Thousands of Americans are buying these Jdm Kei cars and for good reason! They are compact, fuel efficient and super fun! But there are a few things you should consider, before hopping on marketplace and find one for yourself...
In my three years of living in Japan I found that the Suzuki Carry with the turbo 660cc engine was by far the best bang for your buck. You could get them with a 5 speed and 4wd and a locking differential. I personally had a AWD 1988 Honda Acty with the 550cc N/A engine, and it was pretty great for Japan but i would never bring it to the states just because I knew that the Suzuki and even the newer Acty's far outclassed it. As far as parts are concerned, I find almost all of the Suzuki's had the best aftermarket and factory options for parts compared to all of the others. Lastly, I recommend you shop around before you buy. No one should ever pay more than 8k for one of these. Talk to an importer and talk to a reputable company (there are a lot of scammers) in Japan and find the right deal for you.
I came very close to buying the suzuki carry over the sambar. But rear leaf springs front mounted engine and a smaller cab (leg room) is what pushed me over the edge to get the sambar. The aftermarket support of the carry and the fact that it has a real transfer case are both HUGE selling points! I haven't seen a turbo charged carry in the states yet but if I do.... I might be buying a 2nd KEI truck 😁. It would be to damn tempting to say no!
@@DirtLifestyle Yeah the mid 90's on had the turbo model. Look up chassis number DD51T for the K6A turbo specification. Also make a Buyee account if you haven't already. Great resources for getting little ods and ends for these Japanese trucks. Also... The dream setup in my opinion is the Suzuki carry with the turbo 660, locking differential and the hydraulic dump bed. Orrrr, just wait till the newer ones are importable and get the extended cab model.
Good intro to kei trucks. It's pronounced "kay", BTW. I love my 1996 4WD Daihatsu Hijet. I bought it for $265, paid $1935 to ship it to the US, and have almost $8000 in it including insurance, registration, upgrades, maintenance, etc. It's easy to maintain and repair. I use it as a half ton pickup. Full 1100 pounds. I don't hit big bumps with it, but I've hauled four loads of freshly cut water maple firewood, filling the bed. It'll go almost anywhere that doesn't have large boulders or ruts. Hills of any steepness are not a problem and I almost never need to use the low range on the HI/LO transfer case. It's narrow and turns on a dime so it can go places my 4WD Tacoma never could. I think the Suzuki Carry engine under the seats puts some heat into the cab, but the engine under the seats in my Hijet doesn't. 100% not an issue. Keitora are incredibly practical and useful, even down to the small details. It's much more useful to have cargo tie downs on the outside of the bed sides rather than inside the bed, being able to fold down the bed sides to make a flat bed is great and removing the tailgate and both bed sides with three 10 mm bolts is very convenient. Unlike US trucks, there are no wheel wells poking up into the bed to eat up cargo space and make it difficult to carry sheet goods and break drywall when I hit a bump. Everyone loves the little kei truck. I think I have the only one in town. I expected gear head guys to like it, but women love it because it's so cute and kids love it too. The US needs a modern kei truck with a 1200 cc engine, but government is the reason we can't have nice things.
What you’ll really love about it, is the fuel consumption. I’ve got a Ranger raptor, a Chevy 2500 and a Carry. The carry is now my daily driver (100km daily) and my average is 6.8 l/100km (34mpg)
I've owned a 6x4 Gator and a Suzuki Carry. The Carry was infinitely better than the Gator in every way. The Gator was more expensive, carried less, broke more often, was less useful, and got stuck way more easily. Never mind the street legality! Never driven an Acty, but they sound great, likely better than the Carry. I'd buy another Kei truck in a heartbeat.
@@histguy101correct, but it's a completely sealed cab, and every thing else just like any other car. And when has anyone heard of a less than 50k Toyota (Daihatsu), Suzuki, Subaru, Nissan, Mazda, Mitsubishi, or Honda with a 5spd on a ladder frame and a base model truck, with several have more in the 1000-1400lbs. payload, everbeen ever know for being anything but a top pick for a cheap, base, truck?
...Another Sambar advantage is that they're the only Kei truck with a body on frame construction, not a unibody. That means you can do a body lift if you're looking at bigger wheels and tires. All the other Kei trucks need to do a suspension lift. If you go more than a 2" lift on the other Kei trucks it screws up the suspension geometry and can cause axles to pull out at full droop. Sambars can be lifted easily and cheaply with a body lift and it doesn't compromise the suspension. Another benefit is that if you want to go mini monster truck, I'm sure you could drop the Sambar cab and bed onto something like an early Jeep, Samurai or Geo Tracker frame. Now that would be cool...
Love the channel! Long time watcher of your stuff. I’m a proud owner of a 1996 Toyota Liteace YM65 truck. It’s like a Kei truck scaled up about 40 percent. Mine has a 1.8L gas engine, 5spd column shift manual, 4wd with manual locking 5lug hubs and a 1000kg payload in the nearly 5x8.5ft bed. It also had AC and seats 3 people. It’s a slightly more practical alternative to a Kei truck, and can be registered more easily in some states that are strict on Kei cars because it’ll actually do highway speeds.
Perfect timing. My sister has some property on the other side of town off of one of the roads you drove on. She was thinking about getting a gator to maintain her trails and I've been trying to get her to buy a kei truck for a while. I'm gonna send her this video, kei trucks are so much better in many ways.
Great review Nate, here in Manitoba i have seen about a dozen or so, they are cool for sure,I asked one guy last winter , yes at my local Home Depot, how he liked it as we were both waiting to loaded up at the Pro entrance doors, he said it was great, if i remember his was a Suzuki 4WD, 5 speed, rear locker, and 600 or 660 cci 3 banger, he said was a bit noisy sitting on top of the engine and his solution was to remove everything in the cab and washed it out, left it to dry a couple of days then used the peel and stick sound deadener material through out almost the whole interior and inside the doors to to stop any resonating and it worked incredibly well and was quite a bit quieter and warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer, didn't get any where near as much heat from the engine anymore and it was never really bad for our cold weather winters here which are even cooler than North Dakota, he did have to get a thermostat for it that they use in Hokkaido Japan and he said that made the biggest difference for the cold winter days for keeping windows clear and engine seemed to run better he said after changing the thermostat, cost him around $45 CDN by the time it was shipped to his home and was worth every penny, he got some tire/rim combo for it, for winter and it made a huge improvement on how it drives in the snow/ice on the road, he told me to swap tires it only takes about 40 minutes with doing a little inspection and putting away tools, next one will have A/C and PS and front/rear lockers he said he hoped to find, Canadian import laws are any vehicle 14 years or older can be imported into Canada, now I am curious and will look for a Sambar , i like the 4 cyl and independent suspension and non interference engine all my Volvos have been this way
Growing up in South America late 70’. we have this little trucks for many years from Daihatsu. ; Suzuki and Subaru. They all performed flawlessly for many years, definitely they are great little truck. You did an excellent review. Thanks
Did you prefer one over the other? What was more common, known for being better in any ways, ie. quality, longevity, durability, capacity, capable, etc.?
I've got a sambar myself. I cut the panel behind the seats out and moved it rearward about 3 inches and welded back in. Then had to make some minor seat bracket modifications. It doesn't sound like much but 3 more inches of leg room made a crazy difference.
There was a guy in Colfax WA. years that modified these little 4x4 trucks, but at the time they couldn't be used on the road. Happy to see that they now can be. Looking forward to any mods you do to it, wheels/tires etc. Have fun with it!
We have a few of these at work in Canada ,the most useful one is 4WD , tilt bed, 8 foot raised man lift with remote control. Its box sides fold down for flatbed. It takes ATV wheels and tires for off road during hunting season. Radio and heater work, added winch on front. The other less equipped trucks are used for hauling electrical supplies around large work sites
What a cool little truck! Can’t wait to see what you do with it. It would be even cooler with a hydraulic dump bed. Congrats on the new property. Can’t wait to see the progress on the new shop.
Welcome to the "Sambar Club"! My son bought one a few years ago. He chose it for many of the same reasons you did. One of the nicest things I have found working on it is that most, if not all, hardware is cadmium plated - so it usually comes out without breaking off! Watch out for the steel coolant lines running up to the front - they do tend to rust out along with the steel wire clamps holding the hoses on. They usually seize and break when being removed. Good Luck, and have fun with it!
Great intro to Kei trucks. Looks like a topic your followers are interested in for much the same reason you described, utility use. The comments your followers added have helped me understand pricing, and build on your street legal concerns. Since I live in a very urban area and having to use a dually for home depot runs I was thinking an electric conversion would be a great addition to our fleet.
Father in law has a Mitsubishi, works awesome, the locker in the rear is key. Has AC too!!!! I have a cushman, not 4wd, but damn if I haven't gotten it stuck yet....Great content Nate, loving seeing the new property and what you have planned. Keep livin the dream brother!!!!
I've always had a soft spot for these little trucks. I learned how to drive Stick in a little Daihatsu truck while working at Flaming Gorge (Lucern Marina). I'm loving The Peck Brothers build here on RU-vid.
I live in Southeast Washington State I see about a dozen or more of them running around where I live some K-trucks and some K-vans. I'm thinking about getting one. The company I work for has two of them we're a general contractor that does excavation work and we use them for running around job sites and parts runs. Thanks for the research Nate 👍🏼
I love those little trucks, we had one at the motor pool on one of the bases I used to be stationed at. It had a generator and air compressor in the bed and I used it to drive around to do maintenance on buildings and heavy equipment....think it was a Daihatsu.
Dude, it's crazy you came out with this video right now as I'm deep down the rabbit hole of figuring out how to acquire one directly from Japan. I'm currently leaning towards the Suzuki Carry or the Subaru Sambar. Honestly, I'll take whatever I can get a deal on as long as it has A/C (I'm in FL) and minimal rust.
Ive owned a couple Kei trucks. First one I purchased was already in the states. Second I did the import process myself. $2k at auction for a well equipped truck (dump, 4wd, diff lock, low miles) and cost another $3-4k in fees. I picked it up at the port myself and did not use a broker.
We used a Suzuki carry and made a street sweeper out of it. Because of how narrow it was it fitted between the Safty bollards at the local parks at the time and it was able to sweep all the foot paths
Love these little trucks! Can't afford one but it was great to hear all the pro's and con's of some of them. Always been a Honda and Yota guy but this little Suby sounds great! Oregon laws are ridiculous! lol
That truck is dope. Would love one when I finally get some property. But what really caught my eye were those very creative driving shots on the road. Super cool and unique shots
Look at the Suzuki DA63T model like the one I bought. They are made after 2001 so we are not at the 25 years mark yet if its an issue. The main advantages are they have a more modern EFI engine, so no more carb to tinker with and they are built with the front wheel foward so the front overhang is pretty small , perfect for offroading. Look for one with the difflock and dump bed is pretty nice too. I builded the dump bed on mine an a front winch bumper and with some upgrade they can handle 2000 lbs in the back. Hope to see more kei truck content keep up the good work.
I went with a 94 Mitsubishi minicab because the engine was actually sold in artic cat equipment, the 4wd is an axle locker (not hub), very wide ratio trans (idle 1st high range 3mph to top speed 5th near redline 82mph). The front engine let's you overload the hell out of the rear, had just over a ton in the back and it still wasn't on bumpstops. Loaded even with that much, power is just fine. Brakes are lacking with that much load. Mine is simple, all manual everything except power brakes, i put heavier duty progressive springs in the front and foreceum mt06 lt rated tires (just a tiny bit taller than stock)
I Looked for years for one to use as a ranch truck. Nothing very close. Those that i did find most had been beat on and not maintained very well. Ended up buying a Tracker. Doesn't have the bed space but I love it. Really liked the motor access. Look forward to your updates on how it's working for you.
My 1993 Sambar KS4 has AC., and surprisingly it works. I am gonna put 2” lift 15” wheels. And either make a shell for the back with an extended cage, or design a pop up “roof” tent that will sit in the bed on a platform. So I can have storage space underneath it. Maybe add some extra protection for the engine area. Got plenty of ideas.
I used to sell Kei trucks, and liked all of them. The Subaru is quieter and faster unless you get a turbo charged 3 cylinder. But for wheeling the departure angle is bad because of the rear engine and the Suzuki can have lockers and have a hi/lo transfer case. I'm sure you will be happy with your Subaru for what you want it to do.
Owned a Suzuki when I was stationed in Japan many many years ago. I really enjoyed it and it was just a fun unique truck. I considered shipping it back stateside. But it just wasn't economical at the time. To make the changes and "hopefully " get it licensed to be a daily driver. But if you're able by all means they are a great little truck. Lots of ways to customize them if desired. They are extremely handy for all the chores you mentioned. Fun little trucks. Be kinda nice if the automotive manufacturers built a line of them for sale and purchase here in the states..... unfortunately if they did. They would have a unbelievable sticker price !!
Glad to see you went into the details on your choice, I agree with alot of your logic, made the same choices myself. I have a Hijet and love mine, use the crap out of it. With the dump bed it is extremely easy to work on and i much prefer the tradition "truck layout" of engine, trans, transfer case, axle (its basically a mini tacoma). As for your two post lift comment, you need to put the arms in the front under the cab (I use the two hook locations) and under the rear leaf hanger, works mint!
I REALLY wanted a dump bed! But I decided I would use this style more often. All these little trucks are cool and you can't really go wrong from what I can tell. 👍
I have a 95 Sambar as well and love it! I think everyone should own one! It has been more handy than the Dodge Ram 2500 that I sold to get it. Better fuel economy and honestly, a more practical bed. Easier to get in and out of and has tackled everything I have thrown at it so far. Bought mine from Tony at Mayberry Mini Trucks in Mt Airy NC. I live in Central Indiana.
Yeah, I'm importing one and it should be here in the next few weeks. I bought it for many of the same reasons Nate did. I have a recreational property in East Texas and was looking at sxs, and the price, along with the real practicality led me to these mini trucks. After I bought it, I started wondering how I was going to fix a hitch to the rear. Do you have any pointers?
@@Big_DT I took off the rear engine cover and used the same holes for my new bumper brackets. The bumper is made from 2x 4 box steel with a reciever sectioned into the middle, allowing me to switch hitch sizes. I use it for moving trailers,hay wagons and my wood splitter. Still have access to oil filler and dipstick. Comes off in four bolts if needed.
My 1 year old FRENCH BULLDOG Absolutely loves to watch your show with me I've been following you for two years and the last year KNUCKLES has been watching with me
I (kind of) hate to be that guy, but it's pronounced 'kay'. (9 years in Japan... owned numerous kei cars.) It DOES look like 'key', given the wishy-washy pronunciation rules of English. These little vehicles are the backbone of Japan. They're everywhere and people tend to stick to their maintenance schedules. Partially because having a vehicle registered on the road is expensive. So, it makes sense to maintain the vehicle. Also, good presentation is a big part of the society and your vehicle is a shining example of that.
Honda van for me. First, it's a Honda. Easiest to get one with passenger car comforts. Full time AWD, and lots have A/C. Hondas have the best seats. Like the Hondas half-a-Goldwing engine. Easy new parts, easy junk parts, huge owner community, MUCH better seats. Plus, they're better looking. Drove them all bavk to back, and the Honda van was the winner.
I’ve got a 99 Suzuki Carry, I liked it for it’s availability in my country and because it’s front wheels are at the front of the cab so it can get over stuff a bit easier without the body contacting the ground. Having said that I think they are all pretty good trucks, some people are just gonna prefer one brand more than another one. Enjoy.
Perfect vehicle for property owners! When we got our place I looked at Gators, SxS's, quads, Kubota UTVs and Kei trucks but just couldn't stomach the prices. I ended up buying 2 beater cherokees and registered one as a ATV. Hehe I haven't stopped wanting a Kei truck though! Group buy!
Very cool! I can definitely see why you bought one. And I’ve always thought that Subaru makes nice stuff. Although you are right, it will need better tires.
It seems that the "Kei" truck thing is the fad, coworkers are talking about them and one of my coworkers bought the van with a diesel in it. I have to admit that I am looking in to them also for that "garbage hauler" role and well for around 7k it is tempting.....Awesome video Nate!! and thanks for the review on your Kay.....Kie.....little truck!!!
I don't know what they use these for in Japan, but I drove one in the early '90s when I mowed greens on a TPC golf course in Vegas. Ours were dump bed Mitsubishi and did very well pulling trailered greens mowers and hauling all manner of materials around the course everyday. We much favored these over our 3-wheel Cushman carts for most of our needs.
Love the kei trucks, but in Pennsylvania we aren't allowed to make em road legal, totally looking forward to seeing the upgrades, and you putting the truck to use, I'm jelly....enjoy bro !!!
this is one of those dream items for the farm having something small enough to zip around the fields in with a useful bed and be able to run into town we have a Kawasaki MULE 2016ish and its not bad for working on fence and running parts out into the fields but it is open cab and while faster than walking to town really a turd on road the farm truck gets 12mpg empty and about the same pulling a 25ft loaded goose neck trailer so it sure would be nice to have a better middle ground and as you said they are just neat
They're cool little trucks...but what about the availablity of OEM parts in the long term? I'd like to own one at least for a while...but then from a maintenance standpoint, a decent Ford Ranger, Chevy S-10/GMC Sonoma, or Dodge Dakota seems more practical.... Enjoyed the video, Nate! The "consider this before you buy" content was insightful. Thanks again!
I like very much that you put a scaled and loaded to see the driving. Your conclusion on the analysis of the Subaru Sambar I have gotten the same conclusion. I am about to buy one. I would like you to talk about the original tires, were they off road tires, semi traction, regular tires.
Agreed but it is more of a “keigh” sound than a “kay” sound. 軽いkarui means light and ケイ(kei) is the on-youmi reading of that Kanji. So it is a short way of saying “light”. EI sounds are an eigh sound because you pronounce the E and I as the long vowel sounds A and E respectively.
@@jflabeets1 Depending on your accent/ dialect/ where you live, "Kay" and "Keigh" can end up sounding identical. It's possible the person who wrote "Kay" lives somewhere that it is pronounced the same as "Keigh"
We have a lot of these here in Philippines , especially in the southern part . we imported it from japan and convert it to left hand drive since it is not allowed to drive in the right side here in Philippines. some these are used for public transport , also for family service they cost around $2,000 to $2,500 USD depending on its condition. We used to own two of these and made it as public transportation . We called it "Multi-Cab"
I see you found our local snow wheeling area. I knew you moved but didn't know it was into my area. Sure I'll see you out and about. Those trucks are cool.
I thought of a small truck like that for my 100 acre property but found a 91 S10 4x4 short bed regular cad truck and built a side by side farm truck out of it it's got a full set of aluminum skid plates and small lift winch front and back 31s 4.3 manual transmission and manual 4x4 for a little truck it gets the job done
Something else to be cautious of, at least Here in Ontario Canada, is you can licnece them as an atv when you import them. However, obce theyre registered as an atv, they cannot be changed to street use. Also my cousin.owns a 1998 sumbar, and loves it. You mentioned upgrading the tires. With my cousin's. It came with stock tires, and a set of slightly oversized atv tires. With the atv tires on, it makes it more capable. Off-road at the sacrafice of top speed on the road.
yeah I use mine for a small spray vehicle. It works amazing for me at under 21 acres. It's in the shop right now... parts are a big problem but its perfect for what I use if for.
For tires, ditch those 12s and go with 13s and get the foreceum mt06 in 165/80/13. Ride nice, fairly quiet for being pretty aggressive mt, and they are pretty much the only LT rated tires you can get that fit under these things
The only bonus to the HiJet or Carry is you can get JDM aftermarket lift kits, but that kind of ruins the usefulness of the bed height and load capacity. You can also get factory tire sized mud, trail, and all terrain tires for them in Japan. Think the Toyo and Nitto trad pattern tires.
You can also get Kei bed campers, just like US truck bed campers. they slide in, some have pop tops to let you stand up in, others are little more then a bed and storage like a "teardrop trialer"
The rear engine placement of the Sambar (and Acty) have some major disadvantages. The payload capacity is drastically reduced compared to the others, which is why you see so few dump models of the Sambar. I chose a Carry dump for that reason alone. I also have A/C, so the placement of the engine under the seat is not an issue at all. Also, as you have mentioned already, the engine being in the back makes for low ground clearance. I agree that the Sambar has the best engine, and would concur that if you have a regular bed, the Sambar is the best choice. But once you get into models with dump beds, scissor lifts, refrigerated boxes, etc the Sambar is not as good of a choice as a Carry, Hijet or Minicab.
If you put bigger tires on this up grade the hp of the engine and maybe 1/2 taller tire, a wider tire is ok. The more stock you can keep it the longer it will last.
A contractor friend of mine bought one from Washington and was able to get the dmv here in Oregon to plate it because it was already plated from Washington and they didn’t ask too many questions.
My buddy has the van version. You can easily fit things in there that you can't squeeze into most domestic vehicles. Multiple long-travel enduro bikes? Yup- don't even need to take the seats out or wheels off.
It's called the "multiple inconsistent burdens" doctrine under the USSC's interpretation of the interstate commerce clause. That's why you can drive that kei in Oregon.
Unless you need long-travel independent suspension, there's little reason not to buy one over a new side-by-side for work around the property. 4x4 is common and a locking rear differential isn't hard to find. Automatics exist but most are manual, often with an extra-low first gear or reverse. The bed is bigger than a SxS. They're street-legal in most states and can do 55MPH. They're fully enclosed stock with heat and sometimes A/C. I've seen a few on the road in my state and they look like a ton of fun. Like you said, it makes no sense to allow motorcycles and disallow kei cars.
