One of the many great things about Mexico is their attitude towards ATV’s and random vehicles on the streets. Pretty much anything goes. Italika is a Mexican based company. We were set on purchasing an Italika vehicle because of the price. Italika is about two to five times cheaper than the other ATV’s. We briefly considered getting a scooter, but ultimately made the correct decision and went with a “cuatrimoto.”

Italika was started in 2005. Today they make up two-thirds of the motorcycle market in Mexico. The ATV’s they produce have smaller engines than a typical American ATV, but are considered very reliable for the Mexican streets.

Our choices were:

150(cc) ATV Sport. It sells for 33,000 to 38,000 pesos. It’s an automatic with reverse, has a maximum speed of 45kmh and an 8 liter tank with an estimated 212 km of travel per tank of gas.

ATV 180. It sells for 34,000 to 38,000 pesos. It’s an automatic with reverse, has a maximum speed of 65kmh and an 8 liter tank with an estimated 184 km of travel per tank of gas. Since the 150 and the 180 don’t have a fuel gauge, there is a switch to change from the main fuel tank to the reserve when you get down to the last couple liters. You have about 10 seconds to switch to the reserve when driving when the main tank runs out of gas before the ATV dies. So move quick or pull over to switch to the reserve tank.

ATV 250. It sells for 55,000 to 63,000 pesos. It’s also an automatic with reverse, has a maximum speed of 80kmh and a 12 liter tank with an estimated 228 km of travel per tank of gas. The 250 is the only ATV with turn signals and a digital display on the steering wheel. The display has a speedometer as well as an odometer that shows distance and hours driven. It also has sideview mirrors. And it has a carrying capacity of 220kg, as opposed to a 150kg capacity for the ATV 150 and 180.

We purchased the ATV 180, because we felt that for the price it was our best option for first-time ATV owners. We literally went straight from Immigration with our residency cards to Sam’s Club and bought the cuatrimoto. I think that residency isn’t required at Sam’s, but I’m pretty sure the “law” is that you need Mexican residency to buy a vehicle in Mexico.

A friend of ours purchased the ATV 250 last year at Sam’s Club and had mentioned that one of the wheels fell off ten minutes after driving away from the store. So we made sure to kick the tires a few times before leaving the parking lot. Several days after we purchased our ATV we did have some trouble starting it. Fortunately there was an Italika service center a hundred yards down the road so they charged the battery for us. Since then it’s mostly worked well, minus about 5 times when it died in the middle of driving it. Each time it stopped running it started back up after waiting three minutes. Just a tiny bit concerning! The Italika service center fixed it, and with the warranty I had to pay only 150 pesos. After another longer trip the muffler somehow got a hole in it, and again 150 pesos later it was fixed. I just assumed that the 1 month, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, 12 month, 15 month, 18 month, and 21 month service appointments were covered in the purchase price. Especially since they charged the battery for free. But I learned after our first service center appointment when the woman told me I owed her 280 pesos that it’s definitely not included. But if you want the two year guarantee you need to do these appointments, apparently. For our 3 month maintenance check-up we were charged 320 pesos.

Okay, ultimately we learned that the local Italika shop wouldn’t honor the 2 year warranty because it was only valid if they could confirm the mileage. They repaired a hole in the muffler, supposedly, only to have the issue reappear in three weeks. They told us that they only guarantee the work for one week. Two of the three ATV’s don’t have an odometer so it’s a bit of a bait and switch to say there’s a two year warranty. No one at the service shop mentions there is no warranty as they sign the warranty book every 3 months and take your 300 pesos.

Unfortunately every couple months you’ll have to take the ATV for some minor repair. Fortunately the repairs usually don’t cost more than 300 pesos.

Insurance. We bought insurance through Qualitas Compania de Seguros. We solely picked them because our Mexican amiga, Angela, told us they were good. Our friend started the process for us, then we had to go to the Qualitas office to finalize everything. In order to finalize, they need your address, passport copy, and lots of photos of the ATV. The woman at the Qualitas office offered me the option to pay upfront or monthly without interest. I decided it would be easier to pay it all at once, especially since Qualitas accepts credit cards. Once paid, the annual policy went into effect immediately and expires a year to the day. I generally trusted the process and didn’t ask any questions, then later went through all of the paperwork. For my 7,844 pesos fee ($390 USD) for one year of coverage, I would have to cover 10% of any damage to my ATV and 20% of the cost to replace in the event of a total theft. They cover up to 3,000,000 pesos for vehicle liability and 100,000 pesos for medical liability. It also covers legal and roadside assistance, whatever that means. Fortunately Qualitas has a dedicated line for their English speaking customers. She told me to make sure if I ever need to call to have my policy number handy.

License Plate. You may want to find a Mexican to help you do this as well. I’ve been told these things can take days of waiting in lines and dealing with various people, so you could need a guy that can grease a few palms. I have yet to meet an expat that has taken care of getting a license plate on their own. Most will pay a local Mexican a couple hundred peso fee to do it for them. It turned out to be very simple for us. My Mexican amigo, Leonel, went with me to the Secretaria de Finanzas y Administracion Offices in Zihua. I was shocked that we were the only customers there at 10:30am on a Tuesday. The people at the office asked for something with my address on it, proof of purchase, and my passport or residency card. I gave them a copy of the receipt I got from Sam’s and my residency card, which worked. They have a dedicated desk for making copies of any necessary forms. We paid the 4 pesos for copies, then waited an hour. Leonel knew the woman at the counter’s husband and made sure to let her know. When she called us up she asked for a 500 peso fee, then immediately handed me the license plate and receipt of payment. It was way easier than I expected. Leonel was even surprised at how quickly the process went. Leonel mentioned giving her a little bit of money to buy a soda and I quickly handed her 100 pesos. Leonel told me as we walked out the front door that 50 pesos would’ve been plenty but I didn’t care. And of course he refused any payment from me.

Helmets. The cuatrimoto came with one helmet, but the only size they had was an Extra Large. There may be 27 Mexicans in the entire country that have an extra large head. There are plenty of stores in town that sell helmets, though. Expect to pay 350 pesos to 1500 pesos. We “splurged” and spent 600 pesos each for what appear to be solid helmets. Cool-ass helmet stickers are extra.

Gloves cost about 350 pesos. I’ve been going glove-less along with every other Mexican and expat motorcycle and ATV rider in town. We did order two sideview mirrors from Amazon US at a cost of $23USD, and we ordered a cover for the cuatrimoto from Amazon Mexico for 600 pesos.

Storage Compartment. It was more difficult than I expected to order a box (caja) for the back of our ATV. No one carries them. The first time I went to the Honda motorcycle and ATV dealership they told me that they didn’t sell the cajas. I talked to a friend and he confirmed that he purchased one at Honda the previous year, so I went back a week later. This time I talked to someone who said they would order and install it for 4500 pesos. They wanted 300 pesos for installation, but I resisted and they decided to include it. It turns out the box is not a one size fits all, or maybe it is, but you have to do some serious welding to make it fit. After three trips back to Honda, they finally got it installed. They had to take it to another shop in town to get the welding done for installation. It turned out looking pretty good, and I felt a little guilty about not wanting to pay for installation. But 4,500 pesos is a lot of money for a plastic box. The box easily holds our helmets, backpacks and some groceries. And we picked up some bungee cords for when we need to strap a case of beer to the front of the ATV.