Leaving your rig in Mexico short term?

people do it and get away with it but is is not legal. Your FMM and your vehicle permit are tied to your passport if they check,but usually not to each other unless you got them both on line. When you get a vehicle permit on line it is automatically tied to the FMM as you are issued a temporary one you exchange at the border. It is not obvious if that is the case when you get them in person, but it may be. The FMM does clearly show you have a vehicle in Mexico and that is hat they will notice at the airport. In most cases they do not, but if they do you will be prevented from boarding the plane. In case I know of, the wife tried to fly home, the husband had to go back to the RV park and get the vehicle permit to prove her name was not on it before they would let her get on the flight. Fortunately they had enough time. I was asked last year in Manzanillo airport to produce my vehicle paperwork when my sister who had driven down with me flew back. I was prepared and had it. As navigator pointed out you have to have the vehicle impounded. You run the risk of having your vehicle seized if you break the rules. Slim, but possible. You can drive the towing vehicle back into the US without turning in the permit, fly from there then return to Mexico after. You can get away with registering a truck camper with a 10 year permit if you do it online, then you can leave that in Mexico, but its risky to take the camper off the truck and then drive around.