Kei Truck Depreciaton

[BobKamman]

No, I really don't have a question about this.  I just wanted to let Ohio Jim know I'm glad President Trump shares his admiration for this Japanese transportation alternative. 

[Jim-from-Ohio · Accepted solution]

That would be incredible.  Here is my 1988 Honda Acty Kei Truck.. $ 5,800 it cost me and it was already landed here in the states and it came with a U. S. title

[Jim-from-Ohio]

I am thrifty when it comes to my daily driver.  Still driving a 2009 Nissan Cube with over 221,000 miles on it and it still runs strong.. If I ever have to replace it and modern Kei cars are sold here I would love to drive this 2025 Daihatsu Move Canbus

[BobKamman]

Bigger than a breadbox, but roughly the same shape.  Why does today's date seem to be an odd one for discussing the superiority of Japanese vehicles?

[Jim-from-Ohio]

Well we have made peace with them and now are an ally of ours, after wiping them off the face of the earth.. these Kei trucks and vans though, if this happens, would be built in the U.S. 🙂

[BobKamman]

Apparently we've made peace with Russia, also. Those Kei vehicles might be assembled in the US, but from Japanese (and Chinese, and Latin American) parts as much as from American ones.  First, though, the tariffs have to be repealed or ruled illegal. 

A couple weeks ago I was riding in a Skoda Octavia taxi, in Helsinki.  Very comfortable sedan.  The driver was carrying on a conversation in Arabic with someone whose replies showed up on his cell phone (there was a second, next to the one showing the map for our route).  I think we're more at peace with the Arabs, than with the Finns.  

[Taxes-by-Rocky]

Good set of snow tires on that Honda and it's perfect for transporting my snowmobile!!👍👍

[George4Tacks]

I also had an experience with Japanese masterful auto making. I found a brand new 1988 Daihatsu Charade sitting on the showroom floor 2 years after it was introduced. So for $6,500 I got this wonder car with an engine smaller than most motorcycles. 3 cylinder 84cc. A couple of months after getting it I am whizzing down the freeway at 65MPH with a tachometer reading 6500 RPM and I hear BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG,....  I pull over and start looking of this itty bitty engine and notice it only has 2 spark plugs. One apparently wasn't properly torqued down and feel out. I go to a parts shop and share my experience and find a new plug and borrow a wrench and I was back on the road. We got it as TOAD. It was to be towed behind our big motorhome and used for local run around when we parked. It was fun to drive and really did the job. I sadly have no recall of where it ended up. Maybe it was sold when we got rid of the RV.  It really was a fun car to drive. 

[IRonMaN]

I assume you wore a helmet when you drove it -------------------- just to be safe in case of flying spark plugs? 😀

[BobKamman]

I miss my circa-1966 Datsun station wagon, which I bought from my friend, a Chicago Daily News reporter, in 1971.  I remember driving it to Winnipeg for Christmas, across sub-zero Minnesota, then north through Dakota in a horizontal-falling snowstorm.  It had a heater that warmed up the passenger compartment by 50 degrees.  That meant when it was 20 below outside, it was 30 inside.  

I parked it in Winnipeg and didn't drive it until it was time to leave.  You call some guys who come out with a gizmo that attaches to your oil pan and thaws out the vital fluids.  Jump start, and you're on your way.

[IRonMaN]

"You call some guys who come out with a gizmo that attaches to your oil pan and thaws out the vital fluids."

It sure beats the older method of starting a fire underneath the engine compartment😀

"That meant when it was 20 below outside, it was 30 inside."

That means you try and hold your breath as much as you can and ride with a window open so the windshield doesn't fog up.

[IRonMaN]

I just looked up what a 1966 Datsun station wagon looks like.  All I can say is, neither you or George were going to win first prize in an automotive beauty contest.

[IRonMaN]

When I started to drive in 1973, my vintage 1960s vehicle looked similar to this 1964 Pontiac Grand Prix.  Of course, with Minnesota winters, mine didn't look quite as pretty due to rust issues, but you could work wonders with little bondo back then.