For the past four years, enthusiasts across America have been living a nightmare after their states decided that their legally imported cars were no longer able to be driven on the road. Enthusiasts have banded together, working with their lawmakers to enact change. Now, fans of imported cars in Colorado might get the biggest victory against car bans in America since 2019. Colorado just passed a bill that would legally protect tiny cars imported from Japan from being banned by the DMV. Now, it just needs to be signed by Colorado Governor Jared Polis.
The folks of Colorado have been through a lot in the past year. Back in 2024, enthusiasts in the state claimed that the Colorado DMV had “shadow-banned” legally imported cars and trucks. The state didn’t have any published policy banning these cars, but enthusiasts reported that DMV offices simply refused to register their cars without explanation. Others reported being denied emissions testing, which meant that they could not renew their registrations.
Then, in December, the Colorado DMV decided to make its shadow policy a public-facing policy, but it was met by heavy pushback from enthusiasts. The state gave up on making its policy official and instead just went back to banning cars quietly.
Now, the rollercoaster might be coming back into the station because Colorado just passed HB25-1281. If signed by Colorado Governor Jared Polis, the nightmare will end for the owners of tiny Japanese Kei vehicles in Colorado. But this win will be even bigger than that. Since 2019, no state has protected imported cars by passing a law. If Colorado does this, it can be a signal that states are not interested in the bans being pushed by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, car dealer associations, and state police.
Colorado’s Doing The Right Thing
If Gov. Polis signs HB25-1281, Colorado will become the first state to pass a law that beats AAMVA’s harsher recommendations and do so without silly gotchas like the Georgia bill has in it. Colorado can also become a roadmap for enthusiasts in other states to follow, too.
Here’s what the situation is like in Colorado right now, from my previous report:
According to [Colorado Public Radio], enthusiasts are still reporting that they’re not being allowed to register or emissions test their vehicles. The effect of this is that the state is running out the clock on the registrations of Kei vehicles. This makes the cars illegal to drive since the owners cannot renew their registrations without a valid emissions test. The state also refuses to give these vehicles OHV registration, so they’re effectively banned from roads – again, car-sized paperweights.
CPR spoke with one Colorado JDM owner, Ryan Albarelli, who told a frustrating story about being able to register a 1990 Honda Acty, but the state subsequently refused to emissions test it. Other folks online report similar stories.
Sadly, this strategy of a quiet ban isn’t anything new with Colorado. Enthusiasts in some counties haven’t been able to register Kei vehicles for a long time. Others who did get registrations haven’t been able to emissions test their vehicles, which meant they eventually became illegal to drive even if registered. Enthusiasts have been calling this a “shadow ban” since the state doesn’t have anything official noting the ban.
CPR‘s report also found out who supports Colorado’s ban. Many readers have suspected that the side-by-side/ATV lobby is fighting for the banning of imported cars. Yet, at least in Colorado, major supporters of the ban have been the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association and the Colorado State Patrol. Colorado has attempted to legalize imported vehicles in 2015 and 2016, but both bills failed. Here’s what the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association said when it opposed legalizing Keis in the past, from CPR:
Both groups declined to comment on the coming bill from Hinrichsen. But Tim Jackson, former president and CEO of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association, said the arguments against legalizing kei vehicles at the state level boil down to two issues: pollution and safety.
“It does set up a two-tier system on both emissions and safety, and I think it contradicts everything that Colorado as a state has been trying to do,” Jackson said, referencing Colorado’s various efforts to improve road safety and clean up the state’s dirty air. Older kei trucks, including Albarelli’s Honda, lack modern systems like fuel injection that lower emissions.
Colorado’s current ban is also a bit harsher than other states. As of now, if you own a vintage military Jeep in Colorado, the state says you should not be eligible for registration for use on the road or on public trails. Meaning, if you own an old surplus military vehicle, the state says you can only use it on private property.
Thankfully, it seems Colorado has had enough of this nonsense. On February 20, HB25-1281 Title Register & Drive Kei Vehicles, was introduced into the Colorado House. The bill’s prime sponsors are William Lindstedt – D, Rep. Larry Don Suckla – R, Sen. Nick Hinrichsen – D, and Sen. Byron Pelton – R. Here’s the bill’s most recent summary:
A kei vehicle is the smallest road-legal, 4-wheeled vehicle in Japan and is imported into the United States as a used vehicle. The bill defines a kei vehicle as a motor vehicle for the purposes of the “Uniform Motor Vehicle Law” and the “Certificate of Title Act”. These acts govern issuing a certificate of title, registering a motor vehicle, and the rules of the road for motor vehicles. The bill authorizes a kei vehicle to operate on the roads and requires a kei vehicle to be issued a certificate of title, be registered, and obey motor vehicle traffic laws.
Driving a kei vehicle on a roadway that has a speed limit greater than 55 miles per hour or on a limited-access highway is prohibited.
For emissions testing, a kei vehicle is tested not using a dynamometer but using a 2-speed idle test. The vehicle must pass the emissions standards for the year it was manufactured.
The department of revenue, the Colorado state patrol, and the agents or contractors of these agencies may not require a vehicle to have an inspection because it is a kei vehicle or has the design or manufacturing parameters of a kei vehicle. And a kei vehicle may not be declared not roadworthy because of its design or manufacturing parameters.
Kei vehicles are included in the motor vehicle dealer and powersports vehicle dealer statutes, and this requires a person to be licensed as a dealer to sell kei vehicles at retail.
The bill would also create a new class B traffic infraction for driving a Kei vehicle on a road faster than 55 mph. One of the motivating factors in the bill is that the state has the opportunity to make some money. If passed, the bill will cost the state a one-time expenditure of $101,000 to reprogram state computer systems and to issue every Kei in the state a fresh 17-digit VIN. From there, proponents of the bill expect the state to make back $93,000 of that within two years on registrations alone and for the legalization of Keis to be technically profitable afterward.
The Cause Of Woe
I’ve been reporting on the car bans spreading across America since 2021. If you haven’t been following this saga, I’ll bring you up to speed. If you’re a regular reader, skip forward!
The United States government bans the legal entry of a car that’s under 25 years old unless that vehicle is converted to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. That process is horrendously expensive and cannot be done by anyone. It effectively ensures that the average enthusiast waits more than two decades to buy their dream cars.
The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, a non-governmental, non-profit lobbying organization run by DMV administrators and law enforcement officials in all 50 states, Washington D.C., Canada, the Virgin Islands, and Mexico, has been waging a war against legally imported cars.
Tiny imported vehicles appeared on AAMVA’s radar back in the 2000s, when states began wondering what to do with the speed-restricted off-road-only trucks that people were importing. American officials call these trucks “mini-trucks” and they’re limited to 25 mph and were never intended nor imported for road use. Some folks drove them on the road, anyway. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash-tested mini-trucks and found that they weren’t as safe as compact trucks built to FMVSS. In response to research, AAMVA recommended members ban mini-trucks from their roads. Many states obliged.
The organization then apparently discovered that Americans are also importing Kei cars, or the smallest class of road-legal vehicles of Japan. These cars, trucks, and vans often have top speeds as high as 83 mph and are designed for road use. The newest Keis that are legal to import can even be found with airbags.
In 2021, AAMVA announced its strictest guidance yet. The organization recommended that its members ban all vehicles not originally built to FMVSS. That includes every vehicle, regardless of country of origin and regardless of actual size. It’s everything from Kei trucks and BMW wagons to giant buses. AAMVA also took a swipe at vintage military vehicles like WWII Jeeps and Humvees, too, and recommended that those also be removed from the road.
Maine was the launch state for the new bans. The state went through the process to pass a law banning every vehicle not built to FMVSS. Readers have told us that the state’s enforcement of the law has been poor, but the law is still on the books.
Since then, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Colorado, Michigan, Illinois, Texas, and Massachusetts have either banned Japanese imports or have otherwise restricted them in some way. Enthusiasts have fought back either through lawsuits or by working with regulators. In 2024, Texas became the first state to win the battle against the new rules when enthusiasts successfully convinced TXDMV to reverse its Kei ban. Enthusiasts in Michigan and Massachusetts scored their major wins after.
Georgia is also on the cusp of something resembling a victory, as that state recently passed a bill that technically legalizes Kei cars. However, when you read that bill, you’ll realize that the state wants to make Keis about as legal as golf carts, which really isn’t a win in the long run.
The Importance Of Passing A Law
There is a sad twist to all of this, and it’s that while Texas, Michigan, and Massachusetts did score real, huge victories, the job is only halfway done. Enthusiasts in those states only succeeded in reversing DMV policies. Their states still do not explicitly allow Kei vehicles per their laws. As a result, a successive DMV administrator could easily just reinstate the bans in those states at a future date.
Even if your state doesn’t ban Keis, not having a law that explicitly allows imported cars means that your car is technically in legal limbo. Your DMV may one day decide to ban your car, and you’ll find yourself in the same situation too many of us are in right now.
As enthusiasts in Maine have learned, it’s much harder to overturn a law than it is a policy. So, it’s best to have a law that works in your favor than to have to fight a negative one. The end goal is to get imported vehicles explicitly allowed in law. In 2019, enthusiasts in North Carolina successfully lobbied for the passage of a law that allows both Kei cars and mini-trucks to access roads up to 55 mph. When AAMVA launched its harsher recommendations in 2021, North Carolina did not follow the lead of other eastern states.
Sadly, Colorado’s bill doesn’t help vintage Jeep owners, but it would still be a huge win. If Gov. Polis signs the bill into law, and he is expected to, it will be significantly harder to ban Keis in Colorado. Gov. Polis has reportedly said that he is “excited to expand consumer choice to affordable vehicles and looks forward to supporting kei freedom.”
If this win goes through, it’ll be another perfect demonstration of the power of collaboration. Instead of treating the government as an enemy to be destroyed, enthusiasts teamed up with their lawmakers to enact change. This method was pioneered by the folks in North Carolina and Texas, then proven to work again in Michigan and Massachusetts. So, if you happen to live in a state where your favorite vehicle is banned, consider getting a group together and reaching out to every lawmaker who will listen. That’s what we plan to do in Illinois.
The 55mph rule is somewhat problematic: kei cars are limited by governor to a top speed of 140 km/h (87mph) in Japan. Not all of them can reach that speed, but a four-speed, ’80s Honda Acty is a very different vehicle from a turbocharged, four-cylinder Suzuki Cervo Mode.
The thing which caught my imagination is that the state is going to issue 17-digit VINs – can I use this to get a Colorado-issued VIN on my Suzuki Wagon R or whatever and then use that as a workaround to have it properly titled in NY State?
Huh…. that’s a thought. Title washing but chaotic good title washing.
I assume NY bans them based on make and model so probably not. Keis with good out of state titles have been coming here into denver and getting titles revoked based on make / model alone. Same thing happening with other vehicles like LMTVs and CUCVs (CUCVs being a chevy blazer or dodge pickup).
NY DMV doesn’t know a thing. It’s typically triggered by the non-17 digit VIN. But who knows.
This is rad!
When I moved from Denver to the foothills all my DMV problems got a LOT easier. Never a line, no one was uptight, and I never had to get my emissions checked. CoL was a bit more expensive though.
Here is an idea – start renting one square foot to those of us trapped in the denver metro area.
I left Colorado entirely. Too many people, not enough water.
You are smarter than a lot of us – Now I just have to convince the wife.
My car my choice. Let me drive a death trap if I want to, its ok to drive my 73 Beetle but not a more modern vehicle with better safety. No one has restricted me to drive on the highway on that orange bug.
Thanks Mercedes for these articles. I want to import a Honda Insight Gen 1 from Japan to have two, both made in the same factory, actually the Japanese version has a better tuning for consumption/emissions. I could probably use one license plate for both lol
This is great news! Also here’s my usual statement:
FUCK THE AAMVA!!!
Dear Mercedes Streeter,
Thanks for your articles on state licensing laws for kei cars and other imported vehicles.
Based on the speed ratings of current kei cars, it seems to me the legislators in Colorado are unnecessarily limiting kei car owners to the slow roads.
In the early 1970s, my brother and I drove a Subaru 360 Young S. We used it primarily for commuting to school, and for other short trips.
Even with a 360 cc two-cylinder engine, our car could exceed 50 mph on relatively flat highways. I find it ridiculous that the state of Colorado would limit current kei cars to roads with speed limits of 50 mph.
What happens if you pass thru from another state and get on a highway faster than 55? How is that enforced. Based on what I’ve seen here in NC, this limit is not enforced. LEO have no motivation to enforce and probably would not bother you unless you impede traffic flow or camp going slow in the left lane.
As a resident of a high tourist area in Colorado, I can assure you with ABSOLUTE certainty that law enforcement has ZERO interest in enforcing any laws regarding impeding traffic.
That would likely only be enforceable with vehicles registered here – just like how cali can’t enforce it’s heavy handed laws on tourists passing through with a modified exhaust. Wont stop them from giving you crap though.
Is it pronounced KEE or KAY? Thanks
Kay.
Thanks!
asking the real questions
To quote Harry Shearer in Chicken Little:
“It’s not just about the winning. It’s about the gloating. The rubbing their noses in it. The “Na na nana na We beat you” taunting, if you will, that comes with the winning.”
Any time government over-regulation can be pulled back is a win in my book, provided it doesn’t then infringe on the rights of others as that is the primary purpose of the US government at its inception. We seem to have lost track of that along the way. I know that sounds a bit libertarian-y but, what can you do.
That part about “provided it doesn’t infringe on the rights of others” is what makes you sane rather than libertarian.
Well that and he didn’t mention the age of consent..
That 55mph speed limit is a big error on whoever wrote this. Outside of the metro areas you would basically be legally trapped with your “Kei”
Most of the state highways are 60-65 mph. The only road touching my parents house is a 65 mph road, even if this passed someone like that would still effectively be banned from owning a kei.
Yeah, and apparently a King Midget with a lawn mower engine would not necessarily fall under thar limitation, but kei vehicles capable of cruising at a sustained 65-70mph do, it makes no sense
Hell, even Model Ts aren’t banned from any road that doesn’t specifically have a minimum speed posted
Given the high altitude and thinner air in Colorado, would Kei vehicles have enough oompah to sustain at least 55 mph?
Some for sure wouldn’t, some would, but many shadowbaned cars that aren’t technically “Kei” could.
my 38hp beetle never had an issue living here – so keis will be fine until they try I-70
And the I-25 stretch between Raton, New Mexico and Trinidad, Colorado. Lot of vehicles with carburetted engines in the past struggled a lot to climb on their ways to Trinidad.
True, but the inherent limitations of Kei cars make the rule easy to justify. There are lots of restrictions on Side-by-Sides which means most people would need to trailer them to a spot where they can be used. It isn’t unreasonable to treat Kei cars somewhere between those and cars that meet current standards for highway use.
Kei cars are not all kei trucks. My Honda Today hits 85mph if I don’t mind revving it pretty hard. I have taken it across several states, no problem. A 1980s kei truck with 4WD and four-speed manual is a whole another story, though.
But I am pretty sure that there are already rules that cover this: I just checked Maryland (I don’t have the energy to find it in the Colorado code), and their highway code states:
“(c) A person may not drive a Class A (passenger) or Class M (multipurpose) vehicle on a highway if the maximum speed capability of the vehicle does not exceed the posted maximum speed limit for the highway by at least 5 miles per hour.”
But speed is only one factor. Braking, stability at speed, lighting, seat belts, and other safety features, etc. Many SxSs have plenty of performance but that doesn’t mean allowing them on freeways is a good idea.
Kei passenger cars have all those things. They are meant to be everyday vehicles, unlike a SxS. Mine has seat belts all around, side impact protection, four-wheel independent suspension. If it was one year newer it would have an airbag, too.
The slow little trucks that only top out at 60mph are not safe for typical highway use.
However, it seems that Colorado’s rule is that 20 below the speed limit is a “safe speed”; they have no minimum capability requirements, which leaves a need for specific rules. But again, does it apply to other vehicles that cannot reach 75mph or only Japanese ones?
Kei cars are meant to be everyday vehicles in a country with different standards. That goes far beyond speed and safety and includes emissions and VIN as well. The issue is who checks to see how those relate to local standards and figures out how to address places that have emissions testing. It can’t be determined by “trust me, bro.”
Cars that passed the local standards of their day are typically grandfathered in. Cars imported under the 25-year law don’t have that reasoning. Kit cars and hot rods are rare and clearly not intended for regular use. Often, they have special plates to identify those limitations. A 1999 Honda Acty with no ABS, structural protection, much less airbags, top speed of 65, is infinitely more dangerous than a modern SxS and should not be allowed on a freeway.
I’m not opposed to kei cars being allowed titles, but also understand that because no system would determine which are or aren’t suitable for highways, and the owners don’t want to pay for the system that would be needed, some restrictions are reasonable.
To treat kei cars like every other car, a system needs to be in place to determine which ones meet reasonable criteria and which don’t. Then, a way of implementing that system that isn’t overly burdensome and can be supported by the people using it needs to be found.
Kei passenger cars have all those things, catalytic converters and so on. If kei cars are not allowed, then no imports whatsoever can be allowed. Otherwise, what about my friend’s 1980s Citroën 2CV or my car show acquaintance who has a Trabant 601? What about someone who imports a 1970s Morgan? What about the countless Citroën H Vans or the guy who brought in a London double-decker?
And again, there is a clear distinction between a kei commercial vehicle and a kei passenger vehicle, both in terms of safety standards and emissions. They have different chassis numbers that are easily deciphered. My Honda Today has a catalytic converter, but an Acty truck of the same vintage does not. No one dailies a 25-year old minicar with dubious parts availability; or at least not for long.
This is simply an attack on one, narrowly defined group of imported cars (ones belonging to lower income enthusiasts with less legal means at their disposal) as part of an effort to halt all parallel imports.
The conflict is inherent in your last post. You say kei-cars should be allowed on freeways since some kei cars have all the stuff you need for a daily, yet you are also saying that nobody will use them as dailies. You can’t have it both ways, and “dubious parts availability” isn’t a realistic method of regulatory integration. Also, nothing being discussed designates any difference between the Acty and a Today.
The examples you mention are models that were either sold in the U.S. at some point (Morgan, 2CV), so rare, or so unusable that they don’t really matter. The bus is different since large commercial vehicles have a completely different regulatory structure.
There is also already a patchwork of regulations around kei cars since they have long been used in places like colleges and corporate/industrial campuses for maintenance. You can buy a brand new kei-car for those purposes. Those rules treat them as low-speed vehicles for off-highway use only. Since those rules already exist in many places, they are being referenced for any new regulation. Kei-cars don’t represent a “parallel import” for that reason alone.
Plus, nowhere else can a OHV be given a title and registered as a standard car simply because it turns 25 years old.
Again, I think Kei cars should be able to get titles, but the restrictions against freeway use are reasonable. If you want to split what is currently a single Kei car category into commercial and passenger, good luck. The commercial mini-trucks are far and away the most popular Kei car style here, and the Kei car community won’t let that split happen.
“The conflict is inherent in your last post. You say kei-cars should be allowed on freeways since some kei cars have all the stuff you need for a daily, yet you are also saying that nobody will use them as dailies.”
That’s not what I said at all: I am saying that since it was designed for daily use it is surely ok to take it on the highway to go to a car meet on a Sunday.
As with the 2CVs and HYs and Trabis and Model T Fords, kei trucks are by nature not particularly enjoyable on highways – they will self-regulate to stay on back roads and city roads.
The 2CV was briefly available in the US in the 1950s and 60s, and if your concern is safety or beaing a road louse, what difference would that make? For that matter, the Subaru 360 (a genuine kei car) was sold here as well, as were the Sambar and the Honda N and Z.
And I assure you that there are significant numbers of Citroën HYs out there, and they often use highways.
The OHV vehicles are not keis and cannot be registered for on-road use ever. They have lower gearing or blocked gears and so on. Those vehicles have no bearing on kei cars; your argument is akin to saying that no Ferrari 360s can be registered because 360 Challenges were sold strictly as race cars.
You understand that things like the Trabant tend to self-regulate based on their impracticality yet say that the Kei cars have no such issue because they were built to be daily drivers. That puts Kei cars in a different category. They aren’t parallel by our own description.
You can buy brand new Daihatsu Hijet Vans right now in the U.S. They, and plenty of other similar vehicles, were built to Kei standards. They are sold as OHVs. There is no current mechanism to filter the vehicles by the characteristics you are talking about, such as gearing, etc. So, which Hijets can you use on the road and which can’t?
If they all can go on the road than we might as well just get rid of all safety standards and let go-karts on freeways as long as they can do the speed limit. Do you say that a Hijet sold here as an OHV can get a title after 25 years? Can anything older than 25 years get a title and go on the freeway? Sid-by-sides? If not everything, then what limits? Who does the inspection to see if it meets the new standards? Who is going to pay for all of it?
The problem is that because you are so invested, you can’t see the issue from outside your own narrow perspective. You want what you want and don’t care about anything else.
The rules are already in place: nothing brought here before it is 25 years old can qualify for the 25-year exemption. This holds true for any newer car imported for off-road use only, and has zero bearing on the cars that do meet the exemption.
A kei passenger car can handle a highway, which is why it is ok to let it use a highway. It doesn’t mean they will become dailies, for a number of reasons. Kei trucks and vans are not practical on a highway, and will self regulate just as well as the Trabant. (As for the Trabi, my friend lives in Connecticut and drives it to meets all over the tri-state area, up and down I-95.)
Anything that was street legal elsewhere and meets the federal 25-year exemption ought to be importable and registerable, as long as it can meet the emissions and safety inspections as required by individual states for other cars of the same vintage. All I am asking is that the same rules apply to me that apply to someone who imports a 1982 Ferrari 512 BB or a 1999 Smart or a 1989 Fiat 126.
I posit that the only reason kei cars are targeted is because it’s an easy place to begin to target all imports under the 25-year exemption, since other car fans often shrug their shoulders. After that will come older cars in general. Abandon us at your peril.
So, 25 years from now, a Hijet sold new here can’t get a title, but the same exact model imported from elsewhere can. Does that make sense? Kei cars are currently allowed in the U.S. as OHVs. Being older doesn’t give them special status any more than it would for a SxS.
Again, you are a live version of the Spider-Man meme. Kei cars can be used as dailies but they won’t be used as dailies. If they self-regulate, you wouldn’t have a problem with an official regulation. Yet it is precisely what you are bitching about.
Japan’s Kei car rules are unique and don’t resemble those in the U.S., Europe, or other places that are covered in general by the 25-year rule. In Japan, it is a subset and is being treated as such. This is not a tough concept to understand if you can be objective.
The degree to which you are being abandoned is based on the degree to which your stance is nonsense.
Wait….BMW wagons? Older ones that were imported legally under the law at the time? That makes no sense.
I wonder if as they aren’t banned drive them anyhow and fight the ticket as since the state has ruled them legal but refuses to emissions test them then emissions are not necessary. Maybe run it by a lawyer first instead of a guy who hasn’t had power for 3 days.
Colorado can bone itself in the tailpipe.
I love this.
I think we should allow Kei cars, but I also thing they’re unsuitable for operation on interstates. If they did this in my state, I’d sat 50mph should be the limit. That’s just because state highways (2 lane non-divided) seem to have 50mph limits. That would still allow them on some roads where they could cause problems, but I think they could keep up enough to let traffic past them when a passing opportunity presents itself.
The major non-interstate (although technically still, running from Maine to Florida) route gets stuck behind slow vehicles, but those seem to be big heavy american vahicles. The Kei trucks I’ve seen on that route are also suffering behind the dump trucks on uphill segments.
I’d love to see this in my state, because any interstate accident for a Kei truck would likely be fatal. Speed limit is 65 but traffic flows at 80mph. This seems reasonable versus giving them full passenger vehicle registration.
There is alot of cars falling under this “shadowban” that arent strictly “Kei” and are basically just regular cars from Japan. Limiting them to 55, 60 etc. Is not smart because they are at comparable safety and speed to any typical American built 80’s-90’s car (and probably in better condition).
At the moment, I see at least 10 Keis for every one JDM regular passenger vehicle, and half of the non-Kei JDM cars I see are just Japanese versions of vehicles we already got in the US.
I’m definitely getting old and grumpy, but I don’t see the purpose of importing a car because you want it to have Toyota badges instead of Lexus badges. At that point you are actively seeking the most difficult way to do things, so I don’t feel too bad about the hassles encountered.
Land of The Free, my ass.
Freedom starts at $1 Billion net worth.
If you’re not there, you’re not working hard enough.
That may be a correct analysis, but a horrible goal for a nation. Freedom must mean freedom for regular people, too.
I don’t disagree, but here we are.
What you notice may not be a representative sample. At meetups around me, the overwhelming majority of JDM imports are Toyota Crowns and Nissan Skylines.
Importing a Celsior or other JDM counterpart kinda makes sense: low miles, well maintained, mostly the same parts, was driven only on perfectly smooth roads.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/16/09/1a/16091a738bcba67952ba07c89001badd.gif
One of the many reasons I love living in Colorado! Thanks for the good news, Mercedes. I probably won’t ever import a kei car, but I’m glad others will have the opportunity to do so.
According to the tons of articles I’ve read, various states’ DMV (or equivalent) have become “activist” organizations. And to be fair sometimes that seems to be because the legislatures have actively given them the power to enforce the laws as they see fit.
So even IF the Colorado legislature passes this bill into law, who’s to say the DMV won’t shadow-ban kei cars anyhow? Then what do you do, sue the DMV?
I just use my arkansas dealer plates to drive mine, and anything else the Colorado DMV doesn’t want on the road.
Now, is my UK-sourced 1986 classic Mini considered a kei? Because it’ll sure do more than 55 on Colorado highways…
I am not planning on driving my NZ-sourced 1981 Mini all the way to Colorado, but I had the same question.
Is it currently legally registered in your state of record? If so, then (as far as I can tell from reading…but I am not a lawyer) you would be allowed to drive anywhere in the USA and Canada (as a temp visitor) to the best of m knowledge.
Yes, it’s currently legally registered in Colorado. I’m wondering what the legal definition of a Kei is for this law. The Mini has an engine that’s twice the displacement of a Kei at nearly 1.3l!
Ok, so I think you’d have to read the guidance from AAMVA to find that. But Minis were not considered kei cars by any state when they were imported in thr 60’s and 70’s.
Kei cars have specific maximum size and engine displacement regulations, while classic Minis, despite being small, don’t fit within those kei car parameters. The actual recommendations are in the link below, and I don’t think a Mini would be considered any of the classes or types listed.
Generally, most police won’t bother a car that has a current plate and registration from any state unless speeding or reckless driving is an issue.
https://www.aamva.org/getmedia/86238c69-4d89-4a3a-911b-270ce625d98c/Regulation-of-Off-Road-Vehicles-Best-Practices.pdf
My Mini was imported about 10 years ago, so it’s not all that different than a Kei being brought over from Japan in that same time range. You are correct in that it has an oversize engine compared to a Kei. But since this article talks about specific legislation for Kei vehicles in Colorado, I need to look up the specific Colorado definition of these vehicles to make sure I don’t get swept up in it.
And here it is. My 1298cc engine means I’m okay, but there are other Minis that have engines below 1000cc and they are small enough to meet the dimensional limits. So you may no longer be able to drive a sub-liter Mini on roads in CO with a speed limit above 55 mph or limited access highways. The bill doesn’t seem to indicate if these restricted vehicles will be identified in any way, but a special license plate is not out of the question.
(45.3) “KEI VEHICLE” MEANS A VEHICLE THAT:
(a) IS POWERED BY AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE WITH A DISPLACEMENT OF ONE THOUSAND CUBIC CENTIMETERS OR LESS OR AN ELECTRICAL MOTOR OF FIFTY-SIX THOUSAND WATTS OR LESS;
(b) IS SIXTY-SEVEN INCHES OR LESS IN WIDTH;
(c) IS ONE HUNDRED FORTY INCHES OR LESS IN LENGTH;
(d) TRAVELS ON FOUR OR MORE TIRES IN CONTACT WITH THE GROUND;
(e) HAS A TOP SPEED OF AT LEAST FIFTY MILES PER HOUR;
(f) HAS AN ENCLOSED PASSENGER CAB;
(g) WAS IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED STATES; AND
(h) (I) WAS TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OLD OR OLDER WHEN IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED STATES; OR
(II) IS TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OLD OR OLDER AND WAS PREVIOUSLY ISSUED A TITLE IN THE UNITED STATES.
“Driving a kei vehicle on a roadway that has a speed limit greater than 55 miles per hour or on a limited-access highway is prohibited.”
What if the Kei vehicle is capable of going faster than that, fast enough to do the speed limit on said roadways?
Seems like bullshit to me.
I saw a Subaru Dias at the 6th Ave Trader Joe’s in Denver the other day. I’d never seen a kei van in person before, it was so cool! What a perfect city car, basically the only vehicle that seemed the appropriate size for that neverending screaming traffic jam of a parking lot, and yet it looked like it had more cargo volume than any of the endless midsize crossovers around it. Insane to ban these things. I wondered if its owner was an Autopian reader, heh.
I live in CO and welcome this, despite not wanting to take my chances on a Kei car or truck. I see plenty of them here. The worst part about the stories told in this article are that people are trying to register and operate these things legally and the state/counties refuse to cooperate – making it an effectively impossible to drive one of these legally despite no prohibition.
I really dislike the CO/Denver dmv – it’s slow, inefficient, and the rules for title/registration are enforced by petulant assholes at the offices. It’s why so many people in Denver just drive without tags or expired tags. I’ve sat in the DMV for hours with proper documentation just watching person after person get turned away for having one “i” not dotted or “t” not crossed. Emissions tests are no better. You can sit for hours in line just to get your stupid dyno test done on a late model car..
I get the reasons for all of these regs, but it really sucks when a law-abiding person still has to jump through so much red tape and hours of hassle just to get their damn registration sticker.
Also, Mercedes, the headline is really hard to understand…
Can confirm. I saw a temp tag from 2021 last time I was in Arvada.
I wonder if they can go on the toll roads for free?
Yeah, I had to read the headline 3-4 times myself. “Colorado May Pass Law to Strike Down Imported Car Bans” is much easier to parse.
Mercedes in 2021: David and Jason, I’d like to do a story about unfair licensing practices that affects enthusiasts of imported Kei cars…
DT: That’s a pretty small group…
Mercedes (continuing): …like Autozams…
Torch: I’m listening…
Mercedes (continuing): …and even vintage Jeeps.
DT: ABOVE THE FOLD!
I guess I just don’t understand the reasoning. If it was truly about safety then ban motorcycles or polaris slingshots and all old cars. If it was about emissions then ban motorcycles or polaris slingshots and all old cars. As a taxpayer I do not want to be paying for the healthcare of people who stupidly break themselves doing dangerous stuff on the roads but also this seems like a stupid place to make a line in the sand. I like the speed limit compromise. I would not be on the highway in a 1945 CJ.
Clearly new to the country.
Default stance on most things is that if I don’t like it/don’t understand it, it should be outlawed and banned, as the only correct source of truth is mine.
No have been here for over 1/2 century just keep hoping something smart will happen and constantly disappointed.
The bit about pollution is BS too. The Front Range is swarming with hobbyist general aviation traffic (small aircraft that run on leaded fuel) all day every day. That’s a MUCH bigger pollution concern than the 12 people who drive kei cars in Colorado. If it were about pollution, they’d quit dragging their feet on making the recreational pilots switch over to unleaded fuel and maybe even enforce the ban on coal rollers too.
Money does talk and general aviation people tend to have money and influence but the old guy with his 60 year old surplus jeep does not.
One state down, 49 states to go!
Ironically California is fine with registering kei cars, however all grey market imports have to pass emissions testing at a state operated lab which from what I heard cost $5K+, so not many kei cars are registered there.
The Honda Beat is still forbidden fruit in Comiefornia.
There is nothing Communist about California, Bryan.
Anyone who uses “Commiefornia” unironically should be ignored entirely.
No it’s not. Get a BAR lab test (which will cost you $5K+) and California will allow it. Admittedly very few people do this because of the cost, but I met the owner of an Autozam AZ-1 with California plates and picked his brain about the process.
And what does this have in common with communism?
(Answer: absolutely nothing.)
Bad: A ban in everything but name?
Worse: Its a ban only for the lower class peasants.
Ah yes, california the land where everything is legal for a price.
Plenty of states don’t restrict keis at all, putting them ahead of this bill already.
Sure, some states have never banned them.
This is about states banning them and then the ban being overturned after enthusiast take action.
A lot of states that never banned them are starting to ban them. Massachusetts, Michigan, Illinois, Kansas, Georgia are states that have recently banned after previously allowing them.
The point is to try and protect them before “the states that have never banned them”, do infact ban them.
If there is no law in place in a certain state, it’s highly likely that state’s DMV will eventually take the AAMVA guidance and ban them. Its a new state every few months.
Colorado dmv acts independently and needs to be reined in frequently. Hopefully this goes though I don’t see the downside. Kei cars are fuel efficient and they are getting into the era of imports where they are somewhat safe. The monopoly emission place all have sniffers as well as odbii so it shouldn’t be a roadblock. You can register a side by side in Colorado you should be able to register a kei.
That puts Colorado WAY ahead of California.
I would hope so. Lots of people wearing their “Don’t California my Colorado” shirts around. But also a lot of people being displaced by California mass migration.
The problem is, like a lot of emigrants people leave a $hi—y place, then vote the same way they did before leaving and turn their new home into a worse copy of their old home.
Yep, and it’s happening all over the country.