Finding a car in Mexico took me about 3 months but I found that the best time to buy a car is the last week of the month since dealerships are trying to close out sales before end of the month
Buying your own car
If you are an expat in Mexico and you just moved to Mexico, you are going to need quite a few documents and a good amount of savings. I have explained below the experience I had when buying a car and what I needed.
Where to buy your car?
There are quite a lot of car dealership options in Mexico and the common ones known by everyone is Toyota, Nissan, Chevy and list goes on. You can do a google search near you area for these dealerships and there is quite a variety of them in major cities. In addition to these dealerships, following are some dealerships unique to Mexico used commonly by Mexicans.
Financing
Being an expat and just having moved to Mexico means you have no credit history in Mexico. So financing or leasing a car becomes quite difficult to do with car dealerships. So here are the options I was given from the car dealerships. Bargaining is common in Mexico, so always present them a price and if you can pay full by cash and if it is closer to the end of the month, there is a huge possibility that the dealership agrees to your price.
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If you need a loan/ to finance the car, try to get a letter from your bank in the US about your credit history and certifying you have a good credit history
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Open a credit card in Mexico and build your credit history in Mexico
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Pay the total of the car in cash
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Pay the total of the car using a credit card from the US
Documents needed
Once you have resolved your finances to buy the car, you need the following documents to buy the car from the dealership
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Passport
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Mexico Temporary Resident card
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Mexican Driving License preferred/ US driving license
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Mexican driving license is needed when registering the car. Your non-Mexican driving license will not be accepted.​
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Mexico CURP
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Your payment
What happens after buying the car?
After purchasing your car from the dealership, ensure that you receive at least the following documents from the dealership
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Payment invoice
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Vehicle registration certificate/ Constancia de Registro Vehicular
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Title of the car
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Document with Vehicle information and ownership history
Once the purchase is completed, you will need to go to the DMV or Instituto De Control Vehicular to register the car under your name, purchase car plates. During this visit, they will transfer the title of the vehicle and car plates to your name. This will cost roughly MX $3600 - 5000 pesos. For this appointment make sure take the following documents
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Car payment invoice
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Vehicle registration certificate/ Constancia de Registro Vehicular
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Title of the car
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Document with Vehicle information and ownership history
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Temporary Resident card
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Mexican Driving license
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Mexico CURP
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Utility bill within last 2 months
Auto insurance
Once the vehicle is registered, next critical step is to get auto insurance before driving. It is reccomended to get full coverage to your vehicle that include coverage for 3rd party, theft and damages, medical, road side assistance and legal assistance. Following are some auto insurance companies available in Mexico.
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Chubb
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AIG
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AXA