Owning cars in Bolivia

Car ownership is not very popular here. Though there are a lot of cars the cars are owned mainly by the transport agencies or by the elite of Bolivia. Having a car for private use might also seem to be a bad point rather than good, the reason is traffic!

The roads are very narrow, but it is not the road that creates the ruckus. It is people’s driving style. Most of the drivers tend to overtake in narrow roads and block the vehicles from the opposite. They try to overrun the traffic lights and create a gridlock. They are no proper parking spaces and people tend to park their cars where they like, making the road narrower.

Owning a low priced car might seem like a luxury to most Bolivians. The new cars cost 30% more than what it costs in the US. Combine this with the low salary of the Bolivians; it makes a family sedan car a sports car. This is the reason most Bolivians who are willing to buy second hand cars are going to buy Japanese second hand cars. They import used cars from Japan to Bolivia from car dealers like Autoworld International. Cars in Japan are auctioned after few years even if they are in good condition. The Japan government rules make the sparingly used car owners sell their cars owners to sell. Car dealers buy these cars in auction at great deal and sell it countries like Bolivia. It is a win-win situation for both. Bolivians get good, reliable cars at a cheap price this way.

Maintenance expenses vary considerably depending on the work required. While work might only cost a few bucks an hour, parts can be very costly because they are in short supply, imported and subject to high duty. In addition, Bolivian mechanics are not known for their sincerity and see foreigners as well-off and easy to fool. There are foreigners who are fooled out thousands of dollars for extremely simple repair work.

On top of everything else, car robbery is a very big problem in Bolivia, not astonishing given a showy car can be valuable more than an apartment. Parking on the road during the night is asking for trouble so every car owner has a garage, insurance and an obnoxiously noisy car alarm.