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KEIJIRA軽トラ

Your truck just landed. Now what?

The buying guides end at the purchase, and the driving starts weeks later. This is the bit in between — the paperwork, the insurance call nobody warns you about, and the service you should do before you trust it. Work through it in order; it remembers where you got to.

This changes the advice — in several states the honest answer is that you can't plate it at all.

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  1. 1. Confirm what you actually have

    Find the chassis plate on the firewall or door jamb. "Suzuki Carry" spans four generations that do not share part numbers, so the code — not the model name — is what everything else keys off.

    Decode your chassis code

  2. 2. Check your state's rules

    Legality varies by state and has changed in several of them this year. Pick your state above and this step will tell you what applies to you.

    All 50 states

  3. 3. Line up insurance before the DMV, not after

    Some carriers will not write a policy on a grey-market import, and the counter is a bad place to discover that. Get a quote in hand first.

    Insurers that cover kei vehicles

  4. 4. Title and register it

    Bring the import paperwork — bill of lading, customs entry, export certificate. The Japanese chassis number is used as the VIN, and clerks often have to key it manually.

    Title and registration walkthrough

  5. 5. Do a baseline service — you don't know its history

    Assume nothing has been done. Fluids, filters, and above all the timing belt if yours is a belt engine: on these motors the belt is the whole ballgame, and a snapped one is not a repair you want to price.

    Part numbers for your truck

  6. 6. Start the service history it never came with

    These trucks arrive with no records. The log you start now is the one that sells it later, and it is the difference between "runs good" and a truck someone can trust.

    Start a service log

  7. 7. Find a mechanic before you need one

    Plenty of shops will not touch a right-hand-drive import. Much better to know who will on a quiet afternoon than on the day it will not start.

    Kei-friendly mechanics

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