How Hard is it to Import a Kei Truck from Japan? 

Is this sarcasm? Haha

LOL ...is a corrupt run city... what did u expect ?

Not shocked LOL

"We used to make shit in this country, build shit. Now we just put our hand in the next guy's pocket." Re-elect *Frank Sobotka* for secretary-treasurer I.B.S. local 1514

Hahaha

I just had a parent at the school I teach at tell me last week that they used to drive them when she was was stationed in Japan. She said they used them to move artillery at the range. The diesel ones are bigger, all these are gasoline.

I've seen deisel kei trucks , they are rare but do exist

I drove these, when I was in the Coast Guard, here in the states.

They really did more than they had to, I’ll definitely use them again.

Read my message above

Great video, buddy

I'm interested in bringing one into Jacksonville as well!

Thank you so much. I was very much in the dark doing it on my own and was hoping to offer some light.

Same here. I was only there for a year (November 1993-94, Camp Kinser). I had a 1984 Nissan Bluebird (like a Maxima) that came with a 2 year JCI. It had AC, power everything and even spoke Japanese (washer fluid low, you left your lights on, etc.) and I only paid $1000. I used it the entire time I was there and sold it for $1000 when I left. I really wanted to bring a car back with me; any car, but we were all told that it was impossible and/or too expensive. Now I want one of these trucks, so I can at least relive some of my youth.

Thank you, I hope it helps people who want to do the same thing.

@@DentedFenderGarage Im sure it will.. I own one as it is very common and cheap in the Philippines.. Im just amazed that people in the US fancy such a relatively small truck..

Thank you.

Good hearing from you. I might be saving up for a little van.

I guess it depends on the seller. Also depends on if you’ve bought the first vehicle loaded on the boat or the last, which you can’t control. I want to import another but I have a really bad taste in my mouth about Baltimore and might pay more and wait longer to use Newport News.

This is exactly why I made this video. I was so worried about hidden costs and such before buying mine and couldn’t find all the info, so I just did it myself to figure it out for others.

Hoping this helps people. Thanks for the sub

Greetings from New Jersey. I live in southern Jersey where there are a couple places close by that sell imports in Philadelphia, Pennsauken and Newark/Trenton NJ. You're definitely helping others 💯 Keep up the great work.

I was amazed at how little oversight there was at the port and how little security. It was a mess. They could charge for anything they made up.

Thank you. I hope it goes well and keep me updated. Did you get a broker to clear customs or are you going to customs yourself? Did they hit you with a cleaning fee? I have more content to post but the past few weeks my son and I have been putting an engine in his Mustang.

I contacted one of the brokers that my shipper recommend they want to charge me $2500 for 2 kei trucks, I'm like "no thanks" I called US custom border today and they said don't come to the port until they clear them (they want to make sure trucks are clean from any contaminations or whatever it might be) I did my ISF form from a 3rd party company call easyISF $25 for each truck, they did very quick within a day and sent me invoices, I also apply for TWIC card just in case for future purchase (cost $125 for 5 years at TSA office), now it's just a waiting game hopefully every will go smoothly, I'll keep you updated, thanks again @@DentedFenderGarage

How much did you paid ?

Not too far from me.

@@DentedFenderGarage Cool, they are becoming very popular and everybody likes them and be prepared for photos and videos from other drivers on the road.

If you have any more questions when it’s time I can help with the little knowledge I have. Thank you for your service.

Thank you.

I imagine he will drive it and use it to haul stuff.

That would be awesome.

Very cool! Your first deadline will be the ISF filing when the boat leaves port. Keep me updated.

@@DentedFenderGarage Just filed my ISF yesterday, it got approved! Used turboisf.

@PowerlineRider keep me updated, the process wasn’t hard but it was stressful.

❤😂🎉😢😮😅😊​@@DentedFenderGarage

how did it go?

Thanks. Getting over the mental hurdle of buying a car on the other side of the world is was the hardest part.

Townace is in a higher price range, but if you check regularly you will see the prices go up and down and you can pick up on trends. Also look at BeForward.jp to compare some prices and shipping.

@@DentedFenderGarage Thanks for the update. I'm quite a bit older than you and the Kei sized units just make my shorts tingle a bit more than I like. I really enjoy many of your projects. Carry on Lad. Keep the adventures happening.

I can’t help you with the TX stuff but I’ve seen forums with more state specific things.

I’ve seen several of these with legal Texas registration. If your county gives you trouble go to other ones

I don’t know either but there is another RU-vidr, WayBeforeTheFame that has import vehicles and he is in NY.

What’s keeping the new Toyota away from us is not the import laws or safety standards, it’s the majority of US buyers who think a vehicle needs all the bells and whistles and are willing to pay all the money for air conditioned seats and heated steering wheels and 2 extra doors that they never use. Not enough minimalists to adjust the market.

There are plenty of people selling them already over here. I was watching a RU-vid channel, Way Before The Fame yesterday and he was showing some already imported in NY selling for around $4500.

The whole process was eye opening to me, but it seems most set the markup at 100% or more. Most importers can buy more in bulk and save even more than an individual.

Do the dealers normally fix them up or are they just as the ones you ordered over seas where they need work done. Can you buy ones that are fixed already on this site?

Some importers only import and re-sell. Others might do some work to them first, but no work needs to be done to the trucks to make them legal.

My cost included local DMV, so that would be additional cost no matter where you get it. For me the hassle was worth the cost over and over. A similar truck bought local would have cost me almost double.

It still bothers me. Haha

Thank you so much. I appreciate the comment and love hearing other people’s experiences. I would love to import a Carry Van.

@@DentedFenderGarage What I failed to mention was that I was talking about the Super Carry which would’ve been a mid nineties van. Those came in various body styles. Including as a camper van. I see that they do a new style just Carry now. I didn’t realize that before I sent you a message before. There’s a Kei truck in our area which I’ll try to get the owner to allow me to do a video on as these are definitely fun, and versatile vehicles for sure.

Did you buy it from carfromjapan?

Yes

That is a completely different vehicle from a kei truck.

I think the most stressful thing for me was the ISF filing since there’s like a 72 hour window, after that it was just keeping track of everything. What port?

California is the worst.

​@@DentedFenderGaragewhen small cars use less natural resources. and more fuel efficient. and roads are not easily damaged. but American auto companies didn't like it because it caused demand for oil to drop.

@justwannaname do you know if it’s even possible to register one of these in California? Seen some around but always have out of state plates

@@nico7226 you can. It’s just really expensive. Ran into a guy with CA plates that was registered. He said the Kei was $4.5k to purchase and an additional $5k roughly to have it registered.

@justwannaname that’s crazy. I don’t even live in CA and want to move out of there.

I considered using Savannah and I may do that next time.

Those Miras are really cool looking Make a youtube video

how hard was getting it titled in NC?

I know you have to go through license and theft agent and then bring that report to the DMV to apply for a title, right? is there any chance they deny you? thanks for any info

@badhamdixon3960 Once you bring the paperwork and the vehicle to License and Theft, they give you the paperwork, and you also bring the original Japanese title to the NC DMV where they fill out the title application and issue you the license plate for it. It's not a hard process once it's released from customs. Make sure when you buy it that it is 25 years old or older. If it's newer than 25 years, you will not be able to register or title it for road use and will be titled for off road use only.

You’re lucky you got shipping to Newport News, I wish I would have.

I've got a few kei trucks coming in to Baltimore myself, I tried to use Newport News but it would have been more costly and taken much longer 😮

@johnburney6364 same, I wanted Newport News as well. I’m betting Baltimore customs will charge you cleaning fees.

@@DentedFenderGarage I talked to my exporter about that, he said he has heard the same issue with Baltimore, so they went ahead and did an extra cleaning for me before they were loaded on the ship, and swear that if they find any seeds, insects, or other contaminants like that upon arrival, then it will have been added at sea or at the port of Baltimore

My friend in Wake Forest just sent me a photo he took of an AZ-1 locally today. The AZ-1 is pricey. My son and I really like the Suzuki Cappuccino and I like the Honda Beat as well.

@@DentedFenderGarage Nice! I like the Cappuccino too, but I lean towards the BEAT as well. Is there a reason why you chose the port in Baltimore instead of Newport News Port in Virginia? The Newport News is closer to me and maybe you as well depending on where you are in NC. Just wondering if you looked into that port and decided Baltimore would be easier or cheaper.

Baltimore was cheaper to ship to and some gets more vehicles, some wouldn’t even deliver to Newport News. I’m definitely much closer to there.

There's actually a mini truck dealership in Mount Airy, NC

@danielmejorado6098 yep, he has so many kei trucks. Seems like a cool guy and he has premium trucks, but I couldn’t afford the markup.

I’m glad it helped. The seller will provide an itemized invoice that separates the price of the vehicle and shipping/insurance/etc. car tax is much cheaper but like I mentioned in the video, 25% for trucks.

In the next video I do change the oil and air filter, it’s not way in depth though. Since then I did have to cross reference for a fuel filter and change that and also changed spark plugs. I should have videoed it, but sometimes just getting it done is all I have time for.

It’s okay, I’d rather live in the US. 😂

I’ve had mine almost a year and have not been unhappy about my purchase once.

Mine was on the Hoegh Jeddah

Honestly, I didn’t try to ask. On the descriptions of the cars if something doesn’t work it tells you. It also tells you when the timing belt was serviced. The vehicles have to be able to drive on and off the ship under their own power. You can get pre-inspections and insurance. This is a big company that moves enough volume worldwide that they’re not trying to risk their reputation by selling junk vehicles. I did pay attention to a lot of the trucks that had undercarriages that looked too clean and had fresh spray paint.

I have no restrictions by law, only by speed. I don’t know the top speed. I take it on roads with 55mph speed limits but wouldn’t be comfortable on the 70mph highway close to my house.

That’s sad. I love my truck and everyone I meet loves it and wants their own.

Start sending them over and I'll buy them from you.

The ship had contacted me before that bill to let me know that it was coming. It was random fees, one I remember was a “wharfage” fee. I talked to the Hoegh people on the phone and they were super helpful and friendly.

Yes, here’s a the breakdown: $2579 vehicle/shipping $25 money transfer fee from bank $140 ISF filing $177.65 Hoegh Autoliners $10 bank transfer $310.68 customs

I took all my papers from importing to the local DMV tag office and they registered it like any other vehicle bought out of state.

@@DentedFenderGarage Ok thanks for the reply. I buy lots of cars from out of state since no inspection the first year.

@mrj-charles6383 same, I’m 10 minutes from VA

People have been convinced they need luxury even in a pickup truck and some just want to be better than their neighbors.

I’d love to be in the position to be able to do that, but sadly I’d fall in love with all of them and just end up with a personal fleet.

@@DentedFenderGarage Well, yeah theres that; they're like puppies.

I’m in Ohio and looking to buy one. Lol

@@natehill8069 Very good description lol.

I did not use a customs broker. For my ISF I used an online service (importersecurityfiling.com). They offered to clear customs for me but then wouldn’t answer any more emails. I cleared customs on my own the day of pickup at customs at the airport, which was really easy. I gave them all my paperwork (bill of laden, ISF receipt, invoices, title, etc) waited about 15 minutes and then they had me pay my customs tax and they gave me my papers to take to the port and to DMV. From there I went to the escort service and then on port and picked up my truck. Had I used a customs broker to clear customs I would not have had to go to customs at the airport but it would have cost me an extra $250-$300. I’m glad I did it myself, it was literally zero filling out paperwork.

@@DentedFenderGarage Thanks. Taking a look at other vids on the process, it seems that their customs broker would take the process all the way to delivery to the buyer's doorstep (unknown additional fee structure). BTW, I plan on using Eezyimport online services to help me with the paperwork. Reviews of the service seem halfway decent. Hard to judge reviews since customer expectations vary so widely.

A broker is the easy way to go but from my experience it would have added significant cost and I was trying to go as cheap as possible.

It’s a lot to think about, but I thought about it long enough to go for it. Probably not for everyone, but I wanted to help give people enough information to see if it was for them.

​@DentedFenderGarage this video got me more interested forsure now that I know my nearest port is only 5hrs away

Oh, it’s not super short, you might have the first week. I went over that because of the whole “cleaning fee” fiasco and it was just another $15. There is a thing if it goes a long time it goes into different storage that’s really expensive. But no, it’s not like hours.

My truck was completely stock and I could tell from the photos. Are you seeing something that concerns you or are you just thinking about it?

Is there a “Bagong” badge on the truck?

@@DentedFenderGarage in Indonesia, *Bagong* is the designation for vehicles with big round headlights. because there is a puppet character named Bagong, whose characteristics are having big and round eyes. so if there is a car with round lights in front, it is called a *Bagong* car.

Oh! 😂

Nope, I drive it as-is, on the right. Honestly, I’m not a fan of having a right hand drive vehicle in a left hand drive country, but it’s not a big deal. It would be a bigger issue if it was a bigger vehicle. The main issue is drive-thru windows, but again, it’s so small I can reach across.

Actually, the description they sent me said that they had to sweep and vacuum out the entire vehicle, capture the contaminants, and incinerate them.

Nope, it’s my son’s.

It was for me and as I think about doing it again it’s still stressful. I was hoping though that this video would make it more attainable for everyone.

​@@DentedFenderGaragethanks for replying! I reached out to car from Japan yesterday regarding a Subaru Sambar, they responded today. Still seems suspect to send money to someone I don't know. I suppose if I paid with my card I have some security? Where did you research and find the paperwork?

@AngryLS1 it’s a legitimate business, you can look them up online and see real people (like me) who have bought from them. Stories, videos, photos. It was a little weird wiring money to them from my bank but it was all on the level. I’ve seen where some people pay the extra couple hundred to use their credit card so they will have added protection, but I’d seen enough real people do it that I trusted the site.

@@DentedFenderGarage Update - i stumbled upon a unicorn from a different site, a buddy has a broker. trying to pull the trigger on a supercharged sambar!

If you use a port escort you will not need a TWIC. The port of Baltimore uses 3, I think, different port escort services, I’m sure other ports have the same or more. You pay them by the hour to get you on and off the port. Even if I had my TWIC I wouldn’t have known where to go or what to do, so I preferred using the escort service.

The port escort service I used was A-1 Escort Service, they are one of only 3 that Port of Baltimore allows. Customs in the airport was hard to find, I asked a few people. I remember being in the terminal and it was far to the left. The door was not well marked.

Depends on their top speed.

@@DentedFenderGarage thanks! will even make sure with the law, if there was an opportunity to get a new vehicle.

The bed will actually carry more than the tundra. No fender wells intruding into the bed, so every square inch is usable.

@@JimsEquipmentShed Thanks for the info! That's actually pretty helpful, because we really don't use the whole bed on the tundra anyways (usually like 10 bags of soil at most). But more would be nicer if there's ever a need for a bigger bed

@@beta-carotenefunk7373 I use ours a lot for bagged horse shavings. The truck is pretty much designed specifically for packages kind that. I had a second gen double cab tundra, (6ft bed) and this can carry a lot more than that truck could. Although, the tundra was handy for towing…… ;-)

I didn’t have any issues like this so I wouldn’t know how to resolve that besides reaching back out to your seller.

Yeah, I really don’t know how much it would cost to transport from the port to somewhere else.

I used www.importersecurityfiling.com/ for my ISF, I did my customs clearance myself in person.

@@DentedFenderGarage thanks for the response! I already have my TWIC card so I'm not worried about the pick up part but the ISF application was crazy.

@stephenbrown3929 that ISF company had it filed in about 4 hours. Even if I’d had a TWIC card I would not have known what to do at that port, where to go, who to talk to, etc.

@@DentedFenderGarageI am in the process of getting one to the same port with cars from Japan. I have heard that if you do not submit the ISF before it leaves Japan there is a $5,000 fine, or is that something completely made up? That is my biggest stressor for this process at the moment. Awesome Video by the way!

@alexandersmith8037 the ISF was the biggest stress for me because there is fine involved if they will just not ship your cargo. As soon as you get the notice and bill of laden, file the ISF. I used an online ISF broker and they bonded it so that it was insured to go though. I paid $140 for peace of mind.

Scared me too but I got it done. Since it takes months to get here you have a lot of time to figure it out.

Tuff, khei truck can't be imported to were I live : ( Nwt , sadness

This is a replica Japanese plate from eBay.

I don’t have those limitations in this state.

Why? Are they not cute to you or do not like that word?

You can’t import a vehicle into the US that is newer than 25 years old.

I only used an online broker for the ISF filing, everything else I did myself.

I went to Baltimore Airport (BWI). I had a truck and trailer so I had to park in the free cell phone lot then walk to a parking garage and take a shuttle to the terminal. In the terminal you can find the customs office and pass your paperwork through some bulletproof glass and they fill out everything you need and you pay the customs taxes and fees there. After that I went to the port escort and went on port and picked it up.

If it’s over like $5k you have to have an import broker.

I will be talking more about this as I find mine. So far I’ve been cross referencing numbers online and looking on eBay.

They are great little vehicles. Priority tire has our tires. Located in Pennsylvania

I put 14” Miata wheels on mine last week so that I can have more tire size options.

@Dented Fender Garage I may sure enough look into that as well. Great idea for sure

Your van probably has a 4x114.3 lug pattern, which is not as common here as the 4x100 lug pattern my truck has, but there are still plenty of wheels out there. You also need to consider offset of the wheels, and they do make 4x114 to 4x100 adapters but that will change offset. But, once you figure out wheels you can go to 14” or 15” an have more tire size options.

Yep, I’ve heard this from others as well.

Once the ship landed less than 2 weeks. I could’ve gotten it sooner if the Port of Baltimore wasn’t scamming me with a cleaning fee.

Yes, legal in North Carolina.

Yep, I'm also in PA and it looks like the antique registration is really the only option to put it on the road. The kei vehicle must be at least 25 years old.

george terbush that’s good since you can’t import one with a title unless it’s over 25 years old.

I had to google just to know what The Wire is. Haha

@@DentedFenderGarage it was a great show!

@Are-cj9mq maybe I’ll check it out if it streams on something I’ve got one day.

I saw a video where they drove a car from the port and they said they could with insurance and tags. I wouldn’t know the ins and outs of that.

Check out the CarFromJapan.com website and start there.

www.importersecurityfiling.com

@@DentedFenderGarage thank you!!

If you were local to me I could help you out but I made this video so that people could have the answers to do it themselves like I did.

My insurance company had no issues, but I only got liability, if you wanted full insurance you might need to get Haggerty’s insurance.