Importing kei car - why is it a bad idea?

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BobsBigDick@reddit

One imported a few myself. Very easy and cheap

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NonEuclidianMeatloaf@reddit

Well, it IS a nice reliant automobile…

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Ghost_Turd@reddit

States have safety restrictions on them. You'd have to import one old enough to be exempt.

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benmarvin@reddit

The pro gamer move is to look up states that have banned or restricted them, and buy one from someone that already paid to import it.

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The cost to import them is minimal and reflected in the value of them on the market. Ocean freight on my last car to the west coast of Canada was like $1500CAD. Car was $1000CAD. Broker was $1000 CAD. The rest was federal taxes, bringing the cost to $5300 CAD. The market on the ones already here is well over $5300 CAD, closer to $10k

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benmarvin@reddit

What car? $1000 before any other fees seem cheap. I'm seeing $3000 to 20000. So something listed for $5k selling for $3k already imported seems cheap.

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funkthew0rld@reddit

4th generation legacy GT wagon (manual) with 100k km and some aftermarket goodies That was 2019. They’re still cheap, but not that cheap.

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imightknowbutidk@reddit

Imagine driving a kei car and being obliterated by a lifted f150, for one

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scbiker21@reddit

I drive a BMW Z3 scary enough around lifted trucks, but at least I can get out of their way.

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SomethingClever42068@reddit

Ep3 civic gang. My car is loud as fuck *FOR SAFETY*

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BroccoliRoasted@reddit

That's a very real possibility here in Tucson. We have a pretty healthy number of kei cars here and *many* lifted pickups.

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Kangaru82@reddit

Imagine the same thing on a motorcycle?

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Dedward5@reddit

Or a pedestrian.

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Kangaru82@reddit

I love how some States make it nearly impossible to register a KEI truck or passenger vehicle for safety reasons. Some of those same States have no helmet regulations for motorcycles…it almost seems like they have other motives. I mean why can’t someone have a tiny utility pickup truck? Many KEI trucks have insane payloads and overbuilt tie-downs for their size.

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BroccoliRoasted@reddit

Motorcyclists who don't want to wear helmets have many more lobbyists than people who want kei cars.

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EffectiveRelief9904@reddit

HVNY imports. Goshen, NY sells them for like 5 grand. Maybe finding parts for them is hard?

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FreemansAlive@reddit

If you can do all your own wrenching, why not? Parts can be imported so the only issue is I'd not make it a primary vehicle given possible parts delays. I'm sure there are stateside forums out there for them discussing maintenance and mods.

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fender8421@reddit (OP)

I definitely do like the idea of having one as a secondary, local vehicle

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Tractorguy69@reddit

Or get Teri and keep one as a donor

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FreemansAlive@reddit

Same for me. There's one near me for sale now. I might start doing some forum hunting to see what kind of online community there is. With some forums, people assemble part interchangeable lists. Maybe that's going on with these where a Nissan built Kei car uses some same era Sentra parts, etc. Make like a tad easier.

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PetrofModelII@reddit

I've thought about it myself; as others have noted, be sure they are legal in your State. I do have a concern about fitting in one - at 6'2", our Miata is a tight squeeze so I'd want to be certain I would fit before pulling the trigger. Several of the models I've looked at are "adorable" and would be a blast to drive.

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TheCamoTrooper@reddit

For the US it's just due to regulations on them, I've seen a fair few here in Canada and they're cheap to bring in but (from what I read anyhow) our restrictions are less stringent than the US. Has to do with safety regulations and emissions mainly I believe along with the chicken tax

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durrtyurr@reddit

They aren't fast enough to drive on the interstate.

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John_B_Clarke@reddit

That depends on the model. Many can achieve 80 MPH. They aren't *fun* at that speed but they can do it.

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pm-me-racecars@reddit

The Copen I had was electronically limited relatively slowly, I want to say 135km/h. It was still smooth and would accelerate nicely up to that speed going uphill, but it made me do an awkward dance to stay as close to that line as I could if I wanted to pass people in the 120 zones.

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durrtyurr@reddit

Mine *really* doesn't like going over 55 mph. I've had it up to around 65 mph and it is sketchy.

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spokismONE@reddit

Absolutely zero parts available here and nobody is going to want to touch it except for kei car specialists

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mmmmmyee@reddit

Maintenance will be something to keep in mind. Eithwr diy or know a shop that wiuld take this oddball car to work on.

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John_B_Clarke@reddit

The catch is that you're getting a 25 year or more old vehicle with little parts support. And that assumes that your state allows them, while most do there are a few that don't.

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doctrsnoop@reddit

safety issues, parts and service issue, and the possibility that even if in the state allows it now, it might not in the future, like I think New Hampshire or Maine did.

Importing kei car - why is it a bad idea?

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31 Comments

BobsBigDick@reddit

NonEuclidianMeatloaf@reddit

Ghost_Turd@reddit

benmarvin@reddit

funkthew0rld@reddit

benmarvin@reddit

funkthew0rld@reddit

imightknowbutidk@reddit

scbiker21@reddit

SomethingClever42068@reddit

BroccoliRoasted@reddit

Kangaru82@reddit

Dedward5@reddit

Kangaru82@reddit

BroccoliRoasted@reddit

EffectiveRelief9904@reddit

FreemansAlive@reddit

fender8421@reddit (OP)

Tractorguy69@reddit

FreemansAlive@reddit

PetrofModelII@reddit

TheCamoTrooper@reddit

durrtyurr@reddit

John_B_Clarke@reddit

pm-me-racecars@reddit

durrtyurr@reddit

spokismONE@reddit

mmmmmyee@reddit

John_B_Clarke@reddit

doctrsnoop@reddit

nickp123456@reddit