Hello and thanks for letting me become a member. My name is Mike and I’m a retired auto collision tech/technical school instructor. I am looking forward to someday owning a mini but before that happens I have to be sure I can get it street legal. Mini’s are legal in Missouri as off road only but according to local ordinances some municipalities offer a permit that will allow you to legally drive them on roads that are 45 mph or less. I live outside of St Louis in St Charles County which is a very friendly golf cart county. I’m wondering if anyone in the group is from my area and could give advice, share experience or give direction on how I need to go about this process. Thanks in advance for any and all reply’s.
Welcome to the forum! I don't know anything about Missouri ordinances, but it would seem to me that if golf carts are allowed in those areas, that a mini truck should be allowed also. Best to check with Missouri DMV, and not take anyone's word, unless they are from there and have one registered in said jurisdiction.
I live in Missouri and had no problem licensing my 1996 Suzuki Carry. I might suggest buying one from a dealer that sells them with titles such as Duncan Imports. Duncan also provides temporary tags until your title arrives. It will make the process much easier. I had my insurance set up before truck arrived and with the temporary tags supplied by Duncan was able to legally drive my truck the day it arrived. It took approximately 30 days to receive my title after purchasing my truck from Duncan at which time you can go to the DMV with title, insurance, MVI, and property tax statement and get tags just like any other vehicle. If you buy one without a title, there is much more paperwork and an additional inspection by the highway patrol that you'll have to go through which drags the process out. I'll also mention incase you don't know, they have to be 25 years old to license for street use. Currently 1997 or older.
Another issue you might encounter is obtaining insurance. Many insurance companies won't insure JDM vehicles which includes Kei trucks. I got my insurance through Hagerty which specializes in antique and collector cars. I had an existing policy with Hagerty for other vehicles and adding the Kei truck to my existing policy was about $125 a year. That being said, the agent from Hagerty told me they won't always insure Kei trucks and had to have a higher supervisor sign off on the policy. The vibe I got was they don't like insuring them if they'll be used for off-road. I think they'd be more likely to issue a policy if the vehicle is used mostly on road as a neighborhood commuter/errand/collector type vehicle. In regards to titles, I think its much easier to license one with a title and was willing to pay a little more for a titled truck, but I know a couple of people locally that purchased them without titles and were able to license them with some additional red tape. It seems like you can find trucks without titles cheaper, so if you're willing to deal with the added bureaucracy, ones without titles can be also be licensed in Missouri but be prepared that you might not be able to legally drive your truck on the street for several months while going through the process of obtaining a title
Thanks again for sharing your experiences. This will definitely help on my quest to become a Kei owner.
I have imported and titled two Kei trucks from Japan here in PA. One of them is now registered and insured here as well. There are some hidden costs of self importing beyond the price of the truck, freight and freight insurance. You will need a broker or broker proxy if you are willing to do some of the leg work. Those costs will vary between a few hundred dollars with a DIY proxy to almost $1000 if you use a broker for all services. Customs gets 25% of the trucks purchase price as their fee before it is released. There are handling and warfage charges at the port that are not covered by the freight charges. These charges are based on the shipper and can vary. One of my trucks was $80 in port charges while the other was almost $300. The ports are considered a secure area and require an escort if you have not completed the access process ($125 and some leg work). Escort services are hourly and at least $75 per hour. Expect an hour if everything goes right, but a lot can go wrong with the pick-up process. Then there is the time and means to pick up the truck. I'm four hours away from the Port of Baltimore. So it is a day trip and several tanks of gas. I have a car trailer, but you would have to rent or borrow one if not. You would also need something able to tow. The title process costs another several hundred dollars in PA. Most import documents are required to title it successfully and it takes 4-7 weeks. The Customs release, several government forms and releases, the original Bill of Lading, the export forms (original and English translated), your original invoice stating the cost of the truck separate from freight charges and a rubbing of the vin number are all required for title. Once the title comes here in PA, it can be re-titled as an Antique, registered and plated. This is another $150 or so and the plates take a few weeks to get to the Notary when at last you are free to drive it anywhere you want in PA. The Antique plates here have a one time cost for registration that lasts as long as you own the vehicle. There is also no annual inspection. It is self inspect, but a trooper can pull you over and it must be compliant with all safety requirements in the state or there will be a ticket! So, self importing can save a lot of money if you d0 it right, but there are a lot of places it can go wrong. If it goes really wrong you may not be able to collect it from the port, have $75 a day port charges if delayed beyond 7 days in port or it may be difficult or impossible to title without all of the correct documents. Just be aware of the possible pitfalls of importing and buying a Kei truck without a title if you want one with a title at some point. Then you have to determine if the time, effort and pitfalls are outweighed by the possible saving!
