Selling Foreign Plated Bike in Mexico
 

Hi fellow riders,

I am seeking advice regarding how to sell a foreign plated motorbike in Mexico. I have purchased my bike in Chile and now find myself in Central America looking to legelly sell it for (hopefully) what it is worth. I do have a few months up my sleeve to sell the bike and i would be open to selling it outside Mexico however Mexico would be preffered.

I have read many threads and begun to develop quite a headache, i understand this process is difficult to legally pull off. First of all i have found it is illegal to sell a motorbike on the temporary TVIP import permit. Secondly i have found you need some form of temporary or permemant residency to get the motorbike registered with Mexican plates in order to sell. A few threads have mentioned illegal ways of getting rid of the bike for little cash however it is hard to rely on such info,

Here are a few interesting threads relating to this topic:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...a-mexico-66571

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...r-mexico-64218

Is there anyone out there who could shine light onto this process? Are there any countries in Central America that have more simplistic rules to sell a foreign vehicle? Can selling a Chilean vehicle outside of Chile and keeping the original plates (only updating ownership papers) be an option?

Any updated information would be huge huge hugely appreciated!!

James

Potential customers might be limited to Chilean citizens or Foreigners who have registered for a RUT in Chile.
Other complications might include reports that vehicles are not supposed to be out of Chile for more than 6 months and have to pay some sort of fine when they re-enter Chile.

Hi TonyLEE,

Thank you for your reply, of course your entirely correct. I do however have relatives in the Servicio de Registro Civil in Santiago Chile who issued me a hassle free instant RUT on arrival in Chile, atcually before i had even arrived. Im confident with the relevant details & documents i could organise a foreigner/buyer with an under the table RUT. Entirely legal just alittle short cuted, ive grown to love South America for this reason haha.

I guess this leaves me with the issue of selling the bike on the TIP. Have you or anyone ever heard of anyone selling the bike at a border? For example if i were to exit Guatemala and sell the bike at the border before legally entering Mexico, could the new owner with their new bike documents import the bike into their desired country and therefore ride off hasslefree? I have been informed i can have all paperwork updated in the Servicio de Registro Civil within 48 hours of purchase.

Thanks TonyLEE, any insight into this would be amazing. I understand this hassle may effect the bikes value.

James

Upon further research i have found the Mexican state of Quintana Roo to be a free state where no TIP is needed for a vechile. Research shows if you are to inform Mexican Aduanas you are not riding out of the state of Quintana Roo, no TIP is needed however one can be issued if need be. Does anyone have experience with this?

If so maybe this is an option for a location to sell the bike?

Thank you again,

James.

I don't know about Mexico , but in Guatemala you can sell your bike legally in no time to a local ; the buyer has to pay the import duties .
All depends on your price expectations .
And also posting some info on the bike might help

Hi Guaterider,

Thank you for posting. After reading your post I have researched the topic and found a lot of useful information. This looks like a great option and worth persuing.

Here it look like I have two options for selling in Guatemala, 1. Sell the bike cheaply to a local who will pay the import taxes or 2. Organise a free 'Tax Number' (NIT) for myself in Guatemala City, pay the fees to nationalize the bike myself and sell the bike for true value to any tourist or local with a Guatemala address

If the information I am finding online is correct despite it being not very recent, this looks like a much more realistic option. Thank you for voicing your knowledge!

Has anyone been through this process?

James