Any Opinions on Mini Trucks?

[mitch becton]

had a local motorcyle dealer buy 20 of these from the dist with the understanding they could be made street legal in the state of georgia. sold a couple only to have to buy them back state of ga would not title them for on the road use in essence he bought a group of very high dollar farm use only vehicles state of ga says you can use for farm purposes only and would you beleve he tried to contact dist and they are out of business he took them to local car auction took his beating and got away from them. do as much research as possible before making this purchase

 

[Bigfoot62]

Recently, one of our La State Troopers told me that they were only legal where the maximum posted speed limit was 45mph or less. That would limit them to city driving only.

Now, that's what the current law is here, in Louisiana.

YMMV. (pun intended)

 

[woodhe1]

Recently, one of our La State Troopers told me that they were only legal where the maximum posted speed limit was 45mph or less. That would limit them to city driving only.

Now, that's what the current law is here, in Louisiana.

YMMV. (pun intended)

Good Morning Everyone.

I have been selling these trucks for several years both new and used. The agriculture industry is the biggest purchasers of these vehicles (for me). They are great chore trucks on dairy operations.

I think the 50 mpg is a little high. 40 would be closer. I had a Suzuki Shuttle Micro Van tested in a 305 Postal stop route for 7 days. She got 26 mpg with it.

These vehicles seem to get better mileage at lower speeds. The little 660 cc (45 hp) motor has to really wind up at higher speeds.

My new trucks are street legal in all States under the Federal LSV/MSV ruling. They may have to be speed limited for your States requirements (example IL 35mph, WI 25mph, MD 54mph) They are streel legal "as built" in several States NE, WY, MS, etc. You can google mini truck state laws.

I know there are a lot of questions so ask away.

A good link is Japanese Mini Truck Forum - Powered by vBulletin

My web page is Welcome

Photos: Suzuki Super Stalker (truck), Shuttle (van) Mail Mate (auto)

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Thanks for chiming in woodhe1 (and everyone else). I'm see a lot of comments, but I'd like to hear more first hand experience. Can anyone give me first hand knowledge of a time you were not allowed to operate a mini on the road? I checked the Idaho rules, and these trucks are considered UTV's. That makes licensing cheap and easy. They are allowed on roads, but not the interstate. I'd have to figure out how the insurance thing would work.

I understand that these little guys are limited use. In other words they either work for a specific need or they don't.

Here's my commute... 10 miles. No hills. 50 MPH for 7 of the 10 miles and the rest is city driving. I usually run one or two errands during the day, too.

The truck I'm driving right now gets about 15 mpg on a normal tank. That's the gas mileage I'd be replacing. I figured that the 50 mpg the salesman advertised was an overstatement, but the 40 mpg that woodhe1 claims seems reasonable.

I use the bed of my truck a lot. I'll often be hauling packages to the shipper. It's a lot nicer to put 6 packages in the bed of a truck than on the seat. That's why this mini truck idea appeals to me vs. a cheap little compact car. I also like that many of them have a 4X4 option. I tried the motorcycle idea for a while, but I only have 4 months out of the year that are nice motorcycle weather. I can get another 3 months of riding in, but it's not real enjoyable on the cold mornings. Plus, I couldn't haul packages or pick up stuff from the store very easily with a motorcycle.

I ran the numbers based on $3.15/gallon gas (what I paid at the last fill up). The minimum savings in gas would be $682 assuming 40 mpg out of a mini truck. Another thing to factor is in that I use mid grade fuel in my Chevy, and I assume that the mini would use low grade. The guy selling them around here wants ~$3K. I'm sure that goes up if I start asking for 4X4 or any other options.

The appeal to me is saving miles on the Chevy.

 

[Gary Fowler]

You seem pretty satisfied that you can use it on the street as a ATV. ATV arent legal on streets in Texas for sure. I just moved to Ark. so I am not sure about here. Wyoming they rode them all over town and country roads so they must have been legal there.
Before you buy one, check out the different makes for parts availablility and reliabity. I was thinking about one of those before I bought my RTV and I remember that some of them were better than others and part were easier to get.

 

[woodhe1]

These mini trucks are street legal in several States. AL starts 1/1/12. NE was 1/1/11. An easy way to check your State is google mini truck state laws and the list will pop up.

These are not titleable in IL but I know a few people who have bought a titled truck from a different State and transferred it to an IL title. They got IL plates and are using it on the roads. One guy drives his on the IL Tollway into Chi.

Insc. State Farm insures them.

Texas, they are street legal in certain county's.

Most parts are available in stock at a few mini truck parts dealers. You can check out Japanese Mini Truck Forum - Powered by vBulletin for their names. I use GR Imports and RSM & Assoc. Gr has about everything for every brand pre'99 (Suzuki, Daihatsu, Honda, Mazda, Subaru, Mitsubishi).

AR street legal.

On the '90-98 models the cab sizes vary a little Suzuki/Mazda (smallest), Subaru (largest). All are 3 cyl., 660 cc except Subaru is a 4 cyl. 660cc. The Suzuki/Mazda engine is under the seats. Dai. and Mit are a little behind the seat. Hondas are in front of the back axle, and Subarus are a rear engine. The '99 and newer had a change in the body style and the cabs are a little bigger. All '99+ went to fuel injection.

4 wd Honda is full time. The other models are either electric of manual lever to engage 4wd.

dan

 

[Iplayfarmer]

You seem pretty satisfied that you can use it on the street as a ATV. ATV arent legal on streets in Texas for sure. I just moved to Ark. so I am not sure about here. Wyoming they rode them all over town and country roads so they must have been legal there.
Before you buy one, check out the different makes for parts availablility and reliabity. I was thinking about one of those before I bought my RTV and I remember that some of them were better than others and part were easier to get.

In Idaho I have the option to buy a plate for an ATV so that I can drive it on the street. I've done it with my 4-wheeler. I'm sure there are still restrictions like no interstate driving, etc., but I can drive on some streets.

 

[tcartwri]

Ford subcontracts an all electric Transit van. They have an extended range compared to the electric cars, and the gov will give you a hefty rebate because they are all electric. If you were to lease one under the company, and write off the lease, it could be very cheap to operate.

Azure Dynamics - Transit Connect Electric

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Ford subcontracts an all electric Transit van. They have an extended range compared to the electric cars, and the gov will give you a hefty rebate because they are all electric. If you were to lease one under the company, and write off the lease, it could be very cheap to operate.

Azure Dynamics - Transit Connect Electric

If I were to go electric it would probably be like this... [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLjnRj2Dhwk&feature=related]White Zombie 1/4 Mile Speed Record PIR 9.10.2010 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Renze]

Dont know how well your current truck rides, but you cant be serious about running one of these 10 miles a day. In Holland, its only the townships and municipalities that use them for urban traffic, because they are narrow enough to drive over a bicycle path. YES and thats Europe, where vehicles in general, are smaller than what you guys are used to...

at 50mph these things with narrow trackwidth already risk being blown over...

For commuter traffic i'd get a Jetta TDI.... They have as much room in the trunk as the minitruck has in the bed...