are liens you will need the permission of the lein holder. You can only have one foreign plated (USA for example) car in Mexico at a time in your name.

Let us know how you make out.

Tu amigo, Sid Grosvenor

Well, I hope they don’t confiscate your car or charge you a big fine.

I would drive North ASAP. I’ve used the Nogales crossing a number of times without incident. Never used any crossing points in Baja.

Don’t drive at night. The military is less interested I think in the car permit, but the all the various police agencies would be interested.

Again, we wish you a safe trip to the USA. After you’re there let us all know how things worked out, Tu amigo, Sid

I have a legal, signed clear California title and bill of sale.

My concern is that I was considering taking the ferry from Mazatlan to La Paz, then drive up and through Tijuana. Then I can get a trip permit in Cali, and once in Idaho I will do the title transfer and inspection.

I have been told that they won’t let me onto the ferry without the temp. permit?? My other option of course is to just drive north and cross at Nogales. I’m a bit concerned about the safety issues driving north on the mainland.

Do you have an opinion on driving north from PV to Nogales compared to driving north on the Baja?
Thanks again.

I’m not an immigration specialist nor a Mexican vehicle specialist, but I will tell you what I think.

You’ve given me a good fact history, but left out if the vehicle was legally imported into Mexico. Did the
Mexican lady you bought it from bring the car into Mexico by obtaining a Temporary Import permission
(import sticker on the windshield) ?

If not the vehicle is in Mexico I suspect illegally and subject to seizure by the Mexican government. If there’s no temporary import sticker and you’v not had problems you’ve been very lucky.

If it has the sticker you could still get in trouble I because the sticker was not issued to you as the owner or it could show expired on it’s face.

All that being said you probably can drive it to the USA and register it OK, if you get out of Mexico OK without incident.

You did not mention how the transfer took place to you. I mean, what sort of paper work was involved? I’m not familiar with what a California title looks like. If the transfer was properly handled you should have no problem registering the vehicle in the USA.

If you register it in Texas to avoid paying a penalty for the expired registration you can fill out a simple form swearing that the vehicle was out of the USA and that’s the reason for the expired registration and avoid paying a late registration fee,

Not sure what the rules are in other US States. In Texas you will also have to show proof of insurance, have a Texas address. After registration in Texas you would need to have the safety inspection done at an official state inspection station. The Inspection station will want to to see your Texas registration and proof of liability insurance.

I hope this information helps you some and that you don;t have problems. Let us know how it turns out, as your experience may help others.

Tu amigo, Sid

For the sake of answering your questions let me make a few assumptions. I assume the vehicle has US plates on it.

I assume they can enter the USA OK. The problem is that if it has USA plates on it I don;t think the Mexican authorities will allow them as Mexican CItizens to bring in the USA plated car.

Depending upon the make, model and where the car was made they may be able to convert it to Mexican plates.

The rules change from time to time on this. The last I knew the car had to be made in the USA, Canada, or Mexico, it has to be currently a year model12001 0r 2002.
But, you can ask about a 2003 year model or just wait until the car is 10 years old to make the conversion.

There will be a fee to change the registration to Mexico. I’ve rationalized 2 Ford Explorers in years past. I was charged about $400 USD (in pesos) at the time.

I changed my registration at the Colombia bridge in Texas. They were very helpful, polite, and efficient on both occasions.

I hope my information has helped some. The rules seem to change each year. Good Luck. Tu amigo, Sid

Getting an FM3 in the USA has proven very frustrating for my clients recently. The Mexican government has made a lot of changes in immigration law and the consulates in the USA are having difficulty understanding the new law.

Not sure which Consulate you would use in the USA (the quality of service varies significantly from consulate to consulate at the moment.

Even if you get an FM3 at a consulate in the USA you will still have to register it here in Jalisco, Better to do it all here.

I would recommend entering Mexico on a tourist permit and getting your car permit at the border. They are now charging a $400 USD deposit. Get the car permit in just one name of course.

Then get your FM3 status while at Lake Chapala. I can recommend 4 good firms to use. If you have the needed documents this should take about two weeks, but figure three to be safe.

Then fly home and drive the other vehicle down and get your car permit at the border for it.

US Car Insurance is worthless in Mexico. Mexico car insurance is worthless in the USA.

I don;t think you have to prove that you have insurance to register in South Dakota.

You should have Mexican car insurance on both vehicles valid for the time they will be in Mexico. Jalisco has a mandatory car insurance law.

I think by now all US States require valid liability car insurance to drive in their state.

To see a step by step process for registering your car in South Dakota see my article at the following link

http://tinyurl.com/yach649

Hope this helps Chip. Tu amigo, Sid

We bought a home in Chapala in January 2011. We are coming down for a brief visit in January 2012 and want to drive our 2009 Chevy Malibu down and leave it. We will be returning in March driving a 1999 Ford Expedition for an extended stay of 6 months. We are probably going to have to do only an FM3 as we will be going back & forth to US every 6 months for a few years. I guess we will have to put the vehicles in both our names (me & spouse) so we can bring in the Expedition in March. This is the vehicle that will be going back and forth. Should we try and do an FM3 status before coming in January or is it ok if we just do it before bringing the Ford in March?
Is there any other issues to be aware of in this scenario? On the Chevy that stays in Mexico, is it necessary to continue to carry US insurance on it? I understand that a vehicle can be registered in South Dakota based on just having Mexican Insurance. Do you know anything about that? Is it necessary to keep both US as well as Mexican insurance on the Expedition going back and forth if it is registered in South Dakota?

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks Sid. Chip