Hi Zorra666,<br />In order:<br />vehicle, no, I don't know what you need or want, whatever you get, make sure that it has the maximum road clearance you can get....the "topes" or speed bumps are everywhere and I have seen them as high as a foot. Disastrous if you have low hanging fittings, tanks or about anything hanging down.<br /><br />I am partial to vans but a pickup mounted slide in camper is good, a small Class C is good....the things I think about for any developing country, is width, height and road clearance. The smaller on both width and height and the more on road clearance will make your life immeasurably better.<br /><br />On the other hand I have seen gigantic winnabagle bus monsters just about anywhere I have been as far down as Guatemala and they were going further. I read a marvelous story with photos in one of the RV rags about an elderly couple who in 1994 drove a 3/4 ton 4wd Chev diesel truck with a short fifth wheel trailer through Mexico and Central America and into and around South America and loved it and once they were home they wanted to go back....that was during the couple of years there was a vehicle ferry between Panama and Columbia.<br /><br />Terri and Mike Church of the camping guide swear by a crew cab 4wd truck with a huge camper on the back.<br /><br />Frankly, unless you are totally hung up on a RV type unit for Mexico, I think I would use a small van or mini van as new as you can afford and plan on renting a room or cabina when you are someplace you want to teach.<br /><br />You can find some awesome cheap prices and great places if you are willing to live like the locals and not like a gringo. A Mexican neighborhood will turn up some cool places, maybe even with a family...rent a room and share meals? Your experiences won't be as a tourist but as a traveler...a vast difference.<br /><br />Mechanics....far better than here. They are everywhere and can work wonders with almost nothing. The older rig you get the easier they are to fix but the more they will need fixing. My thought is that you should get whatever it is that you will take down and live in it a while here first...work out the bugs and repair everything that might need fixing.<br /><br />Parts are good for standard Ford, chev, dodge stuff, Toyota used to be hard to find...Nissan easy, etc. it is developing fast in Mexico and in some places it isn't much different than here...I was able to find a Dodge dealer in Chih. to repair a Jeep truck we had once ....we had rear axle problems needing an OEM part.<br /><br />It sounds to me like you need to immerse yourself in Mexico stuff for a while...there is tons of stuff online to research and there are excellent books...Take a wander through your local bookstore or half.com and find Carl Franz's book the People's Guide to Rving and Camping in Mexico...excellent book and he spells it all out...really, really well, better than we ever can. <br /><br />There are only a couple people on here who do drive and camp in Mexico or ever will go, there are other forums where it is everyday stuff and filled with people who do it every year or live there....maybe some good reading there will help.<br /><br />I will tell you what I tell anyone getting started in this stuff, esp. if you can only afford old gear...learn how to fix it and build a great tool kit. This will do more for your peace of mind than anything. <br /><br />Buena Suerte,<br />Bri<br /><br />PS...as I finished this and posted it a rare thought flashed in my beanbag...<br />Don't... no matter what you do, get a RV with 16.5" wheels on it for Mexico...tires for those just do not exist in Mexico....if that is all you can find...change the wheels to 16" wheels and new tires. Unfortunately most of the older RVs have 16.5" wheels on them and that sux. Mexicans rarely if ever buy or use RVs and there is nothing else I know of that uses that size wheel.
