Expiring Residente Temporals and Covid

Tequila wrote:
here is a good one. Can you take a US or Canadian plated car into the free zone with residente permanente? According to sonia's website you can, others say no. That is the zone you do not need a TIP. I want to find out so I know if I can store a car in San Carlos and do a swap over. (the owner of Totonaka is a buddy) I like to be able to drive down and bring stuff some years. If not, I suspect all I would have to do is put a close relative like my son on the registration/title.

Tequila, you are a newbie resident. I would take everything that Sonia and John post with a grain of salt. Don't rely on them as a source of information. You are looking for the answer that you want to hear. You are trying to game the system.

Chances are you will not be checked north of Empalme. But you could be. It happened to me more than once. How will you handle it? $$$$$ Call Sonia? Lying to the officer?

What happens when you get into an accident? During the initial investigation they find out you are RP driving the foreign plated car.

I lived in a "free zone", Qroo for 15 years. I know of one car taken from a gringo in that time. He never got it back. Other times the local police in PDC changed their enforcement policies which caused issues.


I drive other people's cars out of Mexico frequently. I just drove a Winnebago with 9+ years left on the TIP. Being a RP, I got a returno seguro to protect my clients rig. At a Federales checkpoint I was asked for the RV's paperwork. I showed the officer the returno paperwork and was sent on my way. It could have been different.

I learned a long time ago while living in Mexico it is best to have my I's dotted and my "T's" crossed. It has saved my ass more than once.