Can I own one here
Owning one in Lake 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
Closed to road use. Oregon does not register kei trucks for the road. The DMV says kei class vehicles cannot be titled or registered because they were not built for US highways. The 2025 and 2026 bills to change that ended in committee.
A newer governed truck
Off highway vehicle. The DMV titles ATVs. A governed road-built truck falls in Oregon's Class II ATV definition when operated off highway, because Class IV requires a vehicle originally manufactured for off-road use only.
Roads and towns
Roads and towns in Lake County.
Roads open. Lake County opens nearly every county road to ATVs with a licensed driver 16 or older and Lakeview opens its town streets, while US 395, US 20, OR 31 and OR 140 are crossing only and a kei truck is not one of the ATV classes these routes admit.
In town Some
- Open Lakeview. Every road, street and alley in town other than US 395 and OR 140, which ATVs may only cross. ATVs with working headlights and taillights may run day or night, others by daylight only. The town posts signs where ATVs are permitted. Ordinance No. 854, adopted by the Town Council in January 2016, repealing Ordinance No. 849, effective thirty days after adoption, read 28 October 2026
- To confirm Paisley. The town's code was not read in this pass.
County roads Open
Every county road except those Section 10.05.230 closes: County Roads 1-13 Tunnel Hill Road and 1-11 Westside Road from OR 140 to the California line, with Westside Road open from 1-10 Stock Drive Lane to Tunnel Hill Road; County Road 4-10 Buck Creek or Bear Flat Road near Silver Lake; County Road 5-10 Fort Rock Road from OR 31 to Buick's Corner or 11 Mile Corner; County Road 5-14 Christmas Valley Highway or Wagon Tire Road from OR 31 and Arrow Gap Road to US 395; Millican Road 5-12C, with the 5-12D portion open; Fossil Lake Road; Old Lake Road; Oil Dry Road and Frederick Butte Road. Crossing a closed road is allowed. Christmas Valley, Silver Lake and Fort Rock are unincorporated, so the county code governs there. Lake County Code Chapter 10.05, Ordinance 104 of 2014, code current through Ordinance 121 passed 5 May 2026, read 28 October 2026
State highways Crossings only
- US 395, US 20, OR 31 and OR 140 in Lake County are closed to ATVs under the county code except to cross. Lakeview's ordinance closes US 395 and OR 140 in town the same way. A request to run 0.5 mile of OR 31 from Paisley to Red House Road was raised at the State Parks ATV highway access committee in 2020 and no designation was found. Lake County Code 10.05.030 and ORS 821.200(1), read 28 October 2026
Getting one here
From Japan to Lake County.
The nearest ports with a sailing from Japan on record
- The Port of Tacoma, The Northwest Seaport Alliance South Harbor, about 400 road miles.
- The Port of Seattle, The Northwest Seaport Alliance North Harbor, about 400 road miles.
- The Port of Oakland, about 450 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
Lake County, counted.
Farms in Lake County hold 94,105 acres of woodland. Lake County averages 23 inches of snow a year. Lake County has 353 farms and 173 cattle operations, by the 2022 Census of Agriculture.
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 Lake County?
Ask about a truck, a state or the papers, and we answer with what applies to you.
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