BajaNomad - mainland car import info

mainland car import info

rhintransit - 10-9-2010 at 06:01 PM

I'd like to try the ferry for my return trip to Baja this year. the Guaymas-Santa Rosalia ferry might work but is expensive and runs only a few days a week, and those are subject to weather conditions. someone suggested the Topolobampo ferry as it is cheaper and more frequent/reliable/bigger. but travel to this would require a mainland car import. the last time I imported a car to the mainland was over 10 years ago and at that time only six months was allowed and one had to take the vehicle out the same crossing as it entered. does anyone know if one can keep the car 'in country' longer if one has an FM2 or 3? and is the return same way you came rule still valid? thanks ps anyone want to join me in a caravan for this relatively soon...in a week or two?

DavidE - 10-9-2010 at 08:16 PM

The trick is WHERE to turn in the car permit. I've heard many recent complaints that Banjercito at Mazatlan, La Paz, and Sta Rosalia won't accept a surrendered permit and the ONLY place that will accept them is an out-of-the-way office several blocks west of the exit highway to San Ysidro.

Otay, Tecate, Mexicali, San Luis Rio Colorado, nada. You have to go eastward on Mex 2 to Sonoyta then ten miles further to the SHCP/SAT Banjercito module.

Get this down pay before you attempt it. I was furnished a really good map and lots of help on this forum by a bunch of really nice folks but unfortunately the memory of it resides on my computer some twenty five hundred miles to the southeast of my present location.

Might not a reversal of route possibly encourage a reversal of hassle?

karenintx - 10-10-2010 at 05:45 AM

The reasons you listed for wanting to use the Topo ferry were the same reasons we chose the Topo ferry. Since we were traveling from the mainland to the Baja I can only answer part of your question.

quote]Originally posted by rhintransit
does anyone know if one can keep the car 'in country' longer if one has an FM2 or 3? and is the return same way you came rule still valid?

We purchased our "car windshield sticker permit" at Nogales, MX. We had stopped to turn in our FMT papers (we had flown out the time before ) and have our FM-3 books stamped. This is what the uniformed agent to us...

"Your FM-3 expires in 48 days so the windshield sticker will show that expiration day. If you renew your FM-3 then the expiration day of your FM-3 will become the new expiration date on your windshield permit." He also suggested we keep current copies of your FM-3 in the car for proof.

We still have our windshield permit sticker as we are thinking of going to Copper Canyon and some other places on the mainland.

Are you planning to return to the mainland of Mexico sometimes in the future? If so you can keep the sticker then re-enter into Mexico with the same sticker as long as your FM-2/3 are current.

The way I understand the process is...as long as you are keeping you USA license plate you do not need to "important" your car...of course you have to have the "windshield permit"! We have a friend the lives and has a gargae door installing business just north of Mexico City. He still has Texas license plates on his Ford Dooley truck. He keeps a copy of his FM-2 in the glove compartment to show which also extends the "windshield permit". He has lived there for almost ten years.

Good Luck

[Edited on 10-10-2010 by karenintx]

vandenberg - 10-10-2010 at 07:53 AM

Karen,
so basically what you're telling us that, if you have an FM2/3 you can keep that sticker forever, as long as you keep them current ??
Since we are inmigrados, it would mean to have to only buy that sticker one time, and it will be good from then on and we can travel to the mainland whenever we like.
Sounds good, but somewhere a liitle birdie chirps to me that this seems unlikely. :no:

bajagrouper - 10-10-2010 at 08:35 AM

The import sticker is good for as long as the tourist permit you have is good for...so
FMM= 180 days
FM3= up to 5 years or as long as your FM3 is in effect...and with up dated computers you can turn in a sticker at any Banjercito module, just keep for your records the printed receipt...

bajalou - 10-10-2010 at 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by vandenberg
Karen,
so basically what you're telling us that, if you have an FM2/3 you can keep that sticker forever, as long as you keep them current ??
Since we are inmigrados, it would mean to have to only buy that sticker one time, and it will be good from then on and we can travel to the mainland whenever we like.
Sounds good, but somewhere a liitle birdie chirps to me that this seems unlikely. :no:

With Imigrado status you no longer are using the FM2. Imigrado status requires you to have Mex plated vehicle and drivers license. An exception is sometimes made for a car you already own. Of course in Baja Calif. there aren't any real checks on this.

I have turned in and had canceled a TIP that was issued in Sonora at the old downtown Mexicali crossing.

David K - 10-10-2010 at 09:52 AM

Isn't Guaymas in the Sonora 'border zone' now... or whatever they call it there where car permits are not needed? Giving Sonora (coastal anyway)the same status as Baja California as far as the car issue is concerned.

vandenberg - 10-10-2010 at 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajalou
With Imigrado status you no longer are using the FM2. Imigrado status requires you to have Mex plated vehicle and drivers license.

Well aware of this and did expect a comment.
My vehicle however doesn't qualify for import status and since it's a relative new vehicle, not much choice but to drive it.

karenintx - 10-10-2010 at 07:25 PM

Sorry, I can only repeat what we were told at the time of purchase of the windshield sticker.

As far as our friend that lives north of Mexico City...I never asked him why he chose to stay with the FM-2 and not go "immigrato". Maybe it does have something to do with being able to keep his Texas license plate but I really don't know.

Yes, David you are correct about the "free zone" for the State of Sonora, MX. We have friends bringing their 24 ft. boat to CSL next week via San Carlos...just so they don't have to get the windshield sticker.

[Edited on 10-11-2010 by karenintx]

stanburn - 10-11-2010 at 08:07 AM

Your vehicle permit being good as long as your status in the country is valid is what Article 106 states.

So as long as your FM3/2 is current, you vehicle temporary import sticker is valid.

vandenberg - 10-11-2010 at 10:12 AM

Here another, probably dumb, question. Say you have a valid FM2 and also an import sticker, live in BCS, but you have to make a run NOB for whatever reason. What to do with the sticker ? Just leave it on the vehicle, since you're returning in short order ? Or is this not allowed in this case ?

DavidE - 10-11-2010 at 10:22 AM

The REALITY

If you depart Mexico or are outside Mexico WITH THE CAR, and the permit is expired or has expired while you and the car are outside Mexico...

You will need to obtain a new car permit.

Yes, this is for FM-3 holders.

FM-2 holders are NOT elgible to a car permit.

As long as the car stays inside Mexico AND as long as the owner of the car has a valid FM-3, the car permit remains valid.

You can exit and return to Mexico as many times as you wish as long as the 180-days has not expired. Once the car permit expires, and you are coming or going to the banjercito checkpoint, the old permit must be surrendered and a new permit is mandatory.

Once again, the above applies to FM-3 holders.

And yes, this information is dead-on accurate.

vandenberg - 10-11-2010 at 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DavidE
The REALITY

If you depart Mexico or are outside Mexico WITH THE CAR, and the permit is expired or has expired while you and the car are outside Mexico...

You will need to obtain a new car permit.

Yes, this is for FM-3 holders.

FM-2 holders are NOT elgible to a car permit.

As long as the car stays inside Mexico AND as long as the owner of the car has a valid FM-3, the car permit remains valid.

You can exit and return to Mexico as many times as you wish as long as the 180-days has not expired. Once the car permit expires, and you are coming or going to the banjercito checkpoint, the old permit must be surrendered and a new permit is mandatory.

Once again, the above applies to FM-3 holders.

And yes, this information is dead-on accurate.

Love to know where you get your information. Several years ago with did an extensive trip in interior Mexico. We had FM2's then and there was no trouble at all getting the permit in La Paz.
Dead-on accurate heh? :lol:

rhintransit - 10-11-2010 at 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K
Isn't Guaymas in the Sonora 'border zone' now... or whatever they call it there where car permits are not needed? Giving Sonora (coastal anyway)the same status as Baja California as far as the car issue is concerned.

yes, it is. I was asking about the Topolobampo ferry...which is out of the free zone and an import sticker would be required. it's considerably cheaper than the Guaymas-Santa Rosalia ferry.
for anyone interested, latest figures I have for pricing on the Guaymas ferry is 2730 pesos for a vehicle up to 17 feet, and 605 for the driver and any passengers for a salon seat. that ferry runs, weather permitting, M, Tu, Thurs, Sat at 8pm, reservations required.

karenintx - 10-11-2010 at 07:13 PM

Some of our friends that live in CSL full time have FM-2'S. They took a two months trip to the USA via La Paz - Topo - Nogales then onto NYC. They did have one problem getting their windshield permit in La Paz. Not because they have FM-2's but they had just received the new FM-2 cards a few days earlier. Since they had turned in their old FM-3 and this was their first FM-2 their renewal date was in the future from their travel dates. Had they had a copy of their old FM-3's showing when they originally were issued there would not have been any problem. A quick phone call followed with a fax solved the problem.

They drove out of Mexico then return to CSL via the same route in reverse. Kept the same permit and still have it on their car for future travels.

[Edited on 10-12-2010 by karenintx]