Foreign cars spotted in USA/Canada

[kphoger]

("EDOMEX," which I understand is the area around Mexico City)

The state of México also includes cities such as Toluca, Atlacomulco, and Ixtapan de la Sal.  But yes, in general, it wraps around the northern part of Mexico City.

[kphoger]

I assume someone drove a long way for a visit and is in no hurry to leave.

I'm not as familiar with the legal ins and outs of Mexican-plated cars in the USA as I am with that of US-plated cars in Mexico but, not knowing anything about your neighbors, it seems equally probable that the vehicle's owner might be living here on a visa or is in the process of moving here.  In fact, I recently spotted a work truck/van here in Wichita with Mexican plates and a magnetic business sign on the door with a local Wichita phone number.

To flip the scenario around:  our best friends live in Mexico full-time (albeit on back-to-back-to-back 180-day tourist cards), 300 miles south of the border, and their vehicle is US-plated.  There's a ministry we've worked with there in the past that has two vans on the property—one with Mississippi plates and one with US plates.

All that is to say, I imagine that, in the USA, there are likewise several scenarios in which a Mexican citizen can legally live in the USA with a Mexican plated vehicle.

[Bruce]

Seen an increasing number of Japanese imported kei trucks, some with their original plates displayed. The domestic market really should manufacture a few, especially given their advantages in cities.

[kphoger]

On I-135 in Wichita (the Canal Route), I just spotted an older model RHD Honda sedan with pre-2001 UK number plates from Liverpool.

Correction.  I didn't dig into the number scheme enough.  It was actually from Brighton, registration date 1992-1993.

[SSOWorld]

Citroën Jumper (UK) with a German plate. Spotted off the Alaska Highway at Kluane Lake (Yukon).

[formulanone]

Here's a few more I've spotted...

Saw an R33 sedan in Kauai last June:


Toyota Estima Hybrid in Calgary:


Subaru Sambar in Lumberton, Mississippi:


Possibly another Sambar (with custom fender flares), this one near Iuka, Mississippi:


Daihatsu Hijet off-road conversion in Lenoir City, Tennessee:


Suzuki Alto Works on I-405 north of Los Angeles:


Suzuki Cappucino on Edmonds-Port Townsend Ferry:

[JREwing78]

Seen an increasing number of Japanese imported kei trucks, some with their original plates displayed. The domestic market really should manufacture a few, especially given their advantages in cities.

New passenger vehicles have to meet new vehicle safety standards, which would be impossible for a cheap small utility truck. This is one reason for the rise of utility vehicles, which don't have to meet those standards (but also generally are not road-legal either). Also, manufacturers here don't want the roads flooded with cheap trucks from India or China cutting into their profit margins for $100,000+ trucks.

Vehicles old enough to qualify for import (1998 models and older) don't have to meet safety standards but ARE road legal, because they're considered classics. Also, old enough to hardly be compelling competition for new trucks.

One side-effect of all this - a lot of local municipalities are legalizing road use of ATVs and UTVs. Those tend to be on lower-speed local roadways, not on state or federal highways. A lot of them can be spec'd out and used like the Kei-car mini-trucks. And while they can get stupid expensive (some are over $40,000), you can pick up a new one for under $10,000. For a lot of folks, that's a more sensible purchase than a 25 year old Japanese kei-truck.

[jakeroot]

This thread certainly got an unexpected revival.

Here's a few more I've spotted...

Saw an R33 sedan in Kauai last June:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53006939426_9bda1c537b_b.jpg

I've noticed the R33 sedan is a popular purchase among Japanese-based US military, I see a ton of them here in Okinawa. The R34 is obviously most sought-after, but logically much harder to come by these days and are also way more expensive.

Seen an increasing number of Japanese imported kei trucks, some with their original plates displayed. The domestic market really should manufacture a few, especially given their advantages in cities.

Much like the R33 sedan I mentioned above, kei trucks are very popular purchases among military here in Japan. Many (especially older models) are easily found with stick-shifts, are relatively cheap, and often eligible for import back to the US. And I understand their popularity, they are remarkably versatile, can carry a lot, are easy to park, and crazy cheap to run.

This all said, older kei cars are miserable to drive. Several of my coworkers have kei cars, and they're just so slow, with awful automatic transmissions. Newer models are significantly better; my girlfriend has a Suzuki Hustler turbo mild-hybrid, and it actually scoots along really well. Edit to add: the older stick-shift kei cars are amazing and unrelated to my concerns.

I would like to see smaller kei-car type vehicles in the US, but the idiotic CAFE standards need to be addressed first so that they make sense to manufacture. Though even that may be a stretch, as the kei market outside of Japan really doesn't exist, even in countries with an ostensibly similar urban fabric (such as South Korea, Taiwan, or Philippines).

[1995hoo]

I assume someone drove a long way for a visit and is in no hurry to leave.

I'm not as familiar with the legal ins and outs of Mexican-plated cars in the USA as I am with that of US-plated cars in Mexico but, not knowing anything about your neighbors, it seems equally probable that the vehicle's owner might be living here on a visa or is in the process of moving here.  In fact, I recently spotted a work truck/van here in Wichita with Mexican plates and a magnetic business sign on the door with a local Wichita phone number.

....

And I assume you would be more knowledgeable than I am about such issues. I've never seen the vehicle's owner, so I really have no idea what the circumstances might be. If the vehicle had Maryland plates, I'd likely report it to the Fairfax County Department of Tax Administration as a probable tax evader because it's not at all unusual for people to live in Fairfax County but register their cars at a relative's house in Maryland to evade paying personal property tax. But I'm not inclined to do that for a vehicle from Mexico unless it's there for the better part of a year, simply for the reason that I suggested before that if someone drove that far, I'm inclined to give the person the benefit of the doubt.

(The county does investigate the reports and does add vehicles to the tax rolls when they find someone is living here but didn't register the car. A guy who used to live on our block once left a profane note on my wife's car because he didn't like the way she parked. He had an immobile car parked in his driveway with expired out-of-state plates, so to get back at him for the note, I reported his immobile car as a tax evader. Not only did the county add it to the tax rolls, they fined him $100 for not having obtained Virginia license plates within the required amount of time.)