Just became member. Neighbor and also buddy have 1900s Honda Acty mini trucks. I’m going thru process of of buying other local mini truck or importing one. Buddies said they would buy Suburu Sambar with its 4 cylinder engine with a/c over buying Honda. I’m looking at Cars from Japan and Mitsui online at their available Kei trucks. I’ve zeroed it to Suburu Sambar 1995-2000 4x4, 5 speed standard with a/c. Found add on FB Marketplace on 3 Mag International 1998 l/h drive 4x4 this passed Friday and drove 35 miles to look at them. After researching them I found they were Chinese with 995cc engines, 4x4, a/c and 5 speed transmissions. None ran but price was agreeable for all 3. Only problem was no titles to get tags for here in Texas. No paperwork at all. Mag International is out of business in the U.S. Called about getting bonded title and was told next to impossible. So looks like I’ll be going import route instead of buying locally. Locally the trucks up for sale are high mileage (over 150,000 k) for around $6500-$11000 or sometimes higher. Just need to know if other Japanese export sites I should look at besides Cars from Japan or Mitsui.
Hate you have no replies. I'm not a regular poster but purchased from a dealer in Jackson, MO (G&R Imports) a few years ago. They were most helpful in my choosing a truck. I gained quite a bit of info talking to their shop foreman (they service and do all aspects of machine work) on various brands for durability, ease of service and availability of parts. I was coming from 2004 Yamaha side by side that was carbureted (the source of a lot of my troubles) and am most happy moving to injected. A/C is great as well. I'm in west TN. My only concern with the Subaru was the engine being in the very back. My property has several fords across ditches and I was worried about rear clearance. No bad mouth, Subaru might be just what you need. I googled mini trucks TX and several dealers popped up. They would be way more knowledgeable than me. I see some sold brand new models. Not sure of the laws there for street use but in TN, one can get restricted tags for roads under 50 MPH/no highways or interstates, any year. I know some state require the vehicle be 25 years or older for road use. You can still get fuel injected ones that old if that is important to you.
Well greetings from Texas. Thanks for response. In Texas there are no restrictions and they are street legal and you can drive the Kei trucks on any roadway since .March 2025. They were restricted to roads that had speed limit no higher than 55 miles and hour posted before. You can know drive them on freeways and there are no speed restrictions. I wouldn’t drive them in Houston, Dallas’s, San Antonio. El Paso or Austin on freeways because of congestion and high speeds. Folks drive 85-90 mph constantly. My buddies like the Sambar because it’s 4 cylinder and fuel injected since early 1990s. I sold all three of my grandsons side by sides and dirt bikes 2 years ago and bought 2024 Honda CRF 125 big wheel for youngest and the two oldest Honda CRF 250s for the reason of fuel injection. No Im only fixing flats and replacing parts they brake while riding. Im going to import from Japan because the choices are by far better with low mileage and better maintained. Plus price is 50% cheaper than buying local including tariff and other fees. Found a 1999 Mitsubishi Minicab with 37000 k (22000 miles) with 4x4, a/c, 14” tires and 5 speed standard I may buy. I’ll make my mind up by this weekend because I really want low mileage Suburu Sambar. Deer season opens up for bow hunting soon and the prices are insane here for past 2 months and will get higher when gun season nears. I’m retired a hardly use my truck. Will use the Kei truck exclusively in my rural area to run errands, to the hardware a, parts store and tractor supply. That’s all I do now days other than keeping up our property.
Retired as well, I highly recommend it! Joking aside, I'm blessed. I briefly looked at importing but it would be quite the effort to get to a port and find the vehicle wasn't exactly as described. Of course the dealer I bought from is 3 hours away. I'm also a kick the tires/drive the truck before purchase guy and wanted to give the truck a once over. With my dealer, there was some issue with the A/C and wound up with a new compressor when I came back to pick it up without raising our agreed price. I had to come back because I purchased new fatter tires and rims, lift and bumpers with receiver hitch. It was nice to have their expertise in those matters. That was around 3 years ago and it is perking right along still. You are correct, direct from Japan is cheaper. I guess I was more comfortable with someone with more knowledge and experience doing the lift and what works wheel-wise and parts support. I like the body styles of the 1999- 2010 or so trucks because of the approach and departure angles with less overhang on the front. I wound up with a 1999 Suzuki Carry specifically with the iron block engine that was in the 1999-2002s. It had 35k miles on it. Talking with the mechanic there, his opinion was they were a little less susceptible to over heating and damage but a little less horse power. If I had to buy again, I might have gone with a little less wide tire than the 23x8.00R12s I got but taller like a 14" rim. I was worried about flotation and shouldn't have. I try to stay out of the soupy stuff. Only once got a little gummy and that was due to clearance on axles. Also, could probably get by without diff lock rear but nice to have. With the road tags it is nice to be able to just run to the CO-OP for supplies/gas or once the deer is loaded to just be able to go on to the processor without having to transfer. Our dove opener is Sept. 1 and I've really been in the dust preparing the field. The mechanic did say keep an eye on the air filter. The prices I seen lately are about $2k more than when I purchased in 2023.
I lived in Japan f I lived in Japan 4 years while in the Military. Bought a used Kei truck for $150 and drove it for 3.5 years. It was Toyota 2 wheel drive 5 speed standard with 550cc engine. It was good truck. Fastest on roads in Japan was 60 kilometers an hour posted speed limit. I sold it for $200 when I was reassigned. I didn’t mind working on my cars and bikes or turning a wrench back 6 years ago. Now I have problems with my body reacting differently. The port my truck will come into is 90 miles from my home in Freeport Texas. The Kei trucks I’ve looked at do not have what I want and are wrecked and have high mileage on them. Then they want more than the pos is worth. My sister works an important company and will handle paperwork and customs. Big problems the waiting. It can take from 7-15 weeks until you receive the truck at port. But I’ll save 50% or better and have far nicer truck. I want something that’s under 30,000 miles on it and 1999-2000 model year. I’ll put 14” wheels and tires on it. Being 25 years and older I’ll replace timing belt and water pump on it as soon as I get it.
carfromjapan.com is worth a look. They have a wide variety of vehicles that are searchable by drive type, mileage, transmission, AC, etc. Those can them be organized by cost and other determinants. Many become available on clearance and are often good deals. I have imported eleven Kei trucks to this point. It generally takes the seller a month to find and secure the vehicle a shipping date. Then it is about a months travel to port. More or less depending on the shippers access to thr Panama Canal.
Thank you for your response. I know I will have lots of questions since this is my first import. Yeah I agree. CarfromJapan and MitsuiCo.,LTD were the ones I used for buying. MITSUI or Car from Japan it seems sells same exact Kei Trucks. MITSUI is cheaper by $400- $500 less for same Truck. Problem with MITSUI is they aren’t well at communicating or as much help as Car from Japan. I bought a Kei truck last week from MITSUI but they were very lax on paperwork and communications from shipping department. I contacted the man who first was point of contact ( a T Ohsawa) and he apologized. He forwarded my complaint and for 2 days shipping kept forwarding exact same email with no answers. I canceled the order and bought the 1999 Mitsubishi Minicab 4x4, and a/c with 37000 kilometers with same vin# and exact video and pictures from Car from Japan. It cost $402 more, they broke down invoice , paperwork and communications have been spot on. Car from Japans shipping department email was concise and I completed Confirmation invoice in 5 minutes without 2 days of figuring it out. MITSUI was cheaper but they were troublesome in communicating. Maybe I’ll try them later after this trial of first importing. I still wil buy an Isuzu Sambar. My question is how long from purchase before your Kei truck hit U.S. Port? My U.S. Port I chose was Freeport Texas. It’s about 90 miles from my home.
Takes me about 2 months from purchase to port Newark in NJ on average. About a month to a shipping date and a month of travel on the carrier. I have had 4 Minicabs and three had AC. You will not be disappointed. They are a great little truck with some serious toughness. I like my Subaru Sambar Dias van because I use it to plow snow here. The weight of the engine in the back adds traction and helps cancel out the weight of the plow up front.
When you receive your trucks do you replace water pump and timing belt as soon as you get them? My buddy who is mechanic said to replace these 2 items before I put it on the road. I said mileage was under 30,000 miles on the one I bought. He said it’s not mileage. It’s the age of 25 years or better that dictates this type of maintenance. With efi I won’t have to rebuild carburetor but I will change plugs and wires also at water pump and timing belt change. I’m selling my 2014 Ram truck , My 1999 AM General Military HMMVEE (it will be listed Tuesday), 1985 Military M19 and 2002 Dodge Ram Pick up by September 15 hopefully. I’m going to hold on to 2002 Dodge until I’ve had the Minicab for a month. I’m downsizing all my equipment because I don’t use it anymore. The Kei truck I hope I’m happy with for primary truck because all my driving is to hardware, tractor supply or out to lake about 5 miles away. I put less than 4000 miles a year on my primary truck. Very rarely get on highway so the Minicab will not be a problem. Plus maintenance should be less owning one truck. I just wonder about auto insurance. You have problem getting coverage? Thanks for all info you can give me .
He’s right about age and not mileage. All of my timing belts had been changed in Japan. They either had stickers with the date and mileage of the change or there were clearly aftermarket belts on them. Google translate is your friend here concerning the stickers. The inspection process in Japan is pretty strict. Most maintence is done as part of inspection requirements. If the inspection stickers are current it is a good thing. Im less concerned about the water pumps as they won’t kill an engine immediately if they fail. Plugs, air filter, fuel filter, oil and oil filter changes are what I normally do. I will do plug wires as a matter of course if there is a miss not related to plugs (plugs first). A bottle of injector cleaner can’t hurt and I like to start with a tank of 93 octane. Most times they are almost empty off the ship. Good luck wit your sales. I have more comfortable vehicles, but I pass them over for all short trips in the van. People love it everywhere i go.
I went ahead and did it all before I started driving my truck regularly, just out of an abundance of safety and precaution. It wasn't terribly expensive, and it buys some peace of mind. Three things that made a significant difference: running SeaFoam through the tank, running LiquidMoly Ceratec in the oil, and changing the distributor and rotor.
I did the sea foam spray treatment as well as soon as I got it besides fresh filters and oil. The mechanic at G&R suggested to NOT run any ethanol gas through it as they don't have that in Japan so it's always ethanol free 87. It ran fine for a year and then I had some hard starting/idle issues. I'm to the age where I'm not as inclined to wrench on stuff I have no history or manuals or easy available parts so loaded it up and took it to G&R with a laundry list of stuff to do. Checked brakes/flushed fluid, New hoses, belts, plugs, wires (problems with starting/stumbling was one ignition coil), checked compression (all 3 read 215), replaced throwout bearing, timing belt and water pump/new antifreeze. Ran around $900 but felt worth it to me. I should be good to go for a while now with regular oil/filter changes and air filter replacements. Oh, insurance in TN, I just added to my auto policy. Initially was around $150/year for liability. Now around $200. Same as tags. Initially $20/year but ballooned to $85/year now when politicians realized money was to be made as all the side by side riders want to cruise the streets.
I imported mine via Japan Car Direct and the experience was much simplert han expected.It allowed me to have a clean Sambar with clear history without breaking my head with complicated titles.
