SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — As of this week, people in Baja California who own Asian or European-made cars can begin registering their vehicles to make them “legal” south of the border.
These cars, known as “chocolate cars,” are considered illegal because most owners never bothered to register them and pay import fees when they first brought them to Baja.
Drivers caught with an unregistered car faced expensive fines and repossession.
Last year, the Mexican government announced it was giving amnesty to drivers allowing them to legalize their unregistered imported cars.
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The first phase of the registration program involved only American and Canadian-made cars.
Now, brands such as Volkswagen, Mercedes, Porsche, Toyota, Honda, Acura and others can be made legal.
The Baja California Secretary of Finance estimates that there are about 50,000 of these cars in Tijuana alone. It says cars qualify for the program if their VIN numbers begin with a letter.
The cost per vehicle is 500 pesos or about $28. Further information can be found of the State of Baja California website.
Through Nov. 23, according to the state, 124,442 cars have been registered in the city of Tijuana, and many more throughout Baja California.
The deadline to register all “chocolate” cars has been extended until Dec. 31.
The term chocolate comes from the Spanish word chueco, which means crooked.
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