One Family's Experience
The story below has was written to give people and idea of what we went through to bring our household goods to Mexico in August of 2004.
The first day on the road was a little nerve racking as we did not know how Bessie (a 1991 GMC 1500 pickup with 215000 miles) and Bob (a home made 3500 pound enclosed cargo trailer) would endure the journey. Bessie got pretty hot up over Raton pass in Colorado, but that is not unusual. If you haven’t done any serious towing before, make sure you get a little practice in before hand and stay within your weight limits!
In Albuquerque we had a good rest at the Sheraton (parking was secure) and Bessie got a radiator flush (just to be careful). The next day to Tucson was easier as we left at 6 am and arrived at 30 (we gained and hour in that state). Bessie Got an oil change and new air shocks put in to handle the load in Mexico. We stayed with Maureen’s brother so security wasn’t an issue.
Then the big day- crossing the border. Between the time at the customs broker and the customs folks unpacking 2/3rds of the trailer - it was 6 1/2 hours later. We arrived at 8 am- waited until after 9 for someone to show up at the brokers office. When someone did show he looked at our papers and checked the truck and trailer briefly and then had to fax many papers to Rene (the broker) who was over the border:
A.A. Lic. Rene Garayzar Franco GARAYZAR AGENCIA ADUANAL, S.C.. Blvd. Luis Donaldo Colosio #4100-S1 Col. Los Encinos Nogales Sonora C.P. 84062 Tel 01152-631-314-6686, 01152-631-314-6464, Fax 01152-631-314-6666 garayzar@prodigy.net.mx
I easily spoke with a dozen Mexican customs brokers. Only 1 spoke good English. Rene’s is passable as is my Spanish. Most won’t do an MDC (Menaje de Casa) and many had weird rules about things – Rene was the most flexible. One issue is that Mexican law requires all the items in an MDC to be packed in ONE vehicle. The truck bed and the trailer count as 2 vehicles (they have separate plates). If I had to do it all over again, I would have gotten a bigger trailer and put nothing in the truck bed. Rene was able to get our 2 vehicles in by listing both license plates on the 40 pages of paper work that we needed to cross the border (no I'm not kidding 40 pages and 3 copies of it).
The MDC was easily obtained at the Denver Consulate - $120 and 2 hours was all it took. Make sure you know where you pack every thing as the customs officials will ask you questions about certain items if you are stopped. As we were told many times, electronics are of particular concern. Rene’s fee was around $200. Our MDC was in English as the Denver Consulate was fine with that and so was customs crossing the border. You must obtain your FM3 prior to getting your MDC and then there is a time limit on how long you have to get the MDC and then use it. Check these time limits with your consulate.
One of Rene’s staff escorted us to the border and then we met up with another fellow (from the Mexican side) who stamped our papers. The second man then escorted us across the border where we got the dreaded red light. This is where we waited for a while as they unloaded most of the trailer. Then we waited for the customs official – this took only an hour and can take up to 3 hours. We crossed midday and midweek which is supposed to be a better time for crossing. The customs official went through almost every box and every item and then said - be gone! That took at least an hour as well.
With the help of the officials in Nogales, we reloaded the trailer. An early lesson in patience, however, everyone was very nice. Then we had to stop at immigration (10 miles down the road) and get our truck and trailer permits and our FM3 approved (another 30 minutes or so). You must have a credit card and make sure you tell the credit card company ahead of time you will be in Mexico. I used the same card for gas all the way from Ft Collins to Nogales and the computer thought someone had made a run for the border with a stolen card. My card was declined at immigration. Fortunately I had 2 cards and the other worked fine.
We didn’t get as far as we would have liked due to the delay in Nogales, so we stayed at a Holiday Inn in Hermosilla (very secure parking, nice people and $70 per night) and had a great dinner up the road and some excellent Margs.
Friday we were on the road again at 6 am or earlier. We had discussed going only part of the way, but once we got going we decided to just get there. And we did just around sunset with James Taylor’s song Mexico screaming out Bessie’s speakers.
On the way there, Bobs right tire was wearing a little funny so Dave went to change it - within seconds we had 2 wonderful amigos helping. $10 and 10 minutes later we were back on the road. We took the toll roads (they say cuota versus the slower libre (free) roads). The roads were well marked – even in the cities. Gas was easily available every 50 miles or so. Tolls cost about $120 for the truck and trailer. You can pay in dollars or pesos for just about everything – even the tolls – but we had plenty of pesos.
I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few important things. My major impressions were that is was a long tiring, but safe trip. The Mexican roads are narrow as compared to US highways (think of a rural 2 lane road – safe, but not a highway). Fine for cars, but a bit hard with a trailer. Most of the highway has NO shoulder and a steep embankment on either side. We rarely went more than 50 MPH and we did see a very serious (probably multiple deaths) accident where 2 cars had flipped down the embankment. You must pay constant attention to the road the entire way there.
It’s not an easy trip, but it can certainly be done. Take your time and enjoy the sites on the way.
DavidShafer - February 18, 2005
For detailed information on paperwork
Try this wonderful site http://rollybrook.com/how_to_move_to_mexico.htm
DavidShafer - March 16, 2005