I have a 1992, mine is titled, and I daily drive it. We use it to pick up horse shavings, and general transport. I put a 2” lift on mine, made a huge difference.
My dad had one for duck hunting. I recently bought it from him because he wanted something smaller like a hunting buggy. It’s in good condition except the ac is broken and it needs new tires. Its a nice little truck for off-roading and carrying tools and stuff. It’s completely road legal in my state.
Those little Carry trucks are great off road. Thanks for sharing. I think the 4WD kei trucks are great for gathering firewood because they can get to dead falls that bigger trucks can't reach. They're like goats. They'll go almost anywhere. I bought a 1996 4WD Daihatsu Hijet with HI/LO transfer case, but I paid for it almost a month ago and it's still sitting in Yokohama. Once it ships, it'll be another month on the ocean getting to a port on the eastern US. Then I need to make a 16 hour round trip to get the truck, plus what I'm sure will be many hours of bureaucratic hassles with customs, USDA, DHS port security, etc. Then I need to insure it. GEICO wouldn't insure it but Hagerty will. Then I need to convince a troll at the local DMV to register a 26 year old right hand drive Japanese truck with no VIN for use on the roads. Some states won't do it at all. My state does, but I bet it'll be a big hassle because they don't do it every day and will assume they can't do it because that's easier than doing their job. From the pictures and inspection report, my Hijet is in much better shape than your Carry, although I fully expect unpleasant surprises when I see it in person. I paid $370 for the truck, which will come in handy when I'm forced to pay a 25% import tariff on this light truck as a result of the Chicken Tax, but I also paid $2010 for the truck to be washed (to pass the USDA inspection) and shipped halfway around the planet. I can see why importers were getting $9,000 for these 4WD kei trucks and it's now higher than that. They do save the buyer a lot of time and aggravation... and waiting. I saw a pretty Honda Acty sell on Bring A Trailer last week for $24,000 which is insane. My 1997 Tacoma 4WD had frame perforating corrosion at 91,000 miles and Toyota did nothing but laugh at my misfortune. The dealer actually laughed in the we-got-one-over-on-you way. Psychopaths. The frame broke in half at 139,000 miles. I bought a used 4Runner after getting less than half of the miles I anticipated getting out of my Tacoma. I missed not having a pickup truck, so I bought the little HiJet. I have a lot of mods planned. It'll be a winter project... if it ever arrives. :-/ Anyone driving a kei truck on salted roads needs to spray the frame and undercarriage with Surface Shield or Fluid Film. The lanolin based material repels water and doesn't harden so it seeps into the steel and protects it from rusting. Spray inside box frames as well. Reapply every year or two. After my bad Taco experience, I'm a bit nuts about frame corrosion.
@@CountryBoyChronicle - Stock 4WD and street tires and these little kei trucks are great on snowy roads, muddy roads and around the farm. A 2" lift and more aggressive all terrain tires and these lightweight trucks will go most places a jeep or similar off road vehicle will go (the bigger trucks have the advantage for rock crawling where a lot of articulation is needed), and they'll go a few places the bigger vehicles won't because of their small size and tight turning radius.
@@broganhogan3469 - I bought the 1996 4WD Hijet on 8SEP22 and drove to Newport News Virginia to pick it up on 8DEC22 so it took three months to arrive. Trying to act as my own importer was a hassle. The bureaucracy assumes experienced importing companies and the complexity and lack of communication/support reflects that. I used an online company to assist in the forms that needed to be filed. The Hijet needed a clutch. I assume that was the Japanese writing in the notes on the auction inspection that I couldn't read, so I used a hand crank boat wench to load the Hijet onto the UHaul flatbed trailer. I ordered the clutch parts from Japan because the clutch kits from Amazon and G&R Imports didn't have a rear main engine oil seal that I also wanted to replace. Ordering parts from Japan was a time wasting hassle. I assume the blown clutch was why the 4WD Hijet was only $264... plus $1935 for shipping. I paid to have the clutch replaced and the total was around $800 which seemed a bit high but I didn't want to do the work myself outside in January. It was an old farm truck so it needed some maintenance and I'm working through the issues as well as doing quite a few little upgrades. I designed and 3D printed end plugs for the rails on the top of the bed sides last night. The maintenance and repairs are easy. The fuel pump went out so I just ordered a $12 universal fuel pump on Amazon a few minutes ago. The instrument panel brake warning light came on so I'll probably be replacing the brake pads and shoes soon, possibly with tires and a 2" progressive spring lift kit. Once I work through the maintenance backlog and repairs, I expect it to be fairly trouble free and cheap to keep. The Hijet is a ton of fun to drive. It's my daily driver around town. There are none around here so it turns a lot of heads and everyone likes it. At the gas station yesterday, a woman came up and wanted to talk to me about mini trucks. Usually it's the guys. I have over 1000 miles on the Hijet in four months, which is a lot for me as I'm semi-retired and work at home. The 4WD Hijet is remarkably practical. I back it down the very steep hill into my backyard. My 4WD Tacoma would have been too wide to fit. I load it with a ridiculous amount of limbs, piled 8+ feet tall above the bed and hanging 8' out the back of the 6' bed. I toss a few 20' long nylon straps over the limbs and cinch them down tightly and drive to the dump where I unload the limbs onto the compost pad to be chipped into mulch. I made three of those trips and have one more to go this week. I cut down a 25 foot tall cherry tree and tossed the firewood into the Hijet to drive to a friend. I love my little Hijet, and the 31 MPG is much better than the 20-22 MPG that I got in my 4WD Tacoma. Registration wasn't too bad. My county didn't want to register it but the county to the east is rural and they inspected it registered it. Taxes for a year and a half were based on the sale price of $264 so I paid less than $16! The total with registration through October 2024 was less than $60. The 25% light truck import tariff (the Chicken Tax) was also based on the $264 sale price. Heh heh heh. One of the bigger problems is insurance. GEICO told me they wouldn't insure it but after I bought it they did insure it. Three months later they said they'd be dropping the insurance on the Hijet. I have a quote that is less than I was paying for all three of our vehicles at GEICO, and I need to call tomorrow to get another quote before changing insurance companies in a few weeks when the GEICO policy lapses. Check to ensure you can license a 25 year old mini truck in your state or county, and make sure you can get insurance in your state. You'll probably be OK. Where there's a will, there's usually a way. I'm a bit behind in my Hijet upgrades and modifications but I'm not in a big hurry. I do want to sand out some light surface rust around the bed, prime those spots, Bondo a couple of little spots, and then paint it inside and out with gray Monstaliner bed liner to put a durable off road finish on it. It'll look a lot better, although the old Japanese farm truck vibe is pretty cool in its own right. I have remote entry door locks and I'll use the actuators intended for the rear doors that I don't have to lock and unlock some custom toolboxes I'm making from large 20mm mil-surp ammo cans that I'm mounting to the headache rack, above the top of the bed rails and just below the rear window. The Mini Truck Talk forum is a great resource. I have a thread on there (same user name as I have on RU-vid) discussing my mini truck maintenance, repairs and upgrades. Good luck!
This was a remarkable read. Thank you so much for all of this information. There is a dealer in my state that imports Kei trucks and handles the reg/tags but I think the insurance companies are the other issue. States nearby me in the northeast (PA and NY) are now banning these trucks. My huge concern of buying one of these is that it turns into an expensive driveway ornament. Ideally I’d like one of these for dump hauls, mulch runs, and the occasional errand trip around town. They seem so much more versatile than pickups and I’m looking at either an old 2WD Tacoma or a 2WD Ranger 4cyl to do the above mentioned. The Kei trucks just seem like the more fun option. Maintenance more or less, besides the clutch, isn’t too bad? Thank you for the plethora of information and taking the time to respond to my comment. Sincerely appreciated!
I live in Scotland Mate and I have fixed a few of these miget pick-ups the first one I fixed was called a Bedford Rascal that was the first of these little trucks to come here.Now the bit that you might like to know the heater inside its usualy the wires that look like brake cables its either come out its holders some where underneath the dash or the end clips have snapped now the four wheel drive leaver check to see if the pin is connected at the side off the gearbox if its not dont connect it you need someone who know's four wheel drive motors to check the insde of that part as they do have a habbit of slipping forward if someone has tryed pushing it into four wheel drive while on the move if its that then you need to slip the plate back into its mark it should be on the left hand side of the plate if it connects at the drivers side of the gearbox and the right side if it connects to the gearbox on the passengers side.All the best from Dundee Scotland.👍👍✌👊👊
I've got me a 1994 mini van version and is super useful on remote works as a car and boat technician. I've been planning to turn it into a mini bass ban someday. By the way I also love your copper collection videos too. New subscriber here. Cheers from the Philippines. 👍😎
I totally would have paid that for one of those. I too want a little 4x4 I can take out in the back 40. There is a good selection of aftermarket things you can do to them. Including engine swaps etc.
They are a lot more expensive than that now. With that being said, I’ve seen them with UTV tires, makes them easier to get around. Nice video,thanks for sharing.
I’ve seriously considered buying one of these that I have shipped from China or Japan. There is another YouTubber who bought a new one from that Ali or Aladan or whatever it’s called. (I have the app on my phone, but can’t recall what it is.) He likes his for his farm truck. It has a lift bed. I have some land a few hours away and it would be great for me. Thanks for a very interesting video! Keep it up! I enjoy your content.
Hi man, very nice video ! I have one of these mini truck (Piaggio Porter) here in Italy, but 2 WD only, with many limits in off road. Anyway i'm happy to have it because is usefull to me in many jobs in the countryside (wood and more). Glad to see your "big" mini truck..! Good luck !
Let's be clear, you can't buy one for that kind of money any more. There are some Junkers you can get for under $5k but you need to spend around $7k to get a good one. Now let the haters try to tell me they by brand new Lambos for $500 all day long. Always some of them. Let me add that many of these are even higher like $10k and $12k for the mid 90's. I am looking at a 2007 for $13k with 2k km on it and a fresh lift and tires. That's what they go for folks. Still way better than a side by side.
@@generalcaeser9176 Yeah if they are stupid enough to pay that ridiculous price over an old ass car with hard to find parts then yeah let these drones waste their hard earned cash. It's only that much because the drooler selling it says it is.
@@henryhooker3282 That's not how it works. It's all clearly supply and demand. I've been watching these steddly go up over the years. As ATV side by sides keep going up, people are opting for mini trucks as a better value. Not to mention that it's not just mini trucks that have gone up these past 3 years. Even a $4500 car 3 years ago is $7500 today. We have our polititions to thank for that. But make no mistake, this is the truth. Human's are naturally greedy. It's built into us all as self preservation. Things will go up and have. That won't end. Ir's an endless cycle of a greedy politition screwing over the business owner, so the business owner raise prices to compensate, then the employees want a raise to compensate there higher cost. See, an endless cycle.
You are better putting ajustable springs on it and try to move the wheels further out from the body as they try to flip over if you take a corner to fast especialy when the back is empty and when I say to fast I meen a British circle you are limited to 20mph or 25mph if your a graet driver on two wheels if you dont believe me try it on your farm but make sure its on soft ground as the windscreen sometimes falls out.👍👍✌👊👊
Most states you can't make em road legal but I am told you can mod them to be road legal though. Where I live there's more side by sides and snow mobiles then there are cars so it's no big deal. But I wouldn't recommend driving one on the highway very far or very often. You get in a wreck at 60 mph and you're done.
I have never noticed this before, but at 0:55 why the hell are the front tires so far back in the wheel well/why is there no room for tire travel? I confirmed by looking up other Tacomas online and it appears to be designed that way.?.?.? Do you ever get rubbing on the tire when hitting bumps?
Private individual. Some good ole boy from kentucky. Hound marketplace long enough and one will pop up you want from a private seller. You might have to drive a little while tho
