Has anyone registered your foreign vehicle using this program? If so, please share your experience. When I went to https://www.regularizaauto.sspc.gob.mx/ to make an appointment, Rocky Point was not listed. San Luis Colorado, Nogales, Agua Prieta, Hermosillo, and Obregon were the choices.
"Chocolate" car regularization program
- Thread starter amagick
- Start date
Good day! What exactly would this accomplish? It's about 150.00.
Is this a registration with mx plates for my American car? I'm asking because I'm thinking about bringing my older jeep down and leave it here in puerto penasco but having to bring it back and forth for registration in phx will be a little inconvenient
Yes, it is to register your car and receive mx plates. I want to take a long road trip through Mexico. If you're a legal permanent resident in Mexico, you can drive your foreign-plated vehicle without a TIP but the vehicle must remain inside one of the defined Free Zones at all times. If you take your vehicle outside of the Free Zone, it will become subject to confiscation. Only tourists and temporary residents can receive a TIP (temporary import permit).
They were registering cars in Sonoyta 30 days ago.. If you don't plan on being an early bird, the lines can be miles long and you can count on spending the night in your car...you will need a CURP to register your vehicle.. https://immigrationtomexico.mx/what-is-a-curp-number-and-how-to-get-one-in-mexico/ As amagick mentioned the plate is for free zone only.. it is called placa fronteriza..
Old55
Guest
Side note : so the Mexican Consultate in Tucson ( nice place and great workers) allows you to walk in again for visa appointments ( they no longer schedule them online) . With me they checked out my 12 months of bank statements before scheduling the appointment where you pay the $51 and get the Temporal ( few days later) At this time you need to show a years worth of bank statements showing 3200 dollars a month of income or a balance of at least $54,000 for the last 12 months.
mondone
Whitecaps
Why would you need this plate as a permanent resident if you are going to stay in the free-zone? I don't understand it's purpose.
It was never intended to be for permanent residents, It was started by a group called CONDEFA, as a way to eliminate American cars brought in to Mexico without paying the importation fees to the government running around the border areas with no plates, they are brought in with titles from the U.S. and never registered and since they are never registered the title stays in the name of the American owner, as the American owner you should contact the MVD in your state and let them know the vehicle was sold to Mexico.. before CONDEFA, SAT would set up road blocks in town here and everywhere else and confiscate the unplated vehicles.. The chocolatosa's were originally crappy old cars and the market for them were lower income Mexicans.. CONDEFA was formed to help iower income families have access to to a vehicle, not the Cadillac's and others on the road today with CONDEFA plates on them.. So with title in hand the registration fee, I think was 1500.00 pesos and with that you could drive locally with the paper license plates you see on lots of cars now.. They are not allowed on any federal highways and if stopped the officer will turn you around (maybe).. Again they are not registered with any government agency.. so with so many CONDEFA cars on the road, the Mexican government decided for 2500.00 pesos you could put a legal plate on your car (still not legally imported) and have a vehicle that was legally registerd with the state, but not free to travel out of the free zone... it would have to be imported to get the go anywhere plate... The whole thing from the beginning was to help lower income families..Don Juan in your case to get the Fronteriza plate you would probably have to put a CONDEFA or other agency plate on it first and then go for the state plate.. but that program is only temporary.. or if the it falls within the years allowed to be legally imported you could go that way...you have a good chance with any year jeep to import it.. Does anybody remember all the unplated vehicles here years back, now all you see are cardboard license plates of different color's... There are 3 or 4 agencies now issuing cardboard plates. https://web.facebook.com/condefalosoriginales/?_rdc=1&_rdr CONDEFA Puerto Penasco https://www.google.com/maps/dir/31.2878973,-113.5371367/condefa/@31.3153728,-113.5635597,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m9!4m8!1m1!4e1!1m5!1m1!1s0x812ba50d53545667:0xf73c2a98ea6fd929!2m2!1d-113.5367378!2d31.3419305 Calling the vehicles chocolate is like us using the term gray area..
gray area
noun
: an area or situation in which it is difficult to judge what is right and what is wrong
There are no gray areasin the rules.
Probably not legal
gray area
noun
: an area or situation in which it is difficult to judge what is right and what is wrong
There are no gray areasin the rules.
Probably not legal
Last edited:
This article say's that vehicles with vin numbers that start with letters can't be legalized with state issued plates, so they are probably stuck with cardboard plates.. Also no Eurpean or Asian vehicles.. Anybody know about VIN numbers and why some start with letters? https://www.expreso.com.mx/noticias/sonora/vehiculos-fuera-del-tlc-no-entran-en-regularizacion-condefa/180358 I found why some VIN numbers start with letters.. https://www.edmunds.com/how-to/how-to-quickly-decode-your-vin.html#:~:text=In this group, the first,Sweden or Finland is Y.
Last edited:
The first digit represents the country of origin of your vehicle. Only vehicles from USA, Mexico, and Canada qualify for this program; cars made in the U.S. start with 1, 4 or 5. Canada is 2, and Mexico is 3.
I am looking to take a long road trip through Mexico so as a permanent resident cannot drive my Arizona plated vehicle, I need a regular MX plate.
I forgot about the frontier plates, I believe Mexicans use these plates to import vehicles from the USA and avoid the associated import fees but cannot drive their vehicle past the "frontier" zone.
I am looking to take a long road trip through Mexico so as a permanent resident cannot drive my Arizona plated vehicle, I need a regular MX plate.
I forgot about the frontier plates, I believe Mexicans use these plates to import vehicles from the USA and avoid the associated import fees but cannot drive their vehicle past the "frontier" zone.
wildtoucan
Guest
I did this with my vehicle and is great as I can drive out of the free zone plus I have insurance that covers you here and usa for 1/3 of the cost I was paying. You do need to be resident and have a mexucan driver's license. I did mine in Sonoyta.
You did it the legal way, using a customs broker and paying a duty on the vehicle and received a go anywhere plate.. I imported legally an older jeep 13 years ago and the cost was approx. 1500.00 dllrs using the broker at the Sonoyta border.. The cars that were lined up in Sonoyta a month ago were all cars brought in without paying any duty and for 2500.00 pesos received the Frontera Plate, but it was a great solution for a big problem.They all got legal..
randy and patty
Guest
Thinking about buying a vehicle in Hermosillo or Mexicali. Wondering about cost, titleing and what it would take to occasionally drive it back to the states?
Don't have a direct answer, but I see Sonora plates on the regular here in PHX, so there must be some sort of visa/program in place for tourists from Mexico with Mex plates. Not uncommon to see them coming up 85 from Lukeville, either.
wildtoucan
Guest
The program right now is not importing the vehicle, it is regulating it or making it "legal". It is significantly less in cost and can ve done on an American built vehicle 2017 or older.
Buying a vehicle in hermosillo which friends did, the cost was 30% less than usa price as it has not got the import tax on it. You then buy yearly insurance here and it allows you to drive in all of North America. Is exact insurance I had in AZ and is 1/3 the cost.
Buying a vehicle in hermosillo which friends did, the cost was 30% less than usa price as it has not got the import tax on it. You then buy yearly insurance here and it allows you to drive in all of North America. Is exact insurance I had in AZ and is 1/3 the cost.
I was under the impression that a permanent resident was not allowed to drive a US plated vehicle anywhere in Mexico. I am getting ready to change from temporary to permanent and was somewhat concerned about that restriction.