Disclosure: this guide contains referral links, marked where they appear. Market data is independently measured from public sources on the dates shown.
Vermont is the newest state to write kei vehicles into its motor vehicle code, and the law is genuinely good in the ways that usually go wrong. It registers them as pleasure cars, not as a restricted class. It puts kei trucks in the farm truck category at the owner’s option. And it forbids the state Traffic Committee and every town in Vermont from adopting a rule that would keep them off roads other vehicles can use.
Then it defines them. Act No. 153 of 2026, at Sec. 20, adds this to 23 V.S.A. § 4:
“(90) ‘Kei vehicle’ means a motor vehicle that has four wheels, an engine displacement of 660 cubic centimeters 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.”
One hundred and thirty inches is 3,302 mm. That was Japan’s kei length limit until October 1998. Every kei truck built from 1999 onward measures 3,395 mm, which is 133.7 inches, and misses Vermont’s definition by 3.7 inches.
I research Japan’s used vehicle market from Sapporo, and this page sets out what the enacted act says, which trucks it actually covers, and what to do about it.
The Short Answer
- Act 153 (S.326) was signed on 16 June 2026 and took effect on 1 July 2026.
- A kei vehicle registers as a pleasure car and is subject to all the provisions that apply to pleasure cars. A kei truck may register as a farm truck instead.
- Towns cannot legislate around it. Sec. 21 bars the Traffic Committee and political subdivisions from prohibiting a registered kei vehicle from being operated like any other pleasure car.
- The definition caps overall length at 130 inches. A 1999-or-later kei truck is 133.7 inches.
- Vehicles built before October 1998 fit — the older kei class was built to 3,295 mm, or about 129.7 inches.
- The gap widens every year as the 25-year rule releases newer trucks.
- Vermont inspects annually, and the OBD exemption the act created went to a different class, not to kei vehicles.
- Registration is $91 a year, the title is $42, the tax is 6%, and insurance is 25/50/10.
What Act 153 Actually Does
The kei provisions are Secs. 20 and 21 of a 33-page omnibus motor vehicle act. They are short and, apart from the length figure, well drafted.
Sec. 20 puts kei vehicles inside the pleasure car definition. 23 V.S.A. § 4(28) is amended so that “pleasure car” “includes plug-in electric vehicles, battery electric vehicles, or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles…and kei vehicles as defined pursuant to subdivision (90) of this section.” That is the right structural move. It does not build a new restricted class with its own speed cap and its own plate; it puts the vehicle in the ordinary category and lets the rest of the code follow.
It also gives kei trucks a farm option. Section 4(72) now reads: “‘Farm truck’ means a motor truck or kei truck that, at the option of the owner, may be registered under the provisions of subsection 367(f) of this title or may be unregistered when used in accordance with subsection 370(b) of this title.” A kei truck is defined at (89) as “a kei vehicle that is designed, used, or maintained primarily for the transportation of property.”
Sec. 21 adds a new § 1044, and its third subsection is the part other states should copy:
“(c) The Traffic Committee and political subdivisions of this State shall not adopt any rules or ordinances that would have the effect of prohibiting: (1) a kei vehicle that is registered as a pleasure car from being operated in the same manner and locations as other pleasure cars; and (2) a kei truck that is registered as a farm truck from being operated in the same manner and locations as other farm trucks.”
That is a pre-emption clause, and it forecloses the failure mode that hollows out the law in Ohio, Kentucky and Minnesota, where a statewide permission means nothing until your own town votes for it. Vermont wrote the opposite rule: your town may not vote against it.
The 130 Inches
This site has tracked the length figure across states because it decides more outcomes than anything else in this area, and Vermont has just added a fifth jurisdiction to the tightest family.
| Length limit | Where | A 1999+ kei truck at 133.7 in |
|---|---|---|
| 130 inches | Pennsylvania, North Carolina, the Massachusetts bill, and now Vermont | Excluded by 3.7 in |
| 132 inches (11 feet) | Oregon’s failed HB 4063 | Excluded by 1.7 in |
| 135 inches, bumper included | Arkansas | Fits, with 1.3 in to spare |
| 140 inches | Colorado, Virginia’s HB 219 | Fits comfortably |
| 160 inches, bumper included | Kansas | Fits by more than two feet |
Where does 130 come from? It is Japan’s own kei standard, frozen at the wrong moment. Until October 1998 the class was capped at 3.30 m long and 1.40 m wide; from October 1998 the limits became 3.40 m and 1.48 m, and manufacturers built to the new box immediately. A truck from 1995 is about 3,295 mm, or 129.7 inches, and clears 130. A truck from 1999 is 3,395 mm, or 133.7 inches, and does not.
One state has the same number pointing the other way. Rhode Island put 130 inches inside a prohibition in 2024, so there the modern truck escapes the class rather than missing out on it. It is the same drafting error with the sign reversed, and it means an amendment that would help a Vermont owner would harm a Rhode Island one.
Vermont’s width figure is fine either way: 60 inches is 1,524 mm, and the post-1998 class tops out at 1,480 mm, or 58.3 inches. The height figure of 78 inches, 1,981 mm, is comfortable for a flat-bed truck. Length is the only element that bites, and it bites hard.
Which trucks the law actually covers
Work the two rules together and the answer is specific. The federal 25-year rule releases a vehicle 25 years after its month of manufacture, so in 2026 the eligible pool runs up to build dates in 2001. Vermont’s definition admits vehicles built to the pre-October-1998 kei box.
So Act 153 covers kei vehicles built up to roughly September 1998, and excludes everything built after the class changed. Those older trucks are real and importable — a 1996 Suzuki Carry or a 1997 Honda Acty is squarely inside both rules — but they are the older, scarcer end of the supply, and the newer generations that dominate the market and the auction houses are outside it.
The gap widens every year. Each January, the 25-year rule releases another twelve months of trucks, all of them built to the post-1998 box and all of them 3.7 inches too long for Vermont. The proportion of the eligible fleet that Vermont’s law reaches shrinks annually and will keep shrinking. That is the structural problem with defining a foreign vehicle by a snapshot of another country’s regulation, and it is why Nebraska’s approach of defining by displacement, width, weight and body type has aged better. The comparison of state definitions works through the families.
What this page is not saying
Two things, clearly.
It is not saying the law is useless. A pre-1998 kei vehicle registers as an ordinary pleasure car in Vermont with statutory protection against local ordinances, which is better treatment than that vehicle gets in most of the country.
And it is not suggesting anyone misstate a measurement. Overall length appears on the Japanese export deregistration certificate, in millimetres, for every vehicle. It is checkable, and the right response to a definition your truck does not fit is to ask the legislature to change the number — three states have already written a workable one — not to hope nobody measures.
Registration, and the Annual Inspection
Assuming the vehicle fits, the process is ordinary, and that is the point of registering as a pleasure car.
Vermont inspects every registered vehicle every year. That is unusual: most states in this series have no periodic inspection at all. Section 1222 of Title 23 requires it, and the same Act 153 spends three pages on the inspection manual — Sec. 22 directs the DMV to rewrite it so that it “only requires failure of an inspection when…the condition of a vehicle system or component constitutes an immediate safety risk,” and names the areas to reconsider: tires, power steering, suspension, brake rotors, lighting, electrical systems, windshield, windows, wipers and vehicle body. The Department was required to file proposed amendments and adopt emergency rules by 1 August 2026.
That rewrite is good news for a 27-year-old imported truck, which is exactly the kind of vehicle that fails an inspection on a judgment call rather than on a safety fact.
The OBD exemption did not go to kei vehicles. Worth knowing, because the same act created one. Sec. 23 defines a new “limited-use specialty vehicle” — built by a manufacturer making no more than 325 vehicles a year, or by an individual and not for resale, maintained solely for occasional transportation, not used for daily transportation. Sec. 24 caps it at 12 registrations a year at $26 and limits use to one day a week. Sec. 25 then exempts that class from the OBD systems inspection.
A Suzuki or Daihatsu is not a 325-vehicle-a-year manufacturer, so a kei truck cannot use that class, and it does not inherit the OBD exemption. A kei vehicle registered as a pleasure car goes through the ordinary annual inspection, including whatever the OBD rules require for its model year. Ask an inspection station how it handles a Japanese-market vehicle’s diagnostics before you buy — the same question decides outcomes in Nevada’s emissions counties and under New Hampshire’s annual inspection, which at least offers a 60-day waiver where a vehicle fails only the OBD test.
What It Costs
| Item | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Registration, auto or truck under 6,100 lb, one year | $91.00 | DMV fee schedule |
| Same, two years | $167.00 | DMV fee schedule |
| Certificate of title | $42.00 | DMV title fees |
| Purchase and use tax | 6% of the purchase price or the J.D. Power clean trade-in value, whichever is greater | 32 V.S.A. ch. 219; DMV |
| Limited-use specialty vehicle registration, for comparison | $26.00 a year, capped at 12 registrations statewide | Act 153 Sec. 24 |
| Annual safety inspection | Required for every registered vehicle | 23 V.S.A. § 1222 |
The tax line has the familiar wrinkle and Vermont has a published answer for it. The rule is the greater of the purchase price or the J.D. Power clean trade-in value, and a Japanese-market truck has no J.D. Power entry — so there is no greater figure to compare against and the purchase price governs. Where the two do diverge, the DMV accepts a Vermont Dealer Appraisal form “if the vehicle’s value is less than the J.D. Power value.” Keep the auction invoice, the exporter’s invoice and the customs paperwork together; the landed cost calculator separates the components so you can show each one.
Insurance
23 V.S.A. § 800(a) requires a liability policy or bond of at least $25,000 for one person, $50,000 for two or more persons killed or injured, and $10,000 for property damage in any one crash. Written 25/50/10. Self-insurance is possible on evidence of $115,000 filed with the Commissioner.
The $10,000 property damage floor is low by current standards and worth exceeding. 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 1997 Japanese-market truck, which is exactly why you do not want a total-loss settlement decided by a valuation guide.
One Vermont-specific detail from the same section: the Commissioner “may require that evidence of financial responsibility be produced before motor vehicle inspections are performed.” Bring the insurance card to the inspection, not just to the counter.
What to Ask, and What to Watch
- Measure before you buy. Overall length is printed on the Japanese export deregistration certificate. Anything at 3,300 mm or below is inside Vermont’s 130 inches; 3,395 mm is not. This is the whole question, and it is answerable from a document before any money moves.
- Ask the DMV how it verifies length. Nothing in Act 153 sets out a measurement procedure, an inspection step or a form. As of the date of this page the Department has published no guidance on kei vehicles at all — a search of its site returns nothing — which is not unusual seven weeks after an act takes effect, but it does mean the counter is working it out in real time.
- Ask an inspection station about diagnostics before you commit, given the annual inspection and the OBD question above.
- If you want the farm route, ask which of the two options in § 4(72) fits you: registration under § 367(f), or unregistered use under § 370(b).
And if you own a truck that misses the length limit, the useful thing to do is tell your legislator which number would work. Three states have already enacted one: Arkansas at 135 inches, Colorado at 140 and Kansas at 160. Changing one figure in § 4(90) would bring Vermont’s law to the vehicles the market actually has, and the rest of Act 153 is already better drafted than most.
What to Buy for Vermont
Buy an older truck, on purpose. Vermont is the rare state where the pre-1999 generations are the right answer rather than a compromise. A mid-1990s Carry, Acty, Hijet or Sambar is inside Vermont’s definition and inside the 25-year rule with room to spare.
Which means corrosion is the whole purchase. A 1996 truck has had three more decades of Japanese winters than a 2001 one, and Vermont salts heavily. 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. On a truck this old, a clean sheet is worth paying a lot for.
Expect the older engines. The pre-1999 trucks run the earlier engine families, which means timing belts rather than chains on several models and a different service schedule. The Carry guide and the Hijet guide set out which generation has which, and the maintenance guide covers the intervals.
Four-wheel drive and a working heater. Vermont winters and dirt roads make both non-negotiable; the off-road guide has the measured 4WD shares by model.
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 — noting that those medians cover the whole eligible pool, and the pre-1998 examples Vermont needs sit at the older, thinner end of it. The model comparison sets those against United States sale averages, and the 25-year rule guide explains how the month of manufacture works.
In Vermont the single number that decides everything — overall length — is printed on the export certificate that comes with the truck, so this is a state where you can settle the legal question before you bid. CAR FROM JAPAN supplies that certificate and the inspector’s auction sheet with each vehicle, which also gives you the corrosion codes that matter most on a 1990s truck. My referral code takes $100 off a first purchase: enter KEITRUCK at the order step (referral link).
FAQ
Are kei trucks legal in Vermont?
Kei vehicles are, if they fit the definition. Act 153 of 2026, effective 1 July 2026, registers a kei vehicle as a pleasure car and a kei truck as a farm truck at the owner’s option. The definition caps overall length at 130 inches, which admits vehicles built to the pre-October-1998 kei class and excludes those built to the current one.
Why does 130 inches matter?
Because a kei truck built from 1999 onward is 3,395 mm, or 133.7 inches. Japan raised its kei length limit from 3.30 m to 3.40 m in October 1998, and manufacturers moved immediately. Vermont’s figure is the older limit.
So which trucks does the law cover?
Kei vehicles built to about September 1998 and earlier. Those are importable under the federal 25-year rule and fit Vermont’s definition. Everything newer is outside it, and the share of the eligible fleet that fits shrinks every year.
Can my town ban them?
No. 23 V.S.A. § 1044(c), added by Act 153, bars the Traffic Committee and political subdivisions from adopting rules or ordinances that would prohibit a registered kei vehicle from being operated in the same manner and locations as other pleasure cars.
Does Vermont inspect them?
Yes, annually, like every registered vehicle. Act 153 also directs the DMV to rewrite the inspection manual so that a vehicle fails only where a condition is an immediate safety risk, with proposed amendments due by 1 August 2026.
Is there an OBD exemption?
Not for kei vehicles. Act 153 created one for a new “limited-use specialty vehicle” class — small-volume and individually built vehicles, capped at 12 registrations a year and one day of use per week — which a mass-produced Japanese truck cannot join.
What does it cost?
$91.00 a year to register an auto or a truck under 6,100 lb, $167.00 for two years, $42.00 for the title, and 6% purchase and use tax on the greater of the purchase price or the J.D. Power clean trade-in value.
What insurance is required?
25/50/10 under 23 V.S.A. § 800(a), or evidence of self-insurance of $115,000 filed with the Commissioner.