Why are “salvage” cars coming to Mexico?
The regulations for the circulation of vehicles in the neighboring country to the north are stricter compared with those of Mexico, which leaves a large number of vehicles without transit in the United States, either because they went through an accident or because they were stolen, however, They don’t stay put for long.
These types of vehicles are usually offered through auctions, which are attended by car dealers, mainly located in the northern border area. Once acquired, they enter the national territory through “godmothers”, as the tractor-trailers that transport vehicles inside are colloquially known, to later be fixed in mechanical workshops and continue their sale, at which time they are called “savage” or, in its Spanish translation, “rescued”.
Guillermo Rosales, president of the Mexican Association of Automotive Distributors (AMDA), points out that for its access, the services of drivers who have a United States driver’s license are contracted, which marks an “absence of control on the part of the customs authorities of Mexico.
“In this, technological obsolescence prevails, since it is argued that increasing the incidence of revisions means hindering border traffic, and on the other hand the evident complicity and corruption,” he tells Expansion.
On January 19 of last year, the Federal Government issued a decree regulating vehicles that entered the country and did not have documentation, known as “chocolate cars”, which from the manager’s perspective has been an incentive for greater importation of this type of unit.
During the past year, 199,224 vehicles named “chocolate” entered the country, which meant a 18.2% increaseaccording to data from the General Customs Administration.
“We can say that almost all of the illegal vehicles come from auctions of vehicles with salvage title and with a declaration of total loss, prevented from circulating and even from being repaired in the United States,” added Rosales.