Disclosure: this guide contains referral links, marked where they appear. Market data is independently measured from public sources on the dates shown.
Oregon will not title or register a kei truck. The DMV says so on its own vehicle-types page, in one sentence, and it has been the position for years.
Two things about Oregon are worth your attention beyond that flat no. The DMV points readers to an alternative — titling as a Class IV all-terrain vehicle — and the statute it points to was rewritten in 2023 in a way that appears to close that door. Guides all over the internet still quote the old version. And the bill that was supposed to fix all of this, which died in committee for the second time in March 2026, defined a kei truck as 11 feet or less in length — 132 inches, when the trucks it was written to legalise measure 133.7.
I research Japan’s used vehicle market from Sapporo. Below is what Oregon’s own material says, quoted, and what I could not resolve.
The Short Answer
- Title and registration: refused. “They were not manufactured for U.S. highways” is the stated reason.
- The Class IV ATV route the DMV names looks closed. The 2023 amendment added a requirement that the vehicle was “originally manufactured for off-road use only.” A kei truck was not.
- Private-property use is unaffected and needs nothing from anybody.
- HB 4063 died on February 16, 2026 by missing the policy committee deadline; the short session adjourned March 6. A 2025 attempt failed before it.
- The bill’s own definition would have excluded most importable trucks — 11 feet is 132 inches, and a 1999-or-later kei truck is 133.7.
- Oregon has no sales tax, which is a genuine saving on a purchase you cannot register.
What the DMV Says
Oregon’s DMV lists “Kei Vehicles/Mini-Trucks” as its own category on the Vehicle Types page. The entry is two sentences long:
Though many kei class vehicles can be imported, they cannot be titled or registered in Oregon because they were not manufactured for U.S. highways. Mini-trucks can be titled if they meet the definition of a class IV ATV (ORS 801.194[2]).
Note what the first sentence does and does not say. It does not claim you cannot import or own one — it accepts that you can. The refusal is at titling, and the reason given is the vehicle’s origin rather than its condition. That is the same reasoning New York and Georgia use, and the opposite of Michigan’s, which asks whether the vehicle was built for roads in any country and answers yes.
The Class IV ATV Route, and Why I Cannot Recommend It
The second sentence is the interesting one, because the DMV is offering a way through. Take it to the statute and a problem appears.
ORS 801.194(2) currently defines a Class IV all-terrain vehicle as any motorized vehicle that:
(a) Travels on four or more tires designed for off-road use only; (b) Is designed for or capable of cross-country travel on or immediately over land, water, sand, snow, ice, marsh, swampland or other natural terrain; (c) Has nonstraddle seating; (d) Has a steering wheel for steering control; (e) Has a dry weight of 3,500 pounds or less; (f) Is 75 inches wide or less at its widest point; and (g) Was originally manufactured for off-road use only.
Clauses (c), (d), (e) and (f) a kei truck passes without difficulty — nonstraddle seating, a steering wheel, roughly 1,500–1,900 lb against a 3,500 lb ceiling, 58 inches against 75.
Clauses (a) and (g) are the problem. A kei truck rides on road tyres, and it was manufactured for on-road use in Japan — with Japanese plates, a Japanese road inspection history, and in the DMV’s own words on the same page, not “manufactured for U.S. highways” but manufactured for highways nonetheless.
Here is the part that matters. The amendment history at the end of that section reads [1989 c.991 §2; 2011 c.360 §3; … 2019 c.491 §4; 2023 c.372 §1]. The pre-2023 version of the definition was different: it required tires six inches or more in width on rims of 14 inches or less, a dry weight of 1,800 pounds or less, and a width of 65 inches or less — and it contained no clause (g) at all. Under that older text, a kei truck on wide enough tyres arguably qualified. The 2023 rewrite dropped the tyre-dimension test, raised the weight and width limits, and added the requirement that the vehicle was originally manufactured for off-road use only.
So the DMV page points at a definition that has since been rewritten in a way that appears to exclude the vehicle it was offering as a solution. I am not going to tell you the route is dead, because I do not know how ODOT applies clause (g) in practice and the page may simply predate the amendment. I am telling you that this is the single question to put to Oregon DMV in writing before you spend anything, and that the many guides quoting the six-inch tyre test are quoting a superseded statute.
What You Can Legally Do
- Import and own one. The DMV’s own sentence concedes this. Nothing about Oregon’s position affects the federal import.
- Use it on land you own or control. Farms, vineyards, orchards, timber ground, nurseries, ranches — no title, no plate, no permission. Oregon has a great deal of this kind of land and it is where the state’s kei trucks are.
- Trailer it. Shows, work sites, moving between properties. Unaffected.
- Ask about the Class IV route in writing, as above, and keep the answer whichever way it goes.
What you cannot do is drive it on a public road. There is no low-speed vehicle class, farm plate or antique route that admits a non-FMVSS four-wheeled vehicle in Oregon — the DMV’s refusal is at the titling stage, which is upstream of all of them.
Insurance, and the One Thing Oregon Gives You
You cannot insure a vehicle for road use that you cannot register, so the ordinary liability question does not arise while the position stands. For reference if it changes, Oregon’s minimums are $25,000 per person and $50,000 per collision for bodily injury, $20,000 for property damage, $15,000 of personal injury protection per person, and uninsured motorist cover at 25/50.
What you should carry now is different: property or farm liability that covers a vehicle operating on your land, and physical-damage cover for the truck as an asset. Ask your carrier to schedule it explicitly rather than assuming a homeowner or farm policy picks it up.
The compensation is real, though. Oregon has no state sales tax. On a truck landing at $5,000–6,700 that is roughly $300–450 you do not pay, which is not nothing on a purchase where the state has already told you no.
HB 4063: Dead Twice, and It Would Have Missed Anyway
Oregon has tried. In 2025 a kei bill was scrapped in favour of an amendment to a House bill that then failed. In January 2026, HB 4063 was introduced with what its supporters described as strong bipartisan backing. It would have allowed a person to title and register a kei truck, amended the highway operation laws, and created a new offence of unlawfully operating one on a highway.
It was referred to the House Transportation Committee, missed the February 16 policy committee deadline, and was effectively dead from that point. The short session adjourned on March 6, 2026 without a vote.
Now the detail that gets very little attention. As introduced, HB 4063 defined a kei truck as a motor vehicle that was originally manufactured in Japan or South Korea, has an engine displacement of 660 cubic centimetres, is 11 feet or less in length, is 4.9 feet or less in width, is 6.6 feet or less in height, and has a model year at least 25 years before the current year.
| HB 4063 limit | In inches | Actual kei truck | Fits? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 feet long | 132.0 in | 3,395 mm = 133.7 in (1999 onward) | No — over by 1.7 in |
| 4.9 feet wide | 58.8 in | 1,475 mm = 58.1 in | Yes, by 0.7 in |
| 6.6 feet high | 79.2 in | 1,790 mm = 70.5 in | Yes, comfortably |
| 660cc | — | 660cc | Yes, exactly |
Vehicle figures from Suzuki’s own spec archive for the January 1999 Carry and Honda’s archive for the HA6/HA7 Acty.
Eleven feet is a round number that reads like a sensible ceiling for a small truck. It is 1.7 inches short of the vehicle. Pre-1999 trucks at 3,295 mm (129.7 in) would have qualified; everything built from 1999 would not.
This is the same failure that runs through several other states’ definitions — Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Massachusetts’ pending bill all use 130 inches, which is the Japanese standard replaced in October 1998. Oregon expressed it in feet instead of inches and landed two inches closer, but on the same wrong side of the line.
If HB 4063 comes back in 2027, this is the amendment to ask for. Colorado has already shown what the number should be: its 2025 law, which passed 64–1 and 35–0, uses 140 inches. Changing “11 feet” to “12 feet” would do the same job and cost the bill nothing.
For Reference: What These Trucks Cost
Buying for Oregon property is still buying, and the Japan-side market is where the price is set. 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 — and remember there is no Oregon sales tax on top.
Two Oregon notes. West of the Cascades the problem is not salt but persistent damp: moss, standing water in the bed, and rot in seams and cab corners rather than the flaking underbody rust of a salted state. Read the auction sheet for C codes — corrosion that has gone through metal — and check the bed floor and cab corners specifically; the auction sheet guide covers where the inspector records them. East of the Cascades it is dry and the calculation reverses, closer to the Arizona case. And since this is a property truck rather than a road truck, buy 4WD and consider a differential lock — the off-road guide has the measured availability by model.
If you have land in Oregon, nothing about the DMV’s position stops you buying — it stops you plating. Condition is the whole decision for a truck that will work rather than commute, and CAR FROM JAPAN publishes the inspector’s auction sheet with each vehicle so you can read the corrosion codes before you bid. My referral code takes $100 off a first purchase: enter KEITRUCK at the order step (referral link).
FAQ
Are kei trucks legal in Oregon?
Legal to import and own, and legal on private property. Not titleable or registerable for road use — Oregon DMV states that kei class vehicles “cannot be titled or registered in Oregon because they were not manufactured for U.S. highways.”
Can I title my kei truck as a Class IV ATV in Oregon?
The DMV’s page says mini-trucks can be titled if they meet the Class IV ATV definition, but that definition was amended in 2023 and now requires four or more tires “designed for off-road use only” and that the vehicle “was originally manufactured for off-road use only.” A kei truck meets neither on its face. Put this question to DMV in writing before relying on it, and be aware that guides quoting a six-inch tyre width test are using the pre-2023 statute.
What happened to Oregon’s kei truck bill?
HB 4063 was introduced in January 2026, referred to the House Transportation Committee, and missed the February 16 policy committee deadline. The short session adjourned March 6, 2026 without a vote. An earlier 2025 attempt also failed.
Would HB 4063 have covered my truck?
Probably not, if it was built from 1999 onward. The bill defined a kei truck as 11 feet or less in length — 132 inches — and those trucks measure 3,395 mm, or 133.7 inches. Pre-1999 trucks at 129.7 inches would have qualified.
Can I register it in another state and drive it in Oregon?
Registration follows where you actually live, and using an address you do not reside at is a false statement on that state’s application. This page is not going to recommend it. If you genuinely maintain residence elsewhere, that state’s rules apply.
Is there any upside to buying one in Oregon?
For property use, yes — and Oregon has no state sales tax, which saves roughly $300–450 on a truck landing in the usual range. You are buying a working vehicle for land you control rather than a road vehicle.