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Location: San Diego CA>Tijuana, BC>San Antonio, TX
6,498 posts, read 7,527,078 times
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I have seen Mexican bought vehicles like Renault, Toyota Hilux, Seat, Volkswagon Crossfox, Chevrolet Cheyenne, the 4 door Ford Ranger, and the rare spotting of Chinese made vehicles driving around in the US but always with Mexican plates. I am not sure that all models can be imported to US permanently.
The word that you are looking for is "importation ".
The US Government and the US State that you want to register the vehicle in........ Will both want money from you, and you MUST first make sure that the specific vehicle CAN BE imported into the USA. MANY foreign made vehicles, do NOT meet the US laws re pollution controls, and other safety rules.
I would strongly suggest that you talk directly to the US Customs Service, to get the proper information and the required FORMS, that you will need to fill out.
I would say its very unlikely. Cars which don't exist in the US market don't spend the millions it takes to get safety certification. So it becomes very easy for a DMV to say no. You would have to have a really good reason to do it anyways, cars are far cheaper in the US.
I know a number of people wanted to bring in more modern VW Bugs and Vans, vehicles VW stopped getting certified in the US decades ago. You really can't get around it for these models.
A Mexican plated car purchased by an American can be driven in Mexico but would have to be over 21 yrs old to be imported into the US. Anything earlier would have to have all the Smog, Safety Glass etc installed by a US CERTIFIED LICENED facility in the US. There were about half a dozen in the US. I had the info from the DOD in Washington DC as I had purchased two trucks for my business at one time. I was quoted $5k as a starter price for a $1k truck.
Best to check with them. They do not allow just any kind of car into the US.
The facility I visited in southern Calif had some EXOTIC Euro cars being worked on that were never LEGALLY imported into the US on a mass basis.
An American friend living in Baja LEGALLY had his US car Mexican plated and was allowed to drive it across the border and back home.......different strokes for different people.
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