Lisa and I have always been very self-sufficient women. When we retired to Southern Mexico in 2013 there were many tasks to be accomplished that needed more language proficiency than we had at the time. We got assistance with the initial immigration process, opening a bank account and all of the federal and local permits required for building our house.
There are some tasks that are worth figuring out ourselves. It improves language skills and confidence. This week we bought a car.
In Mexico, there are two types of residency cards, temporary and permanent. We are quickly approaching our permanent status. As temporary residents we are permitted to drive a car with US license plates. Not so with permanent residency. Besides it was time ro get rid of the truck.
Mexican green card.
Our trusty Ford 150 pick-up not only carted all our possessions to Mexico, and made two long trips NOTB, but hauled endless building supplies for the construction of our house. With 158,000 miles, it has served us well and we are so grateful. She is however, too damn big.
Pulling out the drive in Austin 2013.
City driving in our truck has been a nightmare. Mexican cities are old and streets are narrow. Parking is a whole other story. Buying gasoline is our biggest monthly expense. Our plan all along has been to return from our US vacation and begin car shopping.
Registering the car and ordering our Mexican license plates.
While on our trip, a car was posted for sale to the Bacalar Yahoo Group. It was exactly the size we wanted, a 2008 Chevy Captiva, merlot red, little wagon with ridiculously low mileage.
Meet Lolita, the newest Torta!
We struck a deal this week. On Friday we managed to get the car registered in our names and purchase insurance all in about three hours. Feeling quite proud of ourselves we headed out for a road trip to Tulum. It’s nice to feel that we can manage basic tasks in Spanish. Our hard work has paid off.
DOS TORTAS
the adventures of dos tortas 
A fine accomplishment! Congratulations and enjoy the new wheels. I am sure you’ll enjoy spending far less on fuel.
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Yes! And it makes U-turns! Score!
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Love your new car! We will be looking at this issue before too long…were you both temporary at first? See you in July!
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Yes we got temporary status within two months of arriving. It’s even faster now.
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Sweet Lolita! Good for you!
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She did great on our road trip to Tulum. We’re happy. Luna approves as well. 🐶
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Congratulations on the car! It will be so much easier to drive and easier on the budget.
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True that Em. This is a big heck off our to do list. Now to sell the truck!
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