Are Kei Trucks Legal in North Dakota?

North Dakota never built a separate box for this kind of vehicle. Search the definitions in chapter 39-01 of the North Dakota Century Code and there is no "mini-truck", no "minitruck" and no kei-specific term of any sort. What there is, at 39-01-01, is a definition broad enough to swallow the vehicle whole: "Truck" includes every motor vehicle designed, used, or maintained primarily for transportation of property. A Suzuki Carry or a Daihatsu Hijet is a truck in North Dakota in the same sense a Ford F-150 is, and it goes through the same titling and registration counter.

The two chapters that could have diverted it do not. North Dakota's low-speed vehicle class, chapter 39-29.1, is drawn tightly around the federal 25 mph machine: a low-speed vehicle there is a four-wheeled vehicle able to attain more than twenty but not more than twenty-five miles per hour in one mile on a paved level surface, and weighing no more than three thousand pounds fully loaded with passengers and cargo. A kei truck comfortably exceeds that ceiling, so it is not a low-speed vehicle and is not pushed into that chapter's separate registration scheme. Chapter 39-29 is no help to the state either: an "off-highway vehicle" there is a motorized vehicle "not designed for use on a highway" and capable of cross-country travel over natural terrain, which is the opposite of a vehicle built for Japanese public roads.

The practical answer sits in the Motor Vehicle Division's own Registration Manual, which carries an entry headed "Imported Vehicle" and sets out seven requirements. In outline: the original foreign registration, a copy of it, or a letter of verification from the foreign government agency; a proper chain of ownership from the registered owner to the purchaser, with a bill of sale transferring ownership from each seller to the next buyer; US Customs documentation, with the manual naming forms 368, 7523, 3299, 3311, 7501, 7533, 6059B and 3461 as acceptable, and requiring an English translation of anything written in another language; certification from both the business and the individual responsible if the odometer has been converted from kilometres to miles; a Secure Odometer Disclosure form where applicable; and an Indemnifying Affidavit on form SFN 60662 releasing the state and its agencies from liability. The seventh item simply tells you to ring the Motor Vehicle Division if you are unsure whether a document will be accepted. Nothing on that list asks for a federal safety certification label, and nothing on it is beyond a properly imported 25-year-old kei truck.

Equipment is where a kei truck could still come unstuck. Section 39-04-05 of the Century Code directs that "The director shall promulgate rules and regulations for refusal of registration of vehicles not equipped as required by chapter 39-21", and chapter 39-21 is the state's equipment code — lamps, brakes, mirrors, glazing, safety belts and the rest. Most Japanese kei trucks of this age arrive with headlamps, taillamps, stop lamps, turn signals, wipers, a mirror and belts already fitted, but the obligation runs to the vehicle as presented, not to the model in the abstract. The manual also applies North Dakota's ordinary titling charges, a $5 certificate of title fee, a $1.50 abandoned motor vehicle disposal fee and the 5 percent motor vehicle excise tax; the Imported Vehicle entry adds no fee of its own.

Two honest limits on what this page establishes. First, the manual is generic to imports: it covers a Japanese kei truck, a German van and a Canadian pickup in one breath, and North Dakota has published nothing that names kei or mini trucks specifically, so there is no state document addressing the quirks of a 660cc cab-over. Second, the manual itself carries a disclosure saying it guides and assists but that "there may be deviations from these written procedures due to changes in policies, interpretation, law, or evolution of vehicle types" and that it may be changed at any time. This edition is marked Rev. 07/25. Treat the document list as the state's current published position rather than a guarantee binding a particular branch office.

What you can do in North Dakota

If you live in North Dakota, the route is the ordinary one. Assemble the import paperwork before the truck lands rather than after: the Japanese export certificate with an English translation, the Customs entry document, an unbroken run of bills of sale from the Japanese registered owner through to you, the SFN 60662 indemnifying affidavit, and odometer certification if anyone has converted the kilometre reading. Then apply for the certificate of title and registration through a Motor Vehicle branch or by mail, pay the excise tax, and plate it as a truck.

Spend the time on the equipment side before you spend it on the paperwork. Chapter 39-21 is the chapter a trooper will be working from at the roadside, and the items most often missing or tired on a freshly landed kei truck are the rear lamps, the turn signal lenses, the wiper blades and the seat belts. Sorting those out is cheap compared with having a registration application refused under 39-04-05 for a vehicle not equipped as the chapter requires.

If you want to use the truck only on your own land, a feedlot, a shelterbelt or a construction yard, none of this applies and no title is forced on you by the act of owning it. That is also the sensible fallback if the Motor Vehicle Division raises a problem with your particular document set: a kei truck earns its keep off the highway too, and North Dakota winters are hard enough on a 660cc engine that plenty of owners keep theirs for yard work and seasonal use regardless of what the plate says.

How this fits the national picture

Importing a vehicle twenty-five years or older is a federal matter and is settled. Registering one for the road is decided state by state, which is why the answer changes when you cross a line on a map. Our state-by-state guide covers all fifty, including why states disagree and the AAMVA guidance most restrictions trace back to.

We are based in Goshen, New York, and New York is one of the states that will not register these for road use. We say so on our own state's page because it is true, not because it helps us. We will not tell you a kei truck is street legal in the USA.

Common questions

Are kei trucks legal in North Dakota?

North Dakota has no law aimed at kei or mini trucks, and no classification that excludes them from the road. An imported kei truck is treated as an ordinary motor vehicle, and the NDDOT Motor Vehicle Division publishes a list of documents required to title and register imported vehicles. Whether your particular truck is registered depends on that paperwork and on meeting the equipment requirements of Century Code chapter 39-21.

Can you register a kei truck in North Dakota?

Yes, through the normal titling and registration process. The Motor Vehicle Division's Registration Manual has an Imported Vehicle entry listing what it wants: the foreign registration or a verification letter, a proper chain of bills of sale, US Customs documentation with an English translation, odometer conversion certification where relevant, and an indemnifying affidavit on form SFN 60662. There is no federal safety compliance certificate on that list.

What is a mini-truck under North Dakota law?

There is no such thing. Unlike Ohio, Nebraska or Indiana, North Dakota has not written a mini-truck definition into its vehicle code, so a kei truck is not put into a restricted class. Section 39-01-01 of the Century Code defines a truck as every motor vehicle designed, used or maintained primarily for transporting property, and a kei truck fits that.

Is a kei truck a low-speed vehicle in North Dakota?

No. Chapter 39-29.1 defines a low-speed vehicle as a four-wheeled vehicle that attains more than twenty but not more than twenty-five miles per hour in one mile and weighs no more than three thousand pounds fully loaded. A kei truck is faster than that, so it falls outside the low-speed vehicle registration scheme and is registered as an ordinary vehicle instead.

Does North Dakota require a safety inspection for an imported kei truck?

The Imported Vehicle entry in the Registration Manual does not call for one, and North Dakota reserves its Certificate of Vehicle Inspection, form SFN 2486, for situations such as reconstructed, modified or homemade vehicles and for proving ownership where no title exists. The equipment requirements in Century Code chapter 39-21 still apply to the vehicle whenever it is on a highway, inspection or not.

This page describes what we could establish from the source above on the date shown. It is not legal advice, and kei registration rules have moved in both directions every year since 2021 — confirm with the North Dakota registering authority before you buy. Payment for an imported vehicle is by bank transfer and is not reversible.