Acty trucks for rural use?

[lloyd3]

There seems to be a new niche in small 4x4 trucks here in Colorado. Tiny 4x4 trucks (& 4x4 vans) being used by farmers and ranchers here as small off-road vehicles for work on their holdings.  I've mostly seen Hondas here, but all the Japanese makers build something similar. Unlike an ATV, these are street legal here (you can't use them on interstates, but secondary & rural roads are fine because they'll go 60 mph), with all the normal conveniences of a stripper pick-up truck (windows, heater/defrosters, wipers, radio, etc).

They have an outstanding reputation for durability and they get wild gas economy (like 35 mpg). I need a smaller vehicle up at our camp in Nowhere, Minnesota  to pull and launch small fishing boats, haul junk to the dump, and then cruise the lonely forest roads looking for game trails in Autumn. And...increasingly, it needs to be a fuel-sipper.  Bigger ATVs burn fuel like crazy and cost upwards of $20k (just insane!), but ~$5K will buy a fairly decent example from the importers of these things (most are on the Gulf or West coast, where shipping from Japan is cheap). There are some local re-sellers here in Colorado I believe, so  I'm likely going to turn my 19-year old son  loose on the idea .  These are also known as Kei trucks (Acty is the Honda version).

This whole thing may be silly, but with fuel costs going nowhere but up, I'm thinking there might be a place for one up at my former father-in-law's place in Minnesota. Time will tell, right?  Good information here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB3OZUVSNZc

If this works out, I may have to change my statement in my ID about there not being a "no substitute for cubic inches". Anybody here have any experience with such a thing?

[doctor4766]

Whilst this vehicle isn't 4wd, it's the first I've had through my shop since I started seeing these (Daihatsu HiJet) and Suzuki Carry vans on the streets here in Australia.
They're what's known as Jap imports - Used cars imported that have plenty of life left in them but they may not meet the current standards in Japan to keep them registered on their roads.

[b5blue]

I'd hunt for a Willys, they get stupid money for the Jap anything around here. (Southeast)

[lloyd3]

They're fairly inexpensive if....you go to Texas or California to get one right off of the boat ($3-4k). Unfortunately, that is a long way from where I'd be interested in using it. I'm also concerned about replacement parts for it up on the Canadian border. Sadly, the local versions I'm finding have been wildly marked-up.  Oh well...

[b5blue]

I miss the crap out of my stolen CJ3A.

[426HemiChick]

Whilst this vehicle isn't 4wd, it's the first I've had through my shop since I started seeing these (Daihatsu HiJet) and Suzuki Carry vans on the streets here in Australia.
They're what's known as Jap imports - Used cars imported that have plenty of life left in them but they may not meet the current standards in Japan to keep them registered on their roads.

Hi doctor4766,          20 June 2023

Lived in Japan off and on mid 60's to 72. They had stuff like that back then. Never saw any in the US. They sure don't have a place on the high speed highways, except on a trailer, but in the rural areas they make sense.

They were used in town in Japan for deliveries of smaller items.

Best Always
426 Hemi Chicks

[HANDM]

I see them all over the place here on the left coast of washington especially in the once great city of seattle. I personally think they are stupid and people just drive them to be ironic and don't use them for any practical purpose except for the "look at me" factor

[HANDM]

I should probably add that for rural/ farm use they'd be great and prolly less expensive than a similar deere/ polaris/ type thing