Hello my fellow automotive enthusiasts I really want to buy a kei truck and I need some people here to call me retarded and tell me it’s a bad ideaWhat are your thoughts, /o/?
>>28945437Assuming you live in the only country that matters, you'll need to pay so much in fees to get one that it destroys the price. You could try looking into the Slate trucks, If they come out cheap enough <25k that could be a good alternative for you.
>>28945437>I need some people here to call me retarded and tell me it’s a bad ideaThey're neato and quirky but ultimately retarded. They can be had for as little as $5000, but they easily run up to $15,000 (used) or $25,000 new. Theres a bit of a market correction going on because so many tards bought these from "importers" for a little too much money and confirmed they're unusable for anything outside of a farm vehicle, and even then there are better SxS's that just do it so much better. As such, these guys that did the process of importing, registering, etc are all losing money because the market is a bit flooded with useless trucks so prices are coming down. Parts aren't widely available on what are work mules that are 10 years old and 60,000 kilometers. They're small, underpowered, and just not ideal in most western applications. The secondary effect is its also harder to sell because theres such a limited market for who even wants these things. You could resell a 200k mile Ford ranger faster than one of these.
Just go down to Lowes or Tractor Supply and buy a SxS like a normal person.Better yet, get.a used one off FBMP.Hell I got one for free because the PO was a moron and couldnt figure out why the fuel pump wasnt kicking on. He opened up the sealed fuse panel to check, then left it open in the rain and it corroded so the next time he tried to fix it there were even more issues because now the dead pump wasnt getting power.100 bucks and I had it running.
I own one, a 90s sambar. I even daily it often. But I also live in a small town.They're super fun little toys, but they're just that, a toy. For western markets they're nothing but a gimmicky and very quirky toy and should not be seen as a serious vehicle at all. A very expensive toy that you will have to rebuild entirely because they're 25+ year old shitboxes. Even the low mileage ones are neglected shitboxes that were left to rot, often outside in the elements. And importers often fall for turd polisher websites like carsfromjapan or mitsui that spray paint completely unusable and rusted out cars for photos.>Okay I can wrench and I can accept rebuilding it, sinking much more money than the initial purchase that I expectedThey're still retarded.They're not practical for American speeds. If you live somewhere that is somewhat quiet then you can enjoy driving it around. But if you live in a high traffic area then forget about driving it, because the lack of speed coupled with impatient drivers means you are a genuine hazard to yourself and everyone else on the road.I love mine, it is a very fun drive. But it is retarded. You have to be very retarded to buy one. If you do not live on a ranch and want a utility vehicle to get around the plot, It has no practical application and is utterly devoid is real use other than sheer giggle factor. With that amount of money you can buy something that isn't retarded.
>>28945635>am retardedKei trucks are perfect for me then.
There are vastly more practical and affordable options but none of them are a silly little truckDo with this information what you will
>>28945635Ive had to pull my neighbors kei out of the mud in a flat field multiple times.Tire options suck.No suspension travel or clearance for other tire options.Meanwhile my SxS has tons of tire options, plenty of suspension travel and came factory with 4wd and electronic lockers front & rear.And new it was what he paid for his used kei jokemobile.
>>28945437As a Leaf I wouldn't pay the American prices for one even though we get them at 15 years old. If you want a $5k beater truck just but a GMT800. At least you can get parts for it.
>>28945437I can fit 3 of those little shitters in the bed of my truck that I paid $3k for. There's no reason to get one when you can get a real truck with a v8 for less
>>28945437just get a side-by-side, or if you need a 4x4 with a bed, a gator or pug truck. keis aren't good for anything if you aren't using them for light duty farm work, and they aren't even good for that if they aren't 4 wheel drive depending on the soil/mud where you use it. if you do decide that the insane fees to get a 25 year old vehicle on the road are worth it to you, you now have to worry about driving an underpowered, unsafe vehicle that breaks down all the time in the same road space as fat fucks in 7000+ pound trucks and SUVs that barely know how to drive and are looking at their cellphones. you will be killed or seriously injured if you're involved in a low speed collision with a modern car.
>>28945437You either want a Smartcar or UTV.
>>28945437>call me retardedYou are retarded. However,>tell me it's a bad ideaTake all these anons' opinions with a grain of salt. These can be useful vehicles provided you have certain expectations. If you are using them in similar conditions they would be used in Nipland, they are serviceable
>>28946146There's honestly no place in the U.S. like the areas of Nippon where these are used.My nearest town is 247 people and most of the route between my place and town is a 55mph highway with logging trucks and karens in 3 ton soccermom mobiles.
>>28946157They're not made for running highway speeds between spread out rural towns. Better for mild terrain on private property or low speed urban to semi urban putting around, which is very common where there is suburban sprawl or around medium sized cities. They are deathtraps in an accident with any speed though, yes.
>>28946170It would make a decent grounds vehicle for some large suburban property. Basically a golf cart that you could use for small errands too.
they're retarded for the simple fact that they're sub $1k shitboxes being sold for $8k+ here because they got traction on social media
>>28946179$1k barely gets you a roller these days
>>28946174Yes, it is all about use case. There is always another vehicle that will be better in one area or another.>>28946179I live near one of the biggest dealers in the southeast US and it's criminal what they charge. $8k just gets you in the door. There is always some retard with too much money and another retard to take it off their hands, but not everybody has the time or knowledge to wrench I guess.
>>28946170>>28946174Wrigley field is like 350 feet from home plate to left field/ right field (little deeper in the center).An acre is 210 feet X 210 feet.A 4 acre sqaure at 420 feet X 420 feet is just a little bigger.So if you had 4 acres and droppped the house in the middle you can stand on the roof, throw a baseball in any direction and it will land, take a bounce and roll across your property line.Point being an acre is actually pretty damn small and having a Kei in suburbia would be pointless because youre not going to have a lot large enough to make it worthwhile.
>>28946226There's a horse riding school in my neck of the woods that sits on a pretty large property, I don't know if it belongs to them or some other rich bastard with a mansion but I have seen a Kei truck puttering around the roads there. That's the use case.
>>28946226I understand that, but an advantage is driving beyond your property line to access what would be available to you in a big town, like a big box hardware, dump, marketplace runs... stuff any boomer would do in his trugg without the trugg footprint
>>28946232One of the few places it would do well.>spead out due to amount of area a single horse needs.>hard pack roads for horse trailers and feed trucks.>repetitive routesBasically a golf cart isnt enough but a ranger is too much.Unfortunately most kei owners get them thinking they have the footprint of a golf cart with the capabilities of a ranger (with neither being true).
>>28946238I bet it kinda kicks ass for taking a 40-50mph country road to the local feed store
>>28946234But youre not going to have that much property in the suburbs. If you have that much acreage in the Hollywood hills or Martha"s Vineyard where you can cruise down lazy neighborhood roads to town then youre not driving a kei. Youre taking a Ferrari and dont give a shit what your Mexican landscaper drives when he leaves your property.If you have enough land to make it worthwhile youre rural. And now youre on the road with a logging truck on your ass.
>>28946241Im not sure exactly what my neighbor has, but it looks like this (might be the actual model).Its sucks ass at speed on anything but pavement. My SxS is>>28945557(Not my pic but same model).Its governed to 45mph but other guys have theirs hitting about 60.Neighbor's kei feels like your going to careen into a ditch if you hit a squirrel at anything over 20mph on dirt whereas.mine is looking for jumps to hit at top speed.
>>28946250You're hung up on the land thing. The examples I gave aren't things you need land for. I could do whatever I want on 20 acres or a quarter acre lot in or around any city, doesn't matter. But to then turn around and drive 10 minutes to the hardware store, haul a couch to the dump or something. It shouldn't be hard to see the utility in a smaller, shittier truck where you trade some safety and comfort for cheap fun.
>>28946283#1)If youre on a 1/4 acre lot with a house you have just enough room to do a u-turn in the yard.>A 1/4 acre is 105 feet X 105 Feet.>A 2,500 sq/ft house is 50x50.>thats 55 fet left. Split between front yard and back yard and its 27.5 feet between house and fence.This is why it doesnt work. Its faster to use a wheelbarrow.#2)Youre not "trading some" safety and comfort. Youre throwing all of it out the window.
They're not expensive and you don't have to jump through any hoops to get them, there are literally dozens and dozens of them sitting on used jdm lots in washington state with titles and everything, just waiting for you to piss away $10k-12k for one.If you drive one in american traffic you WILL die. if you take it to the meet zoomers will roll their eyes at your unc ass. if you buy one for errands around your patch of land you already know you could have gotten a brand new japanese atv for half the price that's immensely more capable at all tasks and actually have parts availability.
