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How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

danwilkerson.com

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Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#121

Post by everdrive »

alexjplant wrote: post #107
joeframbach wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Home Depot rents a big truck for $20-$40 for the 2 hours I'd need it. I could rent this truck every weekend for 30 years for the same price as a giant truck. And I wouldn't have to worry about its maintenance either.

Once you do this math it becomes very difficult to justify truck ownership without also being responsible for something that needs hauling/towing on a regular basis. The truth is that in 2023 a truck is a lifestyle purchase for many people as evidenced by the average cost of a new F-150 and the inability to buy buy a no-frills Regular Cab pickup outside of fleet sales. If you'd have told me 15 years ago that people w…

I don’t disagree with your main point, but you can definitely still get regular cab no frills trucks. (Sadly that’s just not what most people buy)

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#122

Post by bsder »

EvanWinget wrote: post #100

There’s an SF-based startup working on an electric truck for urban audiences, called Telo. Might be interesting to those who find kei trucks appealing but want a proper fully street legal alternative. https://www.motortrend.com/news/telo-electric-mini-truck-fir...

This was the first thing my brain jumped to: "It would be a hell of a lot easier to comply with NHTSA regulations if you didn't have a combustion engine."

At that point, the issue is safety and crumple zones, which, again, should be vastly easier when you don't need an engine.

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#123

Post by everdrive »

TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #42
warmwaffles wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> nobody actually needs or uses them These make me chuckle. Those people have never done home improvement projects or just projects that require picking up 8ft sheets of plywood or 20 bags of mulch.

I have a long wheelbase van with room racks, plus a trailer. But pick up the overwhelm majority of items in the Celica, a two door hatch. Anyways, suppliers deliver.

I think vans are a great choice, but from what I can find they’re not any cheaper than trucks. ie, getting one for less than 40k seems to be out of the question.

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#124

Post by RandallBrown »

allenu wrote: post #27
chihuahua wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If by "they are absolutely everywhere" you mean "I've seen one of them in 25 years of living here", then I agree.

At least in some parts of Seattle, you do see them a lot. In my neighborhood of Ballard, for instance, I can go for a walk and see three of them parked on the street.

We must be neighbors (or close to it) because I think I know exactly where you're talking about.

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#125

Post by p1necone »

rootusrootus wrote: post #8
asdfigandfiono wrote: post #3

This goes to show just how superficial and backwards the American car industry is. You can do the job of a $50,000 pickup using a machine that is half the size of a Honda Civic, costs $10,000 new, gets 40 MPG, fits in any parking spot, is easy to load, and sells for around $10,000 new. But they look weak and girly . Vanitas vanitatum, omnia vanitas.

It’s not even remotely as capable as a full size truck. Or a compact one for that matter. Edit: Don't be grouchy and just downvote. If you really think a Kei truck with a 1000 pound payload and 60mph [optimistic] top speed is comparable to a full size pickup, explain why. It's the same payload as a Corolla, not a full size body-on-frame pickup. And even then, that completely ignores towing, which is a very common use…

Yeah but the point is that the vast majority of people buying full sized pickup trucks aren't actually using them for practical purposes, and it turns out that when something becomes a status symbol like that for so long the capabilities diverge from what people that aren't just buying it as a status symbol want.

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#126

Post by alexjplant »

everdrive wrote: post #121
alexjplant wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once you do this math it becomes very difficult to justify truck ownership without also being responsible for something that needs hauling/towing on a regular basis. The truth is that in 2023 a truck is a lifestyle purchase for many people as evidenced by the average cost of a new F-150 and the inability to buy buy a no-frills Regular Cab pickup outside of fleet sales. If you'd have told me 15 years ago that people w…

I don’t disagree with your main point, but you can definitely still get regular cab no frills trucks. (Sadly that’s just not what most people buy)

...and so many dealers don't stock them. I honestly don't remember the last time that I saw a new one on a lot, let alone the road. Of course n=1 and all of that but I used to own one and live in a rural area so I don't think I'm far off.

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#127

Post by avidphantasm »

placesalt wrote: post #102
warmwaffles wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> nobody actually needs or uses them These make me chuckle. Those people have never done home improvement projects or just projects that require picking up 8ft sheets of plywood or 20 bags of mulch.

My corolla takes 10' long boards. Never maxed out the bags of mulch, but it's >10 for sure. Have been thinking about a roof rack for sheet goods. Can't see why it wouldn't work.

Usually cars of this class can only support about 100lbs on the roof. We have Prius and RAV4 Hybrid with that limitation. The roof racks are still very useful, but I wouldn’t put 4x8 sheets of anything on them.

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#128

Post by [deleted] »

tshaddox wrote: post #81
markdown wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For what the average person uses their $50k pickup for, you most certainly can. Do you really imagine most pickup trucks in the US are hauling bricks on a dirt road up the side of mountains?

No, I imagine the average person in the U.S. is using their truck to drive to and from their office job and taking their kids to and from school. And for that these tiny trucks obviously would not work.

[deleted]

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#129

Post by jeromegv »

inconceivable wrote: post #113
waiseristy wrote: post #24

These HN threads about trucks are amazing. It’s like watching the same movie over and over again * Kei trucks are the coolest. Big gubment is making it so we can’t register them due to protectionism! * Chicken tax chicken tax chicken tax * Big trucks cause more crashes because reasons! * Trucks are just lifestyle vehicles and nobody actually needs or uses them Over and over and over again

lately i've seen a lot of people legitimately complaining that trucks look "too aggressive" and are "scary". it just makes me laugh.

Some of those trucks are quite high and will kill pedestrians and even destroy other cars more in higher number.

It’s just physics. If you need it, fine, but seeing how much they are selling of those, a lot of us are starting to doubt how much of it is need vs want.

Re: How to register a Kei truck in Pennsylvania

#130

Post by PhasmaFelis »

rootusrootus wrote: post #58
waiseristy wrote: post #24

These HN threads about trucks are amazing. It’s like watching the same movie over and over again * Kei trucks are the coolest. Big gubment is making it so we can’t register them due to protectionism! * Chicken tax chicken tax chicken tax * Big trucks cause more crashes because reasons! * Trucks are just lifestyle vehicles and nobody actually needs or uses them Over and over and over again

Don't forget the small penis accusation. I have an F250, which I drive about 2000 miles a year, almost 100% of the time it has a >30ft trailer behind it. But that one time that the stars align and I need it for a grocery trip, a bunch of people are thinking "see, that guy doesn't need a truck" and it reinforces whatever internal monologue they have going. Meanwhile, approximately everyone here routinely drives alone…

I'm sorry that people are occasionally, silently, but unfairly judging your choice of vehicle, presumably.

I don't think that counters the fact that many do people drive gigantic vehicles they will never need, though.

> Meanwhile, approximately everyone here routinely drives alone in a vehicle capable of carrying 5-7 people. (and right about now, someone is about to reply with 'ride a bike, cars suck!')

You've managed to lump everyone who disagrees with you into either the "hypocrite" or "fanatic" boxes.

I drive a Mini Cooper, not that that's worth bragging about. How will you dismiss my opinion?

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