A new law in Mexico severely restricts car imports to Mexico's interior. The law means changes at used car lots and auction houses along the border. KPBS reporter Amy Isackson has details.
Under the new law, cars from 1998 just got more valuable. They’re now the only cars that can be imported to Mexico's interior.
Previously, buyers would pick up 10 to 15-year-old models at used car lots and auctions near the border.
They’d resell them in southern Mexico.
But Mexico's new car dealers said they were getting undercut and that the country was turning into a garbage dump for junkers.
Ramon Campos is an auctioneer for Father Joe’s car auctions where many buyers purchase cars for resale in southern Mexico. He says prices on 98’s will go up at least 25 percent.
Campos : The '98 models, the price is going to go high -- like 25 to 30 percent. The other models, you know, less than ‘98, the price is going to go down.
Campos predicts prices on those older cars could be cut in half. Even so, he’s concerned the auction house may be left with a lot of older car. He says they started detailing them to try to make them more attractive and keep up sales.
The law does not change which cars can be re-sold in Mexico’s border regions.
Amy Isackson, KPBS News.
