Refused entry with a truck & camper

We are now on page 13 of the discussion on this topic. Has anybody else noticed that since 2017/09/09 when this thread was started there has not been a single report of anyone else being denied entry because of the weight issue? :h Maybe the denial of the Churchs at the border was triggered by something else.
I'm sure that everyone who has posted their thoughts on this thread is doing so with the noblest of intentions, but some are coming off as having contracted a bad case of ChickenLittleitis. Others are appearing to have come up with a solution and are now seeking a problem to apply it to.:S
Time to give all this a rest! The sky is not falling!

Annoy the customs agents at the border with a bunch of Mexican laws translated into English and tell them that they are not interpreting the weight stickers correct and watch how fast the "ENTRADA NEGADA" (denied entry) rubber stamp slams on the paper work!

navegator

Moisheh -- He's a great guy, isn't he! I'll be watching, too. He's a very brave man to take on this huge national health care project.

By the way, we can only speak from the US tourists' standpoint, but the last time I heard, other tourists read, too. At this point, Mexicowanderer's last three paragraphs in his last post make a lot of sense.

I would advise not to stir up too much re Truck Campers. I have said this before. A Truck Camper is not a vehicle. It is an "item" that is not covered by a TIP. If you ask too many questions they will call it imported goods and the only way into Mexico would be through a broker and lots of duty. Charleston: Mexico fly in tourism has been at all time highs. Every year all those Canadians fly into Maz for a few days of sun. They eat too much. Drink too much. Buy too many trinkets and are gone. They could care less about RV problems at the border. They have never been to the border. These are the tourists that Mexico wants. They can even watch Hockey night in Canada" on the TV in the bar! This type of tourism supports a lot of low wage Mexicans. AS RV'rs we do not have much too offer. BTW: Say Hi to Sr. Graham. I will be watching him on CNN Monday!

Moisheh

BrianSue -- you did not address the point Mexicowanderer was making. "NOT FROM AN INDIVIDUAL AT THE BORDER." As a drive-in tourist, your papers mean nothing to the border people; they are just "messengers," and from a clinical standpoint, they are "robots." They are not trained to absorb your input, papers or not, regarding this matter.

Mexicowanderer -- Everything you have said in the last three paragraphs makes sense to a point; people patronizing the Mexico tourist industry do not WAIT forever; it's a waste of their time and money. There are too many alternatives of places to go to spend their money and make better use of their time. It has been mentioned that foreign RVers do not spend enough money in Mexico for the Mexican government to care. That is tunnel vision. The big picture is that the fly-in tourists which Mexico cherishes so much will be reading about this problem (mark my words) during their trip planning and possibly seeing this as a bad omen for all tourists visiting Mexico. Waiting, to a point, right now is a good idea, and I have a lot of faith in what Tequila and his partner are able to accomplish from the bottom up.

So someone showing up at the border bearing a ream of interpretations of vehicle terminology stands about as much chance as an ice cube in hell of swaying an Aduanero to somehow, by some miracle unforeseen to change his mind about a 3/4 ton pickup.

My advice is to WAIT. Wait until a few trustworthy forum members have absolutely proven a change in rules has been effected by actually going through with a TIP before getting all "wound up" about a sudden change of rules. Changes can only happen by rules being issued from Mexico City. NOT FROM AN INDIVIDUAL AT THE BORDER.

You can do this the easy way or the painful way. When the individual at Banjercito says "No" they do not mean "Maybe".

I just started another thread about his topic where I include some emails I received from SAT as well as the pertinent laws and regulations defined. This is not a CHANGE. It is the law as it was written. Some people at the border are misinterpreting the law. GVWR is NOT "capacidad de carga".

The only question I have not been able to get an answer to is how the would classify a pickup camper. I think that is part of the problem as the rules do not seem to specify.

As far as what I can find in the rules and what SAT has told me - there is no specific rule about GVWR - the rule is about "capacidad de carga" which means the amount of weight the vehicle has been certified to be capable of carrying by the manufacturer. In US terms this would be CCC.

Please see the other thread for clarification.

In 2010 I had a little char with Caesar Nava, a senior Aduanero, at the edifico Hacienda (SAT SHCP) on Reforma. Being I speak Spanish the conversation went smoothly.

Aduana and Banjercito are instructed strictly to determine and enforce whether or not a converted vehicle normally "associated to be a commercial cargo carrier" to be "absolved" of that designation "when such modifications have been done to that vehicle as to make it obviously impractical to convert it back to cargo carrying status"

An immediate issue was a moot point as my pickup with slide in camper had been issued a 180-day TIP. I had been warned the 1-ton vehicle with side utility boxes would be rejected issuance of a 180-day TIP re-entering Mexico from the south either at La Mesilla, or Cd Cuauhtemoc, Chiapas. I would be issued a 15-day transmigrante permit and FMM that was not changeable. The pickup and my butt had to exit Mexico before 15-days, no exceptions. That prompted the visit.

The sad news is, waving paperwork in front of Aduana only serves to make them angry. If they have something stuck in their head ESPECIALLY a new rule that was being enforced border-wide, the chances of persuasion are nil even if the Library of Congress was dumped at their feet. Absolutely ZERO will change their mind except a telephone call or FAX from on high that would exempt them from continuing to enforce a rule exactly as they had been doing all along.

Mr. Nava told me bluntly. It's a question of Mordida. An Aduanero who he himself exempts a vehicle or vehicle from a specifically UNDERSTOOD regulation would be considered a MORDELON slang for a bribe-taker.

The minute a vehicle is entered into the Banjercito computer it is subject to auditing at the Aduana headquarters in Mexico City. The database cross references VIN numbers to vehicle data. If a chassis has been permanently modified to forever convert it to a "casarodante" the border Aduanero fears no reprisals.

Let that vehicle pass through a RETEN, a roadside inspection where a laptop computer is connected to DF Aduana via Banda Ancha, and the SSP flag a vehicle as not being a permanent conversion. You can bet your sweet butt, heads are going to roll. The capitan de la oficina SSP in Petlatlan Guerrero was kind enough to point this out to me. His men had checked every document, every license plate tag, VIN, driver's license, registration, that I own.

So someone showing up at the border bearing a ream of interpretations of vehicle terminology stands about as much chance as an ice cube in hell of swaying an Aduanero to somehow, by some miracle unforeseen to change his mind about a 3/4 ton pickup.

My advice is to WAIT. Wait until a few trustworthy forum members have absolutely proven a change in rules has been effected by actually going through with a TIP before getting all "wound up" about a sudden change of rules. Changes can only happen by rules being issued from Mexico City. NOT FROM AN INDIVIDUAL AT THE BORDER.

You can do this the easy way or the painful way. When the individual at Banjercito says "No" they do not mean "Maybe".

I wonder how it would work or if it changes anything if you had a camper on a flatbed that was semi-permanently attached and registered as a motorhome.

As I previously stated this problem all comes down to a translation issue from Spanish to English and our contacts agree that is the case. Therefore it is resolvable.