Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks • Hacker News Board

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#201

Post by throwway120385 » Thu, Apr 20, 2023, 10:37 PM UTC

maxerickson wrote: post #63

kubectl_h wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you expand on what you mean by DOA in this context?

Perhaps a contributing factor is that they have a 4.5 foot long bed. That will at least get it perceived as not being a great work truck. It looks like the Honda thing is like 6.5 feet, so you are sticking off the back quite a lot less if you have an 8 foot load.

Common lumber and sheathing is 8 feet long, so having a 6.5 foot bed means not having to flag the lumber while you're hauling it. Also I can't imagine fitting a gas generator, 5-gallon can, gas compressor, saws, nailguns, hardware, and nails all in the back of that 4-foot bed. When I was framing people would fill up their S-10s with the gear.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#202

Post by porphyra » Thu, Apr 20, 2023, 10:39 PM UTC

echelon wrote: post #187

porphyra wrote: post #37

One of the most highly upvoted Reddit posts on /r/fuckcars mocks large pickups compared to the utility of a kei truck. https://reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/sdrgv3/japanese_truck... A kei truck has about 90% the bed length of a pickup while being a lot more nimble. The lower bed is more ergonomic to load and unload too.

The /r/fuckcars folks are being a little dishonest here. As another commenter mentioned, this is like asking a vegan for steak recommendations at a restaurant. Subaru Sambar (kei truck) towing capacity: 1,300 lbs Ford F-150 towing capacity: 5,000 to 11,300 lbs Ford F-250 Shelby edition towing capacity: 24,200 pounds And that's just one additional dimension where these vehicles significantly differ. These vehicles are…

The point isn't that the smaller truck is an equally capable vehicle. The point is to make fun of people who don't need a truck but are getting an overkill vehicle as a status symbol, all the while people who actually need to transport goods can still get a lot done with a tiny kei truck.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#203

Post by dboreham » Thu, Apr 20, 2023, 10:39 PM UTC

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #51

guestbest wrote: post #12

I don’t know if those little tires can handle muddy, unpaved country roads like a tractor can.

You can mount ATV wheels on them.

Be careful about speed ratings for tires and wheels.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#204

Post by everyone » Thu, Apr 20, 2023, 10:40 PM UTC

It is puzzling how everything in the US seems to be excessively large. If you go there it feels like u have shrunk by 15%

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#205

Post by lancewiggs » Thu, Apr 20, 2023, 10:42 PM UTC

robocat wrote: post #160

LinuxBender wrote: post #4

I've seriously contemplated getting one of these. Street legal, fuel efficient, simple, but when I started researching them I started to see a pattern. It's hard to find anyone in rural areas willing to work on them and not all mini trucks are equal. Some are not shipped correctly and have frame rust issues. There are YouTuber's that cover some of the models and the gotchas and things to inspect. I would never buy on…

Perhaps consider a visit to New Zealand and buying one there if you can’t import one from Japan (keyword “direct import”), although your total costs would be high. We are friendly buggers over here, so you are not likely to get ripped off unless you are a numpty. Buy an unregistered spare one for parts - used farm ones without plates get sold much cheaper. https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/suzuki/carry/search —…

We do, however, drive on the other side of the road from those in the USA.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#206

Post by woooooo » Thu, Apr 20, 2023, 10:44 PM UTC

seizethecheese wrote: post #200

__MatrixMan__ wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How easily could they retool for an event like that? I think I've just hatched a conspiracy theory for why all our vehicles are absurdly sized...

Check out US history during WWII. Auto manufacturing was even pivoted to airplanes. Things must be more specialized now but I assume it could still happen quickly. My personal belief is this also explains American bias towards planes over rail.

Every country's history in WW2. Even Italy had tanks made by Fiat.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#207

Post by libraryatnight » Thu, Apr 20, 2023, 10:44 PM UTC

echelon wrote: post #187

porphyra wrote: post #37

One of the most highly upvoted Reddit posts on /r/fuckcars mocks large pickups compared to the utility of a kei truck. https://reddit.com/r/fuckcars/comments/sdrgv3/japanese_truck... A kei truck has about 90% the bed length of a pickup while being a lot more nimble. The lower bed is more ergonomic to load and unload too.

The /r/fuckcars folks are being a little dishonest here. As another commenter mentioned, this is like asking a vegan for steak recommendations at a restaurant. Subaru Sambar (kei truck) towing capacity: 1,300 lbs Ford F-150 towing capacity: 5,000 to 11,300 lbs Ford F-250 Shelby edition towing capacity: 24,200 pounds And that's just one additional dimension where these vehicles significantly differ. These vehicles are…

I know a lot of people with those ridiculous big trucks, and 2 of them use them for utility, one has a boat and one has a 5th wheel. The others just...have them. So until there's zero people driving them for vanity or aggression reasons, it doesn't feel dishonest at all. Your response feels like a typical US response to social ills - turn a blind eye to a problem because a) the thing causing the problem is fun/popular/profitable b) there's a handful of hyper specific potentially valid reasons for the thing that have nothing to do with the people causing the problem (most of the giant trucks in my area can't even haul anything because of the vanity lifts and various "upgrades" - they would make the argument you are as to why they should be allowed but they would not support anything that would restrict them to those purposes).

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#208

Post by winrid » Thu, Apr 20, 2023, 10:44 PM UTC

RoyGBivCap wrote: post #174

tgtweak wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think most people register them out of state for this reason - Minnesota and Arkansas being the two go-to (also for bypassing vehicle road-readiness inspections...).

I wish I'd known this. Oregon's bi-annual "emissions test" where they hook up the inspection machine to the ODB port and let the car lie to it is absurd. When I first heard about it I assumed they'd put some device on the exhaust. They do not.

CA is the same way.

I really wish it was tailpipe based. I liked the PA emissions laws where you could improve the efficiency of your vehicle and it would pass. Not so in CA, must be numbers matching and CARB certified parts/combo.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#209

Post by nilespotter » Thu, Apr 20, 2023, 10:47 PM UTC

autophagian wrote: post #163

nilespotter wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would much, much rather have a new $70k Ford F150 Raptor than a tiny Japanese truck . Honestly a redditor - perhaps the most odious group on the Iternet - recommending the tiny Japanese truck over the F150 is a good enough reason to prefer the opposite; a redditor on "fuckcars" is a GREAT reason to prefer the opposite.

Why?

Basically because it's a high-mid-tier, nice modern car. Comparatively it has a quieter and smoother ride will allow me to make phone calls on my commute, using carplay to make the calls, read messages to me, and play music through the incredible sounding large badass speakers. The ride is much, much, much smoother. It'll be much more comfortable for a long road trip. There will be more room in the cab for stuff like say, my wife AND my dog. It comes with a warranty that I can use at any number of locations near me. Parts are still made for it and I can buy them here. It has R17 tires, 4 wheel drive, and anti-lock braking, electronic traction assist, TPMS, it will tell me when there might be ice on the road so I should proceed with caution, it has an advanced cruise control system with radar and lane keep assist, etc., etc., etc.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#210

Post by nostromo » Thu, Apr 20, 2023, 10:47 PM UTC

deelowe wrote: post #52

nyx wrote: post #29

The 25-year import rule here, which bans Americans from importing vehicles from other countries unless they're 25+ years old, is just awful for those of us who would be interested in driving small, efficient foreign cars. It would be great to live completely car-free, but absent major changes to how we plan our cities, it's just a sad reality that cars are a necessary ingredient to life in the vast majority of Americ…

That rule ain't changing unfortunately. Regulatory capture is STRONG with automotive and the US sees it as a matter of national security (car makers would be pivoted to other ares in times of war).

This isn't necessarily regulatory capture or protectionism.

Half of all cars sold in the US are imported. Toyota, a Japanese company, is the most popular brand of car sold in the US.

So, yes, you can import cars all you want, they just need to follow US safety and emissions standards. These cars do not meet those requirements, so you can't import them.

If you didn't block them as imports, we'd have lots of people just go to Mexico and buy highly-polluting vehicles to save money, and our problem with smog in the border states would be much worse.