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Renting a car in Bolivia is possible and it doesn’t require any kind of special condition from your part to achieve it. You can rent different types of cars and drive them without limits, by just presenting the documents you have used to stay in Bolivia. Also, you will need to leave some money as guarantee to the car rental company, among other things.

Yes, you can rent a car in Bolivia if you’re a tourist, a resident or a Bolivian citizen, and drive it without any restriction. To do this, you’ll need your passport, visa, and driver’s license from your source country, also $2,000 to $3,000 for guarantee and $200 to $1,000 a month for rental fees.

In this guide, we will be talking about all the details, conditions, requirements, steps and needed documents, additionally, about the costs and paperwork timelines involved in renting a car in our country. You will also know which is the best company available to rent a car here.

Yes, you totally can rent a car in Bolivia

In Bolivia it is totally possible to rent a car, no matter if you are a tourist, a resident or have become a Bolivia citizen, and also drive it without any kind of limitation. You can rent a car here, leaving some money as a guarantee in the rental company, usually between $2,000 and $3,000, and signing a rental contract for getting your rented car.

You can rent a car either as a tourist, a resident or a citizen

You don’t need any kind of special condition to rent a car in Bolivia. Just with your passport, your visa and the driver’s license you have from your source country, you can rent a car here, and fully drive it within the country, without any legal restrictions.

Steps and requirements to rent a car in Bolivia 

Conditions

As we just said, you can rent a car in Bolivia and drive it anywhere in the country, if you are either:

• A tourist (allowed to drive this car until your tourist permission expires, which can last up to 90 days).
• A temporary or permanent resident (until residence status expires, which can last between 2 years and 5 years depending on the type of residence you have).
• A naturalized citizen (in this case you are like any other Bolivian and you don’t have any limit in time to drive a car in the country).

Requirements

a) If you’re just a tourist

When you are only a tourist, you can’t get a Bolivian driver’s license, but the documents that allow you to stay in Bolivia can serve as a driver’s license, as we explain next.

To rent a car in Bolivia as a tourist you will need:

1. Your passport.
2. Your tourist visa. 
3. Your driver’s license from your own country.
4. Between $2,000 and $3,000 in cash or from your credit card, as guarantee for the car.

With these documents, you will sign a contract with the car rental company. This contract, together with the 3 documents listed above, will act as your driver’s license in Bolivia. Then, if a police officer in the country asks you for your driver’s license, you’ll need to show this contract, together with these 3 documents, and everything will be just fine.

b) If you’re at temporal or permanent resident

Once you are a resident of Bolivia, you get your foreigners’ ID card, which allows you to be like any other Bolivian and enjoy the same rights as any other person in the country. So of course, with this document you will be able to get a Bolivian driver’s license.

To rent a car in Bolivia, as either a temporal or permanent resident, you will need:

• Your foreigners’ ID card.
• Between $2,000 to 3,000, as guarantee for the car.

c) If you have become a Bolivian citizen

After becoming a Bolivia citizen, you at this point are like any other Bolivian, so you will be using your Bolivian ID card to rent a car in the country.

To rent a car in Bolivia as a Bolivian naturalized citizen, you will need:

• Your Bolivian ID card.
• Between $2,000 to 3,000, as guarantee for the car.

Steps

After meeting all the requirements and conditions mentioned above, and depending on if you are a tourist, a resident or a citizen, you’ll need to follow the next steps in order to rent a car in the country:

1. Go to the rental car company available in Bolivia (we recommend you to use EuropCar, because it’s an international company present in the most important cities of Bolivia, also being the largest one available here (you can rent from this company online, from your own country).
2. Percent all the requirements mentioned before link depending on your permanency status (turist, resident or naturalized citizen).
3. Sign up for the contract with the car rental company, this contract will specify the conditions, the duty time to return the car, its permitted uses, among other things.
4. Pay the guarantee to get the rental car, which will be, as we said, from $2,000 to $3,000 depending on the size and the time you are going to rent the car.
5. Ask for all your documents and the contract, remember not to forget any of these documents, including the contract, you shouldn’t leave any original in the company, also, these documents will serve you as your driver’s license in Bolivia.
6. Get your rented car, get the keys of your car, and start using and enjoying it in Bolivia.
7. Return the car after the timeline, once you have used it in Bolivia and complied with the rental contract conditions, bring back the car to the rental company, don’t forget to ask for the full refund of your guarantee.
8. Everything has been done, you don’t have any left tie or liabilities to the car rental company.

Costs

The costs of renting a car in Bolivia will generally go from $200 to $1,000 per month, depending on 2 main factors:

• The timespan you’ll rent the car.
• The size of the car.

The timespan the car will be rented

If you are going to rent the car for a long time, more than just a few days, then you will need to leave a larger guarantee to the rental company ($2,000 for a few days, but $3,000 for more days or weeks).

But also the car rental companies will give you some discounts, of around 10% to 20% if you rent the car for more than 1 month or maybe for 3 months.

The size of the car 

For example, a compact car or personal car will cost you from $200 to $350 a month. On the other hand, a familiar car will cost you around $500 a month in most car rental companies available in the country.

Cars with more functionality, for example, pickups, jeeps, etcetera, will of course cost you more, maybe reaching $1,000 a month.

We have a complete guide about how much a car costs in Bolivia, with all the detailed numbers and situations, including buying and rental prices, gas prices, Uber and bus prices, etcetera, in the following direction: How much does a car cost in Bolivia? All you need to know.

Paperwork timespan

Printing a car in Bolivia will be actually very easy and fast, even if you are a tourist. Just go to the car rental company, present all the documents and requirements, pay the guarantee and rental fees, get your car and you are done. All this process can take even less than an hour in the best cases.

But on average, expect to get your rented car, from the time you enter into a rental car company’s office to the time you get your car, between 1 and 2 days to complete the whole process.

Of course, you don’t need to be in the office all this time. They’ll call you when everything is finished so you can get your rented car.

The best companies in Bolivia to rent a car

There are several car rental companies available in Bolivia, but by far the best and most available one here is EuropCar. This company is an international brand that has a presence in the 3 main cities of Bolivia, La Paz, Cochabamaba and Santa Cruz.

When renting from this international rental car company, you’ll have these advantages:

• You can rent online, being still in your source country, and before coming to Bolivia.
• You can specify when and where in Bolivia you are going to pick up and return your rented car.
• You can use the app of this car rental company for more convenience:
  • Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.clanmo.europcar 
  • App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/europcar-car-van-hire/id377889715 
• You also can directly go to their offices available in the principal cities of Bolivia, and rent your car right there.

Conclusions:

In this guide about if it’s possible and how to rent a car in Bolivia, you have seen that it is totally possible, no matter if you are a tourist, a temporary or permanent resident, or a naturalized citizen. In all these situations, you won’t have any restriction to drive this car in the country beyond the time dwell of your, staying type, which for tourists is 90 days.

Also, you’ve learned that to rent a car here you’ll need your passport, your tourist visa, the driver’s license that you use in your country; or if you are a resident, your foreigners’ ID card, or if you are a naturalized citizen your normal Bolivian ID card. Also, you’ll need from $2,000 to $3,000 as a guarantee, and from $200 to $1,000 per month for rental fees.

Finally, you have seen that in Bolivia, by far the best car rental company available is EuropCar, which has offices in the principal cities of the country. Also, this is a worldwide well-known company that allows you to even rent the car online, from your source country before coming here, among other services.

We hope this information has helped you, and if you want to know if it’s possible for a tourist, or a foreigner, to buy a car in Bolivia, with all the details, conditions, requirements and steps, visit our dedicated guide in the following direction: How to buy a car in Bolivia as a foreigner? A complete guide. Link

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