Can I own one here
Owning one in White Pine County.
On your own land, yes
Owning a kei truck and working it on a ranch, a farm, a mine or private property does not depend on a road title. Some states still ask for a title or an off road registration.
A 25 year truck on the road
Road use unclear, to confirm. Nevada has no kei truck law. The DMV's title guide lists the documents to register and title a gray market vehicle with a Non-US Vehicle brand, while DMV compliance staff told a state advisory committee in April 2025 that kei vehicles should not be registered.
A newer governed truck
Off highway vehicle. Nevada titles and registers off-highway vehicles through the DMV. NRS 490.060 counts any motor vehicle used on public lands for recreation as an off-highway vehicle.
Roads and towns
Roads and towns in White Pine County.
Roads open. White Pine County passes no OHV act, so state law opens its unpaved county roads to registered OHVs and its general and minor county roads to registered and insured large all-terrain vehicles, while Ely opens twelve named routes to trailheads and public land for licensed, registered and insured drivers.
In town Some
- Some Ely. Twelve named routes are open for trips to and from trailheads and public land only, among them Mill Street, Avenue I, Avenue H, Avenue M, 13th Street East, Avenue C and North Street, Faye Avenue, High Street, 11th Street, Courthouse Canyon Road, JV Walker and Ogden Avenue, plus less than half a mile of Highway 6 west to Pinion Road and a crossing of Highway 6 at Bobcat Drive. Use runs from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. OHVs are held to 15 mph and plated, insured UTVs to the posted limit. Ely City Code 6-12, Ordinance 714 of 14 June 2018, amended by Ordinance 718 of 7 February 2019, Ordinance 725 of 13 February 2020 and Ordinance 758 of 25 July 2024, effective 22 August 2024, read 28 October 2026
County roads Open
No county act opens or closes a road to OHVs, so state law governs. NRS 490.090(3) lets a registered OHV use any public land, trail, way or unpaved county road unless the county prohibits it, and NRS 490.105 lets a large all-terrain vehicle registered under NRS 490.0825 with insurance and the lamps of NRS 490.120 use every general and minor county road unless the county closes it by ordinance or resolution. Paved main county roads stay closed except to cross. Titles 7, 10 and 11 of the county code carry no OHV rule. Chapter 11.56 covers only neighborhood vehicles with a top speed under 20 mph and nothing is pending codification. NRS 490.090 and 490.105, no county act, White Pine County Code current through Ordinance 549 of 9 July 2025, read 28 October 2026
State highways To confirm
- Ely's code names less than half a mile of Highway 6 west to Pinion Road as part of one route and a crossing of Highway 6 at Bobcat Drive. No NDOT approval of the Highway 6 stretch was found. Ely City Code 6-12-2, Ordinance 714 of 14 June 2018 as amended through Ordinance 725 of 13 February 2020, read 28 October 2026
Getting one here
From Japan to White Pine County.
The nearest ports with a sailing from Japan on record
- The Port of Oakland, about 500 road miles.
- The Port of Los Angeles, about 500 road miles.
- The Port of Tacoma, The Northwest Seaport Alliance South Harbor, about 800 road miles.
How to import a mini truck, step by step.
A newer off road truck never lands in California. It comes in through Tacoma or by way of Houston.
Trucks travel in containers, one to a 20 foot box with room for parts or three to a 40 foot box.
Road miles are an estimate, the straight line times 1.2.
The ground
White Pine County, counted.
6 active surface mines and quarries work White Pine County's ground. Farms in White Pine County hold 5,091 acres of woodland. White Pine County averages 41 inches of snow a year.
Importing a kei truck
The essentials, in short.
A truck under 25 can come in only as governed off road equipment, and only if its engine family held an EPA nonroad certificate for that model year. No kei engine family was certified for mini trucks before model year 2010, so a truck built after 31 October 2001 and before model year 2010 has no federal door until its 25th birthday.
Two lanes
A road truck must be 25 years old by its own build date. A newer truck comes in only as governed off road equipment with a certified engine.
The 25 percent duty
Every kei truck pays the 25 percent truck duty at the port, whatever its age.
The paperwork
The customs entry and the two federal declarations, DOT Form HS-7 and EPA Form 3520-1, travel with the truck to your title office.
The title
Keep every stamped paper with the truck. Your state title office asks to see them.
Contact
A question about the law in White Pine County?
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