Trailering Goods Down

Has anyone pulled a trailer of some of their items down with them rather than shipping them with a mover? Can this be done if you are coming down on the FMM visa with the intent of switching to the FM3 when down there? I am not talking about a big load, maybe just a small 4X8 trailer, almost too small a load for a mover. Thanks.

From my clients experience, it seems to always be easier to go to the border and see if you get a green light or nice agent as people who have obtained FM3s and the menaje de casa have told me nightmare stories about trying to get their permission and being held up for many hours at the border and even then having to pay after endless paperwork prior to the trip in attempts to avoid hassles. If you are not bringing down valuables or new goods it may be worth a try.

Yes and don't cross at Laredo as they are tougher there.

We moved to our house in Toluca pulling an 8X12 trailer stuffed to the gills. We had an agent in Nogales, whom we had spoken with previously. We went to his office with our Manaje de casa and within a couple of hours he had all the paperwork ready. When we crossed the border we had to pull over to be inspected by the Mexican Customs, then we were cleared to go.

The only surprise was on the cuotas where as they charged us the higher fee for having an extra axle. We weren't thinking they'd do that. So our cost were significantly higher than we'd planned. Going through the city and villages was no problem.

A followup question. For those that trailered down, if you came through Laredo, our probable point of crossing, did you go all the way to Ajijic in one day or did you do a two day trip? If you did two days, where was the stopover and did you feel the trailer was secure where you stopped?

mrum wrote:A followup question. For those that trailered down, if you came through Laredo, our probable point of crossing, did you go all the way to Ajijic in one day or did you do a two day trip? If you did two days, where was the stopover and did you feel the trailer was secure where you stopped?

I hate when U come out in the Morning and the Trailer is Gone....

U might want to invest $10 in a chain & padlock

To reach Ajijic in one day from Laredo would require that you drive at night - something that is not recommended for many reasons. The website of the US Consulate in GDL has a fairly accurate explanation of why night driving is a bad idea on Mexican roads. Depending on what time we actually crossed the border at Laredo (morning by choice, afternoon by reason of delay at customs), we would stay over one night at Los Mochis, or one night at Hermosillo and one night in Mazatlan. Others probably have lots of recommendations for places to stay. We found Best Western had good security in Los Mochis and Mazatlan. Fiesta Americana in Hermosillo was great fun and parking very secure but maybe a little more $$$ than folks would want to pay.

manymoonsago:

Is there a town named Laredo on the Arizona-Mexico border?

CheenaGringo wrote:manymoonsago:

Is there a town named Laredo on the Arizona-Mexico border?

Many moons ago there was

I hauled a double axle 24' enclosed trailer load from Toronto to Chapala last November and crossed at Bridge 2 in Laredo. The Menage de Casa was certified by the Mexican Consulate in Toronto prior to departing (to the tune of $160!!). When we got to the border, we found out Aduana will not allow an individual to "self clear". You need some special form that only a broker can prepare (so we were told at each of the other crossings we tried). To make a long story short, we ended up evaluating the goods on our list at garage sale prices, paid the 16% and were on our way.

Drove non stop from NL to Chapala sticking to the Cuotas. The roads after dark were still loaded with lots of truck traffic so at no time did we not feel safe. The tolls are pretty steep though with the extra axles so next time I may take the free roads and just travel slower and during the day only.

Ezzie wrote:I hauled a double axle 24' enclosed trailer load from Toronto to Chapala last November ...
Drove non stop from NL to Chapala sticking to the Cuotas. .... The tolls are pretty steep though with the extra axles so next time I may take the free roads and just travel slower and during the day only.

Ewwwww, Ezzie, if you ever do that once, even by mistake, on even one stretch.... you will be back on the cuotas. It's like going back in time 30 years, being routed through the middle of towns... you'll pay more for hotels and way more for gas with the stop/start/stop/start.

Just bite the bullet on the extra axles. I've done it plenty of times.

Merry

Very keen to hear more on this topic. We are moving down in early January pulling a dual axle 16' cargo trailer. We are planning on having our menaje"pre-cleared" by the Consulate in Calgary. Should we expect about double for tolls? ...more?
BTW Merry, we will be southsiders too.

PoCo2012:

If you go to:
http://aplicaciones4.sct.gob.mx/sibuac_internet/ControllerUI;jsessionid=rkCWQJQL3VJnY5wdc7jHVWgRlLtJ9hCGJ2nntwtNhwNmY1hvQf3q!-1463128220!-242882341?action=cmdEscogeRuta&eligeIdioma=si
You will be able to calculate tolls, Take note that they have an option under "Type of Vehicle" for auto plus trailer with 2 axles.

PoCo2012

I would suggest you not bother with the Consulate in Calgary since you will find that their certification of your Menage de Casa is not acceptable to Aduana unless you have a Customs Broker handle the importation paperwork. It is far more cost effective to just present the Menage de Casa yourself and declare nominal amounts for the dutiable goods and pay the 16%. Use garage sale prices for your valuations.

Only if you have high valued household items does it make sense to try and get a duty exemption and hire a broker. Aduana just want a bit of cash from you then your all good!!

Typically there is no duty applied to goods on a Menaje de Casa. You're allowed to bring in your household good when you move to Mexico. We were not charged a single Peso.

David wrote:Typically there is no duty applied to goods on a Menaje de Casa. You're allowed to bring in your household good when you move to Mexico. We were not charged a single Peso.

Sorry David but this is slightly misleading. It is what I thought too but Aduana at NL would not let me into the country with my "Menage de Casa" (that I took the time to get certified at the Mexican Consulate in Toronto). In order to be allowed entry in the country - they insisted I MUST have a Broker do the clearance (some special form required that only Brokers can fill out for you). They will not allow an individual to clear their own Menage de Casa. I tried both Bridge 2 and the Columbia crossing and was rejected at both and sent back to the USof A. Since it was on a weekend, no "Brokers" were available and I did not want to wait until Monday.

I simply took my Menage de Casa, listed the prices I thought the stuff might sell for at a garage sale, added it up and paid the 16% and was allowed into Mexico with my trailer load and we were on our way. No problemo. Note that items such as clothing, shoes (personal goods) are duty exempt, but your household furnishings are dutiable if you do it this way. In my case, I declared a total value of a little over $1K US and paid 1700 ps. duty. This was far less expensive than hiring a broker at the border. That is when I finally understood that it's all about the money. Aduana just wants a little cash from you and then everybody is all smiles!!

Getting a "Menage de Casa" certified by your Consulate back home before you leave is a total waste of time and money UNLESS you have high valued goods and intend to have a Broker do the paperwork for you and assist you with the clearance at the border upon entry.

Perhaps NL has their own way. Nogales no problema.

Ezzie:

As so often comes up on various Mexico forums, people often make assumptions that because it happened to them one particular way at a certain border crossing, that would be the way it happens at all crossings. I cannot count the number of times we have crossed the border between New Mexico and Mexico and we have never pulled into the declare lane with our fully loaded mini van . Each time when we have been blessed with the "red light", all I said was: for our house in Chapwe never paid a dime. Is that a guarantee or endorsement that it would happen at any border crossing? Hell no!

Agreed. When it comes to Mexico there is no norm. That is why you can always find an adventure.

I just want to make sure that the original poster is aware of the fact that they should not assume that their Menage de Casa will be accepted by Aduana. I will be bringing another trailer load down this fall and will be better prepared this time.

Yes, I do think our experience will depend on the person we face at the time. It's pretty much a crap shoot.
What we do hope to accomplish with having the Consulate peruse our documents is reassure us we are on the right "track" as far as the proper format. We don't expect it to be a "pass" when we get there, merely a confirmation we have what we may need if we get the dreaded red light. We do not expect to have to pay any kind of import fee as this is our one-time personal household goods shipment.
We are rather nervous about the whole process and want to do all we can up front to mitigate any disasters.
I want to be like the woman in that u-tube clip posted a year or so back where she whips out every document the guy asks for, even the stapler out of her sleeve at the end.

Thank you very much for your insight and sharing of your experiences. Thanks for the link CG that helps with our toll question.

PoCo2012 wrote:Very keen to hear more on this topic. We are moving down in early January pulling a dual axle 16' cargo trailer. We are planning on having our menaje"pre-cleared" by the Consulate in Calgary. Should we expect about double for tolls? ...more?

BTW Merry, we will be southsiders too.

OH WELCOME, Poco! I've been offline a bit more since moving into my new house. I've had an easier time than I expected adapting to the south side! Love, love, love it.

Merry

Ezzie wrote:... It is far more cost effective to just present the Menage de Casa yourself and declare nominal amounts for the dutiable goods and pay the 16%. Use garage sale prices for your valuations.

Only if you have high valued household items does it make sense to try and get a duty exemption and hire a broker. Aduana just want a bit of cash from you then your all good!!

This is exactly what I did, the total tax was less than US$75.

I had a 2-axle horse trailer and while the tolls were a little steep, I can't say they were any higher than in the US.

Merry

We crossed at Nogales with a 44' tri axle cargo trailer with no problems. The paperwork was done and the Mexican Consulate in Nogales AZ within a day. The only problem was translation stuff which required a back and forth thing for the day. Customs had no problem with the paperwork it just took a bit to talk them out of unloading the trailer to check things out. That was their way to ask for a bit of a Christmas bonus. We also imported 2 motorcycles and 2 cargo trailers at the same time. Customs checked the VIN numbers and off we were. Glad we did it at that time as we do not have to worry about vehicles and going imigrado down the road.

Remember the toll road cost get much higher depending on the number of axles
you have. Just a car or truck is $120USD from Lukeville Arizona to Guadalajara.