Refused entry with a truck & camper

Wen I read that some turistas were not being allowed to enter because the pick up truck is not allowed and the weight was an issue, I knew that there must be some thing in the books, so you think, what does that mean, protecting some markets or marks, Toyota, Nissan, VW, Renault that manufacture vehicles in Mexico and are owned by big industrialistas and politicos, of course.

I have no idea what this is supposed to mean.

Here are just a few of the plants building US brand vehicles in Mexico. This is not even the tip of the iceberg. At least a million other US brand names are built in Mexico - Freightliner trucks - John Deere tractors - Caterpillar heavy equipment. And still not the tip.....


Ram: 246,000 vehicles per year
Made them in Saltillo, Mexico, since 1995, the year after NAFTA went into effect. The Ram pickup starts at $26,395.

Chevrolet Silverado: 222,000 vehicles per year
The Silverado pickup is General Motors Co.'s best-selling vehicle. But four-door crew cab versions are made at GM's assembly plant in Silao, Mexico, which opened in 1995. A Silverado crew cab starts at $36,840.

GMC Sierra: 99,000 vehicles per year
Four-door crew cab versions are built in Silao. The Sierra crew cab starts at $38,015.


The Cuautitlán Stamping and Assembly Plant (CSAP) is a Ford Motor Company manufacturing facility located in Cuautitlán Izcalli, México. The 202-acre (0.82 km2) site opened in 1964 and currently manufactures the Fiesta, prior to most recently manufacturing trucks.

Hermosillo Stamping and Assembly is a Ford Motor Company-owned automobile assembly facility located in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. The facility currently assembles Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ models for the North American market. The facility, which began production in 1986, employs 1,500 people and covers a floor space of approximately 1,500,000 sq ft (140,000 m2).
At its inception, the plant was jointly owned by Ford and Mazda the two companies sharing production techniques. Initially all parts were shipped from Japan for final assembly of the 323 and Tracer models. Local content has gradually increased over the years with the addition of on site suppliers. The plant is unionized under SINTRAFORD. Because of the plant's Sonoran Desert location and drought conditions during the 1990s, the plant has reduced its water usage by 40% from earlier numbers. The plant is able to supply the city from its own wells during emergencies.
For the production of the Ford CD3 platform, Ford updated the plant for increased efficiency and flexibility Ford's US$1 billion investment included construction of a 1,750,000 sq ft (163,000 m2) supplier park near the site. The improvements facilitated quick production shifts between models. Capacity of the plant was improved to 300,000 units per year. The plant was top rated in the category of "Compact Premium Conventional" in terms of productivity, taking an average of 20.78 hours to assemble a vehicle
Current
Ford Fusion (2006–present)
Lincoln MKZ (2007–present)

Chihuahua Engine is a 727,000 square feet (67,500 m2) Engine factory in Chihuahua, Mexico owned by Ford Motor Company. The plant opened in 1983, encompasses 247 acres, and as of 2010 employs 1,264 workers. In the past it has built Ford Penta and Zetec engines but currently builds 2.0L, 2.0L HEV, 2.5L and 2.5L HEV versions of the Duratec I4. In 2010 the factory added capacity and began building the 6.7L Power Stroke Diesel used in Ford Super Duty trucks and the 4.4L diesel V8 for Land Rover.

charlstonsouthern to answer your question:

Looking for a mordida (bribe) in Dollars!

navegator

mexicowanderer -- "Any law enforcement officer at any time, anywhere in Mexico can ask to verify your car papers and your legal status for being in the country." What some people call that in the US is racial profiling. What do you call it in Mexico?

JerBear wrote:
Wondering why we have had no input from campground owners in Mexico. Would seem they have the most to lose here.

Sounds logical but were there ever very many? I know we ran off most of the Mexican rvers years ago with all the insults.

It would be great if they were to speak up but then again they can't do much as it would be considered advertising, wouldn't it?

briansue wrote:
As far as the MEXICOWANDERER diatribe - as always I have no idea what all his ranting babble is about - .

Wow!!! This would be a classic example of the pot calling the kettle black!!!

As far as the MEXICOWANDERER diatribe - as always I have no idea what all his ranting babble is about - certainly nothing to do with the topic being discussed here - I do sometimes read his stuff - this time actually read it twice - no idea how it relates to any of my posts.

A law as intent, meaning and purpose, when translating you need to translate all three not just meaning, when translating a law to a different language you need to have the same purpose, use and application in both languages.

I have read all of the print out that you have posted here in Spanish and English, and remember that I have read, written and spoken both from childhood, and some of those laws in Spanish are so far off in English that I would not use any of them at the border, you might just get some one in a lot of trouble.

As for the comment on page 14, I commented on what you printed, the law as you printed it.

I am not going to bother with this nonsense of cut, poor translation and paste reams of worthless laws that have nothing to do with the actual problem, it is a complete waste of time!

You are not paying any attention at all to what I wrote.

What I did the Copy & Paste of what one of many emails I have had from SAT about all of this.

SAT DID THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION!

I DID NOT DO THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION!

I DID NOT USE GOOGLE TRANSLATION!

THE TRANSLATION WAS DONE BY SOMEONE AT SAT AND THEN THEY SENT ME THE EMAIL!

Could you please explain in your words what the problem is and how it is not covered by the laws I got from SAT?

From what we have been told - and people have PMed me here and told me - the border staff are looking at the GVWR tag on the vehicle and seeing a number that is over 7,716 lbs. The law uses the term "capacidad de carga" which SAT has told me staff at the border are misinterpreting as GVWR - which it is not. What exactly is you problem with the SAT words and definition as they have explained them to me?

Mr. briansue:

Not every answer is going to be found in the internet, laws of any country are placed in the internet as small excerpts, the answers that you want are found on the "Diario Oficial de la Federacion", If I want to find a particular law from the United States of America, I go to the court house and look in the Law Library under the United States Federal Law.

Look for the laws that you need in the DIARIO OFICIAL DE LA FEDERACION

I do not know how long you have lived or actually spent in Mexico, there are some of us that have many years under our belt dealing with the authorities in Mexico.

That is called experience!

Wen I read that some turistas were not being allowed to enter because the pick up truck is not allowed and the weight was an issue, I knew that there must be some thing in the books, so you think, what does that mean, protecting some markets or marks, Toyota, Nissan, VW, Renault that manufacture vehicles in Mexico and are owned by big industrialistas and politicos, of course.

You will eventually get the law from the SAT or Hacienda, I doubt very much that you will find it in the internet, it is one of those laws that in Mexico we call them "got you" (ya te chinge) because they come out of the woodworks at the last minute.

Weight alone will not be a defense, I own a Ford F-150, the one with the contractors doors, small door behind the regular door and the long bed with the Rino coating, I have been harassed at the port of San Ysidro so many times that I no longer drive down to my friends house in Playas de Tijuana in it, they consider it a commercial truck and I was told to use the commercial Otay port of entry, personal experience!

On the other hand another friend has a Ford F-150 with the four doors and the small cargo bed, that they consider an SUV and he has no trouble at the border!

It will be a lot more helpful if instead of printing reams of information that very few will read or understand and that many are translated so literal that they have completely changed the true conveyance of the law and meaning that they are useless.

A law as intent, meaning and purpose, when translating you need to translate all three not just meaning, when translating a law to a different language you need to have the same purpose, use and application in both languages.

I have read all of the print out that you have posted here in Spanish and English, and remember that I have read, written and spoken both from childhood, and some of those laws in Spanish are so far off in English that I would not use any of them at the border, you might just get some one in a lot of trouble.

As for the comment on page 14, I commented on what you printed, the law as you printed it.

I am not going to bother with this nonsense of cut, poor translation and paste reams of worthless laws that have nothing to do with the actual problem, it is a complete waste of time!

navegator

Wondering why we have had no input from campground owners in Mexico. Would seem they have the most to lose here.

Permit me to ask Mr Briansue a question,

You drive whatever distance to Mexico, arrive at Aduana/Sat/Banjercito and refuse to issue you a permit. What are you going to do?

You take an extra day to go to an alternate POE and are refused again. What will be your thoughts?

Then to crossing No 3... and?

In May of 1997 lets me spell it MAY OF NINETEEN NINETY SEVEN.
I crossed at Tijuana Garita Dos. I was refused an FMT. I had left my passport north of the border but had a county and state valid Calif. birth certificate, a ton of photo ID valid driver license, you name it.

Immigration REFUSED to issue an FMT. "We now want only pasaportes!" the migra stated. "I have not heard of this law" I replied. He pointed at the wall beside the office entry. There an almost 1 meter square sign was attached to the wall.

SE REQUIRE PASAPORTES INM de MEXICO

I could not believe my eyes.

"Well, then, I am going to Ensenada"

"Your form says you are going to La Paz" he replied. (True I was headed for the Transbordador)

"But can I go to Ensenada?"

"Please go to your vehicle"

I started the pickup.

He slid the chain link fence sideways and ordered me to pass through to the one way lanes to US Customs.

When I arrived at the US Customs booth the Special Agent slid a yellow tag beneath my windshield wiper and ordered me to secondary.

At secondary I was told the process was standard procedure for anyone turned around (in plain sight) of US Customs. I underwent forty minutes of secondary inspection.

You know and I know that in reality Passports were not required until many years later.

I drove the long winding drive up California 94 to Tecate. I paid the dollar to park across from the T.J. Worthy market that sits aside the border and walked to the INM office. Perhaps 100 meters.

Same exact answer, same sign and exactly the same refusal as Garita # 2

My walkthrough at US Customs was a breeze. It was getting dark. I overnighted at the county park in Potrero.

Next day, Mexicali. REFUSED

Continue on to Algodones. Permitted. Doubled back to Tecate then cut down Mex 3 to Ensenada, down the peninsula and crossed to Mazatlan.

A year or so later I asked "Carlos" the owner of the Hotel Bahia in Ensenada about my Twilight Zone adventure.


"Oh that" he dismissed - all of Tijuana and Ensenada learned of this ********************* (multiple groserias). One of the big shots in Ensenada got a meeting together of "strong" business owners and we decided something..."

"What was that?"

"We sent a car with people from gobernacion Estatal in it and explained that if they kept the tourists from coming, all of them would be disappeared" Carlos was not smiling.

Now, am I supposed to disbelieve what he told me?

I have lived a long time down here. I have learned a near graduate level course in the culture the laws and how they are "enforced".

Rather than get technical may I offer a tip? Enforcers of laws, of rules and regulations are hyper-sensitive to criticism, second guessing, even facial expressions. If for some reason they get embarrassed, insulted or challenged they tend to over-react.

They are a hammer. You play the part of an egg. No matter how offensive their attitude seems to be, back the heck off. Because they can make things unbelievably hard in an instant. Swallow the rising bile, cramp facial muscles into a smile, shake hands, muy buenas whatever, and depart.

Why the false formality? You may run into the same character at a later date and trust me, they have damned near photographic memory and a simple abiding by the law 100% legal crossing can get damned complicated damned fast. A 101% inventory of every article in your possession is a starter.

US Customs can be every bit as severe or even worse, so keep it in perspective.

The strictness of matching your windshield VIN number to your paperwork is ALSO done to avoid possible confiscation of your vehicle deep in Mexico by the
SSP. Joaquin Dianda, commandante of the Petlatlan Guerrero office and I spent three hours together under a Parota tree at a Reten, and the man was incredibly patient as I asked dozens and dozens of questions. He handed me his big black plastic cover REGLAS FEDERALES de LA REPUBLICA book and point by point, question by question answered everything in detail.

My curiosity, big ears and zipped lips have kept me from many a boo-boo when dealing with Mexican bureaucracy.

Any law enforcement officer at any time, anywhere in Mexico can ask to verify your car papers and your legal status for being in the country. Just because it would be incredibly rare for someone to do so does not mean the law does not exist. I read the law clave por clave. Joaquin was all smiles.