Taller El Chile no - open now! | Mechanic and Parts

February 6th, 2024 by Kees

Walter and his wife Lady are friendly people and excellent mechanics. Nice to see them working together. We spent 4 nights at their place. They repaired in 2 days a broken bearing on the transferbox of our Mercedes truck. Not an easy job! Price is reasonably and we can really recommend them.

February 2nd, 2023 by jlgjeanlouis

Gomeria Arjamin
bon service serieux et rapide . nous avons fait reparer un pneu creuvé pour 24 B$

June 20th, 2019 by waltersitopay82

This place is permanently closed.

June 12th, 2019 by waltersitopay82

Taller el chileno esta abierto se tomo unas bacaciones

November 14th, 2018 by two-on-tour-by-takla

Walter works elsewhere now. Don't go there anymore.

October 6th, 2018 by chriscockrell88

All the great reviews below brought us here—- we didn’t share the same great experience. Simply put, Walter flaked on appointments with us twice. I hope others have a better experience. We ended up getting taken care of quickly by another mechanic. Maybe worth a try? But we wanted to let others know that we didn’t find the mechanic we needed or hoped for. Don’t get your hopes up.

August 26th, 2018 by douhe

We had a problem with the diesel injection because of the altitude. Walter fixed it within minutes and explained how to maintain it in future by my selfe. Tanks for help!!

June 18th, 2018 by koori0105

COME HERE! and DO NOT go other mechanic!!
After 2 mechanics in this city, our engine had very serious problem. Rocker arm shaft was completely broken after 2nd mechanic and also we had other problems.
The owner Walter and his wife had been repaired our engine for 2weeks.(we need to send our cilinder head to Oruro to repair but it was too damaged to do it. So he found 2nd cilinder head in Oruro and modified it to fit. It was big job.) And He let us stay in our van in his garage while we were waiting.
After repairing, our engine is back! It’s like brand new, much better condition than before.
The price was understandable for his work, but we were really satisfied.
Highly recommend as other overlanders commented!!

June 18th, 2018 by opedrocarvalhinho

Well... just to say the same thing, Walter and his wife are great and very good persons. Just did a regular oil, air and fuel filters change on my VW T4, plus other small things. Paid 120 bolivianos, it seems fair to me. In the end it was already night, and he invited us to stay.

February 4th, 2018 by tracksaroundtheworld.de

Great work and really nice guy. Did the entrance step of the driver cabin of our 6x6 MAN truck. And some welding work at the roof.

November 2nd, 2017 by Waz & Iwona's Excellent Adventure

Place is a bit hard to find, look for a bunch of flags on flag poles out the front gate. Walter is super friendly and helpful highly recommended. He helped replace a belt in our Montero. He also took the time to explain some fixes we could do ourselves and what tools we would need. He is genuine and helpful.. recommend!

October 24th, 2017 by twoglobetrotters

Walter, El Chileno, was very helpful sorting out our suspension problems on our Iveco 4x4 after the rear end sank on our way to Uyuni. He took apart the springs, got new leafs to add to the european soft suspension and made them tough for the "laguna route". That road is not easy! Walter is a nice guy did the job with no fuss and at a Bolivian rate so we would recommend his service to see if he could help you. To find his workshop there are flags at the gate and just ring the bell.

September 21st, 2017 by bigoteparati

Walter is a very helpful guy that actually listens to you and thinks of his work before he starts. He tried to fix our car with very good ideas and when it turned out we would need a new gasoline pump he had good contacts to order it from potosí for the next day. Really recommendable workshop.

September 14th, 2017 by outonalimshaw

Walter changed our fuel filter and provided a quick and honest service for 100BOB. If the gates are closed, ring the doorbell by the blue door. Definitely recommended!

September 9th, 2017 by carlametjan.waarbenjij.nu

very accurate mecanical. very friendly and repaired our 4x4 .Made a rack for our containers. prices were not hight.

July 27th, 2017 by roman

very nice place if you have to fix or weld something at your car. Walter is very helpful and kind. He took apart the front axle of my Land Cruiser HJ61. changed wheelbearings and located after much difficulties used CV-Joints and changed them too. All the while (5days) I slept at the workshop in the car, used the family bathroom and even got a bicycle Togo around town. very nice.

May 1st, 2017 by anoukjonker

Such a helpful guy. We came in on a Sunday doubting he would be open but he came out on the street to meet us. We had a large crack in the window. He glued coins to the ends of the crack to stop it from expanding and told us this is a very common solution here which will work at all altitudes and temperatures. Good enough for us! He told us he is currently expanding his shop and will start to sell filters etc.

April 8th, 2017 by Itinerantour

Very professional old style mechanic but much more efficient than computerized mechanic can detected any breakdown thanks to his experience. A great mechanic. Really helpful with our defender. Fair price.

March 16th, 2017 by olaf

Super cool guy. We came here twice for some small things ( doors not opening properly, jerry can leaks and spare wheel suspension needed a fix) and each time he was very kind, quick and very creative. The place is a bit of a mess but don't be fooled he knows what he is doing. He is also planning to improve the place and will build a roof and clean up the place. Recommended

March 13th, 2017 by inielsik

Here another satisfied refererence on Walter. Real nice guy and very knowledgeable on any kind of vehicles, from big truck to mini.
He did a check up on our Defender and found the rear differential seals were leaking oil to the bearings. He found identical new ones in Uyuni. All set and done in one day at very reasonable prices.
We also booked a salar tour trough him as there was too much water on the salar and driving was only allowed to playa blanca and camping not possible, so spared our car the salt attack, we are with 6, and paid 120bol pp which is way lower than the tour operators.
If you have any mechanical problems or just like to check up your car before or after the laguna route just go to Walter.
The fence is closed but just knock it firmly and he will open..

March 10th, 2017 by globalhoneymoon.com

Super friendly guy. Not the fastest of all, but helped us really well and got us diesel at the local price. Can recommend!

February 11th, 2017 by cirodirosa

Walter is a great person! he was the most helpful person in our journey. the world need more people like him. if you have a mechanic trouble visit his garage with no doubt!

February 10th, 2017 by julieta.delgado

Walter fue la persona que más nos ayudo en nuestro viaje. No solo es buen mecánico si no que nos ayudo a conseguir gas oil mas barato y nos recomendó una buena agencia para hacer el tour al salar. Económico y honesto! Nos facilitó toda la visita a Uyuni.

January 18th, 2017 by jwjbhermans

Walter is a very capable mechanic. He helped us to fix the gearbox of our Defender which did not work properly anymore after a visit of the Salar. We paid only 200 bol.
He also offered us to go and get 'compustible' at the bolivian rate, unluckily for us, we just had a fill up of car and jerry cans.

October 29th, 2016 by intrepidfor10minutes

Warning if you have a diesel Landcruiser! When we started this morning oil was poring out! Turned out the filter was very loose. Turns out when Walter took my filter to a dealer they supplied a petrol filter which they said was the same. It fitted OK but the Diesel one is a twin filter, so has two gaskets, the petrol one just has one large one that blocks off one of the filter elements when fitted to diesel. We did 80 miles no problem after the oil change yesterday, but this morning on start up the oil gushed out and I only noticed because I was looking at the work done on the shock absorber. I carry a spare filter (only use it if I can't get one!) so went back to Walter so that he could put mine on and only then realised the difference in the filters. So beware, had I not looked I would have very quickly lost a lot of oil and been in major difficulties! I still rate Walter as mechanic.

October 28th, 2016 by intrepidfor10minutes

Viva Walter! We had an oil and filter change this morning (310 Bol Diesel Landcruiser) and set off for Tupiza. After 50k we had a horrible clanking front right, couldn't spot the problemIt was mid afternoon on Friday so came back to Walter. Turned out the shock absorber was coming apart and he was able to fix. He also spotted a crack in the exhaust which he welded for us.

June 26th, 2016 by ilangutman

Walter was great - very reliable and trustworthy and turned around our car pretty quickly. Charged 800 Bolivianos for new suspension, but also fixed a leak in our oil tank and rusted through roof racks. We would definitely recommend!

May 30th, 2016 by Nick 'n Hanna

Walter is a very nice man and a good mechanic. Uyuni is not the best place to get spare parts but he can fix a lot of things with creativity.
Fair price.

February 24th, 2016 by verfolgtuns.blogspot.com

Walter is a very skilled mechanic and very nice. He took care of our Mitsubishi and fixed everything quick and efficient everything for a fair price. Very much recommended.

October 29th, 2015 by viajandomundos.com

Walter es el dueño, un gran tipo con ganas de ayudar nos arreglo la baca después de que el peor soldador del mundo nos la destrozara mientras supuestamente la arreglaba. Se dedica a estructuras metálicas y mecánica en general. Trabaja mucho con 4x4. Siendo muy económico es muy profesional, lo que se agradece enormemente por estos lares...El que recomendamos NO ir esta en la calle camacho, entre México y Uruguay.