New truck weight hassle

[Tequila]

I received this email yesterday. Denial for a 3/4 ton at Brownsville. My partner took a caravan across at Mission yesterday and has a good relationship with the Aduana there, so I have advised this individual to drive over there and my partner will assist him.

The moral is, do not attempt to cross at Brownsvilel with a 3/4 or 1 ton pickup.

I have another friend who was crossing at Laredo this morning with a 1 ton, I am waiting for his report.

We tried to cross early this morning at Brownsville/Matamoros. It seemed that the girl behind the counter at the Banjercito desk was going to do process it based on the GVWR listed on my registration, but her supervisor was aware of the make/model... so he insisted on coming out to the truck to look at the door sticker. He denied us a TIP. Said we had to go to the Los Indios crossing (next one over) which deals with commercial/industrial vehicles. So we did, and they rejected us too (this meant coming back through US border inspection 2x today... dogs, scanners, x-rays... the whole 9 yards each time).
I'm thinking that what happened is upon entering the make/model in their computer, a preset GVWR appeared, which didn't agree with what my title says.
Racking my brain, trying to figure a way around it.
Another suggestion that was made by a 'helper' at the border was to contact a company that does the paperwork for truckers to pass through Mexico... so I have called 2. The going rate is $950usd to have it all done for next day departure, and allows only 8 days to pass through. Not a great option.
I'm tempted to peel the sticker off my door, so that they may have to take my title at face value... and try a different border crossing. Thoughts?

[Tequila]

Interesting

[moisheh]

There was a time when Mexico responded to this type of problem quickly. Back around 1993 they instituted a deposit program. Similar to the TIP program. But they did not have any computers that worked. No network and they were not really setup to accept credit cards. You had to have the title to your vehicle. Most travelers arrived at the border and just turned around. It was a nightmare. Fortunately all of this occurred before Snowbird season. Within a few weeks they cancelled the program. The Hologram started right after this mess. This is the way I remember what transpired but that was 20 years ago.

Moisheh

[Tequila]

It is an official government document with an official looking stamp, plus it has the printout from the scale itself attached. In my experience, the more paperwork you have, the better. Someoen who pulle din here today pointed out the Insurance/registration papers BC, said "For pleasure use only" That is more ammo that the truck is not commercial.

[tepetapan]

I hope not too many people put too much faith in a "Official" looking paper by a scale. I doubt that Official looking paper is on the list of accepted documents by Mexico. Don't underestimate their intelligence and knowledge of the law. good luck to all.

[Kidoo]

When I went at the scale, I took the spare tire off, the tail gate and the back seat, this one is heavy.

Hopefully they will clear up this mess.

[navegator]

I tried sending an Email to the tourism department, it is easier to pull my teeth with a vice grip, they want all of my names where I was born when ETC. but I was able to send one to the Secretaria de Aduanas it is a labyrinth of questions and lucky for me I know Spanish otherwise you do not go past dumb questions, eight screens after contact some full of legalese that have nothing to do with the Email, I got the message across.

Told them that all of the Aduanas are turning tourist away by refusing the entrance of trucks pulling trailers because they say they are cargo trucks, well good luck guys hopefully someone reads it.

navegator

[Tequila]

Well we have already had meeting with them in Mexico City, they have fired the individual who started this mess, so they are aware of it. Hopefully it will be all cleared up by next season. In the interim I recommend crossing at Mission, Laredo or Nogales to hopefully avoid issues.

For those in BC, I recommend taking your tailgate off, emptying your truck and going to a government scale. Have them fill out a sheet. It looks very official and has that GVW statement on it. Ask them to leave the GVWR field blank and just fill in the curb weight. If you explain why, I found them very accomodating.

A friend of mine with a longbed 1 ton dodge diesel dually came in at under 3500 kg, by removing the tailgate, bed mats and everything else and ensuring the tank only contained fumes, and hopping out of the truck before they weighed it.

[navegator]

Those big Unimog's have a bed, a galley, a head and look like a big mean "motorhome", a Ford F250 or F350 looks like the small cargo trucks on any Mexican town, the personnel at the border are covering their derriere and going by the book, they do not care who is driving, whether it is a turista or a paisano, they are going to apply the rules, we should all send Emails to the Secretaria de Turismo, Secretaria de Aduanas, ETC. letting them know that they are killing the tourist traffic by applying a rule that should not be used for the Canadians or Gringos, my opinion only!

navegator

[Tequila]

He has sort of. He got an assurance form Mexico City there would be no problems and that in fact has been the case at many crossings. However at several, the word seems to be slow to get out. He took a caravan accross at Mission yesterday with no issues for eg. and I just spoke to a freind who had no issue at Laredo, and I crossed without a problem at nogales. I actually went prepared. I went to a government scale in BC and got an official weight on official government stationary for my 1 ton which came in at 3350 kg. curb weight. At the bottom it clearly states "Curb Weight = GVW when weighed" I did not need it, but it was my ace in the hole. I also have a copy of the SAT improtation records which state that the restriction is 3500 kg Cargo Capacity, not number of wheels or GVWR.

If anyone wants those, they can download it off our site at

http://www.mexicocaravan.com/permits/Vehicle-Imports-SAT.pdf

Page 22

[moisheh]

I am almost ( key word) that the reg would refer to GVW. When Mexico started to allow the permanent importation of cars and trucks one of the rules was the GVW had to be less than 3.5 tonnes. Could not have dual wheels nor more than 6 lug nuts ( go figure). I would guess that the same is being applied to TIP's. As for the fellows at the border: Read the sticky that refers to RCN ( red clown nose). If you go into the Aduana office those people know their stuff. They will look at a list of goods that a Mexican is bringing across and Google for the US prices. But those that are outside know next to nothing. Huge staff turnover. Every Xmas the President goes to the major borders. he assures the populous that this year there will be no corruption. Then a few weeks later they fire all the staff due to corruption. I remember when all the Aduaneros had these old shiny worn out green uniforms. They were older men. No women. Mordida was horrible. They fired thousands of personnel and hired young college educated persons. Many spoke English. Gave them snazzy new uniforms. Within a month they were asking for donations. Immigration offices even had a "propina" jar. But I digress. Tequila: I thought your partner had solved this problem? How do those Germans get across in a big Unimog?

Moisheh

[Tequila]

Well the individual in question removed the sticker off the door and crossed sucessfully further west. If anyone utilizes this strategy I suggest you try to remove it intact so you can reapply it, if you sell the truck. Oddly enough my previous truck was missing the sticker. It was obvious an oil chnage sticer had been applied over top before I got it and it got ripped off.

[qtla9111]

I'm sure they understand quite well. That's what they do for a living.

[Tequila]

In my truck they are different. ICBC in BC uses standard weights by model which is different from the door. Still the regs say carago capacity, not GVWR. They seem not to understand the dif at some crossings

[tepetapan]

I'm sure this has been gone over before but... shouldn't the registration and the sticker on the door be the same?
Or is what happening is that a pick up is registered to carry up to a certain weight but the door actually tells the gross weight? The with the dual cab, extended bed pick ups are over weight allowed but if it was a standard, 2 door pick up with a standard bed it would pass the weight limits test of Mexico?
I know I am all over the map on this but for some reason I suspect the dual cab trucks are the ones being looked at since this problem is relatively new.