BajaNomad

Driving a Car to Baja and selling it

hoda022290 - 8-29-2014 at 01:34 AM

Nomads,

As the title says I'm thinking of driving a car to Baja and staying for a week or two and selling it. I have seen a lot of mixed information about what you can and can't do and I'm still a little confused. As long as I stay in Baja whats required of me to legally drive around? If I sell the car in baja do I have to go through the process of "importing" it or does that only apply to cars that will be driven in the mainland? What do I give the buyer in Baja? Do I have any legal responsibility for the car after I hand it over? Is it tied to my passport in anyway? Do I have to pay a bond that I won't get refunded or is that only for mainland entry? Also, I am a dealer in California so the car I wan't to take down isn't registered and I can easily transfer it to my name and register it but will I need to wait until the "pink slip" or title comes in the mail from the dmv or can I just sell it with the current registration? Depending on the answer to these questions is any interested in a 2001 BMW 325ci :P!?

gnukid - 8-29-2014 at 03:01 AM

you can do what you want, you can sell a us plated vehicle to a us licensed driver in mx using the back of the title per usual. its not really possible for a non-licensed driver to complete paperwork with us dmv. but you can declare it abandoned or sold and turn in the back of the title in the usa, and the car never has to complete the step of being officially sold with a dmv. the mexican would then have to drive it as a onapafa paper plate or complete importation. but the letter of of the law says you are not supposed to sell to a mexican non US license driver without importing it first though no one has ever been held responsible for this as far as I know. Basically yo must do something to close out the paperwork since a mexican may not not. and if they do not then you are still the official owner and are liable for it until you make an official dmv declaration. just don't sell it and then say it was stolen. Selling a "chocolate" in baja is very common situation, but vague.

jimgrms - 8-29-2014 at 06:29 AM

hoda 02
what is the name of your dealership,?now that i see how honest and straight forward you are as a dealer i want to stay far away.

David K - 8-29-2014 at 08:09 AM

Hmmm... and I always heard a TOURIST (FMM) cannot make money in Mexico... or even do unpaid work. That requires a work visa. A tourist is someone on a vacation and not going to Mexico to sell things (and thus take away income opportunities from Mexicans).

dasubergeek - 8-29-2014 at 10:07 AM

You're going to have a swell time once you realize that the value of an unimported car is about 40% of an imported car, and that your car is 13 model years old and cannot be legally imported. For nationalized cars (blue plates in BCN), cars must be 8 or 9 model years old. For fronterizo cars (orange plates in BCN), cars must be 5-10 model years old but can't be driven past Empalme without being temporarily imported with a bond.

As gnukid said, you might be able to find someone who's willing to drive around with ONAPAFA or ANAPROMEX paper plates, but again, the value of your car is way less.

Why not sell it up in the States?

[Edited on 8-29-2014 by dasubergeek]

[Edited on 8-29-2014 by dasubergeek]

desertcpl - 8-29-2014 at 10:25 AM

I am a retired dealer of many years

this smells a little fishy to me

he should know the ropes on this

he could get in big trouble selling a vehicle like he is thinking

I think the OP has a reason he wants to lose it in Baja

vandy - 8-29-2014 at 10:30 AM

If your state requires it, get your title and bill of sale signed and NOTARIZED in the US.
If you have to sell it quickly, you will take a beating.
No car papers needed for Baja Mexico except your license and registration.

pacsur - 8-29-2014 at 10:48 AM

Save your gas money driving down.
Besides what everybody else says, I saw your ad for the BMW this am on Craigslist, you won't find anybody down here to buy that gem, old, high miles, and a beemer for $80,000? Best of luck...

[Edited on 8-29-2014 by pacsur]

AndyP - 8-29-2014 at 10:57 AM

I've always been curious about this too... I drove down last spring in my 92 toyota pickup, and the locals were constantly asking me if I'd consider selling the car. So if I drove down an old beater sometime and planned on selling it- say in La Paz- and flying home, what would I do? Just take cash and hand over the keys, no paperwork in Mexico and then list it as abandoned at the DMV back home?

Could I or the buyer reasonably expect to run into trouble somehow?

DENNIS - 8-29-2014 at 11:32 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by dasubergeek

Why not sell it up in the States?



Why not try to sell it here on BajaNomad? You could even throw in delivery.
If you try to sell it to a National down here, you had best know, and be on good terms with him. He could drop a peso on you for doing something that they have an active interest in.



.





[Edited on 8-29-2014 by DENNIS]

mojo_norte - 8-29-2014 at 11:34 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by AndyP
I've always been curious about this too... I drove down last spring in my 92 toyota pickup, and the locals were constantly asking me if I'd consider selling the car. So if I drove down an old beater sometime and planned on selling it- say in La Paz- and flying home, what would I do? Just take cash and hand over the keys, no paperwork in Mexico and then list it as abandoned at the DMV back home?

Could I or the buyer reasonably expect to run into trouble somehow?


if I may ask - what were they offering you for your 92 PU ? I have an 86 4wd and the Mexicans up here in CO are often asking if I want to 'sale' it - but they don't want to pay much

dtbushpilot - 8-29-2014 at 12:29 PM

Well, looks like you all scared hoda away....got to have a thick skin around here....:yes::yes:

hoda022290 - 8-29-2014 at 12:48 PM

First of all since every one clearly hates dealers,
I'm a Mechanical Engineer and I'm about to start my Masters Degree at UC Davis in a few weeks and I just happen to have a wholesale licence and deal cars on the side. Me selling the car has nothing to do with me trying to dump it, it has to do with me trying to cut my driving time in half. Yes the car has a lot of miles. Yes the price I put up is expensive. If people in Baja are enjoy negotiating half as much as people in California thats the reason for that. No I can't get into bit trouble because I'm a wholesaler and have to sell cars to a dealer anyways and can't sell to the public so selling a car to myself is as simple as going to a friends lot and transferring paperwork. Every other car I have is in the 13-22k$ range which is why I've decided it's much lower risk for this car if I took it down. Is any one interested in buying it from bajanomad. No you didn't scare me away. I lived and traveled across southeast asia for a year and they are batsh** insane.

Wally - 8-29-2014 at 01:52 PM

I've got a friend that's done this several times. He'll buy a mini van at wholesale, fill it up with household items or stuff for friends, drive it down and sell it. The fastest he's every sold one was about a month. They are US plated. He won't sell them to Mexicans because they can't legally buy. There is a fairly good market for US and Canadian registered cars here if they seat 5 more more people.

The Blue Book on that car (I own one) is around $3500 in excellent condition. Tack another $250 - $1000 on it because it's "here" (determined by where "here" is) and you might get the Blue Book value. Maybe. But you can expect it to take at least 2 - 3 months to sell that car (more likely not until around the holidays when the snow-birds start showing up).

The market for a US plated BMW is very small here for a couple of reasons: 1) you can NOT get parts, everything has to come from the States (trying to find an oil filter is nearly impossible) and 2) they are just about the stupidest car you can have in the Baja. They aren't designed to travel on these roads. (case in point, 2002 bmw 325i, 58,000 miles: replaced since moving here: struts... rim...2 complete control arm assy...bushings...ball joints and strut mounts...all on both sides.

SlyOnce - 8-29-2014 at 02:00 PM

I think what would sell very well in TJ is:

an old pickup, Ford Chevy or Dodge.
a old Ford Explorer or similar SUV

Something you'd sell around $US 1000 or so.

"Chocolates" are US plated cars sold in MX, they are NOT imported. Legal to sell and possess, they are illegal to drive, the MX owner can have the car impounded unless he has a US green card and US drivers license. HOWEVER about 1/2 of TJ drives a "chocolate".

If imported, as they would say "nationalized", the car would sell for at least $US 1000 more. Its already been pointed out that there are certain model years only that can be imported, and these are most likely not in the $1000 US range. Thus the flood of "chocolates".

hoda022290 - 8-29-2014 at 02:16 PM

Thanks guys,

I appreciate the insight guys. If this is the case I would probably either drive it down and back and plan different stops on the way up and down or wait until something that would be popular comes across my hands and I have some extra time to spare.

Martyman - 8-29-2014 at 02:27 PM

Hey Hoda;
Looks like you got some good advice from a few of us. Just ignore the goody two shoes types who tell you how illegal it is. This place has run amuck with the "holier than thou" type and you have to ignore them.

dtbushpilot - 8-29-2014 at 02:35 PM

Glad you stuck around hoda, post a trip report when you get back so that someone can tell you everything you did wrong....just kidding, most Nomads are OK :tumble:

DENNIS - 8-29-2014 at 02:36 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SlyOnce
I think what would sell very well in TJ is:



4cyl....small pickup...2-wheel drive. If I had a million of them I could sell a million of them.

desertcpl - 8-29-2014 at 03:25 PM

and your asking $80K for it HOLLY MOLLIE

Kelly has it about 7500.

hoda022290 - 8-29-2014 at 03:33 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by desertcpl
and your asking $80K for it HOLLY MOLLIE

Kelly has it about 7500.


What do you mean Kelly has it about 7500? Are you talking about USD... Because that's way to expensive for the car I would be fairly content with getting 4500 out of it.

micah202 - 8-29-2014 at 03:39 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by DENNIS
Quote:
Originally posted by SlyOnce
I think what would sell very well in TJ is:



4cyl....small pickup...2-wheel drive. If I had a million of them I could sell a million of them.



...astro van....10,000 mexi cab drivers can't be wrong :biggrin:

tjsue - 8-30-2014 at 09:43 AM

My 94' Astrovan was hit by a stolen car in June. My insurance company totaled it out, (even though it ran perfectly) and gave me enough money to buy another one which I did. I gave the damaged one to my mechanic, which wiped out what I owed him, but I probably could have sold it in TJ for quite a bit, though.



[Edited on 8-30-2014 by tjsue]

shari - 8-30-2014 at 10:12 AM

lots of mexicanos in rural areas buy US plated vehicles...we traded a lot for one! No problema. Asking if a truck is for sale is a very common thing but rarely do they have the money to buy it. But one can easily sell anything toyota, pick ups and economic small cars. I need a small stationy wagony type ride if anyone has any lying around!!! cash or land?

micah202 - 8-30-2014 at 10:30 AM

.
...how much land would a nice little toyota van get?...enough to park one on?:?:

Alm - 8-31-2014 at 12:22 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SlyOnce
"Chocolates" are US plated cars sold in MX, they are NOT imported. Legal to sell and possess, they are illegal to drive, the MX owner can have the car impounded unless he has a US green card and US drivers license.

Not legal to sell for tourist. Tourist is not supposed to leave anything behind. Though many Nomads with tourist cards keep their homes there, full of "stuff" - also something that tourist is not supposed to do, though the consensus of the forum on this subject is kinda "modo Mexicano" - anything is legal if you can get away with it :)

Not necessary for Mex buyer to have a green card and US DL - as others mentioned there are Onappafa plates.

But, because Onappafa is only for 5 years, the price is lower than if it were imported. Besides - Shari is right - Mexicans rarely have cash to buy anything over a few thousand.

Gringo market, i.e. Americans selling to Americans, is narrow, and usually same applies - higher price than in the US if it's "nationalized", i.e. imported, and lower if it's not. Americans selling to Canadians - somebody mentioned this - is not a sure bet either, because Canadian would have to go through hassle of importing it to Canada if he wants to be able to ever bring it to Canada, duh. There are of course Canadian drivers with US plated cars that never leave Baja, so they might buy - gray area as to the legality of such registrations, I won't go there now.

The OP mentioned that it's not even registered. You can't drive across the border anything that is not registered. At the very least you have to have a temporary sticker. No "bond" is necessary in Baja, but you need to have a US registration to your name. Or, in some instances - to your company name.

[Edited on 8-31-2014 by Alm]

apple - 9-14-2014 at 08:56 AM

i can think of easier way to get rid of a money pit like that

gnukid is SOO wrong!!

captkw - 9-14-2014 at 09:06 AM

being licensed or not or mex or usa license has not a damn thing to do with selling a car......GET A GRIP !!! go brush your teeth with some fluoride dummy dust..

dasubergeek - 9-14-2014 at 09:07 AM

Fastest way to get rid of a money pit car:

1. Drive south on the toll road from Tijuana.
2. Bail out just before Salsipuedes.

:biggrin: