7 things that SHOCKED us about buying a car in MEXICO
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- čas přidán 1. 07. 2024
- Buying a used car in Mexico was a WILD ride & we learned A LOT along the way. Find out what we'd do differently & get our tips for how to buy a car in Mexico without headaches!
In this video, we share our experience of buying a car in Guadalajara, Mexico, including important information on registering a vehicle in Mexico, Mexican car insurance & more!
#buyingausedcarinMexico #movingtomexico #backpackingbrunette
Buying a Car in Mexico (Everything You Need to Know): backpackingbrunette.com/buyin...
Watch the first video about our car buying experience in Mexico: • We bought a car in Mex...
• 7 things that SHOCKED ... - Zábava
Buying a used car in Mexico was a JOURNEY! You live and you learn 🙃 Don't forget to check out this helpful post about buying a car in Mexico: backpackingbrunette.com/buying-car-in-mexico/
Sounds like “Facilitator” is becoming a form of professional commerce in Mx. I like how you put it that it is the way business is done in Mexico. A facilitator makes things fácil👍🏻😎
Well...cars are more expensive in Mexico because they are imports, even though they might be assembled in Mexico, they companies are from the U.S. I bought a car in a Chevrolet dealer in Monterrey Mexico...the same as in the U.S....I think you did not look around enough....Kovak has a strange reputation....you have to be careful....I recommend dealers .... they have a similar system like the U.S....yes you can test drive it....
I went with a new car, paid with a US credit card that had 0% APR for 24 months. So free financing for 24 months. It all went smooth except for the waiting for the model to arrive.
@Dany Cardenas...would you mind sharing the name of credit card. Wow in the US you cannot pay for a car via a credit card. GREAT INFO.
Can you drive a car bought in Mexico into the States?
Glad to hear it finally worked out for you guys! 💕
Thank you, Lainey!!
terrific info...thanks for sharing. subbed.
I’m from Grosse Pointe, MI and moving to Querétaro, MX your videos are really helpful.
Woohoo, a fellow Michigander! I'm so glad to hear that you're finding my videos helpful 😃 wishing you all the best for your move to Mexico, Princesa!
How do you like it?
Great video. I was wondering what happened with the car purchase. Thanks for sharing.
Safe travels, I'm so glad everything worked out for you. You'll have to come visit since I missed you last time!!! Miss you both🤗
Hope you are well!
This is one of your most helpful vlogs. Muchas gracias. When my temp residency expires in 2025 I'll have to get rid of my US plated car and buy one in MX. I'm dreading it.
Your advice is invaluable. And I so agree with hiring a facilitator. I've done that will all major tasks in every city I've lived in: Visa canje, address change with immigration, TIP extension, drivers license. It is so worth it. Every facilitator was a total pro and worth every peso, albeit reasonably priced. As you said, they know everyone at every agency. Just hire a brilliant local. Hell yeah.
Also want to underscore the importance of screenshotting WhatsApp, IMMEDIATELY. Good thing Taylor was all over that. I've learned that some business have messages set to AUTO delete quickly. Like 24 hours later important messages are erased.
Anyway, glad to see you cover this critical subject. There is a dearth of info on it. Gracias de nuevo. Happy motoring!
I’m glad you found this video helpful, Emma! You know how business works in Mexico & that will put you wayyyy ahead of the curve when it’s time for you to buy a car 🤓
Thanks for sharing your story!
I hope you found it helpful, Cindy!
Good info. I didn't know how the process was to buy a car or the license plates. 👌♥️
You guys are so cute together. You're both very lucky to have each other!
All of your sage advice on many subjects is appreciated. I hope someday to put it all to use. And buy you guys a beer.
So glad to hear you find my videos helpful 🥰
Just subscribed to your channel, looking forward to checking out your channel and your adventures in Mexico, which I'm a native of from the state of Nuevo Leon Mexico of but I was raised live in Bakersfield Ca...
What a RIDE. I'm glad it all worked out. 😄
First road trip video coming sooooon
Sorry for your experience with Kavak.
I was considering them in 2021, but so many bad review experiences listed on their various google maps location (especially in Jalisco locations) made me look elsewhere..
The license plate and registration issues is also other clients have listed waiting for 6+ months for the registration and plates..
Yes, we agreed that if we had to do it over again we probably wouldn’t go w it h them a second time 😅 crazy wait times for appointments at a lot of these offices!
Ive been living in Merida 3 years now, Im considering buying a car so this video is helpful.
So glad you found it helpful!
New Car vibes 🎉 Congrats Salud 🍺
Woohoo 🥳 thanks for watching!
Thanx for that info. How about just taking my own car and registering it in Mexico. Just bought a 2022 truck and would love to take it
Thankyou for sharing this valuable information. Maybe do a video on actually driving in Guadalajara. Woo Hoo!
Great idea, David!
Alex just 2 days ago we got our car. Went with Toyota dealership in Queretaro, after a week or so having trouble transferring money with Schwab we got all the numbers and addresses and got everything going the right direction. They took care of licensing and registration, we just had to wait for everything to go through the process. Since it was payed in full even drove it home without insurance. That we took care of straight away with our realtors friend. All pretty easy, now the hard part navigating the roads…thank God for Waze and returnos . They do things different here gotta learn.
Congrats on your new car, Casey!
what is the process to bring the car back to the states?
Holy crap, this sounds like a nail-biting nightmare for 6 weeks, at least. Glad it worked out.
I’m so relieved it all worked out, but YES, there were moments when I wasn’t so sure 😅 thanks for watching!!
you can buy a car in south dakota and drive it in mexico and you don't have to be there either but i would fly there and drive it back and in SD you don't have to have insurance meaning they won't suspend it and i believe the same goes for the sticker but google expat w south dakota plates and see if that works for you
Oh those darn CVT transmissions! They don't like to be overworked, and will stop the car if overheated, but that was weird. Do you recommend for or against driving to Mexico (on a max 6 month basis at a time) with a car from Canada or the US?
plus you need a truck or suv in mex for the roads and they are built tougher will last longer like a nissan rogue s or frontier p/u
Hello Alex! Really helpful video. What do you need to do if you decided to drive your own vehicle to Mexico? I'm just taking a few of my personal items to make my move final and, I think it would be less expensive for me to. I'm just not sure what I would need to do by driving my own vehicle. Also, do you have a point of entry that would be safer since the Matamorro incedent. I am driving from Kentucky. I would appreciate any advice. Thanks!
If you haven't yet, I recommend joining the On The Road in Mexico Facebook group. They share up to date info about road conditions, border crossings, etc. Your car will be linked to your residency status, so if you're a tourist, it can only be in Mexico for six months at a time (just like you). If you're a resident, it will be linked to your residency visa/card.
Thanks for all of these insights! I am moving to Guadalajara for work soon and am hoping to try living car free at least at first. How necessary is having a car in GDL especially if I’m living near work? It looks like the public transit is decent and there are buses and flights to a lot of places I’d want to visit. What motivated you to get a vehicle once you moved to Guadalajara?
Hi, Josh! Our big motivation was to be able to take road trips and explore the surrounding area. Depending on your neighborhood, a car might not be necessary in Guadalajara!
The CVT automatic transmissions on many Nissan products are well, troublesome: you’re not the first ones to have gotten a Nissan Sentra or Versa with a bad CVT. As far as learning to drive a manual, it’s easy
I should def learn! We could have for sure saved some money if we’d bought a manual!
I’ve been car shopping off and on since August, and I’m finally getting one this upcoming Wednesday. This video has been a big help, but there are a couple things I’d add to this video and the blog post:
1. You can haggle the price a little for used/semi new vehicles. Even at Kavak Midtown, they offered a 9,000 mxn reduction for a BMW I was looking at in August. Infiniti Guadalajara offered a 35,000 mxn reduction. But like you guys said, car values do hold up better here than compared to the U.S., so don’t expect deep cuts or too many incentives.
2. Guadalajara car registration cost are CRAZY expensive compared to other states. Most of my friends here in Guadalajara have their cars registered in other states (Chihuahua, Durango, etc.). The guy at BMW Naosa Mexico advised me to go to Michoacan and get plates from there instead. It’s about a 32,000 mxn difference for the car I’m buying, and there are brokers that can take care of it for you, so you don’t necessarily have to drive there yourself.
3. A couple of the reasons I didn’t go with the car I was looking at at Kavak Midtown was the inability to test drive it. The other was their markup. I’ve been able to test drive several cars from other car dealerships and lots, and it’s definitely the way to go. I even test drove a brand new Maserati Grecale (they have a 36 month interest free promotion at the time of me posting this). Most places required a copy of my Mexican drivers license and I needed to sign a form (BMW Naosa Mexico and Maserati Guadalajara).
Great points. I’m currently negotiating with Infiniti GDL. I work in the industry and of all dealers Ford Country and Infiniti have been pleasant to deal with.
Thank you very much! Really helpful. I live in Mexico, no car. After your vid am further convinced I’ll never buy one😅 but good for you and info excellent.
I’m glad you found it helpful, Jane!
It seems to me, after watching a ton of videos about moving down there, that one of the costs/expenses Expats should consider is to find a lawyer pretty earlier on to act as both a lawyer and a facilitator to help with finding facilitators. I see so many videos where Gringos could not get something handled until finding facilitator to help out. This was a very useful video. Thank you.
Glad to hear you finally did it! I've heard that you have to change license plates every 3 years in Mexico, otherwise, there's a fine. Is this true? Also, while 75,000 km for the 2018 car looks legit, other cars might have their mileage altered even if they are sold by Kavak as there's no way to know this was done.
Uffff I hope that wasn’t the case for this car!
Despachantes are real useful to help facilitate the process
I'd be interested to see how tough it is to bring a car from the US and register it there
Have been on OLX and MercadoLibre and very few older cheap cars
Your insurance sounds about half of what you'd pay in the US ?
SCOTTY KILMER tells everybody NISSAN's have unreliable transmissions, especially mid 2000's. Believe they solved the problem in the late 2000's
I second your opinion to stay away from Kavak. I also expected it to be a hassle free experience similar to CarMax in the US. We had to go 3 times and get circulation permits before we got the plates at the last minute. You're beholden to Kavak as they don't release the original factura. Our car was fine however. We got a Renault Duster which is ideal for Mexican roads.
We're in the same boat as you where we're happy with the final outcome but WOW the road to get here 😅
@@alex-wittman we bought it from Kavak Punto Sur in Zapopan.
Using Host Relocation for my residency was a no brainer.... I need to change my address and will use help and also for anything done here.... Well worth it.
Yes, absolutely worth it to work with someone who knows the process!
How about importing a car from USA/CANADA???
I bought a used car in Jalisco but it was registered in Tepic, Nayarit. When I went to pay for my tag in Bucerias the next year, they said I didn’t have all the paperwork I needed. It turned out their was an original owner from Baja region the dealer didn’t tell me about. It took 4000 pesos to get the right paperwork and get my tag.
*there
Thanks for sharing your experience, Angelina! That’s rough!! I’m so glad that you were able to get it all sorted out…where there’s a will, there’s a way!
Is there anyway to know this sort of information before or during the buying process? I've heard of this before and will be moving to Playa in a couple months and will be buying something used
Mucho éxito sienpre
Gracias 🥰
We purchased a new Nissan March car while living in Ajijic, Mexico. We used S & S Auto in Chapala to handle the transaction for us. They dealt with the dealership in Guadalajara and all of the paperwork and financial matters were completed at their offices in Chapala. The car was delivered to us at their Chapala office. They handled the tags and registration and also provided three auto insurance quotes from different companies and we selected from that group. They even took then car to the dealership for the first required warranty service. After that first warranty service, they did charge a modest fee. We highly recommend them and will use S & S Auto again on our return to Ajijic this fall.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience!
How much did the sentra cost??
I really love you guys but you are not in the same page. I moved last year to Texas...too hot. Moved to Kansas. Awesome. Who would have thought? Blows my mind. Affordable housing, green . Not what you expect. We love it.
Glad you found a place where you're so happy!
Great video with a lot of information:
however this is based on only 1 case of your purchasing a used car from Kayak (equiv of Cavana in USA), may not represent most car sales in Mexico? would you mind interview some Mexican locals how do they buy cars in Mexico?
1. Wonder if buying brand new car, from a regular big brand dealership, would possibly allow test drive?
2. If any ordinary Mexican with good credit history want to buy a new car, would he possibly get finance? if looking at $30+k priced brand new cars; because for used cars at $13k price point in the USA, not many would offer finance either;
(from your other videos I noticed that your beginning 4 years living there without a Mex bank account? that feels wasting 4 years to build up credit, would you recommend a person to build up Mex credit history at beginning year, and how can a new expat build up Mex credit ? can this be another topic for a new video? Thanks )
3. the last on car insurance, what items are included in that $500 annual insurance? is that liability only? in most countries only liability (to cover others-car loss in an accident if at your fault) is mandatory, but not including premium (to cover self-car loss in an accident if at your fault), if that $500 cost is liability only, that would be the same cost as in USA
Hola Alex saludos
the only way to get a good deal in Mexico when buying a car, is when a relative of yours or a friend connects you with another friend who is selling his car. Other than that, they are actually more expensive in general. Now: almost all the brands that you find in the US, are in Mexico, but some models you can only find them in Mexico because car companies release those models for medium-income countries. For example, the VW Vento or the Chevvy S10, Mitsubishi L200, sometimes those cars may be cheaper. The Vento is cheap, and they actually have pretty good quality. They don´s use the German overengineering systems they use in regular German cars such as the Jetta. The Vent is super easy to repair and you don´t need to take it to a special mechanic.
Yep, I want to bring my Toyota 4Runner there because they do not sell them there. I'm going to have to pay a huge import tax.
Any tips on buying a new car as a US citizen? How long does it take to get a tourist visa/proof of address?
Never mind, I should have read your blog post first! 🤦🏻♂️😂
What’s app has an in app translation
Could you tell me why you decided to buy a car in Mexico?
I'm probably going to bring my cheap reliable Honda and just take it back to sell in the US after my 4 years are up on the TIP.
We didn’t own a car in the US so we didn’t have the option to drive one down. Also, we liked the idea of having Mexican plates (less likely to stand out).
Didn't you live in Spain or Portugal some years ago ?
That didn't work out for you ?
It was great! We lived in Madrid for two years and taught English.
Can you bring an American vehicle to the country?
Yes, you can! You can temporarily import it as either a tourist or temporary resident.
People from the US make the frequent mistake of assuming that used cars in Mexico are cheaper. But the reality is, as this video highlights, that used cars retain more value in Mexico than in the US. Part of that is because of another issue highlighted, financing at a relatively low interest rate is more difficult in Mexico. That means people will focus on buying a used car than having to finance the purchase of a new car. That drives up the prices of used cars. Years ago, I hear of people going to the US and buying used cars to take back to Mexico because it was cheaper (I don't think this is possible anymore).
Alex? Taylor? Alex & Taylor who?
Just kidding, how's guadalajara, hope everything is great w you guys!
Where you the dude from without ah paddle come from
Hey 👋🏼 it’s Mexico 🇲🇽 😊 😂
Nissan might not be the right choice in Mexico (although it's very popular and affordable), because of their lack of reliability (French Renault taking over the company ruined their mechanics), Toyota, Volkswagen and Honda pretty much rule the market here in terms of reliability, safety and slower depreciation. The process you went through sounds pretty stressful. Being French here, I didn't struggle as much, but you're right about needing a couple of mornings to get everything done. The best alternative being to sell to an individual (cash) and buying at a car dealer (cash) who will take care of all the paperwork, the key word being "factura orginal", signed by the previous owner. Never buy a car without this document. Hope this helps.
Import duties are stiff too
They really are! That's why some people who qualify for permanent residency opt for temporary for the first four years. They want to have their foreign-plated car in Mexico without having to pay the import fees.
Wouldn’t it be easier to buy the car in the US and drive it to Mexico?
That’s a long drive! Plus we wanted to have Mexican plates
Damn. My wife and I are thinking about retiring in La Paz, but I'll be here and driving my vehicle down. It will be an EV.
Bringing your car across the border into Baja is a different story! It's what they call a "free zone."
the “no test drive” business model is a deal breaker for me. it just doesn’t make sense.
Me too, just look at what happened, they got lucky it worked out
Makes me think of all the BS that went on with Carvana
I'd never buy a car I can't drive
I bet they KNEW the tranny was bad and bumped them up into a more expensive vehicle, sound like crooks
We intended to buy a car here and I test drove cars at Honda, Suzuki, Kia and SEAT dealerships. Unfortunately, during a trip back to the US our Ford blew a head gasket and we ended up buying there. The good part was that our new car is a low mileage 2014 which is old enough that we can afford to title it in Mexico; the import taxes for getting a Mexican title for importing a new vehicle are horrendous. And our experience getting plates in Mexico was simple, hire an agent whose job it is to get vehicles registered. Our manual laborer friends told of standing in lines forever and our middle class friends said to hire an agent and pick up the plates in a month with no hassles.😊
What about driving one's own car to Mexico and registering / making it legal there ?
Te perdiste mucho.
😂 sounds like the Mafia down there at the Mexican DMV …. Facilitators my butt
Clearly you don't know what you are commenting about. I could have done my own taxes, bought and sold real estate, and tried my own legal cases in the US. I was pleased in most cases to use a professional. Cultures are different.
indeed sounds like Mafia, because those Facilitators might have pre-reserved all DMV time-slots, and upsell those time-slots to any who want a time-slot badly, especially expats who do not well know dealing with Mexican DMV;
the cost US$170 is not a small money, might be enough for them to develop as full time job,
it's another kind of gringo tax
@@39MercFlathead I understand you could of done your own taxes and sold your own homes but if a dealership is selling you a car you better be make sure the paperwork is all correct and handled why would I ask a consumer do more leg work ????
Oy 🙄 I’m at minute 8… Take away: don’t work with Kavak
Lo primero que tienen que hacer si es que van a migrar a México es hablar español y no quejarse de los procesos burocraticos porque son los mismos para todos.
I am actually from Jalisco . I can tell you that everything is a scam. You. need to bribe to get anything done.