Mexico Road Trip - Tip of the Day - Tune Up Your Vehicle

Get a vehicle tune up a few days before you leave for Mexico.

There is always a chance the mechanic performing the tune up could forget to adjust something correctly.  But if you get the tune up done a few days before your Mexico road trip, you will be able to drive your vehicle around for a few days at home to make sure everything is running properly.

Also make sure your spare tire is in good condition and has the correct air pressure.  Check to make sure your jack is functioning as well.

0 comments - Posted by Jeff Nordahl at 2:37 PM - Categories: Baja Road Trips | Mexico Road Trips - Mainland Mexico

Mexico Road Trip Tip of the Day – Buying Gas

Your first gas station experience could be a bit confusing if it is your first time driving in Mexico.  Here are some pointers for having a successful gas station fueling experience.

1: All gas stations in Mexico have the brand name Pemex.  This is the government owned petroleum company.  When you need gas, look for these signs.

2: In Baja and many areas of Mexico, the stations are all full service.  So you are not allowed to pump your gas.  A gas attendant will approach you as you pull into the gas pump.  Do not attempt to tell him you want to pump your own gas, they will not let you.  All gas prices are the same, so you are not being charged a fee for the attendant’s help.

3: Always try to keep your gas tank level above ¾ of a tank.  There are many stretches in Baja and Mexico where gas is not available for well over 100 miles.

4: There are 3 types of gas at most Pemex stations.  Magana (regular unleaded), Premium (higher octane unleaded), and Diesel Sin (Diesel).  Not all stations carry diesel, and many remote gas stations may not carry Premium either.

5: Gas is measured in liters in Mexico, so be familiar with your 1 gallon = 3.785 liters conversion formula

6: Make sure the gas attendant sets the pump back to $0 before filling up.  Most pumps in Baja are now digital and reset to $0 automatically, but in the past you had to keep an eye on the pump because some shady attendants could try to start the pump at a few pesos worth of gas before they even started filling your tank!

7: “Lleno por favor” – means fill it up please.  Lleno is Spanish word for full.

8: If you have a diesel truck – make sure the attendant is filling your truck with diesel.  The diesel pump is colored BLACK in Mexico.  Do not expect the attendant to know you have a diesel truck.  We have actually heard of customers who did not watch the attendant, and then had their diesel truck filled with regular unleaded gas!

9: If you want the attendant to wash your windows, (they often will do this without asking), say “Lava el parabrisas por favor”  Lava is wash or clean, and parabrisas is the word for windshield.

10: Expect to pay in pesos.  Gas stations in Baja may accept dollars, but the conversions could be confusing.  Make sure to bring pesos for buying gas.  Some gas station in Baja, and many in mainland Mexico accept credit cards as well.  In Baja this may take a few minutes for the attendant to run the card, but in mainland Mexico you may find pumps that allow you to run your card directly at the pump.

11: Make sure to tip the attendant if they do any services beyond simply pumping your gas.  I also tip the attendant even if my windshield didn’t need to be washed.  I just enjoy the positive vibes generated by tipping – especially while visiting a foreign country.  $10 - $20 pesos, around 1 -2 US dollars will make most attendants happy.

2 comments - Posted by Jeff Nordahl at 9:28 AM - Categories: Baja Road Trips | Mexico Road Trips - Mainland Mexico

Camping tip of the day - Dust Brush & Pan will keep your vehicle dirt and sand free

Bring a dust brush and dust pan.

In Baja, everything is dusty or sandy, so every time you get in your car, your shoes bring clumps of dust and sand in with them.  If you go for a walk on the beach, you can carry globs of wet sand into your car.

If you set a cooler or a chair outside on the ground, it will also have dirt and sand stuck to it.

After a few days, you could suddenly find the interior of your vehicle and all of your possessions covered in sand and dirt (really not cool if it gets into your bedding).

Solution:  A simple dust brush will work miracles.  Once you get in the habit of brushing off your shoes, feet, and cargo before putting them in your vehicle – you can say adios to the dirt and sand that seemed to breed inside your vehicle.

Most dust brushes come with a handy dust pan – the whole combo pack is about $4-$5 at a hardware store.

A simple fix to an annoying problem.

0 comments - Posted by Jeff Nordahl at 3:34 PM - Categories: Baja Road Trips | Mexico Road Trips - Mainland Mexico | Mexico Travel

Mexico Road Trip – Tip of the Day – Bring 3 Photo Copies of All Documents with you to Mexico

Getting your vehicle stolen is bad enough – but now you do not have your Mexican insurance paperwork to help you file an insurance claim.  And even worse, your passport was in the vehicle, so now you do not even have the correct identification to get across the US border!  What a nightmare.

To avoid this hellish fiasco – we always recommend making photo copies of all of your important documents and keeping them in a number of safe places inside your vehicle and outside of your vehicle. 

We suggest keeping these photo copies in your wallet, glove compartment, and keep a set of photo copies with your family back in the US.  Heaven forbid – if your vehicle and wallet got stolen, you could still contact your family in the US so they could quickly locate your insurance and passport information.

You would not believe how many people keep all of their important travel documents solely in their vehicle glove compartment.  Then, if their vehicle is stolen – the cascade of confusion starts.  They don’t know who to call to report the Mexican insurance claim because all of their Mexican insurance paperwork was in the car.  Their passport also went adios because it was in the glove compartment – so it will now take hours to get back across the border (if flying, you may be required to fly to Tijuana, then walk across the border after a lengthy interrogation).

Solution:  Adventure Mexican Insurance supplies our customers with pre-printed wallet sized Mexican insurance ID cards that you can cut out and place in your wallet at the time you print your Mexican insurance from our website.

As far as your passport, it is much easier to get through the customs madness if you have a photo copy of your passport with your passport ID number.  So keeping a photo copy of your passport in your wallet is a great idea.

We also recommend keeping photo copies of your vehicle registration in your wallet as well in case you need to prove ownership of your vehicle – this is required if your vehicle were impounded for any reason.

3 minutes worth of photo copying can save your hours and hours of headaches in the event of an emergency – hope that helps!

Even better advice – Don’t get your vehicle or wallet stolen.  Be smart, and park in secure areas.  Try to keep an eye on your vehicle at all times (especially in towns within a few hours of the border).

2 comments - Posted by Jeff Nordahl at 9:00 PM - Categories: Baja Road Trips | Mexico Road Trips - Mainland Mexico

Mexico Camping – Tip of the Day – Bring a head mounted flashlight

This may sound like a small trivial detail – but trust me, while camping in the dark in Baja you want your own light source, and you want both hands available.  A hand held flashlight becomes an annoying utensil when you are trying to cook, clean dishes, fillet a fish, open a beer, or any other camping task in the dark. (don't expect your frinds to volunteer to hold your flashlight for you)  Wearing a head lamp is a liberating experience that will make all of these camping tasks easy because both of your hands are now free to accomplish whatever needs to get done.  Most head lamps cost around $20 at camping and sporting goods stores.  You may also want to consider a some type of lantern as well – especially for groups who set up a table where everyone eats and congregates, but try getting a battery powered lantern.  Many people hate the smell of fuel fired lanterns, and they are also a fire hazard.

Good hands-free lighting is especially important during the winter months when the sun goes down between 5:00 – 6:00.  Without good convenient lighting, you will be forced to fumble around for hours with an annoying hand held flashlight (or eat dinner by 5pm and go straight to bed).

Hope that helps - have fun!

2 comments - Posted by Jeff Nordahl at 8:39 AM - Categories: Baja Road Trips | Mexico Road Trips - Mainland Mexico

Mexico Road Trip – Tip for the Day - Fill Your Gas Tank Frequently

Never allow your gas tank to go below half a tank.

There are two reasons for this:

1: In Baja and other remote areas of Mexico, it is not uncommon for certain Pemex stations to be closed or out of gas.  Also, in central Baja – between San Quintin to Guerrero Negro – there are hardly any Pemex stations.  When we drove through Catavina, the small Pemex station was closed.  This meant we had a stretch of driving over 200 miles without a gas station!  You do not want to run out of gas in Mexico, so fill up frequently.

2: The other reason to always keep your gas tank filled to over half full is mechanical.  Every once in a while we hear reports of some bad gas being sold in Mexico.  While this is not a frequent occurrence, you can protect yourself by filling up frequently instead of letting your gas tank get below a quarter tank.  The principal is this: If you get some old gas that is slightly dirty or old, then your vehicle will handle it much better if it is mixed with other good gas.  But if you run your gas tank until it is almost empty, then fill your entire gas tank with some lower quality gas, your vehicle will then need to run on 100% bad gas.  By filling up every time your tank get s below  ¾ of a tank, then you will always be diluting any potential gas that may not be of the highest quality with the ¾ tank of quality gas you already have in the tank.

That is your Mexico road trip tip of the day!  Hope it helps – happy travels!

4 comments - Posted by Jeff Nordahl at 11:13 AM - Categories: Baja Road Trips | Mexico Road Trips - Mainland Mexico | Mexico Travel