Road Trip to Mexico
 

Greetings to all!!

I am quite new to this forum and a recent cooper owner (since July). My husband and I are planning a road trip to Mexico for xmas and I was wondering if you guys have any suggestions for a safe travel. It's not the first time we have traved to Mexico by land, but it will be the first time with the mini and it can be quite the attention getter compared to the gas eating SUV we have taken in the past. I know mexico is generaly safe, but my concern is the theft rating specially with this car. I'll purchasing insurance, but I don't want the hastle in case something happens. We are traveling from Iowa to Jalisco. Any sugestion will be great. Thanks.

My suggestion is to call AAA (Auto Association)

just bring some extra cash for bribes ! - jk, jk.......MINI OWners in Mexico - have a thread here on NAM...........

Have a wonderful time! speak Spanish!

Thanks for your assistance.

Hasta luego!!!!

Sounds like fun, what are you going to do in Jalisco, that is on the lake, if my memory is good.?

As for driving with the MINI, insurance and common sense. It would be nice if one or two of the Mexico MINI group folks can respond to your question.

Enjoy, post pictures.

You might even think about a 6 month registration permit for down there too. My brother used to drive into Mexico all the time and finally just registered his vehicle and it made travels much easier.

Going to Mexico is always fun. When we are there we usually hit the small beach towns in Costa Alegre. I have been to Mexico many times, many in our '99 SUV which does't atrack as much attention as the mini. My main concern is car theft that I hear a lot about. I always buy insurance for the vehicle we are talking and file the registration paperwork and recently I found out I can do all that on line!!

I would be cautious with potholes, there are a lot and worst thing it´s that there are roads that appear in really good condition but you can find a crater size pothole at ANY time, so never lower your guard. An SUV can take many potholes, but you Mini will suffer them.

As for secutiry just avoid driving in suspicious places to late. Also use freeways and avoid driving in regular roads at night.

Theft rating is very low for this car, altought one never knows, there is not special targeting for Minis, the cars with higher theft rating are usually the lower value ones (nissan sentra, nissan tsuru, jetta -bora-) as they are pretty popular and thefts sell them as spare parts.

Also be cautious with big cars, most people with trucks and SUV´s do not "respect" smalls cars and "avientan lamina" they try to run over you, just show some character horn and press the gas pedal to let them know your power hehehe.

Here you have a lot more allowance for high speed traveling, altought is better to drive "normal" (not to fast) if you don´t know the road, mainly because you never know when a pot hole will appear (as said before) or when the road is being repaired, etc. There are not to many signals about road conditions, and when there are some signals they are 3-4ft before, so there is not time to brake.

I have driven a lot in US and it´s too boring to me, always the same speed, all the cars at the same speed, not sudden line changes, hehe, etc. There are to many speed changes here that I rarelly use cruise control, I can truly enjoy mi Mini driving here, so be careful and have fun! =)

I am driving to Mexico too. My parents live in Zacatecas and I am driving down from Tucson for Christmas. I did this drive in my MINI two years ago for Christmas. I had no problems at all. The crossing was relatively painless and I wasn't hassled at any time. Enjoy your trip!

Bon Voyage! Gute Fahrt!

I just returned from BAJA - see my posts under Travel

Bob

Where did you go? for the Avientan Lamina? Mexico City? because I live in Tj and the only place for the avientan lamina is Mexico City, here at the escenica you can run at high speed but beware of the feds .... jajaja

I agree, however there are a few "calafieros" that do like to "aventar lamina" from time to time LOL

But really, once in Jalisco (and many other big cities) you will find that there are lots of Minis, they are not that hard to find anymore. More and more people are dumping the big SUVs for smaller/fuel efficient cars. :thumbsup:

Have a safe one!