I have a line on a nicely refurbished 90's sambar dump model with under 50k miles. What would a good price be for such a model in solid 4/4.5 condition? I think the ask is reasonable, but want to hear what others think I should expect.

Alright, I got a 96 mitsu u42t.

My issue is, when it's cold, my heater takes away a good portion of power. So do my headlights... and 12v fan that defrost my windshield. I lose a good 30% power from the engine. Anything I can do to beef that up so I don't experience such a loss?

Was reading an old thread awhile back about getting a little more power out of a kei vehicle, someone had said to just remove the cat converter.

Forgive my car knowledge ignorance, I'm a complete beginner.

Hey does anyone have a machine shop they would recommend for decking the head? Blown head gasket and all the shops in sc just know how to work on v8s

I'm looking to buy a 91 hijet in Washington. The owner says he only has a certificate of origin and I was wondering if that's enough to get the vehicle registered for road use here or if there's missing paperwork I'd need?

Hey all! Just wanted to follow up on this post.

We’re about a month into owning this truck, and I have to say—it has exceeded my expectations by at least 300%. My wife absolutely loves it and has already used it way more than I ever imagined. It’s incredible.

For context, we’ve been a PHEV/EV family for over 11 years (Chevy Volt, Spark EV, and Model Y), so we’re used to all the bells and whistles of modern cars. I was sure we’d miss all that “convenience” when driving the Sambar. Turns out? Not at all. This truck is just fun. It smells amazing (like the cars of my Gen-X youth), and the driving experience is hard to put into words—there’s something about it that just feels right. The seats and controls are completely unadjustable—yet somehow, we’ve driven it hundreds of miles with zero discomfort.

A lot of YouTube videos warn that kei trucks attract attention—questions, honks, thumbs-ups, the whole thing. My wife is very shy and hates being the center of attention, so I was a little worried about that. But honestly? It’s been awesome. Every interaction has been genuine and super positive. She actually doesn’t mind it at all. Her first big errand was a landfill run, and every single person she talked to—at inspection, payment, etc.—was stoked about the truck. And the love is coming from everywhere—across racial, political, and generational lines. In these deeply polarized times, maybe kei trucks are what can finally unify a nation. 😆

My only regret? Lurking too long before making the leap. If you’re on the fence—just do it. You won’t regret it. (.. but YMMV)

Hey everyone, recently I’ve been looking into buying a Kei truck (the Honda ACTY in particular) there’s a local dealer ship that sells these but for $5000 and they’re very rusted and have been sitting out for the past year and a half, I don’t think this is a good price at all and I’m afraid if I purchase one it’s gonna die on my way home because of lack of use (it’s important to know that the interior seats have rips in them. I have looked at car from Japan and it seems like they have decently priced Kei trucks that are cheaper, but I don’t know the first thing about importing and I’m not sure if I have to do any paperwork plus I don’t know how I would be able to guarantee I am buying a working car. Any help would be appreciated. I’m very new to this.

Tried searching this sub…is this a foot step? I usually just throw my leg over the side panel and climb in.

Hey! So I've had my Acty Van plated and insured in Southern California since 2021, when I brought it in I went the South Dakota plate route. However-

I went through Clay County and they said "Acty Vans are considered off road vehicles and can only get a small plate (motorcycle plate) in South Dakota".

So I have been driving with a mini motorcycle plate on it since. I haven't had any issues, but honestly whenever I take it out I worry about the wrong cop ruining the dream. The registration says off highway vehicle, and I know this quickly gets into a grey area of subjectivity per the cop's authority. Off HWY, on HWY, etc.

I have seen a few Actys with full sized South Dakota plates, both in real life, and on here. Those that have South Dakota [full sized] plates, what counties did you go through? Right now I'm not interested in different states or routes, LLC, etc. But I appreciate the thoughts!

Thanks in advance!

TL/DR - If you have full sized South Dakota plates on your Acty, what county/DMV did you go through?

Who's everyone using to import these . I've signed up for a few sites - Japancarsdirect, BeForward, TC-V, and carsfromjapan . Anyone else have any other leads on where to look or have a agent / middle man they use to find things . I'm used to buying jdm stuff from buyee.jp for random things for my scooters and motorcycles . This will be my 1st time importing a kei truck. I'm in texas they just as of April 2024 made these fully streetable & legal!. Just trying to secure one and it plated asap!

Got my Acty imported and took it out in the snow and just love the way it looks sitting out there so I wanted to share. She’s sitting on 13inch VX rims with MT tires. Still think I like the feel of the stock rims better but for the snow this setup is hard to beat.

I'm sure some of you guys are musicians. Man this made loading in easier

The free length on my valve springs is either out of spec or way out of spec depending on whether you trust the imperial or metric figure in the manual. I'd like to replace them while the engine is peppered around my shop, but I can't find a set anywhere. Yokohama lists them, but they just sent my money back, and every other retailer is selling nested springs, which is incorrect. Anyone know where I can find something that fits?

Only the 2nd one I've seen in the wild here.

Hi all

I’m looking at picking up a Kei dump truck here in North Carolina where they are street legal.

I’m wondering if there is a lesson learned type document on important things to know prior to purchasing a Kei truck??

My goal for it is to use it for Home Depot runs, as well as to get things like mulch etc. I I think I want a 4wd version so I can drive it off-road on my property and dump right where I need loads.

I’m looking for a work truck, not a show truck, so I’m not terribly concerned about debts and dings, but rust is definitely something I’ll be looking to avoid.

Anyway - links to things I should know would be appreciated!

I am interested in learning about the process of import/export, and would like to know if anyone is generous enough to provide detailed info either through comments or messages.

Installed a 12V USB charge socket powered off the radio. Mixed the hot & neg wire, fixed the mistake. USB charger works, but now no instrument cluster lighting or exterior marker lights and weirdly pressing the brake pedal or turning on the dome light turns on the hi beam dash light. Where should I start looking?

I’ve been having issues with hard start lately and intermittent stumble. Especially at low rpm is where the stumble almost always happens.

I have change my spark plugs within the last 8k kilometers, and just did an oil change (issue started just before this past oil change).

I was thinking that my fuel pump Might be starting to fail. But since it’s a Dias Classic it’s in a weird spot where it actually has the supercharged van fuel pump even though it’s the EMPI, not supercharged version so the fuel pump is a little more expensive and harder to find (plenty used ones but for not much cheaper than a new/aftermarket one).

Would it be worth changing distributor cap/rotor leads and spark plugs first just to rule out spark being the cause of the stumble issue? All together those are about 100 dollars cheaper than just one new 42021TC060 fuel pump.

I’m looking at purchasing a 1990 Subaru Sambar Try XV. It has a crystal roof, and the seller says it makes a noise to engage but will not move. Although undiagnosed, I started looking into general parts available for the crystal roof and haven’t had any luck.

Anyone know where I can find parts for it or any other parts that may work? I’ve checked EBay, Okeigarage, Yokohama, and just a general googs and reddit search.

I’m also curious about common issues with the roof and if anyone has experience with this exact issue and what it may be.

Any common issues with a Supercharged Sambar in general is a bonus. I’m searching for my first kei van to tool around town with my husband and doggo. This one is manual, has AC, and full time 4WD.

To convert a Hijet to LED headlights you need to buy a set of 5X7 headlights you like. You can get them in a host of features, including daytime running lights, and integral turn signals Mounting them is pretty straight forward.

The hard part is the light circuits on Hijets is ground controlled, if you just install a set of lights they will not work. You need to buy or make a conversion harness which uses relays and controls them with the stock headlight wiring. When I converted my truck, it was less expensive to buy a harness, than the individual components separately. The other issue is that the stock wiring is undersized to the point it is kind of marginal. But adding this kit runs power direct to the headlights so you can upsize the feed to handle the actual load.

I used one similar to this:

Amazon.com: Ronybuy H4 Relay Harness 9003 Headlight Relay Wiring Kit Ceramic Socket Plugs for 7x6 5x7 H6054 6054 Headlights Conversion Kit, Fit for Toyota 95-97 Tacoma 88-95 Pickup, Fix Dual Ground Problem : Automotive

I love kei trucks, but heard that they’re nearly impossible to legally drive in California. A similar thread went up a few days ago, but the guy was trying to use it as a business vehicle. Is there a way to be able to drive a kei in California without landing myself in legal trouble?