Originally Posted by stimpy
Driving an American rental across the border and renting from a Mexican office in CUN are two completely different things. When driving over the border at TJ, I pretty much always purchase Mexican insurance. However when renting in CUN, I never bother. If something happens (much less likely in CUN), I can always hold up a piece of paper that says my American Express card insures me, or I can resort to the age old remedy of bribing the officer an appropriate amount of dinero.
Why is it less likely that something will happen in CUN as compared to TIJ? I'm actually more concerned about driving in CUN and dealing with the gringos who seem to think that DWI laws somehow don't exist in Mexico.
While your credit card insurance may cover physical damage and loss of use of your rental car, without liability insurance you are in deep caca if you happen to injure or kill somebody, and/or cause damages to property, as a result of your accident. You, as the gringo, will be the deep pocket that gets sued and you will not be allowed to leave Mexico until the matter is cleared up. I wouldn't bet on a
mordida (bribe) as my get-out-of-jail "free" card in that case.
I've been in two fender-benders in Mexico City. In both cases I had insurance and both matters were cleared up within hours. In one instance
el transito (that would be "traffic cop" to you and me) happened upon the scene, stopped and checked my driver's license and rental contract. Also checked the other driver's license and registration. Said everything was in order relative to my paperwork and not to worry. The officer then called the insurance adjuster's office for me and hung around until the rep showed up. He never asked for a
mordida but I did slip him the equivalent of ten bucks as a
propina (tip) in appreciation for his helpfulness.