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Comment by rootusrootus | Hacker News Reader

It’s not even remotely as capable as a full size truck. Or a compact one for that matter.

Edit: Don't be grouchy and just downvote. If you really think a Kei truck with a 1000 pound payload and 60mph [optimistic] top speed is comparable to a full size pickup, explain why. It's the same payload as a Corolla, not a full size body-on-frame pickup. And even then, that completely ignores towing, which is a very common use case for full size trucks today. A Corolla would do -that- better, too.

Kei cars are neat, but be realistic.

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Yeah but the point is that the vast majority of people buying full sized pickup trucks aren't actually using them for practical purposes, and it turns out that when something becomes a status symbol like that for so long the capabilities diverge from what people that aren't just buying it as a status symbol want.

> Yeah but the point is that the vast majority of people buying full sized pickup trucks aren't actually using them for practical purposes,

If they aren't, you can replace them with a cheaper, safer, more fuel efficient vehicle that meets US safety standards and is easier to maintain and register than a Kei, and probably at a comparable or far cheaper initial price than the Kei.

If they are using it for a practical purpose, you can't replace it with a Kei.

Either way, a Kei is probably the wrong choice for most US buyers.

(There are newer import-legal minitrucks that don't have the registration hassles, like Nissan Clipper, which makes the range of situations where the Kei makes a lot of sense outside of particular brand attachment even narrower.)

> a Kei is probably the wrong choice for most US buyers.

> There are newer import-legal minitrucks that don't have the registration hassles, like Nissan Clipper

I'm confused - the Nissan Clipper is a Kei truck/van. Kei isn't a brand, it's just a description of a specific style of car (low weight, engine size etc incentivized by the Japanese government).

>If they are using it for practical purpose, you can’t replace it with a Kei

Often people living on large properties and in rural areas have vehicles that never hit public roads, and Kei car class vehicles or their equivalent get used every single day. Just think about the logistics of living down a long road on 30 acres - getting the mail, taking garbage bins out, moving tools, water, animal feed, debris, etc. Large trucks don’t even fit through some gates and Polaris/atv/small vehicle is often the best solution.

Panel vans. Like those 1.2L 3cyl Golf faced delivery vans. People need those. But that’s not a socially acceptable private possession, and a Kei is nowhere as humiliating thanks to novelty, so Kei sells.

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