Older small imported vehicles have a considerable number of enthusiastic fans in the USA But in certain states, owners are reporting difficulties registering. kei-jidoshaa class of Japanese light vehicles — kei to summarize.
In fact, several kei Owners in Massachusetts attended a July 17 meeting of the state Department of Transportation’s board of directors to urge the state to reconsider its stance on not issuing registrations and titles to small trucks and vans. The MassDOT board received 30 voicemails with the same subject line and message.
Japanese domestic market small vehicles — or JDM vehicles — do not meet U.S. safety and emissions requirements.
Under federal law, they can’t be registered in the country until they’re 25 years old. At that point, federal regulators consider them antiques, and it’s up to the states to decide which ones are allowed on the road and to what extent. Owners of Japanese-imported minivans in Maine, Rhode Island and other states have also encountered registration restrictions.
But kei Owners used the public comment section of the July meeting to say that they understood they could legally register their vehicles in the state and that they had not been given enough clarity on when and why that changed.
“One of my questions is where does this end?” one speaker said. “If we’re saying that kei cars, kei trucks are not allowed on the roads for safety reasons, it’s custom cars, hot rods and vehicles that we see at ice cream stands in the summer, with people showing off their vehicles?”
Other kei The owner said he purchased his vehicle in May after checking with the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles, and then picked it up at the Port of New Jersey in July. He said he was told that same month that the vehicle could not be registered. He told the board that the situation was a waste of his money and time and asked the RMV to reconsider its stance on vehicles imported from Japan.
The RMV is “reviewing its registration policies for kei trucks”, according to its website. Existing unexpired registrations for kei trucks and vans will remain active while the RMV reevaluates industry standards for the vehicles and develops an updated policy addressing their registration, it said.
For Philip and Tricia Pinsoneault of Westland, Michigan, the 1993 Mazda Autozam Scrum they bought last year is a good value and convenient. They said they use the minitruck for city driving and to haul vintage furniture and other items they pick up at garage sales.
The state of Michigan appears concerned that the minitrucks won’t be modifiable to meet road standards, Philip Pinsoneault said. But he said he has all the paperwork from the federal government that says the vehicle doesn’t need to.
The Michigan Secretary of State’s office initially refused to register the vehicle and provide a license plate, Tricia Pinsoneault told Automotive News. It took several calls and visits to receive a license plate, she said. The Pinsoneaults purchased their small truck from Duncan Imports in Tennessee. The vehicle came with a Tennessee title, which Michigan initially refused to accept.
“They were acting like we wanted to get an American title for the first time,” she said. “They kept telling me, ‘You can’t title this.’ I kept saying, ‘It’s already titled. I’m not asking for it to be titled. I’m asking for it to be plated. There’s a difference.'”
She’s waiting to see if Michigan restricts kei vehicle registrations, as other states have.
“We’re not taking this nationwide, but yes, we are concerned about it and we are trying to plan for that situation,” she said.
Richard Truett contributed to this report.