Ajijic Expat is seeking help from the Consul General after 10 months of bungling by state agencies has trapped her car in an impound lot following a minor accident. Local officials, her insurance company, and the head of the lot have tried to intervene on her behalf, but to no avail.
Amy E.’s 2009 Prius. Photo: Amy E.
Editors. After 10 months of ping-pong between state agencies, attempts by local officials to intervene, and multiple meetings and documents, Amy E. has asked the Stolen Car Office of the US Consulate in Guadalajara to help her get her car back in what observers say is a painful example of a byzantine, incompetent and uncaring bureaucracy run amok.
According to statements, a timeline and documents provided to Laguna by Amy E., the Chapala police towed her car, a 2009 silver Toyota Prius, last July after it was sideswiped by a driver who was passing on the left in a no passing zone. She had been waiting to make a left turn from the Carretera when her car was struck. Damage to her car was minor; the other driver lost control and seriously damaged his car, but there were no injuries. Amy E. called her insurance company.
Neither driver called the police but Amy E. claims a Chapala policeman showed up and towed their cars without permission to the el carralón (impound lot) located on the Libramiento in Chapala.
Amy E., her spouse, a representative of the insurance company, the lawyer for the insurance company, the President of Gysa S.A de C.V. which owns the impound lot, and a senior official from the Chapala municipal government met last week to find a way to get Amy’s car back. Laguna was present at the meeting.
The consensus was that as much as the Gysa S.A de C.V. wants to return her car – which the company president said was his priority – state law forbids the company from doing so without a release document from Jalisco Ministerio Público (MP). Efforts by Amy E., GYA, and the insurance company to obtain the document have been stymied by 10 months of bungling and bureaucratic nonsense, according to Amy E. and those in attendance.
“It feels quite unfair – we appeared at every appointment, showed every piece of documentation several times, and we were very eager to get our car out of storage. But every time we showed up with the documents they asked for, they had another excuse for not releasing the car. I wish I knew why it was being held for so long,” Amy told Laguna, displaying all of the documentation required by MP and the list of appointments she and the insurance company had attended on time, as requested.
During the past ten months she says that she and her attorney and insurance company have tried to retrieve their car multiple times both at the Gysa S.A de C.V. lot and at the Ministerio Público office in Chapala, starting two days after the accident, but have been blocked by the state government agencies who were unwilling or unable to provide the release, although was not at fault and her car was driveable.
The Mexican driver who sideswiped her car did not have insurance and was driving with open alcohol, has never shown up for any required meetings and has suffered no consequences for ignoring the law.
She knew it was going to be difficult at her first meeting at MP when she arrived for her appointment with all the requested documents and was told she needed another appointment to present the documents to the clerk standing in front of her. At her most recent meeting, she was told her TIP (importation document) was expired and she could not get her car without renewing it and she could not renew it without getting her car. She protested that she had renewed it and presented the documents to prove it (Laguna confirmed the renewal documents) but to no avail. According to copies of emails provided to Laguna by Amy E., MP staff said they needed another document from another state agency.
At one point in the process (October 2021) the MP told her another agency could not locate the car (it was where it had been for months). Her insurance company had to go to the impound lot and obtain photos to prove that it was still there.
Amy E. relates that the MP staff also asked her to sign a paper saying she was half at fault in order to get her car back, which was not true; however, she signed the paper to expedite the release of her car, which did not happen. The MP has also refused to give her any documents from her file.
With no more options, she has asked the Stolen Car Office of the US Counsel General to initiate an investigation. Since MP and the other agencies it works with to obtain documents are part of the Jalisco State government, it appears that intervention is needed at the state level. She is awaiting a reply.
“Since it was taken during the rainy season, and due to the accident the driver-side door did not shut completely, we are worried the rain will get inside [the car and ruin it], but our greatest fear is that we will never get it back.”Amy E. told Laguna.
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