Driving Between the USA and Puerto Vallarta

Summary of Our Three Summer Trips

By Mike & Sara Wise
ExPats In Vallarta

We are among a large number of Expat residents of Puerto Vallarta who have made many regular and routine driving trips to/from the USA over the years and we thought it may be helpful to others to summarize our trips this summer.

In June we drove to Phoenix to sell our US plated car and flew back home. We got a Letter of Safe Passage from the SAT office in Vallarta just to have with us in the car but we were never asked for it. The rules for getting that Letter seem to change weekly so well in advance you need go to the SAT office on Francisco Via and find out what information you will need to get the Letter. The tolls from Vallarta to Nogales were about 1150 pesos (about $87) because we always drive on the main toll (cuota) roads. We left Puerto Vallarta around 6am and stayed the first
night at the Best Western in Navojoa (about 600 miles); good restaurant/bar at the hotel but lots of others in the nice town too. The second night we were in Phoenix. We had about a 10 minute wait to cross the border in Nogales and it was a total non-event. There were a few Mexican agriculture (looking for plants, fruit, etc) and military checkpoints along the way and once we were asked for an ID and we showed them our Mexican driver’s license and that was fine. No other questions were asked. They were all nice guys.

In August, we drove our Mexican plated car up to Texas going through Laredo but crossed the border at the Colombia Crossing 20 miles or so west of Nuevo Laredo. We have driven the Texas route much more than the Arizona route over the years and avoid Nuevo Laredo since we got tired of being stopped on two trips by crooked local cops looking for free money for bogus traffic fines. This time we had the normal agriculture and military checkpoints but no questions or issues at all. We had our two little dogs with us and we had their health records and current International Health Certificate (that we got from a Vallarta vet just before we left) along with all their health history but no one asked anything about them, which is normal. A couple times they asked us to roll down the back window and they looked in at the dogs, bags, etc and said thank you. Again, crossing the border was simple and quick. BE SURE, however, that you go 5-8 miles further west off highway 15 on the road to Colombia from where the trucks cross. The car crossing is several miles further; we screwed up once and wound up wasting a couple hours when we took the truck crossing and had our car x-rayed because the US crossing guys aren’t set up for cars. The first night of this trip we stayed at the Las Palmas hotel in Matehuala (533 miles); decent place we’ve stayed before and good restaurant/bar when you’re tired. The tolls were 1350 pesos (about $105).

On our return to Vallarta this month, September, we crossed the border into Mexico at Nogales. Normally we try to cross the border very early in the morning so we can get further down the road. This time, however, we got to Nogales before 4:00 in the afternoon and decided we would just get some miles behind us and find someplace to stay. We crossed around 4pm in the afternoon at the truck crossing about 3-5 miles west (cutoff just south of town). On the US side there was no one at the border and we just drove across; seriously, the US border crossing booth was empty. On the Mexican side we got a green light so we just kept on driving. Right after you cross the border, you can take a sharp right turn where there is a sign that says “ to cuota” which apparently is a by-pass road that takes you around Nogales, Mexico. We did not take it and drove through Nogales which was fine, just slows you down a bit. South of the border about 10 miles you will come to a good sized “immigration” building where you need to stop to get your passport stamped and get a temporary car permit. Look for the signs for temporary auto permits. Right after that building next door, you will go through another aduana (customs) checkpoint and if you get a green light you just continue on driving. If you get a red light you will be asked to pull over and they will ask you some questions and check your car in more detail. Our Yukon Denali was totally loaded to the hilt and again we had our two dogs along. We were positive we would be asked to pull over, but we were driving a Mexican plated car, and were curious as to see what would happen. We got a green light and they just waved us on. Two other places there were security checkpoints and the police did not even get up off their chairs to talk with us, they just waved us on. We wonder if Mexican plates make it easier driving in Mexico.
The first night we drove to the little town of Santa Anna (only 65 miles from the border at the junction of the highways to Yuma and Nogales) but we were a bit nervous about finding a place because of our little dogs. There are several nice motels there and we stayed at the Elba which was a pretty nice one with it’s own restaurant next door. The problem was the “no pets” sign on the door but we talked them into it by bringing the desk guy out to the car to meet the dogs and pet them until he melted and gave in. The next day we drove to Mazatlan (647 miles). We did not get there until 10 pm because earlier in the day we hit something on the road and got a flat tire and bent the wheel. We pulled off on the shoulder with our car full of bags it was not a pretty sight getting the jack out and the spare tire down from underneath the car. The spare was flat (dumb on us) so we waved down a passing car and they gave one of us a ride a mile or so to the next wide spot in the road where there was a hole-in-the-wall tire shop and the owner came with a hydraulic jack and changed the tire on the road; he charged us 100 pesos ($8). Also, a Federal Police car stopped and the officer stayed with us until we left, which was nice. We did not feel uncomfortable driving after dark, but try not to make that a habit. We normally drive from sun up to sun set. The next day we drove to Vallarta via San Blas because we had never gone that way before and got home about 2:00pm. We likely won’t go the San Blas route again because it’s REALLY slow. Quicker through Tepic. Tolls for this trip were 1120 pesos (about $87).

From Vallarta, it’s about 1,000 miles to Nogales and about 880 to the Colombia crossing near Laredo. The highway to Texas is better than the one to Arizona because it’s been maintained/rebuilt better and more recently. The Nogales road has a ton of construction on it where they are rebuilding it meaning big Cat earthmovers go two feet below the surface and start again. The new parts are beautiful but the parts they haven’t gotten to yet have lots of rough spots and potholes. They are both mostly 4-lane highways.

Driving our Mexican plated car in the US was also a non issue even though we drove in over 10 states. We were worried about being pulled over and given the third degree and that never happened. Only one time we were pulled over and that was in Olathe, Kansas. The young city policeman pulled us over because he did not recognize which state our license plates were from and was curious. We explained that the plates were from Jalisco, Mexico and he laughed because he had never seen plates from there before. He asked to see our insurance and our driver’s license. We had taken out an extra policy with our US insurance company beyond what our Mexican insurance covers in the US. We had a long chat with him and he wished us good luck with our travels. Simple.

We are not fluent in Spanish, but know enough to get by. We dress low key and do not wear any jewelry or anything flashy. We try to keep lots of gas in the car. We never chit-chat with people or leave the car unattended at the gas stations. We take turns going to the restrooms. There are several long stretches where there are no gas stations for 80 to 100 km on both roads. We look for motels where the car will be safe at night. Most hotels have gates or guards watching the parking lot. Sometimes we stay in motels that have walls around them and garages where you can drive in and close the garage door. They are very inexpensive and immaculately clean. Not a hotel chain, but just look for a wall around a motel.