1999 Daihatsu Hi-Jet EFI DLI Twincam 4WD, 2Hi-4Hi-4Lo, PS, AC, 5MT · 72,093 mi

Available from stock, no wait for shipping from Japan: a 1999 Daihatsu Hi-Jet EFI DLI Twincam 4WD, 2Hi-4Hi-4Lo, PS, AC, 5MT, wearing Blush Silver Metallic. Transmission is automatic. You will find S210P-0000869 on the chassis plate.

S210-series Hijet: the short version

S210 is the four-wheel-drive Hijet of 1999 to 2004, built to the post-1998 kei dimensions with the fuel-injected, twin-cam 659cc EF. Daihatsu offered this chassis in more factory configurations than any rival: flat bed, deck van, panel van, scissor-lift, hydraulic tipper and power-take-off driven bodies all left the line on the S210. Low-range transfer cases and locking rear differentials were available on the work specifications.

Odometer at 72,093 miles, call it 116,000 km. Daihatsu kei vehicles of this period arrive across a wide band of readings, and this one falls in the middle of it.

At a glance

• Year: 1999
• Make: Daihatsu
• Model: Hi-Jet EFI DLI Twincam 4WD, 2Hi-4Hi-4Lo, PS, AC, 5MT
• Chassis code: S21
• Transmission: Automatic
• Odometer: 72,093
• Engine: EF-VE 660cc 3 Cylinder EFI
• Colour: Blush Silver Metallic
• Chassis number: S210P-0000869
• Body type: Kei Truck / Mini Truck
• Stock reference: BUC54323

Putting it to work

Low range is the feature that separates a working kei truck from a four-wheel-drive one. A second set of reduction gears in the transfer case multiplies torque and divides road speed, so the truck can creep up a slope or out of a rut under load without the clutch doing the work. On a 660cc engine it is not a luxury — it is what makes the gradient possible at all.

The $12,000 to $20,000 band is where specialist kei trucks sit — low-range transfer cases, locking differentials, factory work bodies, late chassis and genuinely low readings. These are not volume trucks and they do not come up often.

Making it yours

At 1999 it is past the 25-year mark, which is the line that decides whether a Japanese-market vehicle can be imported at all. The paperwork side — import documentation and title — is our job, and we deliver anywhere in the US. The figure is $13,900, and a message is all it takes to put it aside.