BajaNomad - Entering Mexico from mainland and leaving car in La Paz

Entering Mexico from mainland and leaving car in La Paz

Bernardo - 10-12-2008 at 08:14 AM

I know this has been discussed before but I can't find the old thread. I am planning on driving from Arizona down the mainland and take the ferry over to La Paz. I plan on leaving my car in La Paz for a long time (more than a year). How do I negotiate the regulations required on the mainland and then leave my care in La Paz? What do I have to do to negate anything done in Nogales? Do they still require running a CC through their system and then charge you after a while?

Thanks

Bernardo

Pescador - 10-12-2008 at 04:44 PM

You should clear out when you board the ferry at Topolobampo. They should peel the sticker and release you when you board the ferry and head to La Paz.

rhintransit - 10-12-2008 at 04:57 PM

I've tried to figure out how to do this in the past, without success, so am hoping someone has a definitive answer. I have been told that the vehicle must actually leave Mexico to release the import and that going into a 'free zone' does not count. Pescador...have you actually done this, or known someone who has?
if you take the Guaymas/Santa Rosalia ferry I think it would be possible, as the free trade/no import zone is now south of Guaymas.

Bernardo - 10-13-2008 at 08:02 AM

Pescador

Do you just drive on the ferry and they will remove the sticker there or do you have to go through some check point before you get on the ferry?

Thanks for the info.

David K - 10-13-2008 at 08:15 AM

*For others reading this thread, if you are a 'tourist' (in Mexico with an FM-T/ Tourist Card) you cannot legally leave personal property behind in Mexico when you leave the country.

CaboRon - 10-13-2008 at 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K
*For others reading this thread, if you are a 'tourist' (in Mexico with an FM-T/ Tourist Card) you cannot legally leave personal property behind in Mexico when you leave the country.

DK speaks the truth on this matter...

CAboRon

robrt8 - 10-13-2008 at 09:08 AM

David, I've been meaning to ask..
How do you know this? I've never heard of this except here.

vandenberg - 10-13-2008 at 10:38 AM

If the sticker you're inquiring about is the temporary import permit you require to have for a US plated car in the Mexican interior, even coming from the free zone, like Baja, I offer the following experience.
When we traveled to the mainland from La Paz, we got the sticker at the ferry terminal, put it on the car ourselves and on return, turned it in 2 months later at the terminal at Santa Rosalia. They removed the sticker and verified that it was the vehicle it was issued for. After that, I presume , that the same regulations apply as for any vehicle brought in through the San Isidro or Tecate crossing. :?:

David K - 10-13-2008 at 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by robrt8
David, I've been meaning to ask..
How do you know this? I've never heard of this except here.

I have an estimate to get to soon, but you can Google it... Here is part of what I just looked up under FM-T about leaving a car in Mexico after you leave:

>>> However, please remember, if your car is found in Mexico beyond the authorized time limit, or without the appropiate documents, it will be immediately confiscated. <<<

Once again a "tourist" (FM-T) is a person on a vacation for a limited time.

If you buy/ rent property in Mexico or leave property behind when you go home (like a trailer, car, ATV, etc.) then you are no longer a 'tourist'... more correctly would be a 'part-time' resident... returning to the same location over and over each holiday or part of the year. See FM-3.

Hook - 10-13-2008 at 11:17 AM

I beg to differ with David when it comes to a boat. You can get a TIP good for 10 years and leave the boat behind with an FMT. We got ours about a month ago DIRECT FROM THE BANJERCITO office in Guaymas. They made a copy of our FMT and included it as part of our application.

Last time I checked, boats were personal property.

robrt8 - 10-13-2008 at 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K

Quote:

Originally posted by robrt8
David, I've been meaning to ask..
How do you know this? I've never heard of this except here.

Thanks, David
I did google it, and there's a lot of mistaken and obsolete info out there, as always. What I'd like to see is either a firsthand experience or a quote from the law or an aduana web page---or anything else legit.
Again, I've never seen this anywhere but here.

David K - 10-13-2008 at 03:53 PM

Thanks Hook, as boats 'live on water' that may give them special status...

However, the basic truth is when you are done with a vacation you go home with your property. If you leave a boat somewhere other than floating at a dock, are you not at risk for the rules of abandoning property? Just where would the boat be stored... surely not on your own leased lot, since you have no legal rights with an FM-T if you are leasing property (land).

robrt8, I beg you to please go to the Mexican government on this question and not these Internet sources (unless it is a government site). I am only responding to what has been so repeatedly stated on the Internet and in person by people I know.

robrt8 - 10-13-2008 at 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K
Thanks Hook, as boats 'live on water' that may give them special status...

However, the basic truth is when you are done with a vacation you go home with your property. If you leave a boat somewhere other than floating at a dock, are you not at risk for the rules of abandoning property? Just where would the boat be stored... surely not on your own leased lot, since you have no legal rights with an FM-T if you are leasing property (land).

robrt8, I beg you to please go to the Mexican government on this question and not these Internet sources (unless it is a government site). I am only responding to what has been so repeatedly stated on the Internet and in person by people I know.

You told me to google it!
I don't trust internet sites. What info do you have from people you know that supports this?
Calderon gave a speech in May of last year regarding his intent concerning the fmt. I know it takes a while for the word to get around.
You mentioned the rules about leaving a car. The rules regarding the temporary importation of a car are stated on the permit.
thanks

Jack Swords - 10-14-2008 at 07:00 AM

We leave our boat in the marina in La Paz. We have a 10 year importation permit and only use FMTs as we are there 6 months or less each year. Over half the boats that do not leave during hurricane season are stored "on the hard" in boatyards or on marina grounds. When we were damaged by hurricane Marty, we were out of the water for repairs for 6 months. We have also left our car in San Carlos at the boat storage yard for 6 months. Custodian agreements used to be the way to do this, but times are changing. Then again, interpretations depend on who you talk to. I would contact one of the marinas for yet another interpretation and make a somewhat informed decision.

David K - 10-14-2008 at 10:00 AM

robrt8... I meant to Google for the official Mexican government text on the matter... If there is a Mexican Consulate or Embassy near you, then even better... But get something in writing from them, as government officials in Mexico all seem to have their own interpretation of laws, as all Nomads know!

Jack, I suspect like in Hook's case, boats are a different story than real estate... Your 6 months are spent floating on the sea... and exploring historic sites! :bounce:

(by-the-way, I am adding your photo of Purisima Vieja to the missions web site)

robrt8 - 10-14-2008 at 10:24 AM

I can't find anything.
Thanks for bearing with me.
I can say I know of many who own homes in the interior of Mexico with all their stuff sitting there. They're "vacation homes".
I have a house, a fridge, microwave, two ferrel cats, towels...everything one would expect to have in a vacation house.
Cheers

Pescador - 10-14-2008 at 11:57 AM

Ok, it has been several years but what we did was to have the Aduana at Topo clear the car. He pulled the sticker off of the windshield and gave me a clearance when I left from La Paz. The ferry company has nothing to do with this, nor the military, but the Aduana was the key.

vandenberg - 10-14-2008 at 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pescador
Ok, it has been several years but what we did was to have the Aduana at Topo clear the car. He pulled the sticker off of the windshield and gave me a clearance when I left from La Paz. The ferry company has nothing to do with this, nor the military, but the Aduana was the key.

Well Pescador,
not to contradict your experience, but when we left Topo, there was nothing there to indicate that you could clear the vehicle there. And since we arrived in La Paz at 6 o'clock a.m., the terminal was closed and no one there to clear us. Two months later, on our way north, we cleared the car and had the sticker removed in Santa Rosalia. Must have been the Aduana office.( next to the fence that surrounds the terminal ?) They cleared us without any questions about the delay.

Pescador - 10-14-2008 at 06:51 PM

That would be the aduana office in Santa Rosalia, which is now closed, but that would mean you could do it at the Aduana office in La Paz if there was no one at Topo.

Bernardo - 10-15-2008 at 08:38 AM

Thanks for all the comments.

Here is a site that seems official: http://www.aduanas.sat.gob.mx/aduana_mexico/2007/A_Body_Vehi...

You need good Spanish or someone to translate.

Thanks again,

Bernardo