Japanese Kei Truck as a Daily Driver?? (Subaru Sambar) 

I saw a little Honda Acty at the Lowe’s I worked at and it brightened up my day

Smiles per gallon is better than miles per gallon. I've heard people say kei trucks don't get all that great of fuel economy considering, but, hey, smiles per gallon. My daily car gets around as much mpg as a kei truck and it's a lot more fun than a bigger SUV or mid-size car.

That’s awesome! Hope you enjoy! Thanks for watching

Who did you hire as your driver? I am trying to figure out how to get one to me in Kentucky.

@@HeroOfTime303 assault hotshot services. They’re in Tulsa I believe

How is it?

@@MrInternationalG it’s freaking awesome! Super clean. Fun to drive. Everyone loves it. I’m happy

Thanks for sharing! Glad you're enjoying it and having a similar experience! Glad you're enjoying yours as much as I am mine. Thanks for your comments and for watching 🤙

It will so cool if you do a video about all your upgrade you put in your Kei!

@@lovielol3935 - I've been making short videos of the repairs, maintenance and upgrades but haven't posted anything to my Hijet Hijinks channel yet.

I have a Sirion and love it, they scared the BMW 0-60

I just ordered a 95 Acty and I as well and picking it up at Newport News Virginia port . The company I ordered it from is gonna send all the proper documents but my question to you is , is there anything else I’m gonna need to get it once there ? It will be a 9 hour drive and I don’t want to drive all that way and not be able to pick it up . Any info would be greatly appreciated thanks

I think part of the reason is how bare bones the cars are. The engine is only being used to move the car its not used to power the power steering, windows, cameras, bluetooth, etc. also by having just the bare bones the places it could fail are reduced.

@@AlpineTundra that's an excellent insight. Makes sense

@AlpineTundra makes me think about those VW Beetles back in the day. They were pretty bare bones and designed well so people could work on them easily. Seemed a lot of them ran for quite a long time especially for that era

The other big thing is how low mileage they tend to be. Japan is a much smaller place, and these are used for in-town work, not long commutes. So it's not unusual to find these with less than 100k miles, even at 20-30 years old.

@thermodynamicist for sure that's a good point. If just working around town they're not going to quickly rack up a lot of miles, for sure.

Thanks for watching! I'm working on the import video currently, I'm hoping to have it out either next week or the week after. Thanks again!

@@forthewindell Interested in the costs on top of the listed price of the vehicle... I saw another video where the costs of receiving it and titling it were twice as much as the cost of the truck, but that doesn't line up with what I see at dealerships that have done the import already and have them ready for US sale domestically.

@@forthewindell Any update on that?

That sounds like an awesome truck! But yeah the gas savings alone are enough for me to drive it over most vehicles on most days. Thanks for watching

right. its not so much the fact that it's a kei truck, but more so that the japanese favor design and functionality over style and "showing a big engine". if the US was more keen on selling civilian box trucks and cab-overs in general that were between the size of a kei truck and those gigantic mitsubishi FUSOs and toyota Dynas and stuff that we did and do actually get in the states (you usually see them dressed as food containers for CVS pharmacy and stuff), well the US would be full of awesome trucks to the point where kei trucks wouldn't hold such a niche. all flat bed box trucks are amazing and just better at everything than the inefficient L shaped pickup truck.

@@twrcrew8852 For some reason, US manufacturers seem to think we all want over complicated machines full of feature bloat…. And fools like Ralph Nader destroyed any chance we had of a useful vehicle. There isn’t one truck in the US market that I’m even marginally interested in.

It definitely puts a smile on your face, nothing quite like it.

I appreciate it! Stay tuned

That would be an awesome little fleet! Thanks for watching

Oh definitely! The bed it actually quite a bit more usable than my friend who has a crew cab Tacoma, I could probably fit my full size Honda cb500x if I really had to, so minibikes and an express will fit with a lot of room to spare!

I’ve got the script written, should be filming it in the next few days. Stay tuned!

That’s awesome, yeah the driving position in the Subaru for me is actually perfect, and I say that literally, I have the seat all the way back and I think it would be uncomfortable if it was any farther forward. So I guess I just got lucky with my body shape haha.

I completely agree! Definitely wish manufacturers would at least attempt to try out the US market with these. Thanks for watching!

Kei trucks are remarkably practical. My 1996 4WD Hijet hauls more (volume and weight) than my 1997 4WD Tacoma XtraCab. The bed is slightly larger and the Hijet has a flat bed with no wheel wells poking up into the bed to eat up cargo space and make it difficult to haul sheets of drywall without breaking them. The Hijet is much smaller and more maneuverable and will go places full size trucks won't go. We really should have 1.2 liter versions of kei trucks in the US but we don't for the same reason we can't import late model kei trucks - stupid protectionist regulations. The EPA and DOT won't let me import a new kei truck with crumple zones, air bags, fuel efficient fuel injection and electronic ignition, but I can import a 25 year old kei truck with a carburetor and distributor cap that is less efficient, more polluting and less safe. Clearly, despite their claims, it's not about safety, fuel economy, or the environment.

@@Liberty4Ever In this and your comment below, you are telling me some things I really wanted to know. If I read you correctly, these little trucks can comfortably haul 4x8 sheets. One of the things I really liked about my old Ford Ranger was that I could back it up to my shop door and pull sheets of plywood directly onto the table saw. When my kid claimed the old Ranger, I bought a slightly newer (2000) one but plywood sheets sit at least a foot higher which not only makes it a worthless infeed table, but also much more difficult to load by myself, and not JUST because I'm getting old. Looks like these little trucks can do that, even better than the Ranger. I've been looking much more closely at these over the past couple of days and one thing that strikes me is how much empty space there is between the top of the frame and the bottom of the bed. I'm thinking ditch the engine. Install brushless motors at all four wheels, pave the space between the bed and frame with batteries and BAM, perfect 4wd electric utility truck for town and light use on state highways. If I was even 10 years younger I'd be up for that task, but that project would have to be about 9th in line. Too many projects, not enough time. It's just stupid that politicians and bureaucrats have created a regulatory atmosphere where we can't have small cars and trucks anymore. I'd be very happy with a new Kei truck, or if I can't buy one of those, how about a Ford Courier or Chevy Luv?

@@christopherdahle9985 - The kei truck beds are all slightly larger than 4' X 6'. Drop the tailgate and 4X8 sheets of plywood are no problem. The bed is fairly low which makes loading and unloading easier but may be too low to serve as a table saw infeed depending on your setup. There is a lot of unused space between the frame and bed on a kei truck which is odd because they're clever small trucks with very little wasted space in every other aspect. I had considered using the space for LiFePO4 batteries that trickle charged while I was driving so I could run a large inverter and 120 VAC power tools, including my little inexpensive Poulan electric chain saw which punches well above its weight class. 200 amp hours of LiFePO4 batteries could also be very useful if I built a foamie (fiberglass over foam) camper that drops into the bed to make a mini SHTF RV. Four electric motors, one per wheel, would be a sweet EV conversion, particularly if you could rig up something similar to a portal axle to increase the ground clearance. You could also lift the body a lot for more ground clearance and larger wheels (which the high torque electric motors could spin), but a much easier EV conversion would be to replace the little 660 cc engine with an engine and controller kit made for at-home EV conversions. There are plenty of RU-vid videos showing all sorts of EV conversion vehicles but surprisingly I haven't seen a kei truck EV conversion. I have the old age thing too, but for me, it's too many projects, not enough mojo. Time, I have. I could watch fewer RU-vid videos and be more productive, but I just don't have the energy any more. 😕 Toyota is releasing a new light pickup truck that's reported to be inexpensive, but the Toyota Stout won't be a real truck because it'll have unibody construction instead of body-on-frame construction as the kei trucks have. Actually, the front of a kei truck is a bit unibody, but they're body-on-frame for the cargo bed where it counts. Kei trucks in general and my Hijet in particular are tough little trucks.

​@@forthewindellI think federal crash regulations prevent them from doing so

Thanks for watching! Yeah the import process is definitely a bit daunting but with the proper research, a lot of the frustrations can be mitigated. Working on the process video now 🤙

I stubbornly tried to do all of my import paperwork. I invested a lot of time and got essentially nowhere. I recommend using an online import broker. I used a place in India with a US website. It wasn't that expensive and they filed all of the paperwork for me. Make sure you file the ISF with US Customs at least a day before the ship leaves Japan. I resented being forced to pay for a TWIC escort but Crown TWIC Escort was well worth the money to make sure everything went well at the port. Having watched The Wire, I drove an extra 60 miles round trip to import through Newport News Virginia rather than Baltimore. Another RU-vidr complained that the Baltimore port runs a scam where they find a grass seed and charge you $350 to clean the truck to pass the USDA inspection.

That’s awesome! They’re definitely fun little things, can’t say enough good things about my Subaru

I have a s5 and a jeep Jk. Looking at a 93 Sambar now.

I’m running 14 inch wheels with some 165/60/r14 tires on them.

But have I told you about Cars and Bids?

Stay tuned! Video should be out in the next few weeks

@@forthewindell right on 👍

Totally agree.

US automakers suffer from a complete lack of imagination that results from decades of advertising that conditions North American drivers to think only in terms of what Detroit offers as being the benchmark for what is good. The narrative of this video reflects that ... Numerous comparisons of this keitora with the imagined standard for trucks that he imagines most of his viewers hold. Oh, it may not be powerful enough for hills, and the ride might not be soft enough. And, sadly, maybe most viewers do hold that kind of preconceived standard for what an acceptable truck MUST have. Not me. I've lived in Japan and have seen the alternatives we could have in North America and that we might demand if we had more imagination and looked beyond our borders now and then.

That’s awesome to hear! I definitely agree, I definitely plan on going through it in more depth once the weather is semi-bearable here in SC (I unfortunately don’t have a garage). Definitely looking forward to digging in and trying to get a little more performance. Enjoy your truck!

Did your shipping get arranged?....been waiting almost a month and still no CAP info for booking/shipping. Getting a little concerned but maybe just expecting too much Ha.

@@lynchcreekmuzzy5759 Yup! I think it was about 7 weeks before it got shipped and it actually arrived on Halloween. It'll greatly depend on the timing of the shipping routes and available cargo space. Baltimore is one of the more frequently visited ports.

@JimmyNewCakes Cool.....mine coming into Seattle area. Just fyi...I watched a show that stated to pay attention to B.S. fees coming thru Baltimore. Sounds like they like to grease their own palms. I don't know for certain but it has been a concern for people. I also got a Subaru Sambar...but a van.....CAN'T WAIT!!! hope you are enjoying yours!

I’m actually in SC, I picked up the truck in Jacksonville though. If top speed is a concern for you I would definitely look at the Subaru sambar just because of the 4 cyclinders vs 3 in the Honda. Just helps it be a bit more comfortable at higher speeds. As far as top speeds go, I have gotten my Subaru up to around 80mph. Wouldn’t want to do it for a super long time but it can handle it just fine. But that’s basically the limit

Well, like it or not it’s become the standard for a new vehicle. That being said, I hope nobody who actually buys one of these expects that in the slightest. I certainly dont mind the “underpowered” nature of the trucks. So much fun

As a kei driver for 40 years,in the UK, I agree.Most cars are over powerful and that power is rarely,if ever ,used.

I don’t think I mentioned in this video, but the Subaru Sambar’s engine is at the very rear of the bed. So there is no heat under the seats in the Subaru

@@forthewindell Roger that! I've been looking at HiAce's and their engine is under the seats and even accessed from inside the cab, you flip the seats up

@@SpaceJamHikes yeah I’m sure there’s pros and cons to each set up. I do enjoy the easy access of the Subaru. There’s a “hood” at the very back of the truck as well as the trap door in the bed to access different parts of the engine. I’d love to tinker with some other makes at some point

I drove a truck with the engine under the seats once, it was a Kia K 2500. The seats are well insulated in these kinds of trucks/vans, you could never feel the heat from the engine, unless if you plan to overheat it. The only reason the seats ever got hot was that they were black fake leather, and that stuff gets seriously hot if you leave it on the sun, I'm sure they could actually cause some burn injuries.

Totally agree, they're so much fun 🤙

Correct. Thank you for this enlightening information. Still not sure why people are bothering to bring this up. We are all very well aware and choose to accept that potential. Same reason I accept to ride a motorcycle knowing it’s limited protection

I’m in South Carolina, so it wasn’t really a big deal. Here’s a Reddit post about VA that I found though: reddit.com/r/keitruck/s/pYsKnZEqQy Best of luck!

They were available in many different options with a variety of add-ons in Japan, so there are technically parts available somewhere for OEM retrofitting. But the majority of retrofitting in the US consists of finding parts from other vehicles that happen to also work with the Kei vehicles. But anything is possible with enough work I guess 😉

That could be the case, keep in mind though that northern Japan is one of the snowiest places in the world during the winter, so the trucks are built to handle that as well to an extent. My friend lives in Hokkaido and he says that he still sees them all over even in the dead of winter.

I'm Japanese, so please let me give you my opinion. I've never been to Canada, so I can't comment lightly, but I think the lowest temperatures in Canada are harsher than in Japan! By the way, when you say, "I can't stand it," what kind of background should we imagine about her? The lowest temperature records in Japan are 1st place: -41 degrees, 2nd place: -39 degrees, and 3rd place: -39 degrees. Japan ranks 1st to 3rd in the world's snowfall records. The amount of snowfall in Japan per day is 210 cm, the highest in the world. If the vehicle cannot be driven under the above conditions, it will not pass the vehicle inspection. Specifically, let's say you go hunting, the temperature is -40 degrees Celsius, the roads are unpaved, the roads are rough, and the snow is so heavy that one meter of snow falls per day. Even in such a case, with Subaru's light truck 4WD, you'll be able to take three large deer home! (I don't know the difference in minimum temperature) Maximum load capacity is 350 kg for light trucks

It’s as fine as a 1600lb vehicle with 50hp can really be on the interstate, feels the wind and high rpm but given the circumstances it handles it fine.

Great thanks!

I have a 32 inch inseam at 6’2” and I had plenty of head room. And my torso is most of my height as well. So even if you actually have a torso that is the full 2” longer than mine, you should be fine.

@@forthewindell Nice, thanks so much!

I think it’s the dumbest thing that some states have outlawed them. Here’s hoping we can somehow turn things around

@@forthewindell Dear Mr., I really think so. It's the ultimate car that can drive on rough terrain, can carry a lot of luggage, has good fuel efficiency, and has all waste removed!

I’m not sure about the “best” place. But I had a good experience with carfromjapan.com

As far as I know, in most states they do not have any issue with it. As long as you are able to get the car registered, it’s okay.

I think you should be fine! I have a lot more than 2 inches of head room and I'm 6'2". As far as the legs, I have plenty of room but most of my height is in my torso, so it could be different for different people. Best of luck! 🤞

@@forthewindell I’m just so hyped because I’m pretty sure I’m going to be the only one in Ireland that has a Subaru everyone else has Hondas

Yeah that sounds about right haha, I think I've only seen one other Subaru around where I live and I was surprised with even that one. Awesome to hear it 🤙

I used carfromjapan.com, the truck itself was $1400 but I ended up paying a total of $3200 with shipping cost added.

@@forthewindell Thank you so much for your information and Video.

My understanding is that automatics are very much the minority when it comes to especially the Kei trucks. I think automatics in the Kei vans were a little bit more common but someone with more knowledge might be able to add some information. The manual is definitely nice to have with the 4WD models since it allows you to really choose what gear you want to be in if you're in a tricky spot off road. But for daily driving I think either would be totally usable.

The bed is roughly 6.7 ft x 4.6 ft