Disclosure: this guide contains referral links, marked where they appear. Market data is independently measured from public sources on the dates shown.
New Jersey does not have a statute that names kei trucks, bans them, or lets them in. What it has is a routing decision and two definitions, and between them they explain everything owners report.
The routing decision is published on the Motor Vehicle Commission’s own site: “You must submit your request to the central MVC office to obtain a title on a foreign vehicle. Local MVC Agencies cannot issue this type of transfer.” Every imported vehicle in the state goes to one unit in Trenton, by post. That is why answers vary so wildly between owners — almost nobody is talking to the office that actually decides.
I research Japan’s used vehicle market from Sapporo. This page works through what New Jersey’s own documents say, including the two figures that changed on 1 January 2026.
The Short Answer
- There is no kei-specific statute, in either direction. No mini-truck class, no ban.
- Foreign vehicles are titled only by the MVC Special Title Unit in Trenton, by post. Local agencies are expressly excluded.
- The low-speed vehicle class is closed twice over: it excludes anything “powered by gasoline or diesel fuel” and requires compliance with 49 C.F.R. 571.500.
- The “motorized scooter” definition has a residual clause reaching vehicles built without federal certification. It is headed “miniature motor vehicle,” which cuts the other way — but it is worth reading before you assume it is irrelevant.
- New Jersey wrote a weight fallback: where the manufacturer’s shipping weight is unavailable, the applicant may be required to have the vehicle weighed on a certified scale under N.J.S.A. 39:3-8.
- Historic plates are $44, need Form SP-121 and two photographs — and require a New Jersey title you already hold.
- Insurance minimums rose on 1 January 2026 to 35/70/25 on standard policies.
- Title transfer is $60 and ordinary registration for a light older vehicle is $46.50.
One Office, by Post
The MVC’s Foreign Vehicles page is four short paragraphs and it is the most operationally useful thing New Jersey publishes on this subject:
“You must submit your request to the central MVC office to obtain a title on a foreign vehicle. Local MVC Agencies cannot issue this type of transfer. To make sure you have all the required paperwork, please call 609-341-5718.
Mail requests to: Motor Vehicle Commission, Special Title Unit, 225 East State Street 2 East, Trenton, NJ 08666″
The page carves out only Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Cherokee Nation, and adds that a foreign vehicle must be titled before it can be registered: “Before you can register a foreign vehicle, you have to get it titled in New Jersey. Once your vehicle has a title, you may visit any MVC Agency to register with the state.”
Three practical consequences follow.
Do not queue at an agency. A local office cannot process the transaction whatever its staff say, so a refusal there is not New Jersey’s answer — it is the wrong counter.
The published document list is a phone call, not a web page. The MVC does not publish the paperwork requirements for foreign vehicles; it publishes a number and tells you to ring it. That is unusual, and it means the only reliable list is the one the Special Title Unit gives you, in writing, before you ship.
Titling and registration are two separate steps with two separate answers. If the Special Title Unit issues a title, registration afterwards is ordinary counter work. The title is the gate.
The Low-Speed Vehicle Class Is Closed Twice
Owners in states with no kei class are often steered toward the low-speed vehicle route. In New Jersey it fails on two independent grounds, and the wording is worth having exactly.
R.S. 39:1-1, as amended by P.L. 2019, chapter 121, defines the class as:
“‘Low-speed vehicle’ means a four-wheeled low-speed vehicle, as defined in 49 C.F.R. s.571.3(b), whose attainable speed is more than 20 miles per hour but not more than 25 miles per hour on a paved level surface and which is not powered by gasoline or diesel fuel and complies with federal safety standards as set forth in 49 C.F.R. s.571.500.”
A petrol kei truck fails the fuel clause outright. Even an electric one would then have to comply with FMVSS 500 as manufactured, which a Japanese-market vehicle does not. And the attainable-speed band tops out at 25 mph, which these trucks exceed.
The fuel exclusion puts New Jersey alongside Washington, where every low-speed class in the code is electrically powered. It is worth naming as a pattern: several states wrote their small-vehicle classes during a wave of electric neighborhood vehicles, and the drafting language locked petrol out as a side effect rather than as a policy about imports. Kentucky’s low-speed definition, by contrast, expressly covers a “combustion-driven motor” and fails a kei truck on a different clause entirely.
The definition worth reading before you assume it does not apply
The same section defines another class, and its residual clause is broader than its title suggests:
“‘Motorized scooter’ means a miniature motor vehicle and includes, but is not limited to, pocket bikes, super pocket bikes, scooters, mini-scooters, sport scooters, mini choppers, mini motorcycles, motorized skateboards and other vehicles with motors not manufactured in compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and which have no permanent Federal Safety Certification stickers affixed to the vehicle by the original manufacturer.”
Read the residual clause on its own and it describes every 25-year import in the country: built without reference to the federal standards, and carrying no federal certification sticker. That is exactly what a kei truck is.
Read the whole definition and the picture changes. The class is introduced as “a miniature motor vehicle,” the enumerated items are pocket bikes and motorized skateboards, and the exclusions that follow are all small personal devices. On the ordinary principle that a general phrase at the end of a list takes its meaning from the list, a 3,395 mm truck with a steel cab and a load bed is a poor fit for a category built around mini choppers.
I have found no published New Jersey decision or agency statement applying the clause to an imported truck, and this page is not going to invent one. What it is worth doing is raising the definition yourself when you call the Special Title Unit, rather than discovering later that someone else raised it. If the answer is that the clause is not applied that way, that answer is worth having in writing.
The Weight Problem, and the Fallback New Jersey Wrote
New Jersey registers passenger vehicles by weight class, and it explains where the weight comes from: “The weight class of the vehicle is determined by information contained in the manufacturer’s statement of origin,” and, failing that, the renewal application, the Branham Reference Book, or the MVC’s own weight class manual.
A 1999 Japanese-market truck has none of the three. There is no manufacturer’s statement of origin, no Branham entry, and no MVC weight class listing for a Suzuki Carry.
Then the sentence that solves it: “If the manufacturer’s shipping weight is disputable or unavailable, the applicant may be required to have the car weighed on a certified scale under N.J.S.A. 39:3-8. This weight will be considered the manufacturer’s shipping weight.“
That is a real answer to a real problem, and it belongs in the same family as Kentucky directing its assessors to value an unlisted vehicle directly and New Mexico naming a certified appraisal. Where a state has written down what happens when its reference book is empty, an import has somewhere to stand. Bring the export deregistration certificate with the kerb weight on it, and be ready to use a public scale.
For the record, the figure a scale will produce: a kei truck weighs 670–850 kg, or 1,477–1,874 lb, which puts it in New Jersey’s lightest passenger class by a wide margin.
Historic Registration: Real, but Not a Way Around the Title
New Jersey’s historic vehicle registration is straightforward and cheap:
- The vehicle must be at least 25 years old and “only used for exhibition and educational purposes by the owner.”
- The plate costs $44 (or $74 courtesy, $94 personalized), on the QQ series.
- Apply on Form SP-121 with two color photographs, front and side.
- Standard historic plates can be bought in person at a Vehicle Center, or by post to the Special Plate Unit, PO Box 015, Trenton, NJ 08666-0015.
Every truck eligible under the federal 25-year rule is old enough. But note the third item on the MVC’s own checklist: “Bring a copy of your vehicle’s New Jersey title.“
Historic registration is a plate class for a vehicle you have already titled. It does nothing to solve the titling question, which is the question. And the use restriction is not decorative — “only used for exhibition and educational purposes” is a narrower permission than a farm exception, and narrower than Pennsylvania’s antique route, which at least contemplates limited general driving.
What It Costs
| Item | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Title transfer | $60.00 ($85.00 with a lien) | MVC fee schedule |
| Registration, vehicle older than two years, under 3,500 lb | $46.50 | MVC weight class 7 |
| Historic vehicle plate | $44.00 | MVC code 64 |
| Sales and use tax | 6.625% | Division of Taxation |
| Certified scale weighing, if required | Varies; the fallback under N.J.S.A. 39:3-8 | MVC fee page |
| Low-speed vehicle registration, for comparison | $46.50 initial / $34.00 for two model years or older | MVC code 25 |
These are small numbers by the standards of this series, and that is the point worth taking from the table: New Jersey’s cost is not money, it is the title decision. Everything downstream of a title is cheap and ordinary. The landed cost calculator covers the federal side, which is the same wherever the truck lands, and the cost guide works a whole purchase through.
Insurance: The Numbers Changed on 1 January 2026
This is the part where most published guidance is now out of date, and it is worth being exact because the figures moved twice.
Department of Banking and Insurance Bulletin 25-06 sets it out. P.L. 2022, chapter 87, signed on 5 August 2022, raised New Jersey’s minimum automobile liability limits in two phases:
- From 1 January 2023: $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident, $25,000 property damage.
- From 1 January 2026, for all new and renewal policies: $35,000 per person and $70,000 per accident. Property damage stays at $25,000.
Written 35/70/25 — well above the 25/50/25 that most states in this series require. The bulletin adds one exception in a footnote: the Act “does not apply to the basic automobile insurance policy provided by N.J.S.A. 39:6A-3.1,” so New Jersey’s cut-price basic policy keeps its own lower limits.
Two practical notes. Online quote forms validate VIN length and will refuse a Japanese chassis number, so expect to arrange this by telephone. And ask for agreed-value or stated-value cover rather than actual cash value: there is no book value for a 1999 Japanese-market truck, which is exactly why you do not want a total-loss settlement decided by a valuation guide.
What to Ask the Special Title Unit
Because New Jersey’s answer is administrative rather than statutory, the whole question turns on one phone call and one letter. Ask these, and ask for the reply in writing.
- “I have a Japanese-market truck imported under the federal 25-year exemption on HS-7 Box 1, with EPA form 3520-1 and a CBP 7501. What does the Special Title Unit require to issue a title?” Start with the document list, because that is the thing the MVC does not publish.
- “My ownership document is a Japanese export deregistration certificate, not a certificate of title. Will the unit accept it with a certified English translation?”
- “The vehicle has no manufacturer’s statement of origin and no Branham entry. Will the weight be set by certified scale under N.J.S.A. 39:3-8?” This shows you have read their own procedure, and it heads off a stall.
- “Does the MVC treat a vehicle of this size as a motorized scooter under R.S. 39:1-1?” Raise it yourself. A no in writing is worth more than silence.
- “If a title is issued, is there any restriction on the registration class?”
Write down who answered and when. New Jersey is a state where the outcome plausibly turns on which examiner reads the file, and a named written answer is the only thing that survives that.
It is also worth knowing that administrative positions move administratively. Michigan reversed its off-road-only stance with an agency decision in late 2024, and Massachusetts resumed registrations the same way after a brief halt. Neither needed a bill.
What to Buy for New Jersey
Until the title question is answered for your own vehicle, plan the purchase around private-property and farm use, and around the state’s climate.
Corrosion is the first question, not the third. New Jersey salts heavily and sits on the coast, and a truck that arrives with early rust will not stop. Prefer stock from warm, dry prefectures and read the auction sheet for C codes, which mark corrosion that has gone through metal, rather than the overall paint grade. This matters more here than in most of the states in this series.
Four-wheel drive if the truck works. Nurseries, farms, marinas and estate maintenance are where these trucks earn their keep in the north-east. The off-road guide has the measured 4WD shares by model.
Keep every document. In a state where one office decides on the papers alone, the file matters more than the truck. Keep the export certificate, the certified translation, the HS-7, the EPA 3520-1, the CBP 7501, the bill of sale and the shipping documents together, and send copies rather than originals until the unit asks otherwise.
For reference, the Japanese side of this market as I measured it across 394 trucks: Subaru Sambar ¥370,000, Honda Acty ¥390,000, Mitsubishi Minicab ¥390,000, Suzuki Carry ¥400,000 and Daihatsu Hijet ¥450,000 at the median. The model comparison sets those against United States sale averages, and the Carry guide and the Hijet guide cover what holds up. The fifty-state comparison shows how differently neighboring states have handled the same trucks.
New Jersey decides on the paperwork, which makes the documents that arrive with the truck part of the purchase. CAR FROM JAPAN supplies the export deregistration certificate and the inspector’s auction sheet with each vehicle — the ownership paper the Special Title Unit will want to see, and the corrosion codes that matter more here than almost anywhere. My referral code takes $100 off a first purchase: enter KEITRUCK at the order step (referral link).
FAQ
Are kei trucks legal in New Jersey?
There is no statute banning them and none permitting them as a class. Every imported vehicle is titled by the MVC’s Special Title Unit in Trenton, by post, and registration follows a title. Owners widely report refusals; the decision is administrative, which is why the written answer from that unit is the only one that counts.
Can I register one as a low-speed vehicle?
No. R.S. 39:1-1 defines a low-speed vehicle as one “not powered by gasoline or diesel fuel” that also complies with 49 C.F.R. 571.500, with an attainable speed of no more than 25 mph. A petrol kei truck fails all three.
What about historic plates?
They cost $44 and need Form SP-121 with two photographs, but the MVC’s own checklist requires a copy of your New Jersey title. Historic registration is a plate for a titled vehicle, not a route to a title. Use is limited to exhibition and educational purposes.
Where do I send the application?
Motor Vehicle Commission, Special Title Unit, 225 East State Street 2 East, Trenton, NJ 08666. Call 609-341-5718 first for the current document list, which the MVC does not publish online.
How will they work out the weight?
Normally from the manufacturer’s statement of origin, the Branham Reference Book or the MVC’s weight class manual. An imported kei truck appears in none of them, and the MVC’s fee page says the applicant may be required to have the vehicle weighed on a certified scale under N.J.S.A. 39:3-8, with that figure treated as the manufacturer’s shipping weight.
What insurance do I need?
For standard policies issued or renewed on or after 1 January 2026, 35/70/25 — up from 25/50/25. That change comes from P.L. 2022 c.87 and is set out in DOBI Bulletin 25-06. The basic policy under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-3.1 is excluded from the increase.
Is a kei truck a “motorized scooter” in New Jersey?
The residual clause of that definition reaches vehicles built without federal certification and carrying no certification sticker, which describes a 25-year import. The definition is headed “miniature motor vehicle” and the listed examples are pocket bikes and motorized skateboards, which points the other way. No published decision resolves it. Ask, and get the answer in writing.
Can I use one on private property?
Yes. Nothing on this page restricts use on land you own or have permission to use, and that is what most New Jersey owners are doing today.