My husband and I plan to drive to Mexico in mid November. We have always entered through Nogales but have heard that Lukeville is easier and less busy. We will be coming down with our truck loaded for the winter season. Of course we will have to get our vehicle importacion as well. Has anyone used both crossings and which one would you recommend? Thanks so much!
Contributor 
4,678 posts
15 reviews Here is a message I wrote for another board last week:
I have driven this route the last 4 years, this year I will drive to Nogales because of the long stretches of road without a lot of traffic,towns and gas stations... I believe Highway 15 will be safer this trip because reports are comming in that highway patrolmen are parked along the route...suerte
Here is one I wrote today:
Crossed at Nogales 6 AM this morn was on the road at 7AM after getting tourist card and car permit...No problems at all, road in great shape,detour in Navojoa, main drag torn up...3 police check points along the highway made me feel more secure...when they looked down and saw the Calif. plates they just waived me through,unlike the Mexican plated cars that were being searched...have a good trip...
Contributor
17,197 posts
79 reviews Where are you going? The Lukeville crossing is very far west from Nogales. Unless you're going to Puerto Penasco, you don't want to cross there. If you need a vehicle importation permit, you can only get that at KM 21 checkpoint south of Nogales. The crossing you want to use is the West Mariposa Rd crossing in west Nogales which takes you directly on to Hwy 15 south.
Thanks so much for your reply. We have driven down many times through Nogales and we are heading for north of PV. However, we will be travelling through the U.S. down the I-5. We had heard that Lukeville has less people and easier to cross there. We didn't realize that it didn't have a vehicle importacion, which we will need to get as we plan to spend about 7 months in Mexico. Thanks for your feedback. Your time is much appreciated.
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