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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

#91

Post by dabluecaboose »

SkyPuncher wrote: post #42
Syonyk wrote: post #17

The local Mahindra dealer also seems to be doing a brisk business with their Roxors - they're almost literally a 1950s Jeep with a modern diesel engine in them. It's the same market niche - small, off highway use, utility vehicles. And at least out here, you're allowed to run around on the roads at least some with them to get between fields.

It's a shame that Roxor isn't street legal. We live about 2 miles from our city's downtown. I'd absolutely love to have a little car that I take into town.

Depends on where you live, there are street-legal kits and some places allow off-highway driving for side-by-sides.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#92

Post by voisin »

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!

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#93

Post by cdchn »

kubectl_h wrote: post #61
cdchn wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

A lot of people are using Vermont registration to get a title then transferring it to their home state, but I'm not sure how well that works everywhere.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#94

Post by yellowapple »

amundskm wrote: post #31
falcolas wrote: post #10

> And unlike a side-by-side, it can also be driven legally on local roads Side by sides can, with a few accessories (horn, license plate lights, turn signals, etc), be driven legally on roads. Most dealers are happy to sell and attach these high profit items for you.

Depends on the state.

The states that don't allow street-legalified side-by-sides are unlikely to allow imported Kei trucks, either.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#95

Post by [deleted] »

boredumb wrote: post #59
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.

Where I live the hills would stall that kei out before you got to any real hills, with nothing at all added to the bed.

[deleted]

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#96

Post by Marsymars »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #81
Marsymars wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Roof rack with the back half mounted to the bed or hitch can mitigate that to an extent. That's how I haul oversized stuff in a pre-2011 Ranger.

Hah, I once built a roof rack like that with my dad for a standard cab pickup to carry kayaks.

Works great for occasional use, but still really sub-optimal to have an extra row of unused seat rather than bed space to put stuff if your primary use of the truck is to carry stuff in the bed.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#97

Post by shawabawa3 »

nostromo wrote: post #82
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…

What would be the point of safety and emissions regulations if we let everyone bypass them by importing vehicles from abroad? The vehicles meeting the requirements wouldn't be competitive on price because they'd be playing by a different set of rules.

Why would foreign vehicles be exempt from safety and emissions regulations?

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#98

Post by yellowapple »

pharmakom wrote: post #14
joewhale wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Please buy a minivan if this is your situation.

While I largely agree with you, AWD/4WD minivans seem to be harder to find than AWD/4WD SUVs - so if you live in a place with both snow and hills, you're probably going to be gravitating toward an SUV.

Re: Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

#100

Post by tlear »

boredumb wrote: post #59
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.

Where I live the hills would stall that kei out before you got to any real hills, with nothing at all added to the bed.

Those things are used in mountains in Japan without any issues at all, they are very light.
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