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Back in 2018 I wanted a small beater truck when I bought a house (to move tools, lumber, garden stuff, etc). I was originally looking for a first generation Toy

Back in 2018 I wanted a small beater truck when I bought a house (to move tools, lumber, garden stuff, etc). I was originally looking for a first generation Toyota Tacoma (later models are F150-sized), but was surprised that the 20 year old trucks were still selling for $12-14K. The lack of small trucks in the US is partially caused by bad regulation [1] that penalizes them (I am surprised the article doesn't mention this). I wound up getting a Japanese kei truck [2]. It was under $4,000 to import, title, etc. It gets 50mpg (4.7 liters/100km) and carries 880 lbs (400kg) in the 4.5x6.5ft bed (1.4x2m). You could use a large-ish garden shed as a garage if you wanted. It's really the perfect city utility truck if you are mainly a weekend warrior making trips to the hardware store, moving around plywood and tools, occasionally helping friends move apartments, etc. You can parallel park it damn near anywhere, turns on dime, and it's incredibly mechanically simple and easy to repair. Only thing it lacks is modern safety features (for regulation reasons, it's only easy to import and drive trucks > 25 years old in the US). The one marginally common thing it can't do that a large modern pickup can is tow a boat (kei vehicles are limited to 63 horsepower). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_Sambar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_Sambar

Smoosh 7y ago
Neat! My uncle here in Australia restored a Honda T500 to showroom condition. There should be more of these very capable little vehicles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_T360 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_T360
csours 7y ago
I'm a sucker for El-Camino-ized cars (replace the back with a bed, like the El Camino or Australian Utes); I'd love to have one of these turned into BEV with a little battery pack (ie Chevy Spark) for a daily driver and run around town vehicle.
- jimmux 7y ago
  I rent out my small city car, and I'm considering getting a ute to rent out as well because the margins are better. I was shocked to find that the basic ute style that was so common when I used to live on farms is almost gone. I need to park on city streets, and dual cab is overkill. Relative fuel efficiency would be nice, too. The few I did find were lovingly restored classics with a surprisingly high price tag.
- RickJWagner 7y ago
  I owned an El Camino, a nice white one with a black top. Classic body style and a strong v-8. I had a friend who mocked it relentlessly. "It's not much of a car, but then again it's not much of a truck either."
myself248 7y ago
I would LOVE a Kei truck for exactly the reasons you give, but I'm 6'3" and mostly legs. Something tells me that's not gonna be too practical. I guess I'll have to see if there's a place stateside that I can sit in one and maybe drive it around the parking lot for a minute.
- gamegoblin 7y ago
  I am 5'10 and have exactly 5" of headroom in mine, so you might be able to find one that barely fits you. That said, the seats have no adjustment capability, so legroom might be a problem for you. Definitely try it out. They are pretty easy to mod if you are comfortable with an angle grinder and stick welder.
subhobroto 7y ago
> I wound up getting a Japanese kei truck [2]. It was under $4,000 to import, title, etc. It gets 50mpg (4.7 liters/100km) and carries 880 lbs (400kg) in the 4.5x6.5ft bed (1.4x2m). You could use a large-ish garden shed as a garage if you wanted. This is great information! I would like to dig in a bit deeper because I need a reliable work truck too. So in California it's not impossible to find good quality trucks at a great price. For example: My last truck purchase was a F350 7.3 Turbo Diesel for $1500 Why? Because it was a manual, the diff was busted, body's all dented, seats torn out and the doors did not work as it was run as a jobsite truck and the contractor wanted to get rid of it. After fixing it up, the challenge became the ongoing registration and insurance fees in California which I had not taken into account. The DMV in California classifies a F350 as a commercial truck. As a result, you have to pay a much higher registration and insurance fees than what you would pay for a SUV or minivan. Because of this, it's financially smarter to just rent trucks from Lowe's/HD/UHaul/CL for whenever I need it unless I'm using it more than 6 months per year - which I don't. Now this $4k truck is new and welcome news to me, so thank you. At 6' I'll probably fit a bit tight BUT how much could the registration and insurance fees in California be? The same as a SUV? Less? Please, feel free to contact me please. I would love to continue this discussion
- zrobotics 7y ago
  My dad has one, he uses it similarly to a ATV. Be warned that they are not legal for road use in all states- they are often liscenced the same as an ATV/UTV, so it was not legal to drive in Colorado for instance. I can't specifically say for CA. However very handy vehicles if you don't need to haul tremendously heavy loads or go very fast. The other potential downside is the cab is very small, bigger people will not be able to fit comfortably. Otherwise, they are definitely very handy vehicles,and can be found reasonably cheaply in excellent shape. Japanese vehicle registration starts getting more expensive for older vehicles (to encourage new sales and get older more polluting cars off the road) so at some point these trucks become uneconomical to register in Japan.
- jjeaff 7y ago
  I'm kind of surprised there isn't an Uber "pickup truck" option.

Smoosh 7y ago

Neat! My uncle here in Australia restored a Honda T500 to showroom condition. There should be more of these very capable little vehicles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_T360 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_T360

csours 7y ago

I'm a sucker for El-Camino-ized cars (replace the back with a bed, like the El Camino or Australian Utes); I'd love to have one of these turned into BEV with a little battery pack (ie Chevy Spark) for a daily driver and run around town vehicle.

jimmux 7y ago
I rent out my small city car, and I'm considering getting a ute to rent out as well because the margins are better. I was shocked to find that the basic ute style that was so common when I used to live on farms is almost gone. I need to park on city streets, and dual cab is overkill. Relative fuel efficiency would be nice, too. The few I did find were lovingly restored classics with a surprisingly high price tag.
RickJWagner 7y ago
I owned an El Camino, a nice white one with a black top. Classic body style and a strong v-8. I had a friend who mocked it relentlessly. "It's not much of a car, but then again it's not much of a truck either."

myself248 7y ago

I would LOVE a Kei truck for exactly the reasons you give, but I'm 6'3" and mostly legs. Something tells me that's not gonna be too practical. I guess I'll have to see if there's a place stateside that I can sit in one and maybe drive it around the parking lot for a minute.

gamegoblin 7y ago
I am 5'10 and have exactly 5" of headroom in mine, so you might be able to find one that barely fits you. That said, the seats have no adjustment capability, so legroom might be a problem for you. Definitely try it out. They are pretty easy to mod if you are comfortable with an angle grinder and stick welder.

subhobroto 7y ago

> I wound up getting a Japanese kei truck [2]. It was under $4,000 to import, title, etc. It gets 50mpg (4.7 liters/100km) and carries 880 lbs (400kg) in the 4.5x6.5ft bed (1.4x2m). You could use a large-ish garden shed as a garage if you wanted. This is great information! I would like to dig in a bit deeper because I need a reliable work truck too. So in California it's not impossible to find good quality trucks at a great price. For example: My last truck purchase was a F350 7.3 Turbo Diesel for $1500 Why? Because it was a manual, the diff was busted, body's all dented, seats torn out and the doors did not work as it was run as a jobsite truck and the contractor wanted to get rid of it. After fixing it up, the challenge became the ongoing registration and insurance fees in California which I had not taken into account. The DMV in California classifies a F350 as a commercial truck. As a result, you have to pay a much higher registration and insurance fees than what you would pay for a SUV or minivan. Because of this, it's financially smarter to just rent trucks from Lowe's/HD/UHaul/CL for whenever I need it unless I'm using it more than 6 months per year - which I don't. Now this $4k truck is new and welcome news to me, so thank you. At 6' I'll probably fit a bit tight BUT how much could the registration and insurance fees in California be? The same as a SUV? Less? Please, feel free to contact me please. I would love to continue this discussion

zrobotics 7y ago
My dad has one, he uses it similarly to a ATV. Be warned that they are not legal for road use in all states- they are often liscenced the same as an ATV/UTV, so it was not legal to drive in Colorado for instance. I can't specifically say for CA. However very handy vehicles if you don't need to haul tremendously heavy loads or go very fast. The other potential downside is the cab is very small, bigger people will not be able to fit comfortably. Otherwise, they are definitely very handy vehicles,and can be found reasonably cheaply in excellent shape. Japanese vehicle registration starts getting more expensive for older vehicles (to encourage new sales and get older more polluting cars off the road) so at some point these trucks become uneconomical to register in Japan.
jjeaff 7y ago
I'm kind of surprised there isn't an Uber "pickup truck" option.