Ride it home.
Keep it.

The original factura. Mexico has no separate title document: the factura is the proof of ownership, and every previous owner should have endorsed it on the back. Be careful with a carta factura (a letter standing in for an invoice still held by a lender), a copy, or a re-issued refacturada with no earlier invoices behind it — any of them can leave you with a bike you cannot transfer or insure.

Look it up in REPUVE, the national vehicle registry, online with the VIN (NIV) and the plate. Then ask for the receipts for the annual vehicle tax — tenencia or refrendo — for the last five years. Unpaid tax follows the vehicle, not the person who owed it.

Yes — anyone can buy one. Registering it in your name is the hard part: in most states, plates and a tarjeta de circulación need temporary or permanent residency, a CURP and an RFC. On a tourist permit, transit offices will usually turn you away, so tourists either buy in the name of a trusted resident or leave the bike registered to the previous owner, which carries real risk.

An INE, a proof of address (comprobante de domicilio) less than three months old, a CURP and an RFC, along with the factura and the tax receipts for the vehicle.

Ask for the pedimento de importación definitiva, the customs document that nationalises it. A bike without one — a chocolate, in Mexican slang — can be confiscated at a highway checkpoint or in a tax audit.

Italika, Bajaj and Vento: parts are sold in almost every corner workshop and in stores like Elektra, and any mechanic in town knows them. Parts for European and many Japanese or premium bikes often have to be ordered from Guadalajara, Mexico City or abroad.

Third-party liability insurance (daños a terceros) is required on federal highways and in most states: check whether a policy transfers with the bike or arrange your own before you ride away. Licences and helmet rules vary by state, and many now ask for a certified helmet and a motorcycle licence.

Tell us what you’re after with the form on this page. We write when something fits, you see it and ride it here in Sayulita, and we go through the papers together before you pay.

The original factura, endorsed by each previous owner — or, for a cart brought from the US or Canada, the pedimento de importación definitiva. Without one of them it is almost impossible to prove the cart is yours or to sell it later.

It depends on the state and the town. Many transit offices ask for temporary or permanent residency, an RFC and a local proof of address, as for any vehicle. Some towns issue a local permiso de circulación for carts to property owners; ask the municipality before you buy.

Ask for the definitive import pedimento. A cart that came in informally or on a temporary import permit (TIP) cannot legally be sold inside Mexico, and SAT, the tax authority, can seize it.

In town and on the secondary roads — Sayulita and San Pancho are both cart towns. Federal highways, including Highway 200, are off limits to carts.

Working headlights, tail lights and turn signals, a horn, mirrors, a seatbelt for every seat and a windshield. The driver needs a valid licence, Mexican or foreign, and the cart can’t carry more people than it has seats.

Gas is better for steep hills, cobblestones and long runs between towns. Electric is quiet and cheap to run. If it’s electric, lithium (LiFePO4) outlasts lead-acid by years in coastal heat, is far lighter and needs no topping up; and 48 V or more is the one to want for carrying adults uphill. Ask how old the batteries are.

Salt air eats painted steel frames in a few seasons; aluminium chassis, like Club Car’s, last much longer. For cobblestones, topes and dirt roads, look for a 4–6 inch lift, heavy-duty suspension and all-terrain tyres, and check underneath for rust, sealed connectors and marine-grade wiring.

Some Mexican insurers, such as Qualitas and GNP, or a local broker, will write third-party liability for a golf cart. Club Car, E-Z-GO and Yamaha parts are easy to find in Mexico; little-known imported brands can leave a cart waiting months for a part.