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You fell in love South of the Border and want to bring the new object of your affection back to the United States. But we’re not talking about a romantic encounter — we’re referring to your latest set of wheels. So now the moment has come to think about shipping cars from Mexico to the U.S., and you’re unsure if you’d be able to legally purchase and import them.
Shipping cars from Mexico to the U.S. is not as daunting a prospect as it seems. While you will have some hoops to jump through with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and the Department of Transportation (DOT), proper planning will enable you to have your cars efficiently shipped from Mexico to the U.S.
The short answer is yes, you can bring Mexican cars into the U.S. The longer answer revolves around what steps you will be required to take in order to properly do so.
First, you will need to declare your vehicles with the CBP. This comes at an upfront cost, as automobiles are taxed at a rate of 2.5 percent of the price paid, trucks at 25 percent and motorcycles at 2.4 percent. These taxes apply for both new and used cars.
If you buy cars that were manufactured 25 years ago or earlier, you will not be subjected to regulations from the EPA or DOT. If the cars are 24 years old or newer, however, you will be. Virtually any car built for the Mexican marketplace is not going to meet the United States’ pollution and safety guidelines, so you will have to be thinking about the modifications needed to be made before it can be driven here.
The CBP plays an important role in helping secure the U.S.’s borders against illegal immigration, but also tries to step up in other ways, including monitoring motor vehicle imports.
The cars will have to be brought up to those standards or they will not be allowed on U.S. roads. In fact, they will be either exported back to Mexico or, worse, destroyed.
Bringing vehicles up to emission and safety standards can be prohibitively expensive — possibly thousands of dollars in its own right — and time-consuming (because it might have to go to multiple specialty automotive shops to get all the modifications made), so definitely factor that into your decision to import automobiles from Mexico.
Every car that would be imported from Mexico doesn’t necessarily require extensive retrofitting to meet EPA or DOT standards, but it is your responsibility to know and price it beforehand.
For the actual shipping portion of getting your cars from Mexico to the U.S., you will need to contact a transport service company to help you out. That carrier or shipper should let you know the date your vehicles are arriving so you can relay that information to the CBP to arrange processing.
To clear the CBP, you will need several items:
Once you’ve secured a shipper, you’ll need to fill out Form 3520-1 from the EPA and Form HS-7 from the DOT. Will you need other documents for auto transport? Get the scoop on essential car shipping documents.
This is one of those things that depends on a variety of aspects related to the shipping, which means the cost could be anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. Here are some of the deciding factors that impact how much you’ll spend when having your new ride transported:
Distance — This is probably obvious. The further your car has to go from its origin in Mexico to its final destination in the U.S., the more it is going to cost. If the car is being shipped from Tijuana to Bangor, Maine, expect to cost more than if the same vehicle were being sent to Los Angeles.
Speed — If you have a car that you need to make it from Mexico to America in a short amount of time, we’re talking about expedited shipping at that point. While a good shipping company can accommodate such a request, it will inherently be more expensive for the extra effort involved to ensure your set of wheels gets there faster. Also, while we will explore the other differences in the next section, it is generally faster to ship via ground than it is via ocean transport.
Method — The two ways to ship the cars (as mentioned above) are by ground or by sea. If you’re focused solely on saving time and money, then ground shipping is for you. It will always be quicker and cheaper than shipping by ocean vessel. In fact, ocean shipping is anywhere from 2 to 5 times more expensive, depending on the car’s starting and ending points.
Where ocean shipping shines as a transportation option is the enhanced safety and reliability. Your car is stored in its own 20-foot container, not on a long-hauler with other cars. Also, if you’re shipping a very expensive or rare vehicle, having it on the back of a trailer during ground shipment could invite potential theft to occur. The other neat thing about shipping this way is you can add other personal items in the container should you choose to. Also, for a reduced rate, you can choose a 40-foot container and have your car shipped with another customer’s vehicle to realize some more savings.
The most common type of transportation is called Roll On/Roll Off (or Ro-Ro), which is a method of shipping via sea where vehicles are able to be driven right onto and off of the ship using specialized ramps so that the cars don’t touch water. It is well-known to be a cost-effective method of sending your car from one place to another.
Here are some things you must do before the cars will clear customs:
Mexico already plays a giant hand in building American cars. The Ford Fusion, Dodge Ram and Chevrolet Silverado are all produced in the North American country.
In fact, General Motors Company (GMC) is currently the largest automaker in Mexico and the Silverado, a pickup truck, is the company’s best seller. GMC’s Mexican-manufactured vehicles accounted for 23 percent of its sales in the U.S. in 2018.
In that same year, of the approximately 17.2 million new vehicles sold in America, roughly 2.57 million were built in Mexico.
On the other hand, there are several models not manufactured by American car companies that are unavailable in the U.S. but are in Mexico. Highlights include the Peugeot RCZ, Alfa Romeo Giulietta and Fiat Palio Adventure.
But the bond between Mexico and the U.S. in regard to the auto industry is much stronger than just the cars built there.
Even if you own a U.S.-made vehicle, there is a very good chance it has parts that were produced in Mexico. According to the United States Department of Commerce, in 2018 alone, the U.S. imported over $59 billion from Mexico; the next biggest import came from China at $20 billion.
That cuts the other way as well. During the same period, U.S. parts producers sent $32.5 billion worth of supplies to Mexico in order to manufacture automobiles.
You’ve filled out the forms and contacted a carrier to ship your vehicles. Here comes the “fun” part. As previously mentioned, if your vehicles don’t meet the EPA’s pollution standards or the DOT’s safety standards, the cars are not considered road-worthy.
These modifications must be made before the cars can legally be driven. This can be a very costly and complicated experience.
Furthermore, vehicles built after Sept. 1, 1978 need to meet the bumper standard and automobiles manufactured from 1987 need to conform to theft-prevention standards.
While the above are legal requirements, there are some optional things to do to your vehicle before shipping that will possibly give you better peace of mind and protect your new investment.
Visually inspect your car: Earlier, it was mentioned that you must clean your car to keep it free of foreign soil. After that occurs, it would be a good time to complete a close visual inspection. Taking pictures of your car and noting any existing imperfections allows you to have something on record should the vehicle show up to its destination with any dents, scratches or other damage that you aren’t familiar with.
Taking it a step further, it may assuage your fears of your car being mistreated if you take a picture of the odometer before it is loaded onto a transportation company’s truck. A reputable company will not be doing anything besides driving your car onto and off of the hauler, so the odometer should not have moved more than a mile — or at all.
If your car has a toll or parking pass, you may want to remove that from the vehicle in the event that the hauler transporting your car goes through tolls and triggers your pass. Also, while you will be expected to remove all personal effects from your new purchase, you should absolutely leave the following items with your car:
This is for the transportation company’s sake during shipping and for your own when the car gets to you. The last thing when inspecting your own car is make some handwritten notes to the driver about your vehicle. If the vehicle has a door that sticks or maybe a rear window that is waiting to be repaired and shouldn’t be rolled down because it won’t go back up, it is important for that to be documented.
This is the driver for the carrier, so he’s more aware of how to operate your car while he is driving it on and off the hauler.
Maintenance your car: Why ship the car and then not be able to drive it once it reaches its new home? There are a few easy precautions to take so your vehicle is in its best condition and ready for its tires to meet asphalt.
Your gas tank should be emptied to about 1/4 of a tank, while the rest of your fluids (oil, brake, etc.) should all be checked to make sure they are at acceptable levels. Also ensuring the car’s battery is fully charged is a good idea, as is also making sure the tire pressure for each wheel is at an appropriate level. Learn more about how to prepare a car for transport.
Taking care of the car’s exterior: While it may be unlikely that your new car from Mexico has the following, it’s a good practice to uninstall or secure any racks — for luggage, bike or skiing — that might be present. If you have an older-style protruding antenna, it might be smart to either retract it or remove it if feasible. If your car has foldable side view mirrors, those should be folded in toward the car.
If you belong to a very specific group of people, you are able to avoid duties on an imported vehicle:
Unless you fall into one of these three categories though, you will be on the hook for paying duties.
In 2019, the United States government threatened to impose tariffs on all imports from Mexico. While the White House backed off those claims, that is something anyone looking to import cars from Mexico should monitor going forward. Those proposed tariffs would increase the cost for the car manufacturers, who would, in turn, pass the cost on to consumers i.e. you. This would also show up when getting repairs made on your imported vehicles. With a good share of car parts produced in Mexico and imported into America, potential tariffs could increase the price of an already costly repair or even general maintenance.
Shipping cars from Mexico to the U.S. is not an impossible task by any means but one that requires a well-thought-out plan and some crossing of the t’s and dotting of the i’s. With the above tips, you should be able to have the vehicles you want across the border and in your driveway in as little time as possible.
When you’re ready to ship cars from Mexico to the U.S., R+L Global Logistics is here to help. We have over 30 years of international auto transport knowledge and experience that we put to work for you. With a 99.5% on-time delivery rate and real-time freight visibility, you can rest assured that your shipment of cars will be handled properly.
R+L Global Logistics also offers customer service should any issues come up or if there is just a simple question about any aspect of the shipping process.
Contact us today to receive an auto transport quote for your cross border shipment of cars and we’ll handle the rest. Need more help? Give us a call at (866) 322-1381.
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