I really love those Green Diahatsu's with all the custom racks and extra lights. I wish America would just put KEI vehicles under motorcycle laws and allow us to buy new ones. If motorcycles dont have to have all the safety features and emission controls as cars, yet are road legal, KEI vehicles should be treated the same. You take a risk riding a motorcycle, and the government lets you, so why not allow us to do the same with a KEI vehicle. Especially now that they are being produced with air bags and are becoming safer.
And it would help reduce emissions and gas prices more than electric. Imagine a city full of these small cars getting 40-50mpg. More parking space, better traffic flow, less demand for gas. But American government doesn't like competition.
How are these not basic and geared towards work? Because they have a cup holder and a door pocket? The fuel injected engines are more powerful, more fuel efficient, and frankly more reliable, especially with ethanol fuel that gums up carbs. If your idea of a fun weekend is taking a carb apart, then have at it.
What's the prevalence of airbags in the newer models? That's really my big sell on waiting until 2024 but don't know how hard I'll have to look to find a hijet with driver / passenger... Thanks for the video man
I mean not to be rude, but airbags shouldn’t be the deciding factor. All these kei trucks are death traps on these American roads compared to cars the same price
All those kei trucks from 1999 to 2000s we get all of them in the caribbean i grow up seeing all of those on jamaican roads and most of them are still on the road today and the Suzuki jimmy is very popular in jamaica and we have the new onces as well so you need to take a trip to the caribbean.
I’ve been looking to import a kei truck into Canada. We can get up to 2008 vehicles now. Would you recommended getting a newer truck vs. the pre-1999 generation?
So, we can get the 1998's for road use. Are they fuel injected? How does the fuel injected models compare to the carbureted ones? Does the fuel injection give a noticeable boost in performance?
very helpful video! I am tall and would be all over a kei truck if the legroom wasn't so dicey. Found a cool dealer where i'll be able to sit in a few. Looks like Honda might be the answer, maybe. Cheers
Need to petition these companies to bring these models new to North America (Canada ideally). We need fuel efficiency with the power to handle the thrice monthly ice storm leading into 25cm of snowfall overnight and I'd consider the gas pump savings on a jumbo hijet over my current 2018 silverado.
All 1999+ kei trucks got fuel injection, only the Sambar and Acty offered airbags the rest did not till like 2010 or something, also that 1999 Hijet is disgusting inside lol I can smell the stale tobacco from here. The button in the Acty below the hazard switch is for the cargo light.
I still don't know why the kei truck industry seems to have mostly gone back to the cab-over-wheel layout as opposed to the wheel-forwards layout that was common from ~2000-2014.
@@Limit19970 No idea on that one, different use cases is my best guess. Maybe that vans are usually loaded by hand whereas trucks are often loaded by forklift or crane and need more precise positioning.
If I was a patient man, I'd buy a 1999 4WD Hijet with fuel injection now, before the US 25 year kei truck price premium kicks in and spend a year tweaking it and upgrading it so it's ready to license for the road on its 25th birthday. The carburetor and distributor on my 1996 Hijet seem fine, but EFI and electronic ignition should provide better fuel economy, less pollution and greater reliability. Government regulators are the reason we can't have nice things. They make us drive less efficient and less safe cars, in the name of efficiency and safety.
@@Waybeforethefame - When my wife asked how I liked my 4WD kei truck, I told her I was going to sell my 4Runner and buy a 4WD kei van. She thought I was serious. Maybe I was and didn't know it! 😀
Sadly not a single one of those 1999 or newer vehicles in the video will be able to be registered for road use. If it was imported prior to 25 years it can never be registered. What a waste. At least we get to preview what we can import soon though!
Yes, but also no. It won't be as easy at a 25 year old car, but you can still Montana LLC plate it as Montana will register almost anything for road use like side by sides, etc. Legally it would be like plating a John Deere Gator vs. a classic Japanese pickup truck, though.
Because Mercedes Benz got butthurt in the 70's/80's when people figured out it was cheaper to fly to Germany and buy a Mercedes and ferry it back than to buy one in the US, so they lobbied under the pretense of safety and emissions to claim that non-US cars can't/shouldn't be imported until they're 25 years old (classic) unless you do a whole host of expensive modifications and testing that no individual person would ever bother to pay for. Little did they know that 1990-2005 Japanese cars will survive the nuclear holocaust and are still completely viable dailies even after 25 years of farm use.
@@Waybeforethefame I don’t know I just like the Suzukis I really wanted a round light model but fuel injection is more important for what I’ll be using it for I also want ignition coil’s instead of a distributor
![Which Is The Best JDM Kei Truck? Sambar? Acty? HiJet? Carry? Minicab? [Collector Car Guru's RANKED!]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cdBN6R1KAvI/mqdefault.jpg)
![Which Is The Best JDM Kei Truck? Sambar? Acty? HiJet? Carry? Minicab? [Collector Car Guru's RANKED!]](/img/tr.png)
I really love those Green Diahatsu's with all the custom racks and extra lights. I wish America would just put KEI vehicles under motorcycle laws and allow us to buy new ones. If motorcycles dont have to have all the safety features and emission controls as cars, yet are road legal, KEI vehicles should be treated the same. You take a risk riding a motorcycle, and the government lets you, so why not allow us to do the same with a KEI vehicle. Especially now that they are being produced with air bags and are becoming safer.
And it would help reduce emissions and gas prices more than electric. Imagine a city full of these small cars getting 40-50mpg. More parking space, better traffic flow, less demand for gas. But American government doesn't like competition.
Suzuki carry mmc minicab Daihatsu Hijet start made new model on January 1999 😊Subaru and Honda on May 😊
Can't wait to get the '22 models in 2047!
😂
Im totally saving up for the 1999 kei trucks. Hopefully the price isnt ridiculous by the end of 2024.
Probably will still be 6k+ if not more
@@Waybeforethefamesad but true.
I believe it was October of 1998 that Keijidosha regulations were relaxed just a little, allowing them to be very slightly bigger and heavier.
Thanks for the info!
Length became 3400mm from 3300mm.
Width became 1480mm from 1400mm.
I'd love to check out those cool fire 🚛 trucks. Cool rides 🙂 👍Thanks for the tour.
Thanks for watching!
Man I need these guys here in Canada lol
What a great lineup of kei goodness
You can get all these in canada already lol you can get 2007 kei tricks!
@@Waybeforethefame 2008 if you get an early build.
As soon as the fuel injected ones become legal I'll buy one. I'm in NH and it's very hard to get ethanol free gas here, it's ruining the carbs.
Yeah these carb trucks are easier to work on but in the cold it gets tricky. Cant wait for the 99+ units
Me to can’t wait for new generation 😊 more safety and more room wider body 8 am and more trim abs airbag PS electric cub holder and better mpg😊
I’m 50 something now lol, it’s not so bad. The 90s versions work for me, I like trucks basic and geared toward work.
Yeah I’m sure them being carb is much easier to work on, may start to get expensive the more technical they become
How are these not basic and geared towards work? Because they have a cup holder and a door pocket? The fuel injected engines are more powerful, more fuel efficient, and frankly more reliable, especially with ethanol fuel that gums up carbs. If your idea of a fun weekend is taking a carb apart, then have at it.
Q: Is differential (diff) lock not available on kei trucks newer than 1999? I was doing some auction searches and didn’t find anything.
I feel like it had to be, maybe the models are called something different like Daihatsu has the hijet “climber”
Thanks for getting my new hijet in the video!! I’m pumped to get it!
Have fun! Tell em waybeforethefame sent you!
@@Waybeforethefame you know it! Thanks again!
Finally. Next year I can buy a truck! I’m 6’4” and I’ll finally fit! 🎉
It really is a huge difference from the older generations! you should still get a daihatsu hijet jumbo tho
Yes my dream cabin 10 am longer and 8 sm wider but difference
Thank you for this review. Very cool to see all the new updates.
You bet!
1999 big difference more space and more safety 😊 body wider 8cm and cabin 10 cm longer more EFI abc airbag ac and electric PS better mpg
Totally agree
Honda slick looking good. Maybe I'll wait a bit for that one.
Not a big deal alot more options and safety in 12 months
What's the prevalence of airbags in the newer models? That's really my big sell on waiting until 2024 but don't know how hard I'll have to look to find a hijet with driver / passenger... Thanks for the video man
I mean not to be rude, but airbags shouldn’t be the deciding factor. All these kei trucks are death traps on these American roads compared to cars the same price
Does anyone know of the airbags are also for the passenger?
In most year starting in 99/00 a lot of these kei cars and vans started getting dual airbags
All those kei trucks from 1999 to 2000s we get all of them in the caribbean i grow up seeing all of those on jamaican roads and most of them are still on the road today and the Suzuki jimmy is very popular in jamaica and we have the new onces as well so you need to take a trip to the caribbean.
All those are new to us, I can’t wait till we can drive them around
Carry is the best from mini trucks 😊
I’ve been looking to import a kei truck into Canada. We can get up to 2008 vehicles now. Would you recommended getting a newer truck vs. the pre-1999 generation?
The 1999+ are fuel injected, come with airbags and are more comfortable so I would get one of those. The older ones look cooler but that’s about it
So, we can get the 1998's for road use. Are they fuel injected? How does the fuel injected models compare to the carbureted ones? Does the fuel injection give a noticeable boost in performance?
Didnt get to drive any of them but im sure its a huge difference in all aspects that carb was annoying to deal with living in NYC with the weather
Yes new gen has more better mpg room space and safety power steering electric 😊
How are there
Farm use
very helpful video! I am tall and would be all over a kei truck if the legroom wasn't so dicey. Found a cool dealer where i'll be able to sit in a few. Looks like Honda might be the answer, maybe. Cheers
yeah the honda is very roomy for the 1999+ and subaru is big for the 1998 and older or the Daihatsu HiJet JUMBO
What can be said about kei-tra is that each manufacturer is definitely made in a factory in Japan.
Need to petition these companies to bring these models new to North America (Canada ideally). We need fuel efficiency with the power to handle the thrice monthly ice storm leading into 25cm of snowfall overnight and I'd consider the gas pump savings on a jumbo hijet over my current 2018 silverado.
Canada import laws are only 15 years you guys are good lol 2007 kei trucks are legal
@@Waybeforethefame newest I've seen was a 2005 in Woodstock but it was pretty nice. Still look uo what the 2023s are like.
Yes Gen 6 sambars have a Clover4 very similar to Gen 5
Space isn't all that good anymore tho you might need to move on past the sambar in 1999
@@Waybeforethefame I'll stick 98 and older for a bit..IF I go newer it will be a brand new one🤫
@@Waybeforethefame The 99 Hijet is catching my eye.
All 1999+ kei trucks got fuel injection, only the Sambar and Acty offered airbags the rest did not till like 2010 or something, also that 1999 Hijet is disgusting inside lol I can smell the stale tobacco from here. The button in the Acty below the hazard switch is for the cargo light.
Every truck in here was 99 and they all had airbags. You can see it in the video
I still don't know why the kei truck industry seems to have mostly gone back to the cab-over-wheel layout as opposed to the wheel-forwards layout that was common from ~2000-2014.
Turning radius. The cab overs can basically turn on a dime and the cities just keep getting denser and denser.
@@nunyabusiness896 ah, that makes sense. How come the kei vans haven't also adopted the shorter wheel base? Is that a weight thing?
@@Limit19970 No idea on that one, different use cases is my best guess. Maybe that vans are usually loaded by hand whereas trucks are often loaded by forklift or crane and need more precise positioning.
If I was a patient man, I'd buy a 1999 4WD Hijet with fuel injection now, before the US 25 year kei truck price premium kicks in and spend a year tweaking it and upgrading it so it's ready to license for the road on its 25th birthday. The carburetor and distributor on my 1996 Hijet seem fine, but EFI and electronic ignition should provide better fuel economy, less pollution and greater reliability. Government regulators are the reason we can't have nice things. They make us drive less efficient and less safe cars, in the name of efficiency and safety.
You still got someone time to sell that one and get you a good 1999 in 12 months. Im looking forward to working on these new trucks
@@Waybeforethefame - When my wife asked how I liked my 4WD kei truck, I told her I was going to sell my 4Runner and buy a 4WD kei van. She thought I was serious. Maybe I was and didn't know it! 😀
Sadly not a single one of those 1999 or newer vehicles in the video will be able to be registered for road use. If it was imported prior to 25 years it can never be registered. What a waste. At least we get to preview what we can import soon though!
Not a waste, they’re doing the same thing here as they would be in Japan waiting to be imported and registered
@@Waybeforethefame They're already imported or they wouldn't be on the lot. You're not at the port, which means they're imported.
Yes, but also no. It won't be as easy at a 25 year old car, but you can still Montana LLC plate it as Montana will register almost anything for road use like side by sides, etc. Legally it would be like plating a John Deere Gator vs. a classic Japanese pickup truck, though.
So why does it take 25 years for us to have them in America?
Idk some stupid law
@@Waybeforethefame well, we need to find a way to change that law
because its legally an antique and is then exempt from current NHTSA and EPA regulations
Yes😊
Because Mercedes Benz got butthurt in the 70's/80's when people figured out it was cheaper to fly to Germany and buy a Mercedes and ferry it back than to buy one in the US, so they lobbied under the pretense of safety and emissions to claim that non-US cars can't/shouldn't be imported until they're 25 years old (classic) unless you do a whole host of expensive modifications and testing that no individual person would ever bother to pay for. Little did they know that 1990-2005 Japanese cars will survive the nuclear holocaust and are still completely viable dailies even after 25 years of farm use.
99’s awfully ugly but I will buy a 99 carry for fuel injection
99 mitsu is my favorite
@@Waybeforethefame I don’t know I just like the Suzukis I really wanted a round light model but fuel injection is more important for what I’ll be using it for
I also want ignition coil’s instead of a distributor