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Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

economist.com

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Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#61

Post by kubectl_h »

cdchn wrote: post #33
kubectl_h wrote: post #20

I've seen a few of these in Maine in driveways and yards/fields, but only recently have I seen a couple on the road. I was surprised to see them. I believe JDM vans cannot be registered here but perhaps that's changed recently. If made illegal to drive on the roads it's not clear why these would be preferable to side-by-sides, other than novelty or for folks that really like to wrench.

Has to be 25+ years old then you can import/register it no problem.

In 2021 Maine cancelled all of the registrations for these vehicles, so it's a local regulation. Sounds like it was a wording issues. Looks like there is a bill introduced to fix this: https://gearjunkie.com/news/maine-bill-reinstate-revoked-del...

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#62

Post by Marsymars »

nonethewiser wrote: post #11

I can see the utility but most country road speed limits are gonna be 50 mph+. I wouldn’t want to drive it there. Dirt roads or on your land, sure. Regardless, they look pretty cool. A cheaper option, but lower quality, might be some small trucks from China. It will also be interesting to see how Fords Maverick catches on. May not quite fill this niche but seems like a good option overall.

Problem with the Ford Maverick is that it’s only available in crew cab with a 4.5 ft bed, which is really a sub-par configuration if your priorities are in moving stuff rather than people.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#63

Post by maxerickson »

kubectl_h wrote: post #23
slackfan wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi, I live in the boonies, and own one of these minitrucks. a) They do 60mph ok if you have a four-speed one. Five-speed ones will do 70 just fine. b) country roads are generally 45 in most states. c) chinese minitrucks have a hell of a lot less support for about the same price. d) Ford mavericks are DOA here. If you want a work van you buy a work van.

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.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#64

Post by codalan »

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…

They probably share a lot of the same drivetrain/engine/etc. parts from vehicles of the same era. If you are mechanically inclined and have the right tools, you might be able to do some of the work yourself. Most auto mechanics familiar with older Japanese branded vehicles should be able to work on them like they would on a regular US import.

The biggest issue I have is that they are right-hand drive. I'd be hesitant driving a mini-truck on streets and highways, even if it's licensed. This would be a non-issue if the intent is to leave it on private property, unlicensed.

I wish mini-trucks had a bigger demand here. I'd like a pickup, but I don't need the monster trucks that are on the market these days. Just something to move furniture, appliances, and junk around town.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#65

Post by officeplant »

fckgw wrote: post #55
officeplant wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

is the Maverick DOA? I see the all over my rural farm area and people are paying $8000 over sticker for the privilege of getting one of the few in stock.

Not at all. They sold 70k Mavericks last year and have 80k MY23s on pre-order. For context, the Maverick outsold the Ranger by nearly 50%. The main issue at the moment is they can't make them fast enough. I put in a pre-order for a hybrid 6 months ago and have probably another 6 months to wait.

Sounds about right for my area too. Between the Maverick and the Bronco Sport Ford has managed to make a lot of bank off the Escape platform.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#66

Post by Kon-Peki »

slackfan wrote: post #40
officeplant wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

is the Maverick DOA? I see the all over my rural farm area and people are paying $8000 over sticker for the privilege of getting one of the few in stock.

Must be somewhere in the flatlands then. The small(er) truck market is dominated by Toyota, Nissan and Chevrolets and Ford Rangers. Mavericks are mostly city-dweller mom-mobiles at best.

You can't just go to a Ford dealer and buy a Maverick yet. The only people that have them placed an order a year or more ago.

Wait until your local dealer has 20 of them parked next to their 1000 F150s before you decide on whether rural folks are going to buy them or not.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#67

Post by peterpost2 »

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #30
joewhale wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's easy to throw rocks when you personally don't have 3-4 kids.

So what did people do when they had 3-4 kids in the 80s? I see families of 4 with huge SUVs these days. If anything they want a kei van right? It maximises the size of the vehicle, cuboid on wheels, and minimises the cost for that volume.

Like you can't fit 3-4 kids in a sedan. Hell most people have 2 cars per family nowadays should still fit easily. Or if you really have a large family a minivan works even better and is less dangerous to other travellers and yourselfs and has a lower gas usage. SUV's and trucks are stupid for 99,99% of the use cases.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#68

Post by flappyeagle »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #53
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.

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…

It’s not missing the point. It’s making the point.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#69

Post by eldritch_4ier »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #53
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.

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 even necessarily ego or whatever. Some people just like trucks, and a car's "reputation" is part of the purchase decision for many buyers. It's why men don't buy Beetles or Priuses as often as women and women don't buy trucks as often as men for instance. Many people express themselves with their car.
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