I find that the websites for the phone companies are rather incomplete in the information they offer - or it may just be the way it is presented. I always find it best to show up in person at their office and get information first hand.
The main Telcel office in Guanajuato is in the Centro on the main street that runs through town, it is almost across the street from the Mercado. Get that close and ask someone and you will find it. I don't know how fluent you are in Spanish but my boyfriend doesn't speak Spanish and he was able to communicate with someone in English at Telcel with no problem.
The USA Cel main office is in the Posuelos Shopping Mall on the upper floor. Easy to get a bus there or from my home up on Cerro de Guijas it is a 40 peso taxi ride. Not sure that they have i-phone at all (can't recall) but you might try them and compare rates. The manager spoke English to my boyfriend.
As for driving. I've driven up and down between Canada and Mexico and the US and Mexico for years without incident. I find it to be safe and easy to drive.
My boyfriend and I drove up to San Diego and San Francisco in April and I drove back down alone. We used highway 15 to and from the border that trip - too far west for you probably but it was a good trip both ways. We drove his Mercedes convertible down Baja to La Paz and took the ferry to Mazatlan and then 15 through Guad and 45 to Guanajuato in June. Once again a great trip - but too far west for you. In September we drove from Guanajuato to Vancouver, using highway 15 going up but we used highway 45 coming back down. We crossed at the furthest East border crossing in Arizona - I'll admit we did want to avoid Juarez. That route took us through Chihuaha, Zacatecas and Aguascalientes and home to Guanajuato. This route involved more two lane highway than the hwy 15 route but it was good driving all the way. I don't know if highway 45 from the border would be your shortest route coming from Toronto but it is good road.
If you want some first hand information about driving from Toronto go into this forum on the tomzap.com site http://69.73.170.179/ph5/list.php?12 and post your question for my friend Rudy, he posts as RGM. He drives from Toronto all the time, has done so for years and is always happy to share information. There is also a group on Facebook called On The Road in Mexico where you will be able to get lots of information as well.
Have a safe trip and good luck with the phone!
Edited: 12 years ago