Mexican cars in USA
Mike Tantillo
the car in front of my caught my attention with its strange looking
license plate. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a Nuevo
Leon, Mexico license plate! It had what appeared to be two "license
plate like" number strips in the back window, but both of then had the
same number as the license plate, and were issued by Nuevo Leon as
well.
So my question is this...what are the rules/regs for bringing a
mexican car into the interior of the USA? I know to bring an American
car into the interior of mexico, one must apply for a special
temporary import permit at the border, and either pay a $11 fee by
credit card, or post a bond based on the value of the vehicle.
Regardless, a special sticker of sorts is issued to show that the car
is legal in Mexico. I saw no such special stickers on this particular
car either on the front or back....I would have assumed that they
would have had to get some kind of temporary import thing and/or car
sticker from the first US state they entered. Because otherwise, they
can get away with a lot here in the USA with mexican plates....they
can avoid worrying about parking tickets, they can drive through
ungated E-ZPass for free, they'll never have to worry about red light
cameras, they can drive on Ontario's 407 ETR for free....etc. I mean
i'm sure Virginia doesn't have info sharing agreements with every
Mexican state.... Also whats to prevent them from selling the car
here? This was actually a decent car (Pathfinder SUV).
I Care About Nutrition
"Mike Tantillo" <mjtan...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:e48ae109.0405...@posting.google.com...
(re a Mexican vehicle)This was actually a decent car (Pathfinder SUV).
My My, fancy that.
--
Comrade Mr. Yämamøto: Owner and SUPER Operator
of http://mryamamoto.50megs.com
"You can move to Montana and listen to Santana
But you still won't be as cool as Sha Na Na"
Richard
Wasn't aware that Mexcio required that fee. Nor to bring a car in from
Mexico.
AFAIK, you're allowed to freely travel across the borders all you want.
After all, they do it by the thousands every day at the border crossing
south of san diego.
My brother went into Nogales Mexico several times and I don't believe he
ever paid a fee.
Of course, this may be something fairly new too.
Best way to find out would be to drive across the border eh?
Richard
Riddle solved for you.
http://www.go2mexico.com/?page=mexico_articles/driving.php
Vehicle Title or Registration Receipt. Owner is considered the name(s) on
title only. For example: a wife cannot take the car if the title is only in
the husband's name. If names of both husband and wife appear on title,
either one may take the car.
Birth certificate, passport or notarized proof of citizenship, or voter's
registration card.
Visa, MasterCard, Diner's, or American Express card with the same name as on
title.
Valid driver's license (with photo and same name as on title).
Notarized letter of permission from the bank or lienholder is required on
financed cars, rental cars, leased cars, or company cars (on company
stationary).
No borrowed cars or borrowed credit cards are accepted.
You must sign an affidavit of promise to return vehicle back to the United
States.
No mentioning of paying a fee to cross in either direction.
However, at this site, the fee is discussed in more detail:
http://www.mexicofile.com/drivingintomexico.htm
The import permit is valid for six months.
The bond thing is kind of scary though. 100%? Sheeesh. Take your high priced
million dollar RV across and you're gonna walk in to the place with a
million bucks in cash? I don't think so.
Richard
Final note.
They do have a "free zone" which includes the 20 kilometers south of the
border and all of Baja.
So unless you plan on driving to mexico city or cancun, you don't need the
permit.
Michael G. Koerner
Mexico has a border zone that is seperate from the rest of the country.
Cars 'plated' inside the border zone (ie, Tijuana, Juarez, Nuevo Laredo
are all inside of the border zone) have special plates and/or
endorsements, too. The travel beyond this zone requires the special
permits, etc. Mexican customs maintains checkpoints where the 'real'
entry inspections are done where the border zone ends, whereas USA
customs normally does that right at the border crossings.
--
___________________________________________ ____ _______________
Regards, | |\ ____
| | | | |\
Michael G. Koerner May they | | | | | | rise again!
Appleton, Wisconsin USA | | | | | |
___________________________________________ | | | | | | _______________
SP Cook
> So today I was driving through Charlottesville on Emmet Street, and
> the car in front of my caught my attention with its strange looking
> license plate. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a Nuevo
> Leon, Mexico license plate! It had what appeared to be two "license
> plate like" number strips in the back window, but both of then had the
> same number as the license plate, and were issued by Nuevo Leon as
> well.
>
> So my question is this...what are the rules/regs for bringing a
> mexican car into the interior of the USA?
Answer is over at customs.gov.
A legal visitor may bring a vehicle into the USA from Mexico for up to
one year, provided that it is in connection with a legitimate visit,
the car is in reasonable mechinical shape (does NOT have the meet US
safety or emissions standards), and is legally documented and
registered in Mexico.
A permit is issued at the border station. No charge.
Actually the rule applies to any country, except Canada (which has
even more lax rules), but it is hard to imagine that its economically
reasonable to transport a vehicle by sea for tourist purposes,
relative to cheep rental cars.
SP Cook
arga...@my-deja.com
> Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a Nuevo
> Leon, Mexico license plate! It had what appeared to be two "license
> plate like" number strips in the back window, but both of then had the
> same number as the license plate, and were issued by Nuevo Leon as
> well.
Those are probably proofs of vehicle tax ('tenencia') paid, like
vehicle license discs in Great Britain.
> So my question is this...what are the rules/regs for bringing a
> mexican car into the interior of the USA?
For purposes of tourism, none beyond the requirement to purchase
liability insurance. We are not as concerned about protecting our
domestic automobile industry as Mexico is (indeed, we have exported a
large amount of it there and to Canada), so border formalities are
more concerned with people than cars. However, we do expect Mexican
cars to have the same liability insurance cover we require of
domestically registered cars.
> I know to bring an American
> car into the interior of mexico, one must apply for a special
> temporary import permit at the border, and either pay a $11 fee by
> credit card, or post a bond based on the value of the vehicle.
My understanding is that it is not an either-or proposition--both the
administration fee and the bond are always required, are generally
charged to a credit card, and only the portion of the charge which is
attributable to the bond is returned on exit. My experience has been
that the bond is usually set at 10%-20% of the retail price of the
car, or about $200 for a 1986 Nissan Maxima whose retail value would
probably be no more than $2000.
I think the more interesting question is why Mexico requires temporary
import permits which can be obtained only by posting bonds that high.
When this policy was introduced in circa 1998, the rationale cited for
it was protection of the domestic Mexican automobile industry from
American used cars "dumped" in Mexico. But to me this does not make
much sense since used and new cars are not substitutable goods; if a
middle-class Mexican has enough money to afford a car straight off the
assembly line, he or she is not automatically going to settle for an
American hand-me-down.
> Regardless, a special sticker of sorts is issued to show that the car
> is legal in Mexico. I saw no such special stickers on this particular
> car either on the front or back....I would have assumed that they
> would have had to get some kind of temporary import thing and/or car
> sticker from the first US state they entered.
No. The fact that Mexico requires this of us does not mean we have to
require it of Mexicans. All Mexicans would need would be proof of
insurance, carried within the glove compartment, and even this would
not be necessary if they were not proposing to travel outside a border
state whose financial responsibility law could be satisfied without a
liability insurance policy. (In point of fact Mexico does have a
financial responsibility law of this kind, but Americans are still
urged to buy liability insurance anyway in order to avoid being put in
a Mexican jail after an accident while the authorities verify ability
to pay, which can be a dilatory process.)
> Because otherwise, they
> can get away with a lot here in the USA with mexican plates....they
> can avoid worrying about parking tickets, they can drive through
> ungated E-ZPass for free, they'll never have to worry about red light
> cameras, they can drive on Ontario's 407 ETR for free....etc.
This is not necessarily true if they want to re-enter the U.S. or
Canada in the same car with the same plates, and circulate freely
within either country without worrying about being picked up on a
warrant that has been issued for unpaid parking citations, road tolls,
etc.
> Also whats to prevent them from selling the car
> here? This was actually a decent car (Pathfinder SUV).
In order to be sold and registered within the U.S., a Mexican car has
to meet the same vehicle safety and emissions standards applicable to
American cars of the same model year, and federal and state import and
sales taxes have to be paid. A Mexican vehicle may not necessarily be
able to meet those standards (particularly emissions standards)
without very expensive modifications, even if it is designed on the
same platform as a car currently sold in the U.S.
For instance, in the early 1980's, Ford produced a large number of
Crown Victorias with 5.7-L V-8 engines and variable-venturi
carburetors for the Mexican and Canadian markets even though very
strict American emissions control requirements meant that only a 5.0-L
V-8 with throttle-body fuel injection could be sold domestically.
Stéphane Dumas
"Mike Tantillo" <mjtan...@yahoo.com> a écrit dans le message de
news:e48ae109.0405...@posting.google.com...
Speaking of Mexican models, check what Chevy offer in Mexico with models
like the Astra and the Corsa who are based on European Opels
http://www.chevrolet.com.mx Ford with the Ka, Fiesta, Nissan offer the
Platina (a rebadged Renault Clio sedan), Dodge the Atoz (a rebadged Hyundai
Atoz) and Hyundai the Centennial (known in South Korea as the Dynasty it was
derivated from the late Mitsubishi Debonnair and built under licence also
offered in others countries of Latin America like Chile
http://www.hmotores.cl/automotriz/index.htm and the Galloper was a former
Mitsubishi Montero/Pajero aka 1987-90 Dodge Raider)
Stéphane Dumas
Jay Maynard
> Actually the rule applies to any country, except Canada (which has
> even more lax rules), but it is hard to imagine that its economically
> reasonable to transport a vehicle by sea for tourist purposes,
> relative to cheep rental cars.
There are, of course, exceptions...last year, I met a guy who'd shipped his
Harley from Denmark to the US so he could ride cross-country to Sturgis.
Stanley Cline
wrote:
>So today I was driving through Charlottesville on Emmet Street, and
>the car in front of my caught my attention with its strange looking
>license plate. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a Nuevo
>Leon, Mexico license plate! It had what appeared to be two "license
I've seen an increasing number of Mexican plates around Atlanta -- and
*not* on beaten-up old trucks spewing smoke, either, but on fairly
recent models of car/truck sold in the US that are in good shape if
not somewhat dirty. :)
>So my question is this...what are the rules/regs for bringing a
>mexican car into the interior of the USA? I know to bring an American
As others have stated, pretty much none, aside from the usual entry
requirements for the *people* in the car and the ability to meet the
insurance requirements of the states where the car is driven.
Going the other way around (US to Mexico), aside from short jaunts
into border towns and Baja, is a relative hassle.
-SC
--
Stanley Cline -- sc1 at roamer1 dot org -- http://www.roamer1.org/
...
"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. There might
be a law against it by that time." -/usr/games/fortune
Craig Zeni
I saw something even more peculiar this past week at the Tamarac rest
stop on the WV Turnpike - a Ford F150 pickup truck with Great Britian
number plates on the front and on the back...new style 'EU' plates at
that. It was left hand drive. I speculate that the owners are Brits
who bought the vehicle here and plan to take it home...
scroob
news:ekfs90d4jp6lfg2gm...@4ax.com:
> Going the other way around (US to Mexico), aside from short jaunts
> into border towns and Baja, is a relative hassle.
How ironic that Mexico (which has one of the leakiest borders in world as
long as the direction is north) is harder to get into than the US.
Michael G. Koerner
I spent a few hours wandering around downtown Milwaukee during last
year's 100th Harley-Davidson reunion and saw bikes plated from literally EVERYWHERE.
While roadtripping out east last summer, we (my friend and I) were in
line behind a 1960s-era Citreön at a Merritt Parkway service plaza. The
car's owner had just imported it and spent about $5 there to fill its
fuel tank.
Also, I recently saw a car with odd-looking plates in the Appleton area
and was actually able to ask where they were from. Answer: USA Military
in Germany, they simply hadn't had the chance to transfer its
registration to Wisconsin.
Michael G. Koerner
I'd be fully agreeable to an 'open border' policy (like with the EU)
here in North America, if and only if it involves 100% reciprocity (the
exact same rules applying in both directions).
Mike Tantillo
> On 8 May 2004 19:08:54 -0700, mjtan...@yahoo.com (Mike Tantillo)
> wrote:
>
> >So today I was driving through Charlottesville on Emmet Street, and
> >the car in front of my caught my attention with its strange looking
> >license plate. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a Nuevo
> >Leon, Mexico license plate! It had what appeared to be two "license
>
> I've seen an increasing number of Mexican plates around Atlanta -- and
> *not* on beaten-up old trucks spewing smoke, either, but on fairly
> recent models of car/truck sold in the US that are in good shape if
> not somewhat dirty. :)
>
> >So my question is this...what are the rules/regs for bringing a
> >mexican car into the interior of the USA? I know to bring an American
>
> As others have stated, pretty much none, aside from the usual entry
> requirements for the *people* in the car and the ability to meet the
> insurance requirements of the states where the car is driven.
>
> Going the other way around (US to Mexico), aside from short jaunts
> into border towns and Baja, is a relative hassle.
>
Oh well, I guess its all even in the end. We have to get all the
fancy papers to bring a vehicle into Mexico, but at least we can still
show up at the border with our Passport, Vehicle Title, and credit
card any time we want and enter Mexico. The Mexicans might be able to
enter the USA with their vehicle easily, but in order for them to
enter the USA, they need to get a US visa IN ADVANCE, which is a hugh
hassle in and of itself.
> -SC
GeneJYao
Nuevo Leon and it was seen in New Hope, PA. I don't know why Mexican plated
cars are so rare up here (PA). I know its a little far but Mexico is not much
further than TX or CA and I always see cars from these places. Anyway, I've
also seen an Arabic plated car (couldn't tell which country - it was all in
Arabic). It had no US plates and I saw it in DC so it may have been a
diplomat. Another non-US plated vehicle I've seen was a German plated tour bus
in Philadelphia. It had no US plates at all and was carrying German tourists.
I've also seen various other European-plated cars but these cars had a US plate
as well (tons of German plated cars but also Portugal, Great Britain, even
Romania).
James Robinson
>
> I've only seen one Mexican plated car in my entire life. I think it was from
> Nuevo Leon and it was seen in New Hope, PA. I don't know why Mexican plated
> cars are so rare up here (PA).
The main reason is that cars are cheaper to buy in the US than in Mexico
because of their taxes. Any Mexican with enough money to spend time in
the US will buy a car here, and get US plates.
When you go to Mexico you will see many, many cars with Texas plates,
and they aren't owned by visitors, but by locals. The Mexican
government opened the door a crack by allowing seasonal workers to bring
cars in duty free, and everybody seems to have grabbed the opportunity.
There are even licenses issued by "peasant" organizations that flout the
laws, and police don't seem to want to take any action because of the
political power of those groups.
colin
> mjtan...@yahoo.com (Mike Tantillo) wrote in message
>
> > So today I was driving through Charlottesville on Emmet Street, and
> > the car in front of my caught my attention with its strange looking
> > license plate. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a Nuevo
> > Leon, Mexico license plate! It had what appeared to be two "license
> > plate like" number strips in the back window, but both of then had the
> > same number as the license plate, and were issued by Nuevo Leon as
> > well.
> >
> > So my question is this...what are the rules/regs for bringing a
> > mexican car into the interior of the USA?
>
> Answer is over at customs.gov.
>
> A legal visitor may bring a vehicle into the USA from Mexico for up to
> one year, provided that it is in connection with a legitimate visit,
> the car is in reasonable mechinical shape (does NOT have the meet US
> safety or emissions standards), and is legally documented and
> registered in Mexico.
People in Sonora drive up to Tucson all the time to shop at Target,
Wal-Mart and other stores. You see their orange/white plates all over
the place. I've seen some MX cars here in pretty poor condition, so I
think they're pretty lax on that second stipulation.
The interesting thing about Mexican-licensed cars is that they have a
pretty standard plate, but also have stickers in the front and back
windows with a smaller replica of the license plate. This is apprently
required.
The only real worry about bringing an American car into Mexico is the
insurance. Standard policy auto insurance NEVER covers Mexico, and a
special temporary policy has to be purchased before you go over,
otherwise you may find yourself with major Mexican legal problems or a
huge repair bill that your insurance company won't touch.
-colin
Mike Tantillo
Yeah, this is what I was trying to describe before...there were two of
them actually.
>
> The only real worry about bringing an American car into Mexico is the
> insurance. Standard policy auto insurance NEVER covers Mexico, and a
> special temporary policy has to be purchased before you go over,
> otherwise you may find yourself with major Mexican legal problems or a
> huge repair bill that your insurance company won't touch.
Same with mexicans coming into the USA, I doubt they'd want to carry
insurance for the USA when they don't come here that much, so i'm sure
they'd have to buy American insurance before crossing over into
America.
>
> -colin
Mike Tantillo
Actually, the only European cars i've seen in the USA have all been
near C-ville as well....I've seen german registered cars, as well as a
GB, and a Dominican Republic registered car. I've also seen Hawaii
plates on the mainland (Chicago area). I'm surprised its actually
cheaper to ship cars over from that far away then to just buy one on
the mainland...but hey, whatever floats your boat (no pun intended).
SP Cook
>
Anyway, I've
> also seen an Arabic plated car (couldn't tell which country - it was all in
> Arabic). It had no US plates and I saw it in DC so it may have been a
> diplomat.
Dipolomats don't use home country plates, they (and their staffs) are
issued red, white, and blue US style plates that read "Issued by the
United States Department of State" and then their status "Diplomat" or
"Consul" or whatever. Each has a two letter code for the country.
The letters do not make sense (France isn't FR or something like that)
lest a country be targeted. But lists of the codes are widely
avaliable. During the cold war, the USSR was FC, for Fucking
Communists.
The pattern is LL ##### for DC embasies and counsulates around the
country, and ##### LL for missions to the UN and the UN's staff
itself.
Diplomats to Canada are issued plates by the prov. they are stationed
in which read "Diplomatic Staff" where the prov. motto should be. I
assume the Quebecers translate that to French.
SP Cook
SP Cook
> Speaking of Mexican models, check what Chevy offer in Mexico with models
> like the Astra and the Corsa who are based on European Opels
> http://www.chevrolet.com.mx Ford with the Ka, Fiesta, Nissan offer the
> Platina (a rebadged Renault Clio sedan), Dodge the Atoz (a rebadged Hyundai
> Atoz) and Hyundai the Centennial (known in South Korea as the Dynasty it was
> derivated from the late Mitsubishi Debonnair and built under licence also
> offered in others countries of Latin America like Chile
> http://www.hmotores.cl/automotriz/index.htm and the Galloper was a former
> Mitsubishi Montero/Pajero aka 1987-90 Dodge Raider)
>
IIRC, the rule in Mexico until about 1995 was that only companies that
made cars in Mexico could sell in Mexico. Imports were OK, but the
company had to also make cars there.
This was, again IIRC, VW, the US "Big 3", Nissan/Renault, and a couple
more. This still influnces, because these companies have the dealer
infastructure. Honda and Toyota are still quite rare.
Weird Mexican cars, IMHO, are, of course, brand new (quit making them
in 01) VW Bugs, and all of the smaller than US small cars. The
smallest Chevys are logoed as "CHEVY", not "CHEVROLET" which is never
done in the US.
The weird thing has to do with Chevy trucks. We all know that GMCs
are just "rebadged" Chevys. But not really, the GMC have their own
front grile. Well, in Mexico they don't have GMCs, but you can get a
Chevy with the regular grile or with the GMC grile and a LARGE Chevy
bowtie covering where the GMC red letters should be. Never knew why.
SP Cook
James Robinson
>
> Diplomats to Canada are issued plates by the prov. they are stationed
> in which read "Diplomatic Staff" where the prov. motto should be. I
> assume the Quebecers translate that to French.
Ontario simply has a different color plate - white letters on a red
background - with the registration starting with a "C". They issue them
for one year, so the provincial motto is replaced by the year, and there
is no sticker.
As I recall, the only difference in Quebec from a regular plate is the
prefix. The color is the same, and the motto is unchanged.
Larry Scholnick
FRONT but are on the BACK of the car.
Then someone explained to me that FRONT was short for the Spanish word for
FRONTIER. The license plates in question are for the border area (frontier)
of Baja California.
Michael Moroney
>I've only seen one Mexican plated car in my entire life. I think it was from
>Nuevo Leon and it was seen in New Hope, PA. I don't know why Mexican plated
>cars are so rare up here (PA). I know its a little far but Mexico is not much
>further than TX or CA and I always see cars from these places.
I've seen Baja California Norte plates when I was in San Diego. Bright
yellow, with red letters if I recall correctly.
> Anyway, I've
>also seen an Arabic plated car (couldn't tell which country - it was all in
>Arabic).
I've seen lots of them as well (but in Cairo). :-)
> It had no US plates and I saw it in DC so it may have been a
>diplomat. Another non-US plated vehicle I've seen was a German plated tour bus
>in Philadelphia. It had no US plates at all and was carrying German tourists.
>I've also seen various other European-plated cars but these cars had a US plate
>as well (tons of German plated cars but also Portugal, Great Britain, even
>Romania).
Weirdest US plate I've seen in the US was Canal Zone. (this was a while
ago, of course). Another weird one (actually a few) were some Indian
Nation plates in Wisconsin. No mention of Wisconsin on the plates (it may
not have even been Wisconsin, but I saw them in central Wisconsin)
--
-Mike
Mark Roberts
| I always thought it was strange that so many Mexican license plates said
| FRONT but are on the BACK of the car.
|
| Then someone explained to me that FRONT was short for the Spanish word for
| FRONTIER.
"frontera" which, strictly speaking, means "border". The adjective
is "fronterizo (fronteriza, etc.)".
--
Mark Roberts | "It's called accountability. It applies only to third-grade
Oakland, Cal.| teachers." -- Harry Shearer, on the Bush Administration's
NO HTML MAIL | tardy response to the Iraqi prisoner torture scandal
arga...@my-deja.com
> I always thought it was strange that so many Mexican license plates said
> FRONT but are on the BACK of the car.
Those are frontier plates. Until about five years ago, Mexican plates
had solid colors only, and frontier plates were generally red on
yellow while ordinary plates were green on white. Now most Mexican
states have bespoke license plate designs, just like North American
states and provinces, although the frontier plates still have an
overall yellow background color.
For instance, Chihuahua's license plate shows Tarahumaran 'raramurí'
(long-distance runners) against a white background on the ordinary
plates and against a yellow background on the frontier plates. (I do
not know if the new plates result from relaxation of a federal
government regulation governing license plate design. I do know that
the new plates are reflectorized, which I suspect was not the case
with the older ones.)
> Then someone explained to me that FRONT was short for the Spanish word for
> FRONTIER. The license plates in question are for the border area (frontier)
> of Baja California.
The explanation you heard is close to the truth--"FRONT" is actually
an abbreviation for 'fronterizo' (= [adj.] at the border); 'frontier'
itself is 'frontera' in Spanish. With the new license plate designs,
'fronterizo' and the state name are no longer necessarily abbreviated;
on Chihuahua's newer frontier plates, for instance, it is "CHIHUAHUA"
on top and "FRONTERIZO" on bottom rather than "FRONT CHIH" on top.
John David Galt
> The only real worry about bringing an American car into Mexico is the
> insurance. Standard policy auto insurance NEVER covers Mexico, and a
> special temporary policy has to be purchased before you go over,
> otherwise you may find yourself with major Mexican legal problems or a
> huge repair bill that your insurance company won't touch.
There are several worries about bringing a US car into Mexico. Yes, you
need Mexican insurance (or if you hit anything, you go straight to JAIL
until the trial comes around). But you can also expect anything nice on
the outside of your car to be missing when you come back, and the police
will not care. (In a country that poor, theft is not something you can
prevent.)
Mexican roads are also often in very poor condition, though the tollways
may be an exception. And finally, driving through Mexico is so unusual
for Americans that on returning, your car may be torn apart looking for
drugs or smuggled people or I don't know what else.
So my feeling is, if you have a car you like, don't drive it into Mexico.
Either walk across if you just want to see the border city, or get a
rental car (yes, there are rentals you can drive into Mexico, if you look
for them).
Mike Tantillo
Frontera = Border in spanish. Frontera Internacional = International
Border.
Now this question begs to be asked: What special
privilidges/restrictions do "front BC" license plates have relative to
regular "BC Mex" license plates? Do "front" license plates need
special permits to travel to the interior or vice versa?
Mateo
> As I recall, the only difference in Quebec from a regular plate is the
> prefix. The color is the same, and the motto is unchanged.
>
Quebec plates look the same, but the prefix is either CC (corps
consular) or CD (corps diplomatique) in the form CD ####
SP Cook
> Weirdest US plate I've seen in the US was Canal Zone. (this was a while
> ago, of course).
My uncle worked for the Canal Zone for 30 years. Standard US sized
plates that just read "Canal Zone" and sometimes a motto, which IIRC,
was "funnel for world commerce" or "the land divided, the world
united". Back then you got a new plate every year, and so I have
several dozen of the things stored away somewhere.
IIRC, you could have two statuses in the Zone. Either you worked for
the Canal Company (which operated the American Canal in Panama) or the
Canal Commission (which ran things governments usually do, like
police, fire, roads, schools, etc) in which case you got one color of
plate; or you were in or worked for the military, in which case you
got the reverse color. The military folk got their plates free, and
the others had to pay. Military folk could have their cars
transported from the US at gov't expense, regular folk could order
cars from the Commission to be delivered. So all were US standard
land yachts, because fuel was nearly free. Great contrast to the
micro cars and 20 year old pieces of crap found in Panama. And you
had to sell your car used in the Zone, Panamanians had to pay a huge
import tax to transfer the car from US to Panama registration, and
they could not afford it, it was more than the car.
I guess one could drive a car from Panama to the US. But it would
have taken days and days and been very hard on the car, and would have
required five border crossings, each with its own petty dictators.
Another weird one (actually a few) were some Indian
> Nation plates in Wisconsin. No mention of Wisconsin on the plates (it may
> not have even been Wisconsin, but I saw them in central Wisconsin)
There are, I think, two types of Indian plates. Some states sell
state-issued Indian plates the same way they sell college alumni
plates. However some tribes assert their soverignty and just issue
their own plates. The actual law is that these would only be good on
Reservation land, but many states don't want the hassle of activists
on them and have told the cops to ignore it.
arga...@my-deja.com
> Now this question begs to be asked: What special
> privileges/restrictions do "front BC" license plates have relative to
> regular "BC Mex" license plates? Do "front" license plates need
> special permits to travel to the interior or vice versa?
This page explains the rationale for frontier plates about midway
through:
http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/mexico/baja/db1island.html
As I understand it, frontier license plates are a special concession
to Mexicans living within the border zone who have purchased their
cars in the U.S. and do not wish to pay to import them legally, which
would allow them to register the cars in an interior state or with
ordinary plates in a border state. To obtain frontier plates for a
car purchased in the U.S., Mexicans have to make a large deposit which
is forfeit if the car is sold within the interior or otherwise
illegally left in that part of Mexico.
This system is, therefore, analogous to the temporary vehicle
importation process which applies to foreign-registered vehicles
circulating within Mexico for touristic purposes, except that a car
can continue to be registered under frontier plates indefinitely as
long as 'tenencia' is paid. I would also imagine that frontier plate
registration is open only to Mexican citizens and foreigners who are
considered resident aliens under Mexican law (i.e., have a FMT-3).
arga...@my-deja.com
> Now this question begs to be asked: What special
> privileges/restrictions do "front BC" license plates have relative to
> regular "BC Mex" license plates? Do "front" license plates need
> special permits to travel to the interior or vice versa?
This page explains the rationale for frontier plates about midway
arga...@my-deja.com
require Mexico eventually to allow duty-free importation of cars from
the other N.A.F.T.A. countries--the current plan is to start allowing
this in 2009 for cars of certain ages and then gradually open up the
system until, by 2018, it will be possible to import used cars of any
age. This will undercut the rationales for the frontier license plate
and temporary vehicle import systems to a significant degree, although
it is possible they may survive in some residual form to handle
vehicles which are not "type approved" for the Mexican market
(although Canada has not felt the need to devise a similar system for
American cars).
Jeff W
> So today I was driving through Charlottesville on Emmet Street, and
> the car in front of my caught my attention with its strange looking
> license plate. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a Nuevo
> Leon, Mexico license plate! It had what appeared to be two "license
> plate like" number strips in the back window, but both of then had the
> same number as the license plate, and were issued by Nuevo Leon as
> well.
>
> So my question is this...what are the rules/regs for bringing a
> temporary import permit at the border, and either pay a $11 fee by
> credit card, or post a bond based on the value of the vehicle.
> Regardless, a special sticker of sorts is issued to show that the car
> is legal in Mexico. I saw no such special stickers on this particular
> car either on the front or back....I would have assumed that they
> would have had to get some kind of temporary import thing and/or car
> sticker from the first US state they entered. Because otherwise, they
> can get away with a lot here in the USA with mexican plates....they
> can avoid worrying about parking tickets, they can drive through
> ungated E-ZPass for free, they'll never have to worry about red light
> cameras, they can drive on Ontario's 407 ETR for free....etc. I mean
> i'm sure Virginia doesn't have info sharing agreements with every
> Mexican state.... Also whats to prevent them from selling the car
> here? This was actually a decent car (Pathfinder SUV).
I'm confused, I haven't really seen a complete answer except for one
post, unless I missed it.
I was wondering the same thing, not really mexico tags, as you can
read how to drive into Mexico with a rental car...But european cars.
I see european license plates on cars, the long ones and a shorter two
line ones made for american cars.
How does this work? And i'm talking about real euro-tags, not phoney
ones on the front of VW's. And in Florida.
Desert Dave
news:e48ae109.0405...@posting.google.com...
> So my question is this...what are the rules/regs for bringing a
> mexican car into the interior of the USA? I know to bring an American
> car into the interior of mexico, one must apply for a special
> temporary import permit at the border, and either pay a $11 fee by
> credit card, or post a bond based on the value of the vehicle.
> Regardless, a special sticker of sorts is issued to show that the car
> is legal in Mexico. I saw no such special stickers on this particular
> car either on the front or back....I would have assumed that they
> would have had to get some kind of temporary import thing and/or car
> sticker from the first US state they entered. Because otherwise, they
> can get away with a lot here in the USA with mexican plates....they
> can avoid worrying about parking tickets, they can drive through
> ungated E-ZPass for free, they'll never have to worry about red light
> cameras, they can drive on Ontario's 407 ETR for free....etc. I mean
> i'm sure Virginia doesn't have info sharing agreements with every
> Mexican state.... Also whats to prevent them from selling the car
> here? This was actually a decent car (Pathfinder SUV).
>
I would be surprised if there are any rules, based on the number of Mexican
tags in the Phx metro. I would guess that about 5% of cars on the streets
have Mexican tags, mostly concentrated in the barrios of South Phoenix and
Maryvale. Most plates here are from Sonora, which borders Arizona, and I'm
fairly sure that most owners of Mexican-tagged cars actually live here, but
register their cars in Mexico to avoid Maricopa and Pima County emissions
testing. Most Mexican-tagged cars here are the beat-up jalopeys -- nice
vehicles (usually SUV's) are actually from Mexico.
SP Cook
> I'm confused, I haven't really seen a complete answer except for one
> post, unless I missed it.
> I was wondering the same thing, not really mexico tags, as you can
> read how to drive into Mexico with a rental car...But european cars.
> I see european license plates on cars, the long ones and a shorter two
> line ones made for american cars.
> How does this work? And i'm talking about real euro-tags, not phoney
> ones on the front of VW's. And in Florida.
The rules are the same for any country, except for Canada, which has
an even more lax rule. Show up at a port of entry with a properly
registered car (from any country). Pass a cussory safety inspection
(not required to meet US safety or emissions build standards) and the
car is legal in the USA for 6 months, provided the owner/driver is on
a legitimate legal visit to the USA.
Obviously this presents one of two huge problems for residents of
countries other than Mexico. Called the Atlantic or the Pacific. The
transportation costs would be greater than the costs of renting a car,
or buying and reselling a used one.
However, here would be some situations where it might not be:
- The cars you are seeing are not from Europe, but from European
possessions in the Carribean.
- The cars are operated by foreign military. Most US units,
especially in the USAF, have a few NATO allies on attachment. These
people would be eligiable to have their cars transported by their
governments at no expense, and to operate them under SOF for their
entire tours.
- The cars are euro-spec cars delivered on an American delivery
program. M-B used to be famous for the reverse of this. You take a
Euro vacation and pick up a US-spec car and drive it around Europe.
When you returned, M-B would ship the thing back to the US for
re-delivery at your dealer.
- The cars are recent businessman immigrants. They would have 6
months to normalize their plates with Florida DMV.
- The cars are retirees. Lots of British retirees in Florida. They
bring their cars over and would have 6 months to get honest with the
Florida DMV. And, just like a retiree from New Jersey, would have the
obvious tempetation to ignore that until they got caught.
SP Cook
SP Cook
> > - The cars you are seeing are not from Europe, but from European
> > possessions in the Carribean.
>
> DO they have Euro-style plates too..like the same as their home
> country?
>
French places do. Yellow with black letters, complete with the little
Euro symbol and the "F". British and ex-British places vary between
Euro style and North American style, the places that are further from
the US tend to have Euro style. Dutch places have North American
style.
> >
> > - The cars are operated by foreign military. Most US units,
> > especially in the USAF, have a few NATO allies on attachment. These
> > people would be eligiable to have their cars transported by their
> > governments at no expense, and to operate them under SOF for their
> > entire tours.
>
> whats "SOF"?
>
Status of Forces. Its a treaty between the host country and the home
country that defines what the civil status of visiting soldiers is.
Things like car registry, taxes, spouses' working, what can be sold
tax free in the PX, and all of that.
>
> Heh, i've waited 2 years to register my car in VA :) But hey, as long
> as UVA considers me out of state, I might as well keep it registered
> in NY....
>
College students can do that. If you are a full-time college student,
you can keep your car registered "back home". Even if you are an
independent adult living 12 months per year in the college town and
have no intention of returning "home", even if you work.
In fact, in my state of WV, we have VERY high insurance rates and VERY
high car taxes. Ohio, just across the river, is much better. Our
largest school, Marshall University, is right on the border. Lots of
students who really are from West Virginia "move" to the small town on
the other side of the river and then claim (for car purposes) to be
"out of state" students, while maintaining that they are "in state"
students with the school itself. Impossible to enforce against them.
SP Cook
Mike Tantillo
> mjtan...@yahoo.com (Mike Tantillo) wrote in message
>
> > > - The cars you are seeing are not from Europe, but from European
> > > possessions in the Carribean.
> >
> > DO they have Euro-style plates too..like the same as their home
> > country?
> >
>
> French places do. Yellow with black letters, complete with the little
> Euro symbol and the "F". British and ex-British places vary between
> Euro style and North American style, the places that are further from
> the US tend to have Euro style. Dutch places have North American
> style.
Heh, so does St. Pierre et. Miquellon have those plates too?
> > >
> > > - The cars are operated by foreign military. Most US units,
> > > especially in the USAF, have a few NATO allies on attachment. These
> > > people would be eligiable to have their cars transported by their
> > > governments at no expense, and to operate them under SOF for their
> > > entire tours.
> >
> > whats "SOF"?
> >
> Status of Forces. Its a treaty between the host country and the home
> country that defines what the civil status of visiting soldiers is.
> Things like car registry, taxes, spouses' working, what can be sold
> tax free in the PX, and all of that.
ah, OK :)
>
> >
> > Heh, i've waited 2 years to register my car in VA :) But hey, as long
> > as UVA considers me out of state, I might as well keep it registered
> > in NY....
> >
> College students can do that. If you are a full-time college student,
> you can keep your car registered "back home". Even if you are an
> independent adult living 12 months per year in the college town and
> have no intention of returning "home", even if you work.
I live in C-ville year round, for now anyways. Although a student, I
do get paid financial aid, so its kind of a grey area as far as where
my car should be registered. I keep it registered in NY for two
reasons: 1) my vanity plates, and 2) out of state tickets in NY
(except ones from Ontario and Quebec) do not count against you
insurance-wise or points wise. I've been pulled over in VA and asked
where I was heading...and when I said home, the cop asked me if I was
driving back to NY. I said no, i'm a UVA student, so I live here too.
He seemed fine with it.
>
> In fact, in my state of WV, we have VERY high insurance rates and VERY
> high car taxes. Ohio, just across the river, is much better. Our
> largest school, Marshall University, is right on the border. Lots of
> students who really are from West Virginia "move" to the small town on
> the other side of the river and then claim (for car purposes) to be
> "out of state" students, while maintaining that they are "in state"
> students with the school itself. Impossible to enforce against them.
tax laws in general are hard to enforce...especially ones that involve
moving things between states (like alcohol, collecting use taxes,
etc).
>
> SP Cook
John F. Carr
SP Cook <pac...@msn.com> wrote:
>The rules are the same for any country, except for Canada, which has
>an even more lax rule. Show up at a port of entry with a properly
>registered car (from any country). Pass a cussory safety inspection
>(not required to meet US safety or emissions build standards) and the
>car is legal in the USA for 6 months, provided the owner/driver is on
>a legitimate legal visit to the USA.
>
>Obviously this presents one of two huge problems for residents of
>countries other than Mexico. Called the Atlantic or the Pacific. The
>transportation costs would be greater than the costs of renting a car,
>or buying and reselling a used one.
Without a social security number, local address, and local license,
buying, registering, and insuring a car could be difficult.
And the U.S. models tend to have restrictive speed governors.
--
John Carr (j...@mit.edu)