Last year was a great time for an American to be a fan of the Keijidōsha, Japan’s smallest class of road-legal cars. States like Texas and Colorado codified Kei car privileges in law, while enthusiasts in states like Oregon and Virginia mounted efforts to overturn their bans. Things have been looking great for a while, but now it’s time for some more bad news. The state of Wisconsin has been quietly denying the registrations of legally imported vehicles. This time, enthusiasts aren’t even waiting long before starting to fight back.
It has been months since I last wrote a story about Kei car laws in America, and thankfully, a lot of that is due to the fact that the air has gone quiet. Enthusiasts in several states were still fighting for the ability to drive their favorite little cars, but, thankfully, the states themselves have largely been quiet. My last update on Kei laws was in June, when I wrote about the valiant effort of enthusiasts in Oregon who fought to legalize Keis.
Since it’s been a while, I will give you an update on everything that happened in 2025. Back in March, I wrote about how Lone Star Kei, the organization that was the first to legalize Kei vehicles after new bans were instituted beginning in 2021, sought to secure the privileges of Keis in Texas law. That bill became law, and Texas now has one of the best Kei laws in America.
I also wrote about how Colorado was secretly running one of the worst Kei bans, one where the state said you couldn’t do anything with your Kei but drive it on private property. Colorado’s enthusiasts fought for pro-Kei legislation and got a law enacted that protects Keis.
These laws haven’t been the only wins in the past few years. Enthusiasts in Michigan and Massachusetts also overturned their bans. All of these successes are proof that grassroots organizing and education work. These enthusiasts — with the exception of Michigan, as those enthusiasts sued the state — didn’t make the state their enemy, but pointed out what Keis actually are and why having them legal is beneficial for everyone.
Meanwhile, my home state of Illinois failed to read the room and decided to ban Keis. My state’s ban is built on so much misinformation that, technically, the state has banned all Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) imports. However, because Illinois is also often incompetent, the ban is not enforced well. Unfortunately, this ban remains in place. Despite my best efforts to form a Kei coalition, the members of the group seem to prefer to do their own thing rather than join together for one unified effort.
Illinois Kei owners weren’t the only ones who got the short stick last year. Georgia’s Kei groups fought for a law, but this failed to pass. Sadly, the law that was sought by the enthusiasts in Oregon also failed to pass. Enthusiasts in Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Illinois, Oregon, Georgia, and other states are still fighting.
Making matters worse is that these states have taken different approaches to their bans. Many states have banned Keis only through DMV policies rather than laws. Some states banned mini-trucks many years ago, and now consider Keis to be mini-trucks. One state in particular, Maine, has the worst ban of all, as it is a real law, and the law deems any vehicle not built to American safety standards to be too unsafe for road use. That means even European imports are technically illegal in Maine. Thankfully, our Maine-based readers have told me that the state is bad at enforcing the law, so that’s a good thing. But the law is still there if Maine decides to enforce it.
I’ll get into why these states are giving enthusiasts so many headaches. For now, let’s talk about the state with the freshest ban, Wisconsin.
America’s Dairyland Hates Keis
The founder of the Texas Lone Star Kei organization, David McChristian, sent me this image of a letter that a Kei enthusiast in Wisconsin got. I have since confirmed that this isn’t a one-off, and several enthusiasts have been getting them in the mail.
The letter opens by saying that the Vehicle Research Unit of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation Division of Motor Vehicles received a Japanese Export Certificate when this person attempted to register their Subaru Sambar. JDM vehicles use chassis serial numbers rather than the 17-digit VINs that you’ll find on American and European vehicles. These serials are often under 13 digits long.
The letter then suggests that, based on this fact, the state has identified the Sambar as a Kei vehicle. Then, the letter quotes laws that supposedly disqualify it for registration for road use. Here’s Chapter 340 of Wisconsin’s statutes, which defines general provisions for vehicles. 340.01(38m) states what’s shown below. The state emphasized the below as well:
(a) “Off-road utility vehicle” means any of the following:
1. A motor vehicle that is designed and constructed to carry no more than 2 persons and to be used for collecting residential and commercial solid waste, such as yard waste, recyclable materials, and household garbage, refuse, and rubbish, landscaping, or incidental street maintenances; that is not certified by the manufacturer for on-road use or that is certified by the manufacturer as meeting the equipment standards for a low-speed vehicle under 49 CFR 571.500; and that satisfies the equipment standards for a Type 2 automobile or autocycle under ch. 347 or the equipment standards for a low-speed vehicle under 49 CFR 571.500.
2. A Kei class vehicle.
(b) “Off-road utility vehicle” does not include any motorized construction equipment or any motor vehicle that falls within another definition under this section.
It’s weird that the state never highlighted the line about Kei vehicles. Per this law, a Kei class vehicle of any kind, be it a Honda Acty van or an Autozam AZ-1 sports car, is officially an “off-road utility vehicle.” This is wild and suggests that the state has no actual idea what Kei vehicles even are.
Now, the state then asserts that a Kei cannot be registered by quoting Wisconsin statute 341.10(6), which states:
341.10 Grounds for refusing registration. The department shall refuse registration of a vehicle under any of the following circumstances:
(6) The vehicle was manufactured after 1969 and does not meet manufacturer or importer certification label requirements as specified in 49 CFR 567 or the vehicle is a Kei class vehicle. This subsection does not apply to former military vehicles, historic military vehicles, as defined in s. 341.269 (1) (a), for which the department receives an application, and which are eligible, for registration under s. 341.269, or special interest vehicles, as defined in s. 341.266 (1) (c), for which the department receives an application, and which are eligible, for registration under s. 341.266.
Wisconsin does have the right to do this. The infamous “25-Year Rule” that’s on the federal level only dictates whether it’s legal to bring an import into the country. The states retain the right to determine what vehicles can and cannot drive on their roads.
The interesting thing here is that these laws have been on Wisconsin’s books since at least 2013. In fact, you might have even seen me accidentally report Wisconsin as being on the list of states with Kei bans because I have long known about these laws. However, Kei owners in Wisconsin have been able to register their vehicles for years without issue. What has changed?
I have been informed by some Kei owners in Wisconsin that, in the past, the state was willing to give them collector license plates, perhaps under the above exemption for special interest vehicles. If you’re curious, 341.266(1)(c) states:
(c) “Special interest vehicle” means any of the following:
1. A former military vehicle.
2. A motor vehicle of any age, of which the body has not been altered from the original and, because of its historic interest, is being preserved by a collector.
Wisconsin’s collector license plate regulations are pretty wild. The vehicle cannot have specific modifications, you cannot drive the vehicle in January, the vehicle cannot be the only car that you own, and you cannot use the vehicle to carry more than 500 pounds of cargo unless it’s a former military vehicle.
Why The Change?
It’s unclear what changed. The laws remain the same as they have been since 2013. You can look up how long “Kei” has been in WI’s laws, and the state has been aware of them for longer than perhaps most states. Maybe Wisconsin figured out that it was issuing collector plates to Keis even though the law technically says that Keis shouldn’t be registered?
I have reached out Wisconsin Department of Transportation Administrator, Division of Business Management, Casey Newman, as well as Tommy Winkler, Administrator of the Division of Motor Vehicles. Hopefully, they can shed some light on what the state is doing.
I also reached out to a friend of the Autopian and importer, Tyler Barg. Tyler and I have a bit of a funny relationship. My old articles at Jalopnik convinced him to start importing cars, and now he runs a whole importation business called Tiki Bunny Imports. Tyler then introduced me to the Honda Life, and I loved it so much that I imported my own.
Anyway, Tyler tells me that he believes that Wisconsin, like other states, is confusing mini-trucks with Kei trucks:
The basis is regrettably established policy reflecting on “mini trucks”. Regrettably, “kei trucks” are being wrongly lumped into this category again. I’m unsure whether it’s a misunderstanding or a deliberate catch-all, but it’s something that needs to be addressed to specifically legalize kei vehicles via law. Right now, I’m in the very early stages of organizing.
Kei Trucks And Mini-Trucks Are Not The Same
Mini-trucks and Kei trucks may look the same, but they are very different vehicles. Mini-trucks are imported for off-road use only and are limited to speeds no greater than 25 mph. They do not wear DOT-approved tires and are not approved for road use. Banning these from the road makes sense.
Kei trucks were designed and built as road vehicles. They are unrestricted, have automotive glazing, automotive lighting, street tires, automotive restraint systems, and newer ones even have airbags. These are road cars, only tiny. What’s also important is that these vehicles are also imported as road vehicles, not off-road vehicles. However, it seems that, because mini-trucks and Kei trucks look pretty much the same and use short serial numbers, states treat them as the same thing. Part of what has been successful in overturning Kei bans is educating lawmakers on why Keis aren’t mini-trucks.
The Force Behind The Bans
If this is your first time reading one of my articles about Kei bans, you may wonder why states care so much about this, and why they care about it right now, specifically. The source of all of our pain is the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA), the group that’s been targeting mini-trucks since the early 2010s and all imports, but especially Keis, since 2021. Click here to read my previous coverage. Otherwise, I’ll keep it short:
Officially, AAMVA is a non-governmental non-profit lobbying organization composed of motor vehicle administrators, law enforcement administrators, and executives from all 50 states, Canada, Mexico, the Virgin Islands, and Washington D.C. AAMVA does not have legislative power but its goal is to convince all members to adopt its ‘Best Practices’ to streamline driving laws across North America. Back in the late 2000s, AAMVA was made aware that Americans were importing tons of mini-trucks. These trucks were the 25 mph speed-limited off-road-only rigs, and their owners wanted to drive them on the road. Some mini-truck owners even modified their trucks to go faster speeds. The states, which, again, are all AAMVA members, didn’t know what to do about this.
The answer came courtesy of an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety opinion published in 2010. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash-tested a mini-truck against a third-generation Ford Ranger and concluded that low-speed vehicles and mini-trucks are unsafe and should be removed from the road. AAMVA agreed, issuing the recommendation in 2011 that led to states banning mini-trucks.
AAMVA would ramp up its efforts in 2021, targeting all imported vehicles (and any other vehicle not originally built to FMVSS) regardless of country of origin or size, but AAMVA specifically has a bone to pick with Keis.
In 2021, AAMVA published ‘Regulation of Off-Road Vehicles: Best Practices‘, which specifically calls out Kei vehicles, as well as any vehicle not built to FMVSS, as needing to be banned.
Since then, Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Georgia, Texas, Colorado, Michigan, Massachusetts, Illinois, Wisconsin, and some other states have issued bans or heavy restrictions on imports. States that had banned mini-trucks after the 2011 recommendations sometimes amended their recommendations to include Keis.
Strength In Numbers
What has been proven to work against these bans is grassroots organizing.
Enthusiasts like David McChristian have created a blueprint to beat Kei bans. These people band together, call every lawmaker in their state, and educate them on why Keis shouldn’t be illegal. As I noted above, groups that have adopted the methods created by Lone Star Kei have often found great success. Many of these Kei bans exist not out of malice, but from simply not knowing what these vehicles are. Education and advocacy can go a long way.
Thus, Tyler isn’t even waiting for the dust to settle. He’s taking the guides produced by Lone Star Kei and is rewording certain parts to be relevant to Wisconsin. From there, Tyler will gather a group and start contacting lawmakers.
Calling every lawmaker isn’t going to be easy. I know I’ve reached out to anyone who will listen about our own issues here in Illinois. But if Tyler can build an effort like what we’ve seen in Texas, Colorado, or Massachusetts, hopefully Wisconsin’s enthusiasts will be successful in overturning the ban.
If you live in a state with an imported vehicle ban, there are ways you can help. See if you can find a Facebook group or similar with people organizing. Join it, and – this part is important – work together to form a unified effort. One of the problems we’ve had here in Illinois is that too many people are concerned with finding “hacks” around our ban, or they assert that there is no ban, or that we should just skip reaching out to lawmakers and go straight to a lawsuit. We haven’t gotten anything done because everyone’s too busy arguing. Don’t do that. Form a plan and then execute it.
If you live in one of these states and you cannot find a group, don’t be afraid to reach out to lawmakers yourself. That’s what I have been doing. In the meantime, I’ll be keeping up with what’s happening with Keis this year. Hopefully, we can make 2026 as much of a smashing success as 2025 was, and maybe, one day, these bans will be more of a memory rather than their current nuisance.
Top graphic image: Bring A Trailer
Gonna kind of play devil’s advocate here.
I’ll say up front that I love the idea of kei cars, even though I’m too much of a mutant and a fat-f##k to ever fit in one. I grew up an a VW Beetle, and I miss having that truly small vehicle every damn day. I also think that people should have the choice to drive a kei on American streets and highways if they so choose…they can’t be any more of a death trap than an old VW Beetle. I also think that the AAMVA is a total scam for whichever corporations benefit from the legislation they’re pushing…they don’t ACTUALLY give a shit about vehicle safety.
However, I am concerned about the safety of keis on American roads…not that I think there’s anything inherently unsafe about them (as designed), but they simply weren’t designed with American roads, traffic, and highway speeds in mind. They’re perfect for the narrow streets of the old parts of Japanese urban areas, and for the farms and commercial area in which they’re used…because that’s what they’re designed for. And, there’s certainly plenty of practical uses they can be put to here in Amerika…there’s no denying that.
What concerns me is, especially out West here, are the highway and freeway speeds, and the kinds of traffic that frequent them. 65-75mph here in Colorado, and 85mph on the freeways (not sure about highways) in Utah, with no lack of the f##king HUGE pickup trucks (and commercial semis, for that matter) blasting along, usually at 10mph over the limit. Keis aren’t generally capable of 75-85+, and a truck barreling along the highway is gonna come upon a kei in their way pretty fast, and might not be able to safely switch lanes in time. Even the US highways would be dangerous, though to a lesser degree. Even here in town, the way people drive on the main drags (40+) would be dangerous to someone in a kei (there’s a few kei cars here, and it makes my heart sing to see them).
Again, it’s not a problem with the kei cars themselves, but it’s the other people, their attitudes, and the monstrosities they drive. A kei would be like a speed bump to them, both physically and mentally. I’m sure the problems are similar in other parts of the country, but I can only speak to what I see around here. Kei cars are thin enough on the ground here in western Colorado that I’m not aware of any vehicular altercations involving one, but I given how I see others drive, and WHAT they drive, it’s not a real stretch of the imagination to envision what could happen.
There needs to be some sort of regulations in place for vehicles like kei cars, but I honestly have no idea what form those regulations should take. An outright ban is just stupid, especially these vague blanket bans of anything even remotely exotic. Limiting kei cars to city streets, or slow county roads might work, but with the road systems we have, a kei would have to venture onto a highway at SOME point just to get from one place to another. I dunno what to do, honestly, but treating kei cars like any other vehicle on these Amerikan roads is just looking for trouble.
…flame me if you gotta, I don’t mind.
The Collector plate is a good deal though, pay double registration fees once and then never again as long as you own the vehicle. Most people aren’t taking collector cars out in January and I’d argue there isn’t a lawman around who’s going to meticulously weigh every item in the vehicle to see if it’s over 500 pounds.
Wisconsin is a bit laissez-faire when it comes to registering vehicles, which makes this surprising. I can build my own car, put some lights on it, have it inspected by a local sheriff and get the OK to get plates and register it. Somehow these mass manufactured vehicles with millions in engineering and design somehow don’t qualify?
In Sweden, modifying cars was essentially illegal in the 1970s. The emissions and crash testing requirements were the same to a single person modifying a car as for a manufacturer.
Groups of enthusiasts did outreach and eventually our transport minister went to a meetup where he was given a ride in a hot-rod – and the laws changed. There is a nationwide system in which our NHTSA equivalent will get involved in home-builts and project cars from the beginning, giving helpful advice and ensuring that people don’t do dumb things and build cars that cannot be approved in the end.
It irks me, because I too want to stick it to these fun-haters with a lawsuit, but educating and showing what we are doing is a much better approach.
Maaan, that Kei truck with the crane in the back is a junkyard DREAM.
Mine came with a bed crane and I removed it. It rattled over every bump so badly I thought the truck was falling apart.
I really would love to get a KEI car and even have my spouses buy in on it… But living in Alabama..we will be last to make a decision on anything… So in the meantime I’ll be on discord posting pictures of my cats.
Pretty sure Polaris, John Deere, Can Am, etc are lobbying for kei bans. Cant sell GROSSLY overpriced side by sides that offer far less utility than an old kei truck
They want to get Kei cars off the roads, so that they can sell more side-by-sides which also can’t be driven on the road?
I think it’s more likely automakers who are bankrolling AAMVA.
SxS’s can be registered for on-road use in Wisconsin. That’s what makes this ban even more insane.
No, they can’t. Side by sides/UTVs are regulated by the Department of Natural Resources, not the Department of Motor Vehicles. Local towns and counties are passing legislation making roads under their purview ATV/UTV trails. The machines are not “legal for on-road use” because if they go on a road that isn’t an ATV/UTV trail they get ticketed and possibly impounded.
SxSs are all over the streets in AZ, but so are Kei cars, so..
it’s been awhile since the days of the old site, but this topic prompted me to make an account.
I have a 1996 Honda Acty in Wisconsin that I registered in 2025 (impulse buy on BaT). I emailed the state DMV before having the vehicle shipped here, and what the DMV told me was that because it is a kei-class vehicle it is ineligible for regular license plates (341.10(6)). 341.266(1)(c) allows kei-class registration under Collector plates, which is what I have. The title for my Acty is branded as “NON-USA STANDARD” but the truck is legal for the road for 11 months out of the year – and with an MV2750 and $5 I could drive it for 5 days in January.
From their emails, they also told me that any Japanese market import would have to be registered under 341.266(1)(c) on Collector plates unless “they were originally manufactured to conform to all applicable U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards in effect on the date of manufacture or were brought into conformity with the applicable standards by a Registered Importer with National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA).”
What is up with this January restriction? I can more or less rationalize all of the other rules, but this one just seems completely arbitrary. Sure, it’s one of the months where few collector cars will be driven anyway, especially in Wisconsin, but why does that have to be forced on everybody?
So what I’m hearing is slap a Polaris logo on the front and call it good….
Interestingly, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a state owned and funded institution, whose campus makes up most of downtown Madison, runs Sambars and Bongos and the like on the city streets as campus maintenance and engineering vehicles. So… Pot, have you met kettle?
Univeristy of Pittsburgh has one or two as well; in fact, it was the first time I’d seen one outside of a car show.
Many states allow golf carts on roads with less than 35 mph speed limit yet disallow kei cars. If those states are OK with that obvious contradiction – they are sk um bags and hate the citizen.
and some allow side by sides and ATV’s on roads also just ridiculous that they will fight about Kei cars being unsafe. It is not about safety it is all about money.
If you’re going to talk to WI legislature about vehicle registration, please have them explain how $300/year to register a $3000 Honda Insight makes any sense.
Until then I’m throwing one of my hobbyist plates on it and riding dirty. Spending 10% of a vehicle’s value every year just to register it is incredibly stupid, and punishes those who are helping the environment by driving an old hybrid.
When I lived in VA (luckily never moved any registrations over) they charge a yearly property tax on everything there (you supposed to tell them about and tools or equipment you have year right) so yeah depending on which county you are in you can be paying near 5% what every they say the vehicle is worth just in property tax so that does not even include plate or registration fees. Sounds like WI is near the same.
Illinois when I lived there was pretty cheap on the yearly registrations I am now in Indiana and the registrations here are not the greatest but at least the yearly excise tax goes down. So my 2013 FJ will be like $66 this year and the fiancés 2018 TourX is down to $86 now (when we got it a few years ago it was 200+). My Polestar 2 though is not due until 2027 but that will be 500 (but they charge a fee of $242 here for EV’s per year which is ridiculous since I pay taxes on my electric which just keeps climbing thanks NIPSCO if you got blasted into the sun I would pay for front row ticket)
The way they get money from us is just ridiculous. You buy a used car? Oh we get sales tax on that on top of all the registration fees and yearly taxes oh and we get state and county tax from you pay check.
Wisconsin does not charge property tax on vehicles.
regular automotive plates are $85 per year. light truck plates (8000lbs and under) are $100-116.50 per year based on weight class. there is an additional charge for a hybrid (+$75) or an all-electric (+$175) every year.
I’m convinced that the way Virginia levies and collects property taxes is done to be as deliberately painful as possible so politicians have something to campaign on. Not that they can or will ever do anything about it, seeing as it is the primary source of revenue for counties/cities. At least this way you have some control over what you pay.
Unfortunately, most people seem to forget about the whole property tax thing when they go car shopping, and then get surprised when they get a bill from the county.
I have daily driven and off roaded collector plates in Minnesota. If stopped I would have just said in deadpan “Yes officer, I am going to a parade or show.”
Darn, NY seems reasonable by comparison. A under $50 (for passenger cars) yearly inspection and about $100 or so per car every two years for registration. Plates are about $60 when the vehicle is purchased, or transfer an old one for $30ish. Sales tax when the vehicle is sold; there’s no annual millage assessment.
How states get their money is wild.
Had the same issue with my Insight, then my Niro, and now my Maverick. I can sort-of understand asking EVs to pay a little extra, since they don’t contribute to road maintenance through the gas tax. But hybrids still. burn. gasoline. Just less of it. By this logic they should be taxing Geo Metros, or my Crosley. (Just kidding, WI! ha ha?)
The other hilarious bit is they slap a big orange EV sticker on the license plate of my Mav. Ford doesn’t even bother to put a hybrid badge on these trucks anymore – it’s just a more efficient gasoline truck.
My brother the firefighter tells me the EV sticker is a signal to pump the car full of water after a bad accident to prevent battery fires. Great…
I’ve always said registration, for the most part, is a big racket dependent on where you reside. We pay $48 here in PA, you pay $300, but the end result is the same-we’re both telling the state, yes, I own this particular vehicle, and yes, it is on the road (though I do have a car I renew the registration on every year that isn’t on the road just because it was hard to get it insured in the first place, and I’m working on it, but anyway…). So if you own a car for say, 10 years, every year you’re paying for the privilege of telling the state that you own the car. I could see if you sold it, -then- you or the buyer pays the registration, as it is a new situation, but otherwise it’s a fee for…nothing.
How are you coming up with $300?? WI plates are $85 per year. Some counties have an added “wheel tax” but that’s usually around $25-30. So no where near $300 total.
Probably a surcharge for hybrid/PHEV/electric vehicles since they pay less (or no) taxes at the pump.
Its an additional $75 for hybrids. So double the cost of a normal plate. I also have a custom plate, which is another $15, which yes I could get rid of. But If I want to keep my plate, it would technically be $175 plus any associated fees/taxes with the county, which is well over $200/year. Probably some other fees. I remember it being like $230 all said and done. STILL THO. My car is worth MAYBE $3k. And they are actively punishing me for having a cheap econobox that weighs only 1800lbs, puts no wear on the roads, and helps save the environment. Why am I being punished? Why punish people who are lessening the need for new vehicles? How about punish people buying brand new cars/trucks? Punish people who get crap MPG? Punish those who don’t use turn signals?
In the end, I am just going to swap plates and not pay it because I disagree.
It’s Wisconsin, and since these vehicles are so ill-suited for the favorite pastime up there, “looking for lights”, the cops probably don’t bother.
25 year WI resident here, had to google “looking for lights“. Never heard that one before.
Also live in WI. Also have no clue. Also googled it and came up with lighting stores, Christmas lights, and northern lights. So still not sure what “looking for lights” means.
I would say Wisconsin’s three greatest pastimes are 1. Drinking beer, 2. Packers football, and 3. Hunting/fishing. Numbers 2 & 3 are basically an excuse to do number 1. It’s a safe bet that “looking for lights” also involves number 1.
It’s looking for the classic illuminated Old Style signs in the woods, because up there they put bars in the middle of nowhere.
Aha. And I was right – beer is involved.
I used to live in La Crosse, where Heiligman’s Old Style was brewed. Damn shame the Australian billionaire bought them and then liquidated them.
It was especially jarring to us Flatlanders because down here, you can only get a liquor license inside an incorporated municipality- never out in the sticks, in the middle of the woods, down by a lake.
One of the reasons I sold my 1991 Suzuki Cappuccino project car when I moved to New Mexico was the confusing laws regarding registering Kei vehicles for on-road use. I couldn’t find a clear answer and some people were able to plate their Kei cars somehow.
There’s a WI dealer that got trapped in this mess trying to offload a Cappuccino on C&B right now. He’s going with “Trust me bro, this off-road-only title is just as good as a regular title! Your state’s DMV will accept it no problem!“
The collector plate is a great feature here in WI. Pay for it once and never have too again. You get assigned a number and every further plate you get has a letter behind it. I have one on my 1978 DT175 and my dad has three all on motorcycles.
Only thing to me that seems iffy about that is they say the vehicle needs to be stock. So I feel like that could run into issues if you get pulled over or worse into an accident.
Wisconsin also offers “Hobbyist” plates which are functionally identical, but allow for modified cars.Commonly called John Deere plates as its a green plate with yellow text.
This is wild because Wisconsin is about as “do not give a F**K’ state as there is. They let little kids drink in bars with their parents. There are Side-By-Sides everywhere. This just makes no sense coming from the “eff it just have a beer” state.
That’s what really gets me. Side by sides are fine to drive all over except maybe an interstate, but a vehicle that’s the same size but has all the normal car safety stuff is banned.
It’s just stupid.
I’m sure SxS manufacturers are well represented in the parasite organization going after these cheaper competitors in this “Land of the Free(TM)”.
In Minnesota there is arctic cat and polaris and that is why most of the trails in MN are atv/sxs only and size limited to whatever is the biggest ATV polaris currently makes.
They’re not. AAMVA is mostly full of civil servants.
Oh, I’m sure it’s entirely on their own time and dime out of concern for the citizens to protect them from their own choices to own cheap utility vehicles because that sounds completely reasonable and not that they’re paid by outside companies with obvious financial interest at all.
Weirdly, what I found in other states was the car dealer lobby and state police backing the AAMVA.
The state cops made sense since they’re an arm of the state, but the car dealer lobby was an interesting find. It’s not like car dealers can’t sell Keis, and it’s not like there are enough Keis being imported to even remotely threaten a franchised dealer.
Yeah, honestly even if the AAMVA weren’t out here doing stupid shit, it’s a super shady organization because it’s made up of mostly government employees, but it’s private so it doesn’t have the same financial reporting requirements as a public office would. The whole thing seems like a way to skirt Freedom of Information laws.
AAMVA saw Americans buy Kei cars and trucks and lobbied to ban them instead of trying to compete and make small cars and trucks that people want to buy.
Such a “free market”!
I’m trying to understand why. What percent of the market do 25 year old Kei vehicles have in the US market?
That’s like the opposite of a free market and sadly it’s not just car manufacturers. Big businesses love lobbying for regulations that will crush upstarts.
AAMVA isnt a manufacturer trade group, its a professional association of state civil servants who work in management roles in DMVs (or equivalent, depending on what the state calls it), and someone in the national AAMVA administration got a bug up about kei cars specially and private imports in general and put the word out through the organization encouraging their members to use their authority to block or revoke registrations for those vehicles.
The UW system certainly has Keis in Madison and Milwaukee, proving that they’re useful on city streets. On another note, have you seen Wisconsin Hobbyist plates? I’ve seen some genuine hot rods and T-buckets tooling around on those.
Hobbyist are different than collector. Collector means stock. So no dumping that audi 5 cylinder engine into the 86 cabriolet. Also just for giggles the Cooke or plate says no can drive in January. But what if you are in California during January? Inquiring minds demand an answer
Cooke or plate. WTF. I’m a chef? The Collector plate
So, if you’re driving with a collector or hobbyist plate in Wisconsin in January, you’re operating without registration. Basically, the plates are no good in that month. They figure that if you have a collector car, you wouldn’t be driving it in the snow and salt. If you have that car in California, theoretically you’re driving without registration, but it’d be up to a California police officer to know that. Nothing on the plate indicates it.
Sigh… the American Association of Mighty Vengeful Assholes strikes again.
Funny I saw one (Kei truck) today for sale on Layton Ave in Cudahy, Wi. Near the bacon factory that smells good.
Aah yes Cudahy the city of seven smells. I guess that name was more appropriate when Patrick Cudahy had the now long gone old hog kill and butcher line.
Still have this at the old Ladish.https://www.tmj4.com/news/milwaukee-tonight/exploring-one-of-the-worlds-largest-counterblow-hammers-the-85-hammer-in-cudahy
That’s awesome- thanks for sharing sir
I saw one yesterday with a collector plate. Idiot was driving it in Shorewood in January.
Then I guess that means it has a sufficient heating system Haha
Maybe Mercedes can make a handy dandy chart of each state’s current Kei car status.
Hi Lori! Check out my Spreadsheet
I’d love to see a page here dedicated to the coverage of all of this, and maybe some links to the various “save kei” resources. I’d love to get a kei car, but I wonder if it’s going to turn into a piece of driveway art instead.
The University of Wisconsin in Madison has a number of tiny little Suzuki vans. I’m not sure the exact model, but they look similar to the Honda ACTY. I’ve seen them with license plates and driving around on public roads.
I’m guessing they are either registered as government vehicles (regulations for thee, not for me) or off-road vehicles (though judging by the article, I’m guessing that isn’t a thing in Wisconsin).
On campus may have special dispensation as a controlled area because some of the roads may technically be private since it’s part of the university. They have a campus police force too. There are also kei trucks driving around my mother-in-law’s assisted living gated campus.
The United States of Dumbmerica living up to its name again. The incompetence is absolutely staggering.
More so since January of 2025.
While I think banning kei cars for “safety” is dumb. Try importing a 25y/o kei vehicle to Germany for on road use, it won’t work. At least in the US there are still lots of states where it is legal to kei.
@Space, why won’t it work?
Asking because I’ve seen several 90s Kei with German paperwork and plates.
The state can’t even make an old fashioned properly.
Wild take here
Careful. You don’t want to start that argument in a Wisconsin bar or more likely in a Wisconsin Supper Club. It WILL get ugly 🙂
You sir are incorrect
Gonna need you to list your sources, please.
Soda water.
We mostly use simple syrup. Some bars will use 7up. But you should try one using ginger ale or root beer.
I can confirm that there is a Kei car registered and driven in my small town in Wisconsin with collector plates. It’s a small truck with a flatbed. No idea what brand it is or if it is over the 25 year rule but it exists. Or at least DID exist.
What’s incredibly stupid about all of this is in much of Wisconsin, it’s perfectly ok to drive ATV’s and side-by sides on county roads and on posted ATV routes, but if I had a Kei truck to take brush to the dump, on the same roads, then that would be unable to be registered for road use.
Like my Kawasaki Mule 🙂
In so many small towns behind the Cheddar Curtain, the parking lots at the town bars on the weekends are filled with SxSs, forget about cars and motorcycles.
Oh yeah, every year I explore the Mississippi side of Wisconsin and people drive SxS like regular cars out there.
Also, I’m totally stealing “Cheddar Curtain”.
I can’t believe you’ve lived in Illinois your whole life and never heard that term!
Our cheddar curtain is in place to protect our water from certain sunshine desert states????
That’s because up until like a year or two ago, drunk driving on an ATV or UTV fell under the Department of Natural Resources and not police/sheriffs departments. Now a regular cop can pull you over for DUI on a quad or SxS instead of needing a forest cop to do it.
I never even thought of that! These kei trucks are often so cheap that they could be a legit alternative to a utility trailer.
Yes, it is stupid that some state allow off-highway vehicles to be registered and used for road use.
Vehicles used on the road should meet US safety and emission regulations for the year they were manufactured – full stop.