First, how does the leader cope with the occasional problem with law enforcement? (I know that those problems will crop up -- we had a policeman demand a bribe in San Quintin about ten years ago, and we managed to buy him off with several Tootsie Pops for his children!) The problem of minor hassles with the police and the federales is emphatically not enough to keep me from going -- but it would be nice if there were someone else to deal with this.
Second, is it true that traveling in a group discourages criminals? Or, realistically, is the problem of carjacking/robbery so rare (during the daylight, of course) that this is just not an issue? By comparison, almost no one in the US travels in groups to deter criminals, but (at the same time) we avoid the really bad areas of town (assuming that we know the town).
We have never traveled in a caravan or even a small informal group so can't say much about that. Never felt a need. Like to do our own thing.
My first RV trip to Mexico was in 1971 in a converted van built for one. Been visiting on and off ever since. For about the past 10 years we spend much of every winter roaming all over Mexico - currently in Oaxaca. Never ever in all those years on all those roads for all those miles has any police officer ever hassled us in any way about anything. They have helped us when we have been lost. Not saying it doesn't happen because we know it does - just never to us.
Carjacking - In US - FBI and Department of Justice online records - on average in the US 38,000 carjackings per year. Please do not worry about Mexico. Things happen no matter where you are or where you go. Don't Worry Be Happy.
