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Yucatan In A German VW Van
Can a tourist leave a vehicle in Mexico and return for it later?

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Posted Sunday, October 10, 2004

Hallo, we are from Germany and we shipped our VW camping car to Canada 3 years ago. Now it is parked in Tempe, Arizona, our city's sister town. Next week we'll fly there and we want to continue our journey to Mexico. We want to go to Yucatan and leave the car at a campground or private place, ranch etc. Can you please tell me if there is a chance to find such a place there, because we would like to leave the car and continue our journey next spring.

Thank you, Ilse and Alfred from Germany

Dear Ilse and Alfred,

I'm sure that you can find a place to leave your van -- we did the same thing ourselves several years ago. The problem, however, is that your vehicle importation permit is only valid for the same period of time as your tourist card (visa). The maximum visit for tourists is 180 days.

In other words, if you leave Mexico without your van, your vehicle importation permit will probably expire before you return. This could present a serious problem -- in fact, if you were to be stopped by the authorities, there is a chance the vehicle would be confiscated if the permit had expired.

Sorry, but I can't think of a (legal) way around this limitation.

good luck,
Carl Franz

P.S. Click on the burro to return to the People' Guide To Mexico main page

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