Kei trucks are road legal in Vermont
Read from Vermont's own statutes and motor vehicle office.
Vermont law has named kei vehicles as pleasure cars since 1 July 2026, so a truck 25 years or older imported for road use registers and drives like any other car, or as a farm truck. A newer truck imported as off road equipment and governed to 25 miles per hour is not a road vehicle, and it works your own land and farm without a registration. We will bring each one in on the right lane.
Your lane
Which truck are you buying?
Vermont treats the two kinds of kei truck differently. Pick yours and this answers for it.
A truck 25 years or older imported for road use is a kei vehicle and a pleasure car under Vermont law, or a farm truck at the owner's option.
Open to road useTitle. Registered with the Vermont DMV as a pleasure car or as a farm truck under 23 V.S.A. 367(f).
Registration. Pleasure car or farm truck registration, insured as the DMV requires.
- 23 V.S.A. 1044 applies every pleasure car or farm truck rule and bars towns from singling kei vehicles out
- Annual safety and visual emissions inspection, first within 15 days of registration
What about a truck 25 years or older?
It registers with the Vermont DMV as a pleasure car or as a farm truck and goes where any other car goes. It takes a safety and visual emissions inspection each year.
A newer truck imported as off road equipment, governed to 25 miles per hour with an EPA certified nonroad engine, is not a road vehicle in Vermont and works the owner's own land without registration.
Farm useWhere it can run
The owner's own property, where 23 V.S.A. 3502(a)(2) needs no ATV registration or trail decal. Farms, sugarbushes and woodlots. Highways only as a farm truck moving within or between farms, if that reading holds.
Title. No road title for a truck imported only as nonroad equipment.
Registration. 23 V.S.A. 4(72) lets a kei truck be a farm truck, and 23 V.S.A. 370(b) lets a farm truck used exclusively for farm work move unregistered on a highway within the confines of the farm or from one farm to another. Whether that reaches a truck imported as nonroad equipment is not settled. As an ATV it would need at least two low pressure tires of 10 pounds per square inch or less, a width of 72 inches or less and a dry weight under 2,500 pounds under 23 V.S.A. 3501(1), and stock kei tires are not low pressure.
- 23 V.S.A. 3502(a)(1): the statewide ATV trail system, designated state land and highways not adjacent to the operator's property need registration and a trail access decal
- 23 V.S.A. 3502(c): a registration does not license operation on public or private land
- No operator age rule was read for this class
Read from a secondary source or an older page. Confirm it with the office before you rely on it.
A newer truck comes in only as nonroad equipment, permanently governed to a top speed and with a nonroad engine certified by EPA before import. It pays the same 25 percent truck duty. What that engine needs.
What about a newer truck governed to 25 miles per hour?
It is off road equipment and stays off public highways. On your own property it needs no registration. Vermont's ATV class needs low pressure tires, so a stock truck does not take a trail decal.
Engines and EPA
Why the engine decides which truck comes in.
The same three facts hold in Vermont and every other state.
The 25 year truck
It comes in on age
A 25 year old kei truck in original configuration clears both agencies on age. No Registered Importer and no Independent Commercial Importer is needed.
EPA's provision asks only that the truck is in its original configuration with the same model of engine it left the factory with.
40 CFR 85.1511(f)(2)eCFR, read 28 October 2026The newer truck
EPA asks for a certified engine
A newer kei truck comes in as nonroad equipment, permanently modified so its top speed is 25 mph or less, with its engine covered by an EPA certificate of conformity before it reaches US Customs. The governor stays for the life of the truck, and removing it is tampering, a federal offense.
Mini-trucks, importing used motor vehicles as nonroad vehiclesEPA, read 28 October 2026Engine size
Why 30 kilowatts decides a newer truck's engine
EPA sorts nonroad gasoline engines by maximum power, not size. Every kei engine is under 1,000 cc, so an engine of 30 kW or less may certify to the small engine standards, and 30 kW is the line that decides. Today's stock kei engines are rated above it, and a speed governor does not lower an engine's maximum power.
Every kei engine family EPA has certified for mini trucks is a lower power certified configuration, between 14.46 and 29.9 kW, under part 90 or part 1054. A certified mini truck engine is that configuration, not the stock engine.
40 CFR 1054.1, the small engine ruleseCFR, read 28 October 2026Small nonroad spark ignition engine certificatesEPA, read 28 October 2026Vermont, the five answers
Road, title, land, inspection and what is next.
The roadCan I drive it on the road?
Since 1 July 2026 Vermont law names kei vehicles as pleasure cars, so a road eligible kei truck registers and drives like any other car, or as a farm truck at the owner's option.
- 23 V.S.A. 4(90) defines a kei vehicle as a motor vehicle with four wheels, 660 cc or less, length 130 inches or less, height 78 inches or less and width 60 inches or less
- 23 V.S.A. 4(89) makes a kei truck a kei vehicle designed, used or maintained primarily to carry property, and 4(72) lets a kei truck be a farm truck
- 23 V.S.A. 1044 subjects a kei vehicle registered as a pleasure car to every rule for pleasure cars and a kei truck registered as a farm truck to every rule for farm trucks
- 23 V.S.A. 1044(c) bars the state Traffic Committee and towns from rules or ordinances that would keep registered kei vehicles from running in the same manner and places as other pleasure cars or farm trucks
- No kei specific speed limit or road type ban was enacted
23 V.S.A. 4(28), 4(72), 4(89), 4(90) and 1044, added by Act 153 of 2026 (2025 Adj. Sess.), signed 16 June 2026, effective 1 July 2026
TitleHow do I title and register it?
A kei truck imported for road use registers with the Vermont DMV as a pleasure car, or as a farm truck when it works a farm.
The steps
- Bring the ownership and import papers to the Vermont DMV and register the truck as a pleasure car, or as a farm truck under 23 V.S.A. 367(f)
- Insure it as the DMV requires for registration
- Have it safety inspected within 15 days of registration
The documents
- Bill of sale
- US Customs entry papers showing lawful import for road use, with the Japanese export certificate and an English translation
- The chassis number
Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles
Read from a secondary source or an older page. Confirm it with the office before you rely on it.
LandCan I use it on a farm or private land?
Off the road a kei truck is a natural on sugarbushes, hayfields, woodlots and camps, and on your own land it needs nothing from the DMV.
Class. None needed for a road registered truck. A truck imported only as nonroad equipment is not a road vehicle and stays on private land.
Registration. No off road registration for kei trucks was found in Vermont law.
Read from a secondary source or an older page. Confirm it with the office before you rely on it.
On the farm
A kei truck can be a Vermont farm truck. Registered under 23 V.S.A. 367(f) it runs where other farm trucks run, and under 370(b) a farm truck used exclusively for farm work may move unregistered on highways within the farm or from one farm to another.
InspectionWhat inspection or insurance applies?
Safety. Every vehicle registered in Vermont gets a safety and visual emissions inspection once a year, within 15 days of first registration here.
Emissions. The OBD systems inspection applies only to vehicles 16 model years old or less, so a truck old enough for the federal 25 year rule takes the visual emissions check only.
Insurance. A kei vehicle registered as a pleasure car carries the insurance Vermont requires of any pleasure car.
Read from a secondary source or an older page. Confirm it with the office before you rely on it.
NextWhat is coming?
Act 153 also directs the DMV to rewrite its inspection manual so a vehicle fails only for an immediate safety risk, with proposed rules filed by 1 August 2026. Emissions rules are left as they are.
Rules due from 1 August 2026
Questions
Asked about Vermont.
Can I drive a kei truck on Vermont roads?
Yes. Act 153, in force since 1 July 2026, makes kei vehicles pleasure cars under Vermont law. A registered kei truck follows the same rules as any other car.
What about a truck 25 years or older?
It registers with the Vermont DMV as a pleasure car or as a farm truck and goes where any other car goes. It takes a safety and visual emissions inspection each year.
What about a newer truck governed to 25 miles per hour?
It is off road equipment and stays off public highways. On your own property it needs no registration. Vermont's ATV class needs low pressure tires, so a stock truck does not take a trail decal.
What counts as a kei vehicle?
Four wheels, 660 cc or less and no more than 130 inches long, 78 inches high and 60 inches wide.
Can my town ban it?
No. The law bars the state Traffic Committee and towns from rules that would keep registered kei vehicles from going where other pleasure cars or farm trucks go.
Can I use it as a farm truck?
Yes. A kei truck can be registered as a farm truck, and a farm truck used only for farm work may move between parts of the farm or from one farm to another without registration.
What inspection does it need?
A safety and visual emissions inspection every year, the first within 15 days of registration. A truck more than 16 model years old skips the OBD test.
Upgrades
Upgrades in Vermont.
Height and lift. The inspection manual rejects bumpers over 24 inches front or 26 rear on trucks of 4,500 lb GVWR and under. Pleasure cars are held to 22 inches. A body floor to frame gap over 4 inches is also rejected (Code Vt. R. 14-050-022).
Tires and fenders. Rear wheel flaps are required on a truck, no narrower than the tires and hanging more than 6 and less than 16 inches off the ground when empty. Tread under 2/32 inch is rejected (23 V.S.A. 1306 and Code Vt. R. 14-050-022).
Lights. A lighting device of over four candle power with a reflector must be approved and its beam may not rise more than 42 inches above level ground (23 V.S.A. 1246). Registered snow removal equipment must use amber lamps while plowing (1252).
Modification and inspection. Every registered vehicle gets a safety inspection once each year (23 V.S.A. 1222). A kei vehicle registered as a pleasure car and a kei truck registered as a farm truck follow the rules for those classes from 1 July 2026 (23 V.S.A. 1044).
From the upgrades chapter of Mini Truck Roadbook, the 2026 to 2027 edition, with the statute after each rule.
Getting it there
Where Vermont's truck comes ashore.
From the nearest port where a sailing from Japan is on record. Road miles are an estimate, the straight line times 1.2, not a routed drive.
Sources
Every source read, 28 October 2026
- legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2026/S.326
- legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2026/Docs/ACTS/ACT153/ACT153%20As%20..
- legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/23/013/01044
- legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/23/001/00004
- legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/23/007/00370
- legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/23/013/01222
- legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/23/031/03501
- legislature.vermont.gov/statutes/section/23/031/03502
The public record of Vermont as read on 28 October 2026, not legal advice. Every kei truck pays the 25 percent truck duty, the chicken tax, whatever its age.
Contact
A truck for Vermont.
Ask about a truck, a state or the papers, and we answer with what applies to you.
Reach us
Use the form on this page. We read every message.
New England
Neighbouring states.
Areas in Vermont