Finding Fuel in Bolivia
 

can be a challenge. attached are three maps Ive found useful. not sure who the original author is. this is old info and undoubtedly should be considered suspect ... some stations may have closed down and some new stations may exist. Its a good starting point though.

Also it aint uncommon to arrive at a station to find they've run out of gas . . .

Almost always, though, you can find a place selling gas in soda bottles ... at a higher rate ... but if its come to that you wont care :)

Maps attached. hope they're found useful.

Yep, it's usually a hassle but hardly ever a problem. Just make sure you always fill up when you can.

Bolivia has 2 prices of gas, for bolivian and for foreigner. You have a lot of re-sale at every place (which make the 3rd price), every mountain and every tree, even at altiplano when no life can survive.

Prices are rounded 1 usd/litre for foreigner, 0,5 re-sale and 0,3 for bolivians.

So if you run a carburetor bike, ask in the gas station for a bolivian guy/plate to buy gas, if not buy at the re-sale.

If you have a fuel injection bike, pay 1 usd/liter, add octanaje elevator, fill some extra tanks in order to reach at least 700 km.

I have several times in Bolivia with always good times. I love this country.
Feel free to ask.

Buenas rutas

yep $ for foreign plates because Bolivians get the subsidized rate. There are sporadic efforts to cut down on the contraband. Ive seen military manning gas stations and logging IDs and liters (rare). Also not long ago they implemented a system of a little electronic device and id card which was supposedly mandatory to buy gas ... so far no one has asked me for mine ... but I keep it attached to my key ring just in case. Ive heard that the idea is to eventually have electronic gates at the pump that won't even open if you don't have your electronic doohickey. The whole illegal business of taking subsidized gas over the border for profit sale is just wrong . . . but I gotta wonder what it would be like here without the soda bottle guys filling in the gaps between gas stations and in the remote areas inside Bolivia . . .

In my experience Bolivian gas sucks ... equally from the pump or the soda bottle. When you can find premium here (it usually arrives in SCZ on sunday and is sold out by Monday) it is much better. I can tell a huge difference after filling up across the border in Argentina. I have a EFI map I optimized the best I could for the gas here ... helps with the pinging a lot.

Yep the gas is basura!

I never had problems finding petrol and allways walked with my jerry cans to the pump as they dont have forreign number plates. Never payed the 3x price but sometimes had to argue for that and once they even called the police: [url=http://motorradtouren-suedamerika.de/?report=suedamerika]Ｍｏｔｏｒｒａｄ Rundreise 28.000 km um S

That'd probably work a lot (if not most) of the time. Cant imagine carrying around a 5 gallon tank, parking up the road and walking back to the pump with the can every time I fill up though.

Thankfully my plates qualify me for the subsidized rate and its not an issue for me.

Stop at 6 fuel stations in a row and get refused at every one and have the tank below 1/4 full and you will soon not need to imagine doing it, you will NEED to do it.

I started out in Bolivia with high ideals about it being right to pay the tourist price, but soon wised up when I found it impossible to get a receipt for any more than what was showing on the pump (being the locals price). I decided if they were going to pocket the whole of the extra then I wanted part of it. 5 Bolivanos seems about fair and the times they gave me local price without me even asking for it, they got a hefty tip to make it up to that price.. One of the few times my Australian-bred loathing of tipping cultures was overruled without feeling annoyed to do it..

I understand where you're coming from .... it's a very different place down here .... and believe me I've been down here long enough I wouldn't dream of judging you for that. .... I've been pissed off more than once about how surtidores have taken advantage ....

I recently heard that extranjeros need to have a permit to buy gas in Bolivia. Is there any truth to this, or is easy enough just to drive up to a pump?

That sounds unlikely unless they issue them at the border. Coming in at the Brazil border for instance, it is a hell of a drive to get to a large city where you might get a permit

I sincerely doubt it. Sounds like whoever you were talking to was confused about the relatively new system aimed at fighting contraband gas exports. There is a new system implemented here where locals have to have a permit to buy gas at the subsidized rate. On cages it is a sticker with some embedded electronics. On a motorcycle it is an ID card and an electronic device that attaches to the bike or to your key ring. So far no one has asked for my ID when filling up my motorcycle. They do make sure I have Bolivian license plates though. I haven't paid attention in the cage, but my wife tells me that she has noticed them checking the sticker when she stops for gas. My guess it that is only because it is easier to check than to walk around the back to look at the license plates.

If you have foreign plates you buy gas at the unsubsidized rate. No permit required as far as I know. Ill try to remember to ask next time Im at the pump to see if anything has changed in that regard.

That's what I thought, thanks for the reply.

OK I asked at the gas station today. How does a foreigner with foreign plates buy gas. The attendant told me they pay triple rate. I asked if the have to fill out paperwork and she said one or two more factura's (receipts) for different gov organizations.

If a Surtidor is truly not giving facturas to foreigners and keeping the difference they are on very shaky ground. That might get them shut down. Surtidores make a lot of money and down time to sort out a factura issue with the gov would be costly ... not to mention potential fines. If they know you know this I really doubt they'd not give you the appropriate facturas.