Get US Plates in Mexico
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- Опубліковано 20 кві 2021
- If you're moving to Mexico, you probably want to have a car. Having US license plates keeps things easy. In this video, I'll share how to get US plates in Mexico, without having to return annually to the US for emissions inspections.
It's pretty common to see South Dakota plates in Mexico. South Dakota does not require you to either living in the state or bring your car to an inspection station. You can file everything remotely and they will mail your plates to you.
You'll find the forms and contact information for Clay County South Dakota here. The treasury department handles vehicle registrations and they are really helpful when you call them: www.claycountysd.org/treasurer...
605-677-7123
Mail everything to:
Clay County Treasurer
211 W Main St #201,
Vermillion, SD 57069
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Wow! Excellent video and very explanatory. Thank you for doing this.
Glad it was helpful!
Great vid, ty.
Thank you 💪💪
You're welcome!
Hilarious at 1:35 how you cross out South America and put South Dakota! - Dane
Thanks for catching that! Close enough, right?
That Brighton West is a pretty hilarious guy!
During my stay in Tijuana, I did this with a 97 Corolla. I left it with my brother and he has since got Baja California plates for the car. Intrestingly, it is still registered to South Dakota and the SD plates are still valid so the car is registered in two countries. 😅
I've been told you can do that - and switch the plates when you cross the border.
No videos "up hear"... Just the info I'm looking for! In mexico and contemplating buying here or in the states🙏💙
Oops - I still haven't made a video about buying a car in Mexico...
thanks for the info but I'm not clear on how to fill out the "Type Of Ownership" box since I'm an individual - not and/or. Do I write individual in both the Type Of Ownership box as well as in the Customer Type box or leave the Type Of Ownership box blank? Muchas Gracias
I'm not 100% sure. I would think you're correct in writing individual. But you may want to contact Clay county to be sure.
Thank you for this detailed walk-thru! We're going through this process now. Quick question: Is it possible to do this, if the car was purchased many years ago? As in, we purchased the car in Oregon in 2005 and it's been registered in Louisiana since 2016. Just curious if this causes any hiccups. Thanks again, just subscribed :)
I don't think this should be any problem. It's just like moving to another state, but without having to step foot in North Dakota ;-)
West, thank you for the insight, you're amazing. I really appreciate your help I just started watching your channel. I sold everything my house and all my possessions in Phoenix and moved to Cabo 2 weeks ago. My plan is to live here as a full-time resident 12 months a year.
I have a 2017 Nissan Armada and the plates are due in 9/2022 I was planning on getting a 2023 from a Nissan dealership in California or Yuma when they come out hopefully before the end of the year. Due to all chip issues with cars production has slowed down drastically. Is it best to just renew my plates for now to South Dakota ones temporarily until I get a new 2023? Also am I going to have any issues buying a new 2023 in San Diego or Yuma and bringing it back to Cabo at the end of this year? Any insight would be amazing and helpful and appreciative.
I wouldn't worry too much about being pulled over for having expired plates. I drove with expired plates for 6 months (but that was in the heat of the pandemic.) Depends on your tolerance for risk.
We also crossed the border with a new-to-us RV with expired tags and temporary registration papers and had no problems. Maybe if you have a loan on the car, you might need something from your loan company?
Also, consider whether you need to register in the state you buy the car or if you can go direct to SD plates. Might be better to buy in Arizona or California depending on policies at the DMV.
Sorry to provide no exact answers - but you have new questions to ask!
@@AlmostRetiredinMexico the reason why I was considering registering my 2017 Armada now in South Dakota so I at least have a track record in their State DMV and I could probably just transfer the tags to my new 2023 Nissan Armada whenever I get it later this year in California or Arizona. I hope this makes sense. This sounds like the most logical thing to do but I would love your opinion. Isn't the maximum it cost to register a vehicle around $90 in South Dakota regardless of the value of the vehicle?
@@jamescadzow9545 I didn't think about transferring the tag - that would be nice. I think I paid $200 to register my old car, but I'm not sure how that was broken down. The women who answer the phone at Clay County Treasurer's office are super helpful - give them a call and they can help guide you!
@@AlmostRetiredinMexico thanks West I'll try to call the county tomorrow. Thanks so much for your help have a wonderful night
Hola friend! Just to be clear, if driving and keeping my California plated car in LaPaz, I can just register it online in SD when my plates expire? You always have great information 👍🏽
Yes - you'll send your California title to SD to transfer it to SD. Then you can have them FedEx your plates to Mexico, or have them shipped to a friend to bring down when they visit.
@@AlmostRetiredinMexico what a great concept!! Thank you 😊
Oh my god Thank you so much, I bought a car from Japan and as a Californian resident trying to register it here will kill me, I'm going to register it in SD!
Note that if you drive it in the USA and get pulled over by the police, they will expect your license plate to match your driver's license.
Im pretty sure I can just drive around in a SD registered car with a Cali licence
@@LSniumUwU As a California resident (AKA, having a Cali license) you have 20 days to register your car in Cali. That said, it would only get enforced if you got pulled over for something unrelated and the cop ran your license and registration thru the computer.
@@AlmostRetiredinMexico yeah I bought the car 4 months ago, but not planning to register it here since I would have to bring the car to a California inspection place whered theyd have to modify the car to fit California emissions, which costs around 15-20 thousand dollars, and California registration is stupidly expensive, but for now I don't drive the car until I get it registered haha
Question-Where do you mail this from in La Paz? And how do you receive mail in La Paz from the USA? And do I use a CA physical address so that DMV in SD can mail the registration & plates there? Thanks a ton!
Great questions. I would send this via FedEx from La Paz. I think their office is on 5 de Febrero near the McDonalds. As for receiving, there is a service called Mail Baja. You use their San Diego address and they drive the mail down weekly to La Paz. mailbaja.com/la-paz/
And it looks like they have a special service specifically to handle SD registrations: mailbaja.com/la-paz/south-dakota-car-registration/
Thank you this is good to know. I have two questions. Can I still do this process if my registration in California has expired? Do they require you to have vehicle insurance? In mexico if your car isn't registered in their country they call them chocolate cars and have impounded tens of thousand of vehicles. I'm trying to do this because the deadline is Dec 31 in two weeks.
I'm not sure about the expiration date issue. You should call the Clay County treasurer.
You don't need US insurance to register in South Dakota.
Chocolate cars are a little different. They aren't registered, but they are driven by Mexicans (who aren't allowed to drive foreign plated cars.) They should be imported, but the drivers cannot afford to import them, of there is a problem with the title. Often these cars have "plates" from Anapromex.
But foreigners (tourists and temporary residents) are allowed to drive cars with foreign plates. It's a gray area whether permanent residents can drive foreign plated cars in the Baja Peninsula - it's generally accepted that they can.
How long does the process take for them to get back to you & how long does it take for the plates to arrive
I can't remember. I forgot to mail my application and found it later in some files. I think it was just a week or two after I finally mailed off the application that the plates arrived. I was in the US at that point. So if you're in Mexico, you'll need a way to get the plates to your address. Lots of folks use a mail forwarding service.
Quick question, did you send the original title or a Xeroxed copy of the title to South Dakota's Treasure's Office?
I sent the original
@@AlmostRetiredinMexico Thank you so much!! I appreciate it.
Sweet ima try to get this soon
Good luck!
West,
Thank you. I am a bit confused about the comment on bill of sale. I bought the car 2 years ago from myTexas dealer, but don’t have it. What does Clay county need? I do have my title.
I think the bill of sale is only important if you just bought it (transferring title into your name, versus just transferring from another state without changing names.)
What about insurance
Hold up, so I could live in New Jersey and get South Dakota license plates to drive around also? WITHOUT having a SD license??
Yes, you could get SD plates and drive around in NJ. Without a SD license. However, you'd probably be violating NJ law which probably states that residents must register their car in NJ (typically within 60 days.) SD would be fine with it though. ;-)
What about proof of insurance?
Most states ask for that within 30 days of registering.
That's interesting. It seems that ND requires carrying insurance, but maybe they don't require proof? I don't have US car insurance on this car because it's only driven in Mexico. I don't remember any questions about insurance.
The video didn’t mention the mailing address to send the title to SD???? Does anyone know the address to FedEx the app?
It’s in the video description: Clay County Treasurer
211 W Main St #201,
Vermillion, SD 57069
Additionally, if I fill in “or”, where do I add my wife’s name and does she need to sign the bottom of the document.
Can I drive my car down with Texas license plates and do the South Dakota plates once I’m in Mexico?
It’s best to call Clay County to get definitive answers. They are super helpful for out of state residents.
I’m not sure if a car can legally have plates in 2 states at one time. But I’m sure Clay County could answer that. Their phone number should be in the description for this video.
What if it's a vehicle that isn't sold in America can I still put a plate on it? Like a peugeot or something I bought in mexico but want american plates
Interesting. I’m girding if it’s not allowed to be imported into the US then you won’t be able to register it and get plates. But if the car can be imported legally, I would think you could get plates even if the car is never in the US. They’d a tricky one - best to find an expert…
can my buddy buy a car in Mexico and do this? does he just pay taxes on the purchase price, once in south dakota??
I believe so.
Hi West, I just moved to Cabo this August, I drove down from California, I have a Permanent Resident Visa Card. I still have my CA plates on my vehicle. What's the best course of action without penalities? Thanks, Tom
Assuming the vehicle will stay in Mexico, you should be able to just fill out the application and send your current title to South Dakota. That said, I know that California is tougher than other states when it comes to not letting you "escape taxes" so you might want to talk with an expert. If you are going to live full time in Cabo, it might be good to officially move from California to another state like South Dakota to avoid state income tax, etc.
i want to drive from san diego to cabo, can yo please tell me if i need a something like a perment for my car?
Can I ask why this would be necessary versus getting the car nationalized? Also with the US plates, don't you need to renew your TIP sticker?
Let me try to answer, but I'm not 100% clear on this. First off, we live on the Baja Peninsula, so rules here are different than mainland Mexico. I've heard that nationalizing can be expensive and there seems to be restrictions on how old the car can be. I've also heard that insurance can be more expensive with Mexican plates. Your plates should match your driver's license, so if you keep US plates, you don't need to get a Mexican DL.
On the flip side, I've heard that permanent residents in mainland Mexico cannot drive cars with US plates.
@@AlmostRetiredinMexico Thanks for the answer, I appreciate it.
Hi,
Can I buy a baja plated or mainland plated mexican car and register it in South Dakota, then drive it to usa ?
Cars manufactured for the Mexican market cannot be registered in the US because they don't meet the US Federal Safety standards. But I'm guessing if someone imported a US car into Mexico and plated it in Mexico, it could go back to the US.
Can you live in California and still drive around with SD plates? And how about insurance?
You could, but if you got pulled over the cop saw your driver's license was from CA, they would give you a ticket for not having moved your registration to California. This doesn't really work in the US if you have a residence somewhere. It could work if you were living out of a motorhome maybe.
As to insurance, this video is for people living in Mexico, so they wouldn't have US insurance on their car. They'd have Mexican insurance.
Can I register a new car ? I’m in Baja ,my car is a 2022
Yes, we bought this car in Mexico and sent the old title to South Dakota to get new plates.
Can an Australian do this ? What about social service number. ?? etc..
If you get a TIP for mexico and are leaving do you need to adhere to car age restrictions ?
I’m not 100% sure. But I think you’d need to be a US citizen or resident.
For the TIP, you need to cancel your TIP at the border when you leave
@@AlmostRetiredinMexico thanks. Looking at options
What is the mailing address for Clay County?
Check the description.
Clay County Treasurer
211 W Main St #201,
Vermillion, SD 57069
I don’t get it, the permit at the border will want the car back in the US before it expires. How can the vehicle stay in Mexico longer than allowed?
I'm in the baja peninsula where there is no TIP needed. And I believe TIPs last up to 4 years.
Hi, I sent my paper work over 3 weeks ago and I haven't received any response, I keep calling and no one answers. What shoul i do?
Are you working with Clay County? They are the most helpful and usually answer their phone or call back. I guess I'd just keep trying if I were you. This is maybe one flaw in the system. Because you don't live there, you can't really call the mayor's office to ask to get something un-stuck!
www.claycountysd.org/treasurersoffice.cfm
605-677-7123
Thank you.
Is there a limit as to the age of a car you can bring to Baja Mexico? Also is there a cut off point as far as mileage? Thanks!
I don’t believe there are any limits as long as you stay in the Baja.
@@AlmostRetiredinMexico thank you
@@AlmostRetiredinMexico baja sur too? like all the way to cabo? do i need a permit?
@@elnitro2361 No TIP needed for all of Baja (Norte and Sur) plus a bit of Sonora.
Can you do this while being a resident of another US state?
I don’t think South Dakota cares. We are residents of Oregon. If we brought the car back to Oregon, the Oregon state law would require us to register in Oregon. But if tue car stays in Mexico, it just needs US plates (to get Mexican plates the process is complicated.)
SD is an open title state. A lot of counties will fight you and deny you, but it is a state law. You'd have to threaten or even take legal action to get them to help you. However no state is going to let you drive a vehicle not licensed with them if you are a resident. Just because its legal for SD to title and register your vehicle doesn't mean its legal to drive it in your state(where you hold residency).
Sorry, don’t have a bill of sale
QUESTION....
CAN YOU BUY A CALIFORNIA TITLED CAR HERE IN BAJA THAT HAS A SIGNED OVER TITLE ( BUT NOT YET IN YOUR NAME)
THEN APPLY VIA MAIL FOR S.D. PLATES ?
OR
DO YOU FIRST HAVE TO HAVE CALIFORNIA DMV FIRST PUT IT IN YOUR NAME ? 🙂
I'm not sure, but you can call the ladies in Clay County - they are super helpful. 605-677-7123
Could I get my plates before going to Mexico? I figure it would be better to get everything mailed to US addresses instead of dealing with sending stuff to Mexico.
Yes - I think the only issue would be getting pulled over in the US before you go to Mexico. The cops in the US seem to like the state on your plates to match the state on your driver's license. But I'm guessing you could explain that you are in the process of moving to Mexico...
Great and clear information, Mr West! Do I need to mail in the original Title Document or would a copy suffice? I have car in California
I mailed my original, and I think that's needed. But you can call Clay County at 605-677-7123. They are super helpful!
@@AlmostRetiredinMexico Thanks
Did this work I sent over all information and they are asking for port fees and certification from dealer I have original title and bill of sale
@@jasonponce7887 It worked seamlessly for me but my car is staying in California. I can't speak for cars going to (or in) Mexico
@@jackg9006 you did this while leaving your car in California and everything worked fine? I'm considering the same process.
Baja? That's like saying Cape. I live in Cape..... Cape what? Exactly!
I know. I know. I'm working on getting rid of my "American language" and using the more correct Mexican names. And yes, I know that "American" isn't a good term to describe people from Estados Unidos...
And I appreciate the corrections - it helps keep me on my feet and improving!
I assume it's just 4% of NADA value if you own the car outright?
4% seems about right for what we paid. But I think it’s set by the price we paid (and wrote on the title transfer.)
I drove my car in Chihuahua , Mexico with California license plates and was in an accident. It was my fault. The police came , they removed and confiscated both my vehicle’s license plates .They refused to return my California license plates to me.
They typically take your plates (they do this for parking tickets) to make sure you pay your fine or properly settle the accident. They should have returned them when everything was cleared up (if you were found to be at fault, then you'd pay for the damage, etc.) They will also take a foreigner's drivers license to make sure they pay a fine (instead of just going back to the US.)
@@AlmostRetiredinMexico I had been in Mexico for over two years living with relatives. The police officer told me that he had seen the car already long ago and it was time for me to get Chihuahua license plates.
@@marthagomez7335 did you end up getting the plates? was your car eligible to get registered in Mexico?
@@campampates yes, I got them back, I had to go to the police station to get them.
Registering a U.S. car in Mexico is expensive. It has to become nationalized.
Why do people call it Baja? It’s Baja California, not Baja.
I'm trying to break that habit. Lots of gringos call it Baja. Technically it's the "Baja California Peninsula," comprised of the states of Baja California and Baja California Sur.
Just get a mexican car like a renault or a peugeot
I think those are French ;-)
@@AlmostRetiredinMexico Both sold in México, I've got a Renault Duster and my wife has got a Renault Kwid, both cars are cheap to mantain, decent fuel consumption and very reliable even in tough roads. A friend of mine drives a Peugeot 301 and is very reliable too. Greetings from Guanajuato.
I'll have to watch for those. Are they really just $10,000 for a new car? That's great! Thanks for sharing.
@@AlmostRetiredinMexico for 10K USD you can get a Fiat Mobi or a Renault Kwid, in our experience Kwid is the best option (more airbags), I'm 193 cm tall and drove it for almost 7 hours to Ixtapa and resulted pretty comfortable, also fuel consumption was about 19 km per litre.
West,
Why do I need to use South Dakota ? Who cares about USA laws if I’m droving in Mexico with Mexican insurance.
Sorry - my comment was only about your drive to Texas while still in the US.
But I just thought of something. Are you going to be a permanent Mexico resident on the mainland? If you’re temporary or tourist or you are only in the Baja peninsula, then SD plates should work. But if you are a permanent Mexico resident on the mainland, then you need Mexican plates (and a process to import your car that is arduous and very limited.)
@@AlmostRetiredinMexico
Cabo. Probably only 6-8 months a year, but never more than 45 days straight
OK - things are easy in Baja California. Will you be driving back into your home state after your 45 day stays? The big benefit of SD plates is that you aren't required to bring the vehicle in for any tests ever. So if the car never goes back to the US, it's the only way to keep US plates current. So if you are going back, no need to change plates.
Except, I have a theory that the Mexican police treat cars with ND plates like locals, and cars with other US plates as tourists.
@@AlmostRetiredinMexico
Ok. That makes sense about treated as locals. Thank you