Someone Buy This Kei Construction Truck So We Don’t

David S. Wallens said:

In reply to JG Pasterjak :

Maybe? The funny thing is that I saw it the very day I wrote that piece for Classic Motorsports on Duncan Imports/Japanese classics. And then to see that, I was was like, am I dreaming?  JG, I passed it right as I was turning onto my street. 

Yeah it could have been one of the several other Kei fire trucks in town.

We've actually been eyeing something like this for a yard truck. We have a few acres that we do a lot of landscaping on (why does zeroscaping and natives take so much maintenance? Isn't that the opposite of the whole point? Anyway, different conversation), and we have a gas-powered golf cart with a dump bed as out yard mule. It was $3500, and for not much more than that we can have one of these that we can actually drive right to Lowe's or the nursery or the mulchatorium in. Oddly tempting.

irish44j (Forum Supporter) said:

JThw8 said:

With 2 Keis in the driveway already I dont need another but at the current auction price its a damn good deal.  These have had an uptick in value lately especially if they have a proper US title already

So, honest question - what is the appeal of the Kei trucks, exactly, other than them being "JDM" or whatever? Or is it just the appeal of them being funny/silly in a world of giant oversized bro trucks?

For light utility stuff, I would think an old Mazda B2200/Ranger/Mighty Max/Toytota small pickup would generally be better for pretty much anything you would do with the Kei trucks (plus a lot safer, faster, etc). 

Even for non-road stuff like hauling stuff around a farm, or a track cart, or whatever, I would think a UTV with a bed would be superior. 

So is this just a "style" kind of thing, or is there some functional reason one would want one of these vs. things you can more easily (and cheaply) buy in this country? 

Well my Kei's are a van and a honda beat (small mid engine 2 seat convertible) so I cant really speak for the trucks.  I like unusual cars that's the appeal to me.    The trucklets have a huge following for farm use because they can actually be had cheaper than most UTVs with beds that are usually bigger.  Prices are up right now so the value over a UTV is not as good as it once was but they are still cheaper.  I use a lifted golf cart for hauling stuff around my farm right now but if the opportunity presented itself to get a trucklet in the 3k range (very possible for non titled ones) I'd consider it as it would be much more functional.

Two days to go and it's at $3000. JG, can I keep it at your place if Colin bails on me? 

3 hours left.  $4400.

I'll bet it hits $7K.

I talked to a friend who has a kei truck. He says to get one. So, SVreX, how much to expand my garage? :)

In reply to David S. Wallens :

I think there's a pretty big importer of these in NJ, or atleast when I was debating kei vs utv it was a top web result. There's a place in Oregon that advertises on CL, pre-covid you could get a 4x4 with dump bed around 3-5k, I'm sure they're 2X now.

I think the real benefit to these vs utv is a cab with heat/AC. You could usually buy one of these for the price of adding a heated cab to your utv, and AC just started to be an option.

David S. Wallens said:

I talked to a friend who has a kei truck. He says to get one. So, SVreX, how much to expand my garage? :)

Expand??

Don't t you just have to move the dog food bowl a little to the left and park it between the lawnmower and the leaf blower??

thashane said:
There's a place in Oregon that advertises on CL, pre-covid you could get a 4x4 with dump bed around 3-5k, I'm sure they're 2X now.

I hadn't checked on them lately. Looks like they currently state "starting at $6000."

There's some neat stuff, though. (Oddly, this one is by a different poster than the seemingly-main Portland importer...)

David S. Wallens said:

I talked to a friend who has a kei truck. He says to get one. So, SVreX, how much to expand my garage? :)

To fit a kei truck say.....8x10 add on?

Let me do some math here.....carry the 2, recheck.......yup....    4.2 million dollars at current prices. You'll have to buy a piece of land with timber on it, a mill and a kiln to dry it. All of that should be cheaper than the lumber yard

In reply to Jesse Ransom :

Ya I ended up buying a UTV, mostly bc I live in the woods, wanted the visibility, and a companion vehicle to our sport utv (yxz). Additionally the automatics seemed rare, and wanted something the domestic supervisor would use.

In reply to David S. Wallens :

Did you buy it?

Full disclosure... I was gonna bid against you at the last minute, but had some internet glitches that prevented me from bidding. My highest offer would have been higher than what it sold for. ;-)

Hope it serves you well!

No but congrats to the buyer. I really like the fact that it's not just white. But right now, we're still pretty tight (on space and time). 

You could shop at a dealer, this one has models with dump bodies and snow plows https://minitruck.ca/sale/ I have seen some advertised with lift bodies like an airline catering truck

In reply to Rons :

A dump bed doesn't interest me--just more weight and complexity--but one that lifts up to load a plane could be cool. 

One done up to look like an old Chevy, Dodge or VW van would be cool, too. 

Fun fact...

Kei trucks are fairly standardized at 147" long. When them ship them from overseas, they ship them inside shipping containers. 
 

Shipping containers are 40' long. They generally load 6 Kei trucks in each shipping container. 
 

That's 73'-8" worth of Kei trucks in a 40' container. 
 

They stack them. They put the first one in with the front end up in the air on a stack of tires. Then the 2nd one goes in with it's front wheels in the bed of the first one. Then the third one goes in with it's front wheels in the bed of the 2nd one. Etc, etc. 

Jesse Ransom said:

thashane said:
There's a place in Oregon that advertises on CL, pre-covid you could get a 4x4 with dump bed around 3-5k, I'm sure they're 2X now.

I hadn't checked on them lately. Looks like they currently state "starting at $6000."

There's some neat stuff, though. (Oddly, this one is by a different poster than the seemingly-main Portland importer...)

Ohhh, thats like the trucklet version of mine, complete with the cosmic roof.  Much want!

Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:

 

Let me do some math here.....carry the 2, recheck.......yup....    4.2 million dollars at current prices. You'll have to buy a piece of land with timber on it, a mill and a kiln to dry it. All of that should be cheaper than the lumber yard

I read that as: "Let me do some math here.....carry the 2, redneck.......yup....    4.2 million dollars at current prices."

It made it 100x funnier. 

Saw this very far north in New York, very close to the border to Canada. It has a tag too and he drives it all  over

Dang, it looks mean (well, as mean as a kei truck can get) on the tracks.