271–280 of 651 posts
I don’t know if those little tires can handle muddy, unpaved country roads like a tractor can.
I wish the actual story was “US manufacturers announce line of small, Japanese style pickup trucks” Importing adds friction both up front and for ongoing sourcing of parts and maintenance. Just give us some options for local pickup trucks utilizing existing repair facilities! Instead everyone bitches about truck drivers having such large vehicles, when that’s all that’s on offer here!
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Yeah, that's completely right, but as you said in another comment, there's some real bullshit in the FMVSS that to me, a complete layperson, seems like it has the sole effect of blocking the certification of perfectly safe and clean modern vehicles from other advanced nations. Of course we shouldn't be allowing people to import some pollution-spewing deathtrap that doesn't have seatbelts--the FMVSS regulations do exi…
perfectly safe and clean modern vehicles from other advanced nations A lot of what's being discussed are neither perfectly safe nor clean by American standards. The UK, for instance, allows pretty much anything with wheels to be registered (e.g. the Peel). Euro NCAP is merely advisory, you can still sell/buy a death trap. Pollution as well. Want an early 90s Figaro or S-Cargo or a late 00s Hijet? Those were sold with…
Obviously there are many confounding factors, but the point is if the USA really cared, it'd federally mandate more effective measures like safety inspections and emissions testing. The import restrictions are protectionism.
I really do like the Kei Class of cars. Some people talking about the 25 year rule that does not apply if they imported as an off-road vhehicle and some things like governor installed. However, in some states you can't use off-road vehicles on any roadways, and you would only be able to register such an import as off-road vheicle. Where as you could register 25+ year old on in quite a few states as a low speed vheicl…
People's poor dumb monkey brains just can't handle the speeds/weights involved in driving cars IMO
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I think this is true unless you're hauling something that you really don't want in a closed space with you. Lawn equipment, motorcycle, fertilizer, that sort of thing.
In that case you have a dropside van, based on the same cab and chassis but with sides that fold down for easier loading and unloading. In use: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bairon-FR-08-chantie... https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mercedes-Benz_Sprint... (Can an American tell me what these vehicles are called in the USA?)
Flatbeds.
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So only allow imports from countries with emissions and safety standards equal to or greater than American ones. I don't understand why the age of the vehicle should matter.
That's already the case. You can legally import a modern kei car if you can modify it to meet relevant safety and emissions standards. You can import any modern car. I imported a 2001 BMW from Canada a few years back and it was a breeze because it already had the EPA stickers and BMW NA signed off on the safety stuff. You can import a non-compliant car (e.g. some carburetted kei car with minimal safety equipment) if…
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I think this is true unless you're hauling something that you really don't want in a closed space with you. Lawn equipment, motorcycle, fertilizer, that sort of thing.
In that case you have a dropside van, based on the same cab and chassis but with sides that fold down for easier loading and unloading. In use: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bairon-FR-08-chantie... https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mercedes-Benz_Sprint... (Can an American tell me what these vehicles are called in the USA?)
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Missing the point. Many people buying inefficient oversized pickup trucks don't care that there's smaller and more efficient options out there, but they do it for the status simbol and ego lifting, not to be utilitarian and efficient. I see these monster pick-up trucks more and more in European cities nowadays too, F-150s, Dodge Rams, with some fancy paintjob and big wheels but who's bed hasn't seen any actual use ca…
Not sure why you’re being downvoted. I live in Dallas and this is 100% true. What’s fun is when you notice that the biggest, flashiest trucks are all concentrated in the fanciest suburbs. Once you get out in the country, off the main roads like where I’m from, suddenly (1) pickup trucks make up a lower percentage of the traffic, and (2) they are generally* smaller, more utilitarian and more beat up. * except for the…
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…