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Mexico Bans All Car Imports— Except '98s

New law allows only 10-year-old jalopies across the border

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 3, 2008 9:00 AM CST
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(Newser) – For used-car shoppers in Mexico, 1998 is about to become a very popular year. Starting today, only 10-year-old cars—nothing newer, nothing older—can be imported in Mexico, a move designed to curtail the flood of “vehiculos chatarra,” or jalopies, clogging the streets. Before the change, imports needed to be 10-15 years old, to lessen competition with Mexican car dealers.

But novelty value and bargain-basement price tags have made jalopies so popular that new-car dealers begged for tighter restrictions to “stop the conversion of our country into the world’s biggest automotive dump.” In Texas, price tags on ‘98s are soaring, while others plummet. “If a 1997 worth $3,000 can’t cross, it’s not even worth $1,500,” lamented one dealer.

Juan Gutierrez, co-owner of Gutierrez Brothers auto sales in Hidalgo, Texas, stands in what is usually a full car lot on Friday, February 29, 2008. Fearful of a change in Mexican import law, he has cleared out his inventory of used cars. It's a ghost town right now, he says....
Juan Gutierrez, co-owner of Gutierrez Brothers auto sales in Hidalgo, Texas, stands in what is usually a full car lot on Friday, February 29, 2008. Fearful of a change in Mexican import law, he has cleared...   (Associated Press)
A new law in Mexico outlaws the import of all used cars except those made in 1998.
A new law in Mexico outlaws the import of all used cars except those made in 1998.   (Shutterstock)
A new law in Mexico outlaws the import of all used cars except those made in 1998.
A new law in Mexico outlaws the import of all used cars except those made in 1998.   (Shutterstock)
Two Mexicans hang out outside a junkyard not far from the Rio Grande in this file photo.
Two Mexicans hang out outside a junkyard not far from the Rio Grande in this file photo.   (Magnum Photos)
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Texas • Mexico • imports • trade • Mexican border • car dealers • used cars • jalopies • cars

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