Greetings from the Midwest. Not an owner (yet). I've loved these trucks and vans for years. I know less than nothing about them, but I'm beginning my learning journey so that I can eventually get a van for my business (at least that's how I'm justifying it to the wife).
They are good advertising vehicles because they immediately catch folks eye. Before you take the jump you might want to check the laws in your state to be sure it is road legal enough that it makes sense.
Yeah, we've made the list of practical/impractical. I live in rural Indiana (legal at all speeds/not allowed on interstate roads). I think a van just makes sense. I have a locksmith business on the side and with the van, I can have a small work bench for cutting keys and working on locks. I'm still trying to figure out if the larger non-kei vans like a Subaru Domingo would also be affected by the 25 year law.
The 25 and 20-year rules apply for anything which was not originally imported into the United States. The 20-years is for emissions, and the 25-years is for safety features. So, you can import them, but they have to meet the same standards as the version imported to the US. I know a gal who delivers rural mail, under contract with the post office. She imported a JDM, Subaru wagon, because she wanted the right hand drive to access mail boxes. To get plates she had to change out the taillights, and install the engine controls module for the US version of the car, as that was the only emissions difference.
Thanks for the info. I havent found any reference to a US version of the domingos so im assuming for plates i would have to folllow the 25 year standard. Although, in my area and, i believe, the state, atv/utv can be registered for driving on the road.
There was an Isuzu, can’t remember what they called it which was imported in the late eighties, early nineties. But if you found one, it would probably be in worse shape than a 25 year old JDM version. And, they may be too large for teh state to consider them an ATV. I’m in Idaho which has an explicit statute that applies to minitrucks, and defines them based on the left hand drive units imported in the 80s. I find it almost humorous that they will title and license the same year mini-vans, with out incident.
