Before You Buy That Kei Truck, These Are The U.S. States They’re Road-Legal In

If you love a packaging miracle, it doesn’t get much cooler than a kei car. Or a kei truck. Or a kei van. These Japanese-market exclusives are small in size, use tiny engines, and yet are still ridiculously practical. Many of the best ones are also finally old enough to import into the U.S. under the 25-year exemption, and even in fantastic condition, they usually aren’t very expensive, either. You’ll have to get used to driving on the right side of the car, but their tiny footprints should make that easier than you might think. The real problem is that many states have decided these specific old cars are too dangerous, and you might not be allowed to register your new-to-you purchase. 

Unfortunately for kei car owners, figuring out whether or not kei cars are legal in your state isn’t quite as simple as looking up a list of states that ban them, checking to make sure your state isn’t on the list, then confidently clicking the “Place Bid” button. Some states allow them but limit how fast you can drive them. Others technically allow them but won’t let you drive them on public roads. Thankfully, World Population Review, a data-gathering and visualization site, keeps a list of kei car laws in various states that can help you figure other whether the kei car you want is legal or not.

To keep things simple, let’s start with the states that outright ban kei cars. Those states are:

• Iowa
• Maryland
• Nevada
• New Mexico
• Oregon
• Vermont

Kei cars are also explicitly illegal in Georgia, although if you want to use one to do work on your farm, it does allow an exemption for agricultural purposes. You still can’t register your kei truck in Georgia or drive it on public roads, but they won’t stop you from using it on your property. Or, at least, that was the case until recently. Georgia is currently waiting on the Governor to sign a bill that would make kei cars legal again. Well, sort of.

Will all of these states allow you to register an original Volkswagen Beetle that’s even older and less safe than a Honda Acty? Of course. For some reason, these states are only concerned with how safe kei cars are. If you drive anything else, who cares about you or your passengers? Your knees can be the crumple zone in any other vehicle as long as it doesn’t threaten to cut into Big Truck’s profits.

Some states haven’t explicitly banned all kei cars, but they do place heavy restrictions on them. Basically, think of these states like Georgia but without the Department of Revenue telling everyone they’re super illegal. In a way, it’s a distinction without a difference, but no one ever accused kei car bans of making sense. The states that currently restrict kei car use include: 

• California – Legal if modified to meet California Air Resources Board requirements
• Colorado – Off-road only
• Minnesota – Only legal if local laws allow it
• Montana – Only legal if local laws allow it
• New Jersey – Legal if modified to meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and Environmental Protection Agency requirements
• New York – Legal if modified to meet Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and Environmental Protection Agency requirements
• Pennsylvania – Strict inspection requirements make registering kei cars for road use difficult, but it is possible
• Rhode Island – Hostile toward kei cars in general
• Virginia – Legal to register as antique or special-use vehicles, but road use is heavily restricted
• West Virginia – Only legal for agricultural purposes with a limit on how far you can drive them away from your property

Some states are sane enough not to outright ban kei cars or regulate them so aggressively, it’s almost impossible to legally drive one on a public road. That said, even states that haven’t unfairly banned kei cars sometimes limit how fast you’re allowed to legally drive them. Sadly, while 55 mph is technically fast enough to drive on a state highway or interstate, that doesn’t necessarily mean these states allow it. You should make sure you understand your local laws before buying a kei car anyway, but you really want to read up on the specifics in these states:

• Alabama – 25 mph
• Arkansas – 55 mph
• Florida – 35 mph
• Illinois – 35 mph
• Louisiana – 55 mph
• Maine – 35 mph
• Missouri – 45 mph
• New Hampshire – 35 mph
• North Dakota – 55 mph
• Ohio – 35 mph
• South Carolina – 55 mph
• Tennessee – 35 mph
• Utah – 50 mph

Alaska, Delaware and Washington, D.C. don’t have any laws on the books specific to kei cars, so if you live in one of those states, they aren’t illegal. If you live in Alaska, though, there may be local restrictions that limit where or how you can use your kei car. As for other states where kei cars are legal, most of them require you to jump through several hoops if you want to register one. So while it’s good news if your state is included here, that’s only the first step toward ensuring your kei car is street legal. 

The states where kei cars are legal include:

• Arizona
• Connecticut
• Idaho
• Indiana
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Massachusetts
• Mississippi
• Nebraska
• North Carolina
• Oklahoma
• South Dakota
• Texas
• Washington
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming