Traveling from San Diego

We are driving to Puerto Penasco this week from SD... do we need Mexican Auto Insurance? I’m concerned about being pulled over and asked for it.
Can we get coverage here in the US before we go?
Any and all advice welcome, thanks so much!
 

JayT

Guest
Yes, you need Mexican auto insurance if you're driving to Puerto Penasco. There are several companies that will sell you the coverage online before you go (e.g., Sanborn's, MexPro, etc.) Have fun!
 

Mexico Joe

Cholla Bay 4 Life
Thank you so much, I’ll look them up.
Let me take a second to explain the two types of Mexican Auto Insurance because I hadn't understood it until very recently.

You can buy a LIABILITY ONLY policy also referred to a DRIVERS LICENSE POLICY that will cover YOU THE PERSON against liability and it also fulfills your requirement by Mexican law to have liability insurance as someone operating a motor vehicle. So this makes you completely legal. This covers you as a person in ANY vehicle.

The second type of policy is, FULL COVERAGE POLICY on you and your vehicle. This fulfills your obligation to possess Mexican Auto Insurance by law which means in case of accident you're not being arrested and your vehicle will not be impounded. Secondly, you will be able to have an adjuster come address the state of the vehicle, take pictures and start the adjustment process. Your vehicle will then be fixed and you will be wired money later after you return to the states. So if you have a pricey vehicle this may be the way to go.

Option 1: We just paid like $150 for the entire year for a drivers license policy for two people.

Option 2: Full coverage can range anywhere from $50 - $75 for a 3 or 4 day trip so it is a lot more expensive but again it does cover the actual physical property (vehicle) and fulfill your Mexican legal requirement.

Have fun!
 
The third and most popular option is to buy a new pickup truck still with dealer tags, drive it down here with no insurance, and then get it stuck in the mud at low tide. The salt water would damage the engine, doors etc when the tide comes in, except they will be in a garage somewhere before sunup.

On a more serious note AAA also sells Mexico insurance. It’s not cheap. Once we were coming here regularly while the house was being built we went to Portuguese Insurance in town and bought for the year.
 
Costco and AAA as well
I shopped around alot online. AAA was not the cheapest by any means for a few days' stay. Many on line policies only go up to $300,000 in liability but we found a couple that go to $500,000. You can buy online and print the policy page to show.
 
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