Buying a House In Mexico—Buying a Car In Mexico

The safest route is to buy a car from a quality car dealer with a license to sell cars.

When buying a used vehicle in Mexico there are some obstacles. This is not to discourage you, but to inform you based on first-hand experience.

There is no CarFax or similar web sites available to the public (only to auto dealers at considerable expense) to check a vehicle's history — What is the actual distance the vehicle was driven? Car sellers including dealers are known to lower the odometer reading. Was it stolen? Was it in an accident and possibly totaled and restored? Was it used as a taxi or in some other commercial application? Is the emissions test current? Are the annual fees current? And how many of the miles / km driven were on cobblestone? Was the vehicle properly maintained? Were oil changes and filters changed on schedule? Is the vehicle under warranty?

Can you register your vehicle in your state in Mexico as a tourist if you are not a Temporary or Permanent Resident? — In some states such as Guanajuato, Nayarit, Jalisco and most others, one needs a CURP number to register a vehicle and that is only available once one becomes a Temporary or Permanent Resident. In all states you need to have a Mexican state driver's license when you own a Mexican state registered vehicle.

Also, in some cases, one buys a vehicle and then discovers it cannot be registered, e.g. the documents are not complete or not available; the documents have an error such as VIN not matching car's VIN; the vehicle has foreign registration; the car implied as being nationalized was done fraudulently and it was never legally nationalized and subject to confiscation, etc. In buying a used vehicle your payment should be conditional on the buyer being able to register their vehicle within 10 days.

Does the VIN on the factura (original bill of sale) match the VIN on the vehicle? — If not, this creates a huge problem and is not entirely uncommon. For one client the error existed for 18 years with 1 typo and finally caught but the effort to correct it was frustrating and it was never resolved. Did you check on REPUVE, the national database of 30 million plus vehicles that this car is registered there?

Note, the original factura from when a motorized vehicle was purchased new must remain with the car for its' life and signed off on the back by every subsequent seller. Factura for motorized vehicles is essentially a bill of sale and it must follow the Mexican registered vehicle. In many cases a factura is impossible to replace and without it the vehicle cannot be registered. For vehicles that have been nationalized, the same rule applies in keeping the original pedimento from Aduana.

Is the car registered in another state? — If so, the plates and tarjeta de circulacion should be returned to that state and the Baja de Vehiculo issued before you can register locally. And, to do so, the emission's test must be current and all past annual fees paid.

If the license plates are not returned one may be able turn in the plates from another state locally, but each state has its' own requirements; however, your vehicle will continue to be registered in the state from where it was registered, and the annual fee (refrendo) and emissions fines will keep accruing. Some states such as Mexico and Guanajuato also have an additional annual tax called "tenencia" that keeps accruing. I have seen in some instances the total fees owing were as high as 20,000 pesos.

When a vehicle is registered in another state from where it was registered when you bought it, you must have your vehicle physically inspected and a stolen report issued before the local office called Rentas will register your newly bought vehicle and your state issues license plates. There will be fees and a tax to complete in this process.

It is prudent to only buy from quality car dealers with a license to sell cars.

In summary, please do your homework when considering a used car purchase in Mexico.​