Coahuila VIN check

Border strip or interior: it shows on the pedimento

Under Mexico’s used-car decree (DOF, 4 November 2024), only the land within 20 km of the international line counts as border zone in Coahuila. Residents of that strip, which takes in border cities such as Piedras Negras and Ciudad Acuña, can import a car 5 to 9 years old at 1% duty, or a 10-year-old car at 10%, to keep there (article 5). In 2026 those are 2017 to 2021 models at 1% and 2016 models at 10%.

Saltillo, Torreón, Monclova and Sabinas are outside the strip. People there import under article 4: a car 8 or 9 years old, so a 2017 or 2018 model in 2026, at 10%, which then circulates anywhere. The decree runs to 30 November 2026 for now. The rules that apply to both routes, from title brands to the emissions certificate, are on our Mexico import page.

When a border-strip car moves inland, there are two paths. For trips, Banjercito issues a temporary internment permit at a northern border customs office (RGCE rule 3.4.7). If the car also fits the national age band, article 12 of the decree allows it to be re-shipped to the rest of the country under SAT’s rules, with no refund of what was already paid.

Two registration procedures at AFG

Plates are handled by the Administración Fiscal General (AFG), through its Administración General de Recaudación. Its procedures registry lists:

So a Saltillo buyer looking at a cheap car with a Piedras Negras border pedimento can’t register it through the interior procedure. Ask which pedimento the car has before you negotiate.

AFG accepts a US title, salvage included

For a foreign car, AFG lists the US Certificate of Title, a Bill of Sale or a Salvage title, endorsed where needed, as proof of ownership. The interior procedure adds that any title works as long as it doesn’t carry wording such as non street legal, destruction or scrap. In other words, a car can get Coahuila plates on a salvage title, and a later buyer learns about that past only by looking up the US record.

If there is no title, AFG accepts substitutes, including a notarized statement before two witnesses that cites a no-theft certificate from the Fiscalía General del Estado. A missing US title is worth investigating before you accept a substitute, because the title is where a US brand would be printed. Our salvage title guide and accident history guide explain what a US report can show.

Coahuila’s customs offices

ANAM’s May 2025 customs map divides Coahuila like this:

• Piedras Negras: Piedras Negras, Nava with the Río Escondido section, and a long list of inland municipalities including Saltillo, Ramos Arizpe, Monclova and Sabinas, plus the Plan de Guadalupe airport
• Ciudad Acuña: Acuña, Múzquiz, Cuatro Ciénegas, Sierra Mojada and five other municipalities
• Torreón: the municipalities of Torreón, Matamoros, San Pedro, Francisco I. Madero, Parras and Viesca, together with the state of Durango

Decree imports are filed at a northern border customs office through a broker assigned there, and the car must drive in (RGCE rule 3.5.1). If a car is already in Mexico on a valid temporary import, rule 3.5.8 lets an eligible one switch to a definitive import before the permit expires.

REPUVE and the deregistration trail

The decree requires imported cars to be entered in REPUVE (article 13). AFG uses it too: when a car arrives with a deregistration slip from another state, the slip has to match the last plate recorded in REPUVE. And a car that was deregistered after a theft can only be reactivated with a recovery letter from the state Fiscalía. Search the VIN on REPUVE before you buy, and ask for that letter if the record shows a past theft.

Coahuila was also among the states covered by the federal regularization decrees for autos chocolate. Those ended on 31 December 2025, so a car still without a pedimento has no current route to plates.

CARFAX and AutoCheck together cost $12.99 here, useful when a car’s US title history has gaps.

Before you buy in Coahuila

1. Check whether the pedimento is for the border strip or the interior, and whether that fits where you live.
2. Look at the US title wording. Salvage can be registered here; non street legal, destruction or scrap can’t.
3. If there is no title, find out why before accepting a notarized substitute.
4. Search the VIN on REPUVE, and compare it with the pedimento, the car and any earlier plates.
5. Run a US history report for brands from every state, total losses and the odometer trail.
6. Have a mechanic look at the structure and airbags of any car with a salvage past.