USA plated car in Ensenada perm resident

Hi,   found this thread and realize it might be a little outdated but thought i could weigh-in wit what i know.

• Baja is a ”Free-zone”. My ex- mother-in-law lived in Cabo for 17 years with a vehicle we brought down from New Mexico. As long as it had current registration and Mexican insurance there was no problem (except NM only needs one lic. plate in the rear, so that had to b explained occasionally). It seemed no one there (BAJA) from the US bothered to get their vehicles changed over to Mexico and no one knew how!

• The issue becomes keeping your registration up-to-date.  California, Nevada and a number of other states require in-person inspections to renew registration. NM does not and beginning Jan. 2025, Texas will not. either use a friend or relative or maybe a mailbox service to update your registration so you do have to take it over the border for renewal inspection and registration.

• Keep US driver’s license up-to-date and consider an international DL (AAA offers this service), and to avoid problems it should match the state in which your vehicle is registered.

• Rent a car if you take a trip to the mainland.

I  do not believe this method will interfere with your international status (ie. no state residency income tax).

I  hope this helps anyone else and would be interested in any other comments.

@851rojos:

Thank you. This is good information.

You can also legalize via "mexican decreto" a car for less than 2K. Helpers at the border can do it for you for an additional service "fee"

@Mel01 I am a permanent resident in Baja and I drive a car with california plates. As long as you have a license from the same state as the plates you will have no problem.