There are hundreds, if not thousands, of different car dealers and places where you can buy a new or used car in Bolivia, but the vast majority of them are very risky, because they tend to sell overpriced cars, vehicles that have changed components, illegally imported or even stolen cars. But among these, there are some very reputable companies from which you could buy.
In Bolivia, the top car dealers are 1) Toyosa, which sells cars from Toyota and Lexus; 2) Imcruz, which sells cars from Suzuki, Mazda, Renault, Chevrolet, Changan, and Jac; Nissan Bo, which is the agency from Nissan. For used cars: 1) Autopia. Other car dealers and places are not recommended to buy from.
In this guide, we’ll be talking about the most important and most reportable car dealers that currently operate in our country, Bolivia, where you can buy a car with all the needed guarantees that you require as a foreigner, getting all the safety, quality and legal support and with this avoid getting fooled by unethical car sellers in the country.
A general overview of the car dealers in Bolivia
Many of the car dealers that operate in Bolivia are focused on serving high-income clients that are located or living in the best zones and neighborhoods link of the country.
But the majority of Bolivians don’t buy from these dealers. Natives usually buy mostly used cars from their friends, the newspaper, Facebook Marketplace, or car open markets like the 16 de Julio open market (in which by the way many of the cars for sale are stolen).
So, we mention this because you need to be very careful and not buy from these places (unless you really know what you’re doing) where the majority of Bolivians buy their cars. After all, there you’ll find a lot of scammers, misleading car sellers, and fake car dealers, who will try to take advantage of you taking you as a naive foreigner.
Instead, what most expats living in Bolivia and also high-income Bolivians do is buy new or used cars only from well-known and very reputable car dealers which we are going to mention in the following lines.
The most important car dealers in Bolivia
Here in the country, as we said, you’ll find hundreds of different legal car dealers, but the following ones really stand out, as they’re the car market-leading companies here and also because they sell cars made by the top worldwide car brands, like Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, Suzuki, Changan, etcetera.
1) Toyosa
Toyosa is maybe the most reputable car dealer in Bolivia, only challenged by Imcruz. It’s also one of the largest companies in the country. This car dealer assists car owners in every aspect of their Toyota cars, from the buying process to the auto parts needed for repair, car repair shops, warranties, etcetera.
Taking into account that the Toyota brand is the second largest car sold in Bolivia, this company is huge and is present in every principal urban area of the country.
No matter if you are a foreigner or resident when buying a Toyota car in Bolivia, you won’t make a mistake if you buy it from this company, which indeed is the only official and allowed company in the country to sell Toyota cars. If you want to buy a new Toyota car here in Bolivia, you must buy it from this company.
It’s worth mentioning that Toyosa also sells cars from the Lexus brand in Bolivia.
Toyosa is the only exclusive and official car dealer allowed to sell original new Toyota vehicles in Bolivia. It also sells semi-new Toyota cars.
Toyosa contact information
You can know more about this company in the following direction:
Address:
- Santa Cruz: #777 Cristo Redentor Av, between 2nd and 3rd Ring.
- La Paz: #1413, Venezuela Square.
- All the agencies: https://www.toyosa.com/sucursales.
Fhone: (+591) 800-17-5200 (toll free)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Toyosa-101300798385717/ (Toyosa), https://www.facebook.com/ToyotaBoliviaoficial/ (Toyota Bolivia)
YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCfYsmVjP96GrQs0_XbdZoug
2) Imcruz
This company is the largest car dealer in Bolivia, it sells cars from several top brands around the world, including vehicles from the top-selling car brands within the country, Suzuki and Changan.
If you buy from Imcruz, you can be sure that they won’t fool or scam you. This is one of the largest enterprises in Bolivia, which even sells cars from the Chinese brand Changan that is recently very widely present in the country, as people here have turned to buy a lot more Chinese cars in recent years.
This company will offer you all the legal support, no matter if you are an expat, foreigner, or resident who wants to buy a car here in the country. Also, it’ll give you all the warranties, auto parts, and full after-sale support that you may need for your car.
This very well-known car dealer in Bolivia currently sells cars and vehicles from the following brands:
- Suzuki
- Mazda
- Renault
- Chevrolet
- Changan
- Jac
Imcruz contact information
You can know more about this company in the following direction:
Address:
- Santa Cruz: #164 Cristobal De Mendoza Av, Equipetrol.
- La Paz: Ballivian Av in the intersection with 10th Calacoto St.
- All agencies: https://www.imcruzcenter.com.bo/sucursales/.
Fhone: +591 800-12-1800 (toll free),
+591 2-2-609600 (La Paz), +591 3-3-389000 (Santa Cruz De La Sierra)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ImcruzBolivia/
YouTube: https://youtube.com/user/imcruzbolivia
3) Nissan
This car brand doesn’t sell its cars in Bolivia through other car dealers, instead, it has its own agencies here, from which you can buy new Nissan cars with all the guarantees and safety that you are searching for.
We can tell you that Nissan is a widely available car brand in Bolivia that is also widely bought across the entire country. Nissan and its agencies in Bolivia offer you all the buying experience that you are used to in your own country, with all the after-sale support that you may need.
Nissan Branch contact information
You can know more about the official Branch of Nissan in Bolivia in the following direction:
Address:
- Santa Cruz: Uruguay Av in the intersection with Pedro Antelo St, 1st Ring.
- La Paz: #8505 21th Calacoto street, Calacoto.
- All agencies: https://www.nissan.com.bo/buscar-concesionario.html.
Fhone: +591 61011116 (general, WhatsApp),
+591 2-2-790021 (La Paz), +591 3-3-361909 (Santa Cruz De La Sierra)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nissanenbolivia/
YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/NissanBoliviaOficial
The best-used car dealers in Bolivia
Buying used cars in Bolivia is a very risky and bureaucratic process. Risky because many used car owners and sellers in our country try to mislead buyers with fake quality in their cars, sell you stolen cars, or scam you in the process, and this is worse in Bolivia than in other parts of the world.
1) Autopia
But recently a new car dealer for used cars that has all the legal permissions and also is a very serious company has been opened to serve both Bolivian and foreign clients. This company is called Autopia (owned by Imcruz), and currently, it’s the only used car dealer we recommend you use in our country.
How does Autopia work in Bolivia?
Autopia acts as an intermediary between buyers and sellers as if it were a real estate realtor, it gets a commission for each transaction that occurs between car owners and buyers.
The working process of the company is the following:
- An owner of a used car in Bolivia wants to sell his car.
- So, he contacts Autopia and hires this company to make the operation possible.
- Then, Autopia reviews the car and makes it available in its used car listings, it also provides a secure place to review the vehicle and for the meeting between the seller and possible buyers to happen.
- After this, when the used car is available for sale, anyone, no matter if he is a local or expat, can buy it by doing the proper paperwork.
- Then the negotiations start and the used car can be reviewed by the possible buyer in the designated spaces and with the mechanic professionals provided for free by Autopia.
- When both the car seller and buyer agree on the deal, this company provides legal support for free and assists in the paperwork and buying process.
- After the car has been bought by the new owner, Autopia gets its commission from the paid price. And everything is done.
So, as you can see, there are important advantages of using this company as the intermediary or agent between the seller and maybe you as the buyer of the used car. These advantages are:
- You have the proper legal support from this company to assist you in the buying process.
- Autopia provides the buyer with a place and mechanical assistance where he can negotiate the transaction, and the price and also verify if the car is really what the seller is advertising.
- This company does not have any interest conflicts, because it’s just an intermediary that gets a commission from the sale.
- Autopia also provides some security about the financial transaction of the payment that the seller does to the buyer because it acts as an intermediary between them.
- This company also offers good advertising capabilities to the seller in order to find a good buyer for his car, as this is a well-known company.
- Autopia is a company owned by Imcruz, which is a leading car dealer in Bolivia.
There are endless other car sellers that have used cars for sale across Bolivia, but >95% of them aren’t reliable nor serious, or legal enough to hire them for you to buy or sell your used car within the country. If you want to buy or sell your used car in Bolivia we only recommend Autopia to do so.
Autopia contact information
You can know more about Autopia in the following direction:
Address:
- Santa Cruz: Cristo Redentor Av, between the 3rd Ring and 4th Ring.
- La Paz: Megacenter Complex building, Rafael Pavon Av, Irpavi
- All agencies: https://www.autopia.com.bo/lugares-de-encuentro
Fhone: +591 800-12-1800 (toll free, same as Imcruz)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/autopia.bo/
YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCuJENxVC7dgYJYu0_MHreAg
There are hundreds of other car dealers in the country
In the majority of the neighborhoods that exist within the major cities of Bolivia, in towns, and even in rural areas, there are hundreds if not thousands of standalone car dealers that sell cars from many brands coming from different countries.
Most of these car dealers are generally not recommended
But many of these car dealers don’t offer you the right guarantees, safety, and legal support that you may need. Many of these car dealers sell cars that have been reconditioned, with auto parts that have been changed by fake ones, and some of them even sell stolen cars or cars that don’t have all the importing paperwork properly done.
By any means, we don’t recommend you buy from other car dealers that are not mentioned above. They won’t offer you all the warranties and safety when buying a car as a foreigner.
There are some exceptions to this rule, for example:
- Honda’s agencies that are present within the country.
- Some car dealers that operate within neighborhoods crowded by expats in Bolivia.
When buying from other car dealers, always take all the precautions because remember that you are buying from them as a foreigner, getting a lot more risks in the process. Only buy from these dealers if you know what you’re doing.
Never buy a car in the following places
This is a big no-no for you, in no case you should buy a car from the following places, because you are at an incredible risk of being fooled or scammed, having the possibility of buying a stolen car a car that has most of its auto parts changed, a car that is illegal in the country as it has been illegally imported, etc.
You shouldn’t buy a car in the following places:
- The 16 de Julio Market Fair.
- In the fairs located in or near the frontiers of Bolivia.
- From advertisements in Facebook Marketplace.
- From advertisements in the principal newspapers of Bolivia (less risk, but still important).
- From banners placed within a car that you found in the street (less risk, but still important).
If you buy a car from these places you are at the risk of:
- Getting a car that has its most important components changed and replaced with bad quality or fake imitations.
- Getting a car that has been illegally imported to Bolivia (called “autos chutos“).
- Getting a car that has been stolen.
- Getting a car that has legal troubles with its documents.
- Getting an overpriced car that has its mile counter reset, that it’s about to break down, and so on.
Only buy from these places, if you really know what you’re doing. Maybe you have some important reasons to buy from these sellers, but you are all the time and in every transaction at a very high risk of losing your money or being even in trouble with the police of Bolivia because, as we said, many of these cars have been illegally imported or even stolen.
Conclusions:
In this guide about the most important and best car dealers in Bolivia, you have learned that there are 3 car brands from which you can buy a car as a foreigner without any trouble and with all the security you require. These car brands are Toyosa, selling cars from Toyota; Imcruz, selling cars from Suzuki, Mazda, Renault, Chevrolet, Changan, and Jac, and the agencies of Nissan.
You also have known that, currently, the only serious and reputable company to buy used cars within Bolivia is Autopia (owned by Imcruz), which acts as an intermediary between sellers and buyers and it provides its own mechanics and places where the used cars that are being sold can be reviewed and offered. It also provides all the legal support during the buying process.
Finally, you’ve realized that there are many other hundreds, if not thousands, of car dealers and sellers operating within the country, but that many of them are not meant for foreigners, as they in many cases are scammy and misleading, putting you at risk of buying a stolen car, a car with replaced auto parts, a vehicle that has been illegally imported, an overpriced car and so on.
We hope this information has helped you, and if you want to know all the details and numbers about how much a car really costs in Bolivia, including every aspect of gas and other costs, visit our dedicated guide in the following direction: How much does a car cost in Bolivia? All the details and facts.
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