My Mexican Adventure: Buying a Polaris

I distinctly remember the first time I ever laid eyes on a Polaris. I was sitting outside eating at Javi’s and one drove by.  I thought to myself, I have no idea what that is, but I want one!  I called them “golf carts on steroids” because I had no idea what the actual name was.

I started researching them prior to moving to the island. I didn’t even know what they were called so asked around. Someone finally knew what I was talking about and provided me with some basic info. After further investigation, I learned there were many brands and makes of them. Then came the sticker shock, a brand new one was $20K. Okay so at least I know what I am talking about now and decided to figure it out later.

Prior to the move, I sold 90% of what I owned. The house, vehicle, furniture, clothes, kitchen appliances, and the list goes on and on.

One of the hardest things to part with was Jeepers. She was my baby and we were super attached to one another. She received compliments almost daily. Her blue color matched my personality so well. It shows the sacrifice to trade her in for a 2007 Club Golf Cart for my new island life.

Upon arrival to the new island life, I didn’t feel safe on a scooter and didn’t want a car, so settled on a golf cart. I was aware of the demand of golf carts on the island so knew it wouldn’t be difficult to get my money back once I was more settled. In the meantime, I stared with envy at the other Polaris’, Can-Am’s and other side by sides roaming the island.

I’ve lived here for over 8 months now and felt I was ready to take the plunge. I still wasn’t open to taking the plunge and dropping $20k on a new one. There are a lot of concerns that come up when living in Mexico around money. It’s not in the US where things are easier and more protected. So the biggest concern was making sure I didn’t get screwed in the process. I have had friends drop thousands of dollars in Mexico on things with no delivery of the paid service or item.

I relied on a close trusted friend (Sam) to help with most of the transaction. He has lived on the island all of his life and knows the ins and outs of what seems legit.

Together we agreed on a 2011 Polaris RZR that was located in Merida, about four hours away. He spoke to the owner and got more details and some videos before we scheduled a date to go see the Polaris. Prior to the meeting, I had already decided her name would be “Caribbean”. From this point on, she will be addressed as that in this blog.

So this is where all of the complications started.

The Money Dilemmas

First of all, it is difficult to access a large sum of money in a foreign country. I transferred the purchase amount from my savings account to a bank account I use for the sole purpose of accessing money in Mexico.

Normally when I make a transfer the money is available the following day. This is where all of the problems began! Due to it being a larger amount, the bank wanted to put a week hold on it. After several calls to them and explaining the situation, they were more than helpful. They did a conference call with my other bank to verify funds were valid and then released all the money to me. Next I needed to talk to the money movement department about the transfer. From reading online, the process should be easy and quick. But I wanted to make sure before traveling to meet Caribbean.

The money movement department explained that it was no problem to make an international transfer with USD but that the sellers bank account may not accept USD. They explained I could send it via Mexican pesos but would take 1-3 business days before the money would be transferred. Well this was a situation because I wasn’t going to wire money to someone without paperwork and keys in hand. And I also knew the seller wouldn’t hand those over without money in hand. It was not an option to sit in Merida for days waiting on the bank, so both of those options were out.

The bank allows $1000 daily withdrawal limit via ATM. It would take me a while of doing that to accumulate the money and was afraid someone else would buy Caribbean if I waited that long. I requested a one-time increase to be able to hit multiple ATMs and obtain all of the money. This request was denied.

Sam, who was helping me coordinate the purchase, offered to let me wire the money to his account. I trusted him with the money so we checked into this. His bank said they could accept the wire and would transfer to pesos but that he would be taxed 16% because in Mexico it would be considered income. This option was then ruled out.

I checked into every wire company out there but there was an issue with every one of them. Either delays or just uncertainty if it would come through at all.

I asked several people if they had the money available for a short term loan but no one had that much money accessible. I messaged a friend of mine in the US because I knew he had a connect in Mexico that could possible help. My friend checked into that but it wasn’t possible either. He then offered to bring the money down via flight the next day. He said the weather was nasty is St Louis and didn’t mind getting away for a couple of days. Again I wouldn’t trust a lot of people with money but knew it would be safe with him. I made the wire transfer to his bank account and he was able to pick it up in an hour. Now it was matter of waiting for his arrival the following day.

Transportation Dilemmas

Okay so got the money shit worked out. Everything is good to go. Right? Nope! It’s just the start of many problems (which are all now worth it because Caribbean is sitting out front).

Sam text me at 11pm the night before we were leaving. He said he spoke to the owner of Caribbean who had previously said he could deliver her to Cancun, but that the trailer was going to be occupied so he would be unable to transfer her for us. So at 11pm the night before we are scrambling around looking for a way to transport her back. Sam knew of people with both trucks and trailers. He said no worries he would figure it out. Later in the night, he said he had found both and to be ready to go tomorrow morning.

When I woke up that morning, I made sure to wear my infamous “Be Calm, you are on the fun side of the wall” shirt. I knew I would definitely need it for the trip.

Sam rode over on an early ferry to pick up a rental truck and was supposed to pick up the trailer from the cargo ferry at 830am. The trailer didn’t make it on the cargo trailer because the guy did not have the money for the ferry ticket. He went to borrow the money and planned to put it on the noon cargo ferry which was full. So at this point we had to wait for the 3pm cargo ferry.  At about 1:30, Sam found out they needed help to physically move the trailer on to the ferry.  Sam planned to take a 2:00 regular ferry back to the island, get the trailer on, and then ride back over. He missed the 2:00 ferry so was frantically looking for someone on Isla Mujeres who could help. He finally found someone! The trailer finally made it over on the 3pm ferry. So we are hours behind but at 4pm have possession of the truck and trailer. Merida is a 4 hour drive so we should make it by 8pm. No big deal.

Mechanical Dilemmas

So this was supposedly a well-equipped truck that could handle pulling the weight of a trailer and Caribbean. We noticed problems right after leaving Cancun. The truck couldn’t go over 80 kilometers. This drastically increased our drive time to Merida. Then it started having more issues. We ended up stopped in a town called Leona Vicario at a mechanics house. We spent over an hour there with the mechanic. The work cost 300 pesos or about $16.

It was an interesting little town. Here is a photo of the taxi service available.

I was not the only one who came prepared with a shirt to handle the trip. Here is my friend Sam with his shirt choice for the day. At this point, I am trying to get him to trade shirts with me.  The “Keep Calm” shirt just isn’t working for me and this felt more appropriate.  Seriously love his shirt and he promises to pick me one up at the Cancun mall next time he goes.  I requested a blue one to match my life and Caribbean of course.

Anyway, back to the story: The truck continued to have issues but we finally made it to Merida at 12:30am. I assumed we were getting a hotel room and would meet Caribbean in the morning. Sam explained we could go ahead and take care of it now and drive back in time to make the 8:30 car ferry in Cancun. I was like okay this is weird to make a vehicle purchase at 1am but it is Mexico and everyone operates on a late evening schedule here. So okay let’s do it. Sam calls the owner who explained he was at a party and asked that we sit and wait for him. We waited for 2.5 hours and he never showed up or answered his phone.

We thought maybe the party was at the sellers house so finally decided to go check it out. Keep in mind it is about 3am at this point. We were able to find the exact house based on the videos that had been sent to us.  The sellers father opened the door and let us in.  He explained he didn’t have the papers so would need to wait for his son to come home but allowed us to look at her. Caribbean was much better in person than even what the videos showed.  I was instantly in love. She was a sexy beast.

At this point, I know I am sold on buying her. However, the owner will not be returning home from his fiesta until about 8am.  And yes people, this is actually pretty common in Mexico.  I have never seen people party so much or for so long.  Mexican people can out party American 25 year old’s any day of the year.

After some discussion about how to handle it, it was agreed that Sam would stay behind in Merida to make the deal and I would head back to Isla Mujeres on the ADO bus.  I had never ridden it so thought might as well make it more interesting. I was at the bus station at 5am for a 6am bus ride.  Keep in mind, I had been up since 9am and had not eaten since 1pm yesterday. I knew it was a 4 hour trip back to Merida so planned to be back in Cancun around 10am.  I learned a very valuable lesson about first class bus tickets.  I assumed it was like a plane where you just get extra perks, so declined first class.  It was not until getting on to the bus and being told it was the wrong one, did I realize there were two different buses going to one place.  However the first class bus went straight to Cancun and the other one made pick-ups and drop-offs the entire way.  So the four hour trip turned into a six hour trip with lots of jerks from the starting and stopping.  At this point, with a lack of food and no sleep, I became delirious.  The bus finally arrived at like 1pm. It was simple enough to cab it to the ferry and get back to my dream island. I finally made it home around 2pm.  It was time to eat and crash for a nap until Caribbean’s arrival that evening.

Meanwhile back in Merida

The owner did finally show up at his home but it was closer to 10am. He seriously must party until the cows come home. Prior to leaving for the initial trip, Sam talked to the seller about accepting USD and we agreed upon an exchange rate of 18:1. For those of you who are not aware of the American Dollar to Mexican Peso exchange, it can make a big difference on how much money you pay for something, especially a large purchase.  I am currently getting an exchange rate of about 18.75 to each American dollar using my ATM card. So it was already a loss of several hundred dollars with the 18:1 exchange. Sam text me on the bus ride home, stating the owner said he cannot exchange the money at 18 and he wanted our rate to be 17.6 to $1USD. Guys I am telling you, I was about to go postal on some people. After all the blood, sweat, and tears, it was possible this deal could not even happen.  I had left Sam with the exact amount of money for the purchase and he did not have access to anymore. 

I told Sam to tell the guy “look, we waited for you all night long.  We haven’t slept, we have eaten. It’s all you have.”  Is he really going to let it go over the exchange rate that the seller originally agreed upon.  Sam replies and says he will tell him.  And then its crickets for an hour.  I kept texting Sam and even called him with no response.  I started to get worried he was robbed or dead.  Finally an hour later, I got this picture:

My heart dropped…. Caribbean is on her way home!

I am glad it was decided to take the bus back home, but poor Sam.  Seriously, POOR SAM.  The POS rental truck gave him even more problems on the way back to Cancun than it did on the way to Merida. Sam had Caribbean loaded on the trailer at 11:35am.  I knew he would have to go slow on the way home, but that truck made it hell the entire way. I text Sam at 8pm, knowing the last cargo ferry was at 8:30pm. He said they had just made it back to Cancun, traffic was bad, and they were rushing to make the 8:30 ferry. With the time zone difference between Cancun and Merida, this had put him on the road for 7.5 hours for a trip that should have only taken 4 hours.  Poor Sam….. they missed the cargo ferry by 4 minutes.  Seriously!?!? How much bad luck can one man have?

So Sam detaches the trailer with Caribbean and leave them in the parking lot at the cargo ferry.  He is attempting to drive the POS truck back to the regular ferry that runs until midnight so he can get home to his family.  The stupid truck broke down in the middle of Cancun and he is having to try to push it out of the road.  I cannot say enough, Poor Sam.  At this point I am glad we didn’t trade T-shirts because he really deserved to be wearing it. Sam finally made it home late that evening to his family, over 24 hours later than we expected to originally be home.

The following morning, Sam traveled back to Cancun to rent another truck in order to transfer Caribbean and the trailer back to the island. I was impatiently waiting all day and she finally arrived that afternoon.  Sam then had to take the second rental truck back to Cancun as well as deal with the first rental truck. I am telling you guys, it’s rare to find a friend who would go through so much hell for you.  And expect nothing in return. He says we are familia, and we definitely are.

When I set out that morning to meet Caribbean, I knew there were be challenges. However, more shit went wrong than I could have ever imagined. I don’t how many times I said “you can’t make this shit up”.

Mexico is continuing to teach me patience. Nothing is simple here. Its time consuming and frustrating some days.

The adventure has come to an end and Caribbean is now part of Isla Mujeres. The unexpected stress will eventually be a distant memory and Caribbean will be loved and appreciated every moment of my Isla life.