Kei car vs golf cart and importing from Japan

Fiat Jolly? 

93EXCivic said:

So my wife really wants a golf cart to drive round the neighborhood which I thought cool until I looked at the prices of the things. I had also been looking at inventory on JDM importer sites the other day. I saw a lot of kei cars for the same price or a bit more then what I am seeing used golf carts going for and a kei car seems a lot cooler and a little more useful then a golf cart.

 

So that got me wondering what is it like to import a kei car from Japan? How terrible an idea is a kei car for an suburban/urban environment and will a 6'2" individual actually fit in any of them? I'd love to hear from people have imported cars from Japan.

 

I would kind of love a kei van with lowering and wheels.

I have absolutely zero use for this, but now I want it just because.

Several of my buddies have bought carts for the neighborhood as well. Most started out used needing a set of batteries, which were procured for a few hundo off Craigslist. One guy did manage to find a flooded apartment leasing office cart (seats 6, big motor) that needed a controller and batteries. They all have put faster/higher power controllers in theirs and one will even do 30+ mph, which is not something you want to do in one of those short things. 
 

I think all in they each have 1500-2000 in theirs at most so if you're able to do your own work you can save quite a bit. 

"wife wants a golf cart".  And you're thinking of getting... something that's not a golf cart? huh.  I don't know your wife, but if she's like mine and I got her a Kei car she'd look at me like I just E36M3'd in the punch bowl.

My wife wanted one too.  My daughter rides horses and they wanted one to take to horse shows on the weekends, which usually involves covering lots of ground with a bunch of gear in tow.  Like you, I was in shock at the price for new ones.  I also have heard about the need for new batteries every couple years with the electric ones, so I started searching for gas carts.

After a little digging around, I found a non-running POS Yamaha gas cart off a golf course.  Paid fair money then went full GRM on it.  Stripped it down to the frame.  Sent the body panels to Maaco to be painted 70's Pontiac metallic gold.  Pulled the motor, had it bored and honed and rebuilt it with a plus-sized piston.  Rebuilt the carb.  Recovered the seats.  Added a rear seat kit.  Put some new Northern Tool wheels/tires on it.  Added a cheap headlight/taillight kit from Amazon that makes it street legal (LSV's are allowed here).  Put a Harbor Freight winch on the front to make it easy to load in a pickup or trailer.  Got a small landscape trailer to tow it around in.

Verdict?  She's in love with it, calls it Goldilocks.  Gets used probably 5 times a week, in our neighborhood and at the horse shows.  I use it all the time to haul various crap around the yard, take the kids to the neighborhood pool, drive around to find neighbors to drink beer with, etc.  Speaking of neighbors- all of mine are jealous as hell of Goldilocks, and think I'm a superhero for turning a heap into something cool.

For me this was a really rewarding GRM style project.  It was a lot of work but I could probably sell it tomorrow for 3x what I paid.

Best of both worlds ?

pimpm3 (Forum Supporter) said:

NOT A TA said:

" So my wife really wants a golf cart to drive round the neighborhood "

This is the key sentence in the OP. Check into renting one once in a while to satisfy her desire and see if there will be continued use. Use I see here is similar to home exercise equipment. Occasional trip around the hood when first purchased then less frequently till a flat, dead battery or stuff gets piled in, on, or around it preventing easy use.  Then they sit, till someone like pimpm3 comes along to breathe new life into it and pass it along to the next player in the game.

The key sentence is wife wants a golf cart, if she wanted a Kei van she probably would have said, I want a small Japanese vehicle to drive around the neighborhood. 

I talked to her about the kei car idea and she is open to it depending on the kei car.

Snrub said:

I don't live in one of those golf cart type neighborhoods, but why not just get a small used car? I guess another way to look at is, what use case does a golf cart/Kei car solve that your primary vehicle doesn't?

Just for fun no good reason.

Currently the household has a Honda Element, Ford Escape, 93 Civic and a 99 Ranger. The Ranger is going away soonish. The Element is my daily driver and the Escape is my wife's. The Civic is the autocross car.

stuart in mn said:

First question is, are golf carts (or kei vans) allowed to drive on the streets in your area?  I know they are in some, but make sure it's alllowed before buying anything.

If it were me I'd go for the van, just because I think they're cool.    You also get a roof over your head, and heat and air conditioning, and probably a radio.  Many of them also have four wheel drive.  A friend of mine runs a resort, and he got a Honda van with four wheel drive to use as a groundskeeping vehicle - he liked it a lot and can use it year around (I think he put some all terrain ATV tires on it to make it better in the snow.).  Rather than trying to import one yourself it's probably worth buying one from a dealer that already has brought some in - they've already handled the overseas purchase, shipping, dealing with customs, and all that.

I don't see why kei vans wouldn't be able to registered as a car.

The golf cart I don't actually know if they are legal but a ton of people do it.

Apexcarver said:

And for the price of a golf cart you could get several spridgets...

 

Just saying.

 

 

No back seat on the Spridget so that is a no go.

Same with the kei truck and from everything I have read some 6'2" can't fit in a kei truck anyway.

93EXCivic said:

stuart in mn said:

First question is, are golf carts (or kei vans) allowed to drive on the streets in your area?  I know they are in some, but make sure it's alllowed before buying anything.

If it were me I'd go for the van, just because I think they're cool.    You also get a roof over your head, and heat and air conditioning, and probably a radio.  Many of them also have four wheel drive.  A friend of mine runs a resort, and he got a Honda van with four wheel drive to use as a groundskeeping vehicle - he liked it a lot and can use it year around (I think he put some all terrain ATV tires on it to make it better in the snow.).  Rather than trying to import one yourself it's probably worth buying one from a dealer that already has brought some in - they've already handled the overseas purchase, shipping, dealing with customs, and all that.

I don't see why kei vans wouldn't be able to registered as a car.

The golf cart I don't actually know if they are legal but a ton of people do it.

They don't necessarily meet US safety and emissions standards for street use.

stuart in mn said:

93EXCivic said:

stuart in mn said:

First question is, are golf carts (or kei vans) allowed to drive on the streets in your area?  I know they are in some, but make sure it's alllowed before buying anything.

If it were me I'd go for the van, just because I think they're cool.    You also get a roof over your head, and heat and air conditioning, and probably a radio.  Many of them also have four wheel drive.  A friend of mine runs a resort, and he got a Honda van with four wheel drive to use as a groundskeeping vehicle - he liked it a lot and can use it year around (I think he put some all terrain ATV tires on it to make it better in the snow.).  Rather than trying to import one yourself it's probably worth buying one from a dealer that already has brought some in - they've already handled the overseas purchase, shipping, dealing with customs, and all that.

I don't see why kei vans wouldn't be able to registered as a car.

The golf cart I don't actually know if they are legal but a ton of people do it.

They don't necessarily meet US safety and emissions standards for street use.

I was planning on an over 25 year old one to avoid import problems.

You would want to test fit them but Ryan Eversley drives this. I remember him being about my size when I met him a few times. Added bonus, You can carry some things too. It's a Honda Acty

Golf Carts of The Villages, Florida: https://youtu.be/PsdAs6oeqCg we had some friends move there to retire and golf carts are the primary mode of transportation. Literally thousands there.

In reply to 93EXCivic :

Mini Cooper then

I live near a small community that has a lot of golf cart use. I don't live close enough to have one myself, but I definately would if I lived there. In this instance they make more sense then a small car just from the ease of use. So easy to jump in the cart and go visit friends, or go to the store, or to dinner, or get drinks. Cops leave them alone unless they are being dumb. 

They can also be modded in so many ways. I am currently designing an air suspension system for my friend's cart. We will also mod the motor, but haven't decided which way to go with that yet. They can be a ton of fun, but as I said it needs to be in the right situation.

As a side note I have another friend who builds all kinds of crazy scooter and motorized bicycle stuff. He took an old three wheeled golf cart and mounted a Honda Goldwing motor in it. Two wheels in back, one in the front. He used a three wheeler because it can be licensed for the road. At 60 MPH it gets really scary. 

I was talking to my coworker who lives in a golf cart community (small island). I told him he should look at a used Nissan Leaf with a crappy battery (fewer bars of life). They run $4000-$5000 and have a 50 mile range. More than enough to get around the tiny island and is much safer if rear ended or something. Also has AC! I found this one for $4200:

https://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/cto/d/san-diego-2012-nissan-leaf/7174354696.html

Clearly the REAL solution is a Suzuki Every: a 4WD, turbocharged 90s van-

https://www.drivingline.com/articles/importing-into-the-us-a-microvan-for-the-everyman/

You have so many options here. Like others have said, figure out first if you're wife REALLY wants a cart, because while they are super modifiable you might run into a "too much/not enough" problem depending on your personal life; lead acid batteries halve in lifespan if they are routinely taken below 50% and swapping for Lithium still will easily double the cost of the cart itself, let alone introducing other problems (lighter weight, need for specialized charging, what chemistry, ect). Having a kei car would be more expensive but far more usable; the Honda Beat is apparently one of the most fun vehicles designed, and importers now can handle most the work AND securing parts. Still tho, ShinnyGroove's cart is cool and a trashed Leaf is a great appliance...

I'm 6-1 and I've driven an Acty (pickup, not van). I don't know if I'd want to be in it all day, but for short trips it's fine.

The answer here is CJ2-A. Just barely bigger than a golf cart, simple enough to tear completely apart in a day, low speed, reliable as gravity. Bonus points for being able to climb a cliff in 4 low...

Surprised no one has mentioned the mahindra roxor. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahindra_Roxor