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by skim_milk 1158 days ago
I own a Honda Acty van and I have met a ton of people with other kei trucks here in Nebraska and outside of the state. It seems like every other person with an acreage owns a kei truck nowadays, they're cheaper and more reliable than an ATV plus you can drive on roads. I've met some people here in Nebraska that make bank importing and selling kei trucks to farmers.

Like the other commenters have said, you have to check your state's laws to see if they can be registered, but I've met people in states that don't allow kei trucks and are just used as ATVs, and it's not like you're going to be fined for driving on back roads between your properties anyway. In Nebraska they're banned on highways, but it's not like you're going to take your 1800lb car which doesn't have airbags or any crash structure that only drives up to 65mph with a tailwind on any highways anyway.

If you're looking to buy one, check state laws and I recommend just eating the ~$2,000 markup to get one already with tags from a car dealer that sells these. Dealerships that sell RHD cars to people who drive for the Post Office will have these in stock and will be the easiest to deal with. It's not worth the risks and effort to do all the paperwork yourself IMO. If the car previously passed inspection in Japan, it's basically guaranteed to be fine because inspection in Japan is very good, they check for rust etc. Parts can either be cross-referenced to other cars (e.g. Honda Civic) or they will be expensive but available. You'll have to do all your own work, but they're extremely simple cars.

I use mine as a van camper, pretty cheap on gas if driven slowly.