For those of you that have a Sambar truck, was it worth the trouble to import or the price you paid? Is the AC cold? Are you happy with your purchase, would you do it again, would you recommend it to others?
I have a 660SC 5spd RWD Sambar van. I love it. Everyone who's ridden in it, has said they want one too. AC works fine (but it's Idaho so not that hot and almost no humidity). The heater works too although with heavier snow/frosts it can take a little while to defrost. I might add a Jeep/Moab style heater to help it out at some point. Actively looking to get a second Sambar van this year.
Thanks for the response cmoore. Good point, matt167. I figured everyone would have different goals for the truck, so I was hoping to get a range of uses and responses. I doubt if any two owners would have exactly the same uses for the truck. In very general terms, is the AC worth having in 90-100 degree F temps? Around San Antonio, TX it gets plenty hot. Is it suitable for road (not interstate) use? How do you like it in farm pastures (not on a Moab, style Jeep trail)? In your experiences, varied as they are, was it worth the investment and would you do it again? Like I said, I expect everyone that has one got it for a range of reasons, I was hoping to hear what everyone thinks.
I don't own a Sambar, but I can tell you if the A/C does not work it's going to be difficult to get it going again. Japan used R12 refrigerant a lot longer than the USA did. R12 was banned in 1995 and only reclaimed R12 exists now. The R12 substitutes don't cool as well, and R134A conversions are even less efficient due to being designed for R12.. The Kei vehicles are designed to run on Japanese motorways, which top legal speed at 62 mph.. My Carry does that without an issue and then some on the flats. Hills will cause any of these 660's to run out of steam without forced induction. My Carry will hold most hill's in 4th gear, at 45-50mph. So still safe, just don't expect pikes peak performance
I’m very satisfied with my 1996 KS4 truck. Mine does not have AC, I wish it did. I don’t drive mine on the road, it has tractor tires on it and it and just stays on my land. I’ve loaded the bed up with fire wood several times and it chugs up the hills very well with the load. I had the seats recovered and had some padding added to give me a little more leg room. It won’t go all the places my ATV will go but it is a lot nicer in the winter with the heater.
I have a 1992 KS4 Truck with the Supercharged engine and I love it. I daily drive it on the roads 3 seasons of the year. Mine is perfectly happy at 110km/h (about 68mph) My truck does not have AC, so I cannot say much for that. It survived 25 years in Japan without any significant rust, so I do not drive it here in the winter (I live in new england where they love to use salt)
i imported my 97 for $7000 CAD to my door in 2017, had 44,000km and was dealership serviced/lightly used. my 91 had A/C that i removed when i stripped it but i never bothered to transfer it over, with the windows open its cool enough in summer. i drive it yearround mostly in winter, never have gotten stuck with 4x4 and ive done some 1000+km trips at 110kmh no issue only thing sketchy is high winds, ive driven highway in 100kmh+ winds and its unnerving, strong headwinds on the highway youre not going past 70kmh either
My '94 Sambar came with R134. I do not know if original Japanese owner made R12 conversion or not. I had to recharge AC refridgerant and now it works fine. As far as satisfaction, I find myself using the fold down bed as a mobile table ALL the time. It is skinny enough to fit thru my fence gate into the back yard. I park next to the grill and use it to hold my meat and beer.
Do you have any ac parts for sale I have a 1992 Sambar and would like to try and install a ac system. Thanks!
SubaSam, we have a "wanted" forum where you can post requests for parts. This thread is a year old so many of the people who were posting in it are not likely to be checking on it again now.
