Moving Household Items into Mexico

Hello, Everyone:
I have just joined the group, but have been reading the many interesting exchanges for sometime.
I will be moving to the Lake Chapala area in March or early April. I plan on driving my 1989 GMC one ton box van and pulling my Jeep Liberty behind.
My question is do I need to hire a customs broker at the boarder? I plan on crossing at Nogales.
Dose any one have any recommendations?  
Thanks
Halfglass

you won't be doing it that way. the box van is non grata. i don't even think you can import such a beast. but,hey-talk to a broker. we used a trailer and covered pickup. you are only allowed 1 vehicle per person on a temporal or fmm.

Thanks for that bit of info. I will defiantly look into it more. This is the first time I have run across that.
Not sure, may have to take the van back north and dispose of it there.

Halfglass, hopefully you will hear from people who have crossed over more recently and have some idea about current regs. I came across 7 years ago and things have changed so much I would not presume to know what you need to do now. There are several very knowledgeable people on this and TOB who can help you with accurate and current information.
Good luck!

If you plan on living here fulltime and getting your permanente residency visa you should consider selling your vehicles and buying mexican vehicles when you get here. You will find that having NOB registered vehicles here will become a pain in the butt in short order.

A truck of any potentially commercial size is prohibited. Your Jeep is OK, but only so long as you are a tourist or temporary resident. If the latter, it will only last 4 years before you have to become a permanent resident. Permanent residents cannot have foreign plated vehicles and permanent importation is no longer practical; mostly impossible, as only certain age vehicles which were manufactured in a NAFTA country are even eligible. Even then, the costs usually exceed the value of the vehicle.
So, you would be wise to dispose of as much as possible. Everything you need is available in Mexico and shipping is horribly expensive.
Timing is everything and you must apply for your visa approvals at a consulate in your home country. Then, you have 180 days to get into Mexico and 30 more to report to INM to continue the visa process, which can take quite a while. So, don‘t plan on leaving Mexico until the process is complete.

Well from the looks of what is being written, I may look at hauling my goods to the boarder and have a moving company from Chapala take it from there. As for the Liberty I guess we can deal with that when the time comes.
THANKS FOR ALL OF THE FEEDBACK.
Halfglass

Dose anyone have any recommendations for a moving company in the Chapala / Guadalajara area?
It looks like I may have to go to plan B.
Halfglass

STROM WHITE MOVERS
Douglas & Teresa White
International and Local Relocation
Carretera PTE #30
Ajijic, Jalisco , Mexico 45920
US Number (210) 745-2479
Mexico Office 011 52 (376) 766-4049
E-Mail: info@stromwhitemovers.com
Strom White Mover's Website
http://www.stromwhitemovers.com/

We have used Strom and found them to be the BEST. Give them a call, I think you will be happy.

Another recommendation for Strom White.
We used them for moving our personal effects from Canada and the move went very smoothly.

We used Strom also.

As RV said, moving stuff here is horribly expensive.  It was 7 years ago and I can't begin to imagine what it costs now.

I doubt they'll let the box van in as noted above.

I'd also check with Lake Chapala Moving as an alternative.  I understand that if you get the stuff to the border, both of the moving services can bring it in.

We had a mixed experience with Strom White.  Some damage, none compensated for.  Charged significantly more than quoted.

Unfortunately, the new cuota between Lagos de Moreno and San Luis Potosi was not open at that time and they had to move our stuff over the road from hell. We're lucky there wasn't more damage. Can't blame them for the lousy roads.

I think the moving costs are very reasonable for an international move. I'd had 10 international moves and I was pleased at the cost of my move here 10 years ago. We used Lake Chapala Moving, but I've only heard good things about Strom White.

I suggest Seymi for moving from the border to here. We used them and everything arrived in good condition.
I can't say the same for Strom White on our move from San Miguel to lakeside.
They subbed it out to a two bit outfit that "forgot" furniture pads and a ramp: the movers were obviously ignorant about packing and without going into detail, things were damaged; the cost was top dinero and no compensation was offered. Unhappy with the company, for certain. Would never recommend them.
I've heard nothing but good things about Lake Chapala Moving, on the other hand.

I guess no one is perfect. A neighbor had the move from hell using Lake Chapala Movers and we had no problems using Strom White. Theresa was a jewel.

I have to thank everyone for the feed back. Everything helps.
I will contact and get quotes from all of them.
The move on their part will be just transferring my already packed items into their truck in Nogales or Laredo  and delivering to my place in Chapala.

I thought the quotes from Strom-White and Lake Chapala Movers were WAY too expensive. I was quoted over $6000 to move a crate that could hold enough items to fill a 200 square foot space (imagine a 10 x 20 foot room). I couldn't justify that much, so we downsized and moved here with whatever we could fit into 2 checked bags and 1 carry-on each on the plane. I figured I could replace whatever else that would fit into a crate that size for a lot less money than that! (and I haven't missed anything that I left behind!)

When we moved to Mexico we used Lake Chapala Movers and when our stuff finally arrived in Mexico we were very disappointed in the condition of our shipped items. All of our glassware was broken and the furniture we brought with us was a mess. We would never move furniture again, chuck it all and start over, it's not worth it.

When we moved back to the States a year ago we used Strom White. We were living in PV at the time and Strom came to PV, picked up our mostly already packed load and held it in Ajijc until we were ready to have it shipped to us in the U.S. They moved it from Ajijic to their Laredo warehouse and stored it for us until we got a permanent address in the U.S. for them to ship to. We did not take furniture with us as we sold our condo furnished and we packed MOST of what we were taking ourselves. It was several months before we found a home here in the States and Strom had our stuff stored in Laredo for us and did not charge extra for that service. All in all the cost was $6,000 USD, everything arrived in perfect condition. Theresa was great. I highly recommend Strom.

i asked both for a quote; either all the way from alberta or from el paso to here. i opted out to buying a new trailer and driving all the way which was cheaper.

I shipped a pallet of stuff by freight truck to Laredo before I drove down with my station wagon stuffed to the gills. Two weeks later I drove up to Laredo where it was being stored and brought it over the border myself. Total cost for shipping pallet and storage was $400 from Portland Oregon.

Hi Gamina,
What did you use to bring your stuff into Mexico? I may be driving my truck to Nogales or Laredo and then transferring to a mover from there. Going to make someone a screaming deal on a good used box truck.

I used my station wagon as I had no furniture to move. But you can contract with a freight company to use part of a van, pulled by a semi, and it can be walled off so no one gets into your stuff during transit. Then have a moving outfit from Lakeside bring it over the border and to Chapala.

Used Strom White for a move from Vallarta to Ajijic & had the same experience as Gingal - contracted out to inept people. For a move from Ajijic to California got quotes from both Seymi & Lake Chapala Movers.  Winston didn't show up for a scheduled appointment then gave us an exorbitant quote. Seymi was so professional - took over the entire process, no problems & our household things arrived on time & in good shape in California. Would use them again.

a freight forwarding company to the border would be the way to go being quoted ltl[{cu. ft.]. i used to ship antiques that way across canada and sometimes never even packaged them including larg pieces. in the excited states you need to package everything.
fedex has a ff division and of coarse are brokers as well.
but bob here has a lot of experience in shipping-maybe he would like to add more. i know when you ship from canada the charming teamsters double and tripled the cost of shipping by canadian freightways so i lost a coupla customers before i even got them.

I sent you a PM. Depending on logistics, we might be able to work together...