Disclosure: this guide contains referral links, marked where they appear. Market data is independently measured from public sources on the dates shown.
Massachusetts registers kei trucks. It has since September 18, 2024, when the Registry of Motor Vehicles reversed a halt it had imposed three months earlier.
But read the advisory that reopened the door and you find a sentence most coverage skips: the RMV said it intends to register these vehicles while continuing to review the safety implications, with a formal study “under development.” Two years later that study has not been published. Massachusetts is the open state that put its own uncertainty in writing.
There is also a bill that would make the position permanent — and as filed, it would exclude most of the trucks you can actually import. That is the part worth acting on, and I explain why below.
I research Japan’s used vehicle market from Sapporo.
The Short Answer
- Registration: yes, since September 18, 2024. Passenger or commercial plate, depending on intended use, at an RMV Service Center.
- Already-registered trucks were protected. The advisory said existing registrations and renewals continue without interruption.
- Emissions test: no. Only vehicles with onboard diagnostics less than 15 years old are tested. Yours is 25-plus.
- Annual safety inspection: yes, $35, and a newly purchased vehicle must be inspected within 7 days of registration. Plan for that before the truck lands.
- The policy is agency policy, not statute. The RMV reversed itself once in each direction inside three months, and it has promised a study it has not delivered.
- H.4053 would codify it — with a 130-inch length limit. Most 1999-and-later kei trucks measure 133.7 inches.
What the RMV Actually Said
The advisory dated September 17, 2024 is four short paragraphs, and it is worth reading all of them rather than the headline:
The Registry of Motor Vehicles has completed its preliminary assessment of industry standards related to Kei trucks, cars and vans (Kei Vehicles). At this time, owners of Kei Vehicles will be able to register these vehicles effective September 18, 2024. Kei Vehicles that are already registered may continue their existing registration and renewals, without interruption.
The RMV intends to register Kei Vehicles while continuing to review safety implications of Kei Vehicles on the public roadways. Plans for conducting a formal study of this subject matter are under development and will be announced once complete.
Three phrases carry the weight. “Preliminary assessment.” “At this time.” And a formal study whose plans were still “under development.”
That is not a state announcing a settled position. It is a state announcing an interim one, and saying so honestly. Compare it with Michigan, which published a permanent answer in its Secretary of State FAQ, or with Texas and Vermont, which changed by statute. Massachusetts changed by administrative decision and attached a caveat to it.
The practical reading is not alarm. It is timing: if you are going to buy, the registered-vehicle protection in that advisory is the thing you want to be on the right side of. When Massachusetts halted registrations in June 2024, the trucks already on the books were the ones that came out of it intact.
What It Costs to Keep on the Road
Massachusetts is a mandatory-inspection state, which is the ongoing obligation an out-of-state buyer usually does not budget for. From the RMV’s vehicle inspections page:
- “All vehicles registered in Massachusetts must pass a yearly vehicle inspection.” No age exemption, no antique carve-out that reaches a working truck.
- “Newly purchased vehicles must be inspected within 7 days of registration.”
- “Inspections cost $35 for most vehicles.”
- “Vehicles with onboard diagnostic systems that are less than 15 years old must pass an annual emissions test.” A 1996–2001 truck is outside that, so the annual visit is a safety inspection only.
The seven-day window is the item to plan around. It means the truck has to be inspection-ready when it arrives, not after a winter of sorting out. Lights, wipers, horn, mirrors, brakes, tyres, seat belts and glass are the recurring items on a safety inspection anywhere, and on a 25-year-old Japanese work truck the perishables are exactly what has perished. Order what you can before the truck lands, and read the auction sheet’s free-text notes for lighting and glass comments — the auction sheet guide covers where those appear, and the maintenance guide covers the arrival service.
Annual inspection is a real cost of ownership here, but keep it in proportion: $35 a year against a truck that lands for under $7,000 is not the thing that decides your purchase.
The Bill That Would Make It Permanent — and Its 130-Inch Problem
Because the current position is agency policy, Massachusetts owners have been pushing for statute. H.4053, “An Act to legalize Kei vehicles in the Commonwealth,” would amend Chapter 90 to define kei vehicles and direct the Registry to accept registration applications for them. It was reported favourably and referred to House Ways and Means on July 28, 2025, and has not moved since.
Here is the part that deserves attention from anyone lobbying for it. The bill as filed defines a kei vehicle as having four wheels, an engine displacement of 660 cubic centimetres or less, an overall length of 130 inches or less, an overall height of 78 inches or less and an overall width of 60 inches or less.
That is the same four-number template Pennsylvania uses in its mini truck policy and North Carolina uses in statute. And 130 inches is 3,302 mm — which is the Japanese kei length limit as it stood until October 1998, when it was raised to 3.40 m.
| Generation | Overall length | In inches | Inside a 130-inch limit? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honda Acty HA3/HA4 (1990–1999) | 3,255 mm | 128.1 in | Yes |
| Carry, Hijet, Sambar, Minicab (to 1999) | 3,295 mm | 129.7 in | Yes, by 0.3 in |
| All five models, 1999 onward | 3,395 mm | 133.7 in | No — over by 3.7 in |
Those figures are from the makers where the makers still publish them: Suzuki’s own spec archive gives 3,395 mm for the January 1999 Carry and 3,295 mm for the 1991 truck, and Honda’s archive gives 3.395 m for the HA6/HA7 Acty.
So a bill written to protect kei owners would, as filed, define the class in a way that excludes every truck built from 1999 onward — and the share of the importable market that falls outside it grows every year, because the 25-year line keeps advancing into the post-1998 generation.
This is a one-number amendment, not a policy fight. Changing 130 to 134 inches would align the definition with the standard Japan has actually used since 1998, and the bill is sitting in a committee where amendments happen. If you are a Massachusetts owner writing to your representative about H.4053, that is the single most useful sentence you can put in the letter. The three state templates are compared here, including the one state that drafted it well.
To be clear about what I am not saying: the current RMV policy contains no such length limit, so this is a risk in the proposed statute rather than a problem with registering a truck today. It is worth fixing before it becomes law, not after.
Massachusetts-Specific Buying Notes
Two things about this state change what you should buy.
Salt. Massachusetts salts heavily, and I write that from Sapporo, where the roads are salted five months a year and the trucks show it in the rocker panels, the bed floor edges and the brake and fuel lines. If the truck is going to live in New England, pay the premium for an example from a warm, dry Japanese prefecture and read the auction sheet for C codes — corrosion that has gone through metal — rather than for paint grade. The Michigan guide goes into this at length, and the logic is identical here. Budget for a proper undercoating in the first month.
The inspection sticker. Because Massachusetts inspects every year, a truck with tired lighting and cracked glass is a truck that will cost you a reject sticker annually. In a no-inspection state you can defer that. Here you cannot, so buy the tidier example rather than the cheaper one — the difference is usually a few hundred dollars in Japan and several visits to an inspection station in Massachusetts.
For Reference: What These Trucks Cost
Massachusetts lets you plate one, so the purchase is the decision. This is the Japan-side market, measured August 19, 2026 — every eligible truck listed publicly in Japan, at ¥159/USD:
| Model | Listings in Japan | Median price in Japan |
|---|---|---|
| Subaru Sambar | 78 | ¥364,000 (≈$2,289) |
| Mitsubishi Minicab | 64 | ¥394,000 (≈$2,478) |
| Honda Acty | 80 | ¥398,000 (≈$2,503) |
| Suzuki Carry | 99 | ¥399,000 (≈$2,509) |
| Daihatsu Hijet | 60 | ¥453,000 (≈$2,849) |
Landed cost runs about $4,800–6,700 depending on specification, itemised in the cost guide, with the raw dataset published so you can recount any figure. For New England use, 4WD is ordinary equipment on this supply rather than a rare option and it earns its keep on snow — the off-road guide has the measured shares by model. If snow moving is the job, the factory dump bed is the configuration worth chasing, and the Hijet guide has those numbers.
Massachusetts registers these trucks today, and the trucks already on the books were the ones protected the last time policy moved. Condition decides the rest, because you will be at an inspection station every year — CAR FROM JAPAN publishes the inspector’s auction sheet with each vehicle, and my referral code takes $100 off a first purchase: enter KEITRUCK at the order step (referral link). Remember the seven-day inspection window when you plan the arrival.
FAQ
Are kei trucks legal in Massachusetts?
Yes. The RMV has registered kei vehicles since September 18, 2024, issuing a passenger or commercial plate depending on intended use. Registration is done at an RMV Service Center.
Could Massachusetts reverse this again?
It is agency policy rather than statute, and the RMV halted registrations in June 2024 before reopening them in September. The reopening advisory described the assessment as “preliminary,” said registrations would be accepted “at this time,” and stated that a formal safety study was under development. No study has been published as of August 2026. When the halt happened, already-registered vehicles were the ones that continued uninterrupted.
Does my kei truck need an emissions test in Massachusetts?
No. Only vehicles with onboard diagnostic systems less than 15 years old are subject to the annual emissions test. A 25-year-old import is outside that.
Does it need a safety inspection?
Yes, every year, and it costs $35. A newly purchased vehicle must be inspected within 7 days of registration, so the truck needs to be inspection-ready on arrival.
What is H.4053 and would it help?
It is a bill to codify kei vehicle registration in Massachusetts law, reported favourably and referred to House Ways and Means on July 28, 2025. It would remove the RMV’s discretion to reverse course. As filed, though, it defines a kei vehicle with an overall length of 130 inches or less, and every kei truck built from 1999 measures 133.7 inches — so the definition needs amending before it becomes law.
Should I buy a cheaper truck or a tidier one for Massachusetts?
Tidier. Annual inspection means worn lighting, cracked glass and perished wipers become a recurring cost rather than a deferred one, and New England salt makes underbody condition the item that decides how long the truck lasts.