Nearly half of Mexico City vehicle check appointments missed, data shows
Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
At a glance
- Nearly half of scheduled appointments for vehicle identification checks at Mexico City's FGJ in 2025-2026 were missed.
- Of the appointments that occurred, 67.5% resulted in a successful verification, while 30.4% failed due to incomplete documentation.
- A small percentage of vehicles were seized by authorities for issues like altered serial numbers.
A significant portion of scheduled appointments for vehicle identification checks at Mexico City's Fiscalรญa General de Justicia (FGJ) went unfulfilled during 2025 and the first part of 2026. Data obtained through transparency requests reveals that out of 3,947 appointments scheduled between January 2025 and May 21, 2026, a total of 1,870 applicants, or 47.4%, did not attend their sessions.
For those who did attend, the process generally led to successful verification. The FGJ issued 1,402 certificates, confirming that the vehicles met requirements, representing 67.5% of the vehicles that underwent inspection. However, a notable 30.4% of the 2,077 inspected vehicles failed to pass the checks, primarily due to incomplete or improper documentation.
People get desperate and in the end, they don't come to the appointments, that's the reason.
Furthermore, 35 vehicles, or 1.6% of those inspected, were handed over to a public prosecutor. This typically occurs when vehicles are found to have altered serial numbers or other significant discrepancies that require further investigation.
The FGJ operates two identification modules: Zona Centro in Cuauhtรฉmoc and Zona Oriente in Iztapalapa. The Zona Centro module handled more than four times the number of requests and conducted over three times the number of inspections compared to the Zona Oriente module. Staff at the Zona Centro location cited constant demonstrations and road closures in the area as a primary reason for appointment no-shows, leading to applicant frustration and cancellations.
Few vehicles are found to be remarked or altered, obviously people who come here don't know the car has a problem, but that's what we detect here.
Originally published by El Universal in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.