Can I own one here
Owning one in Ada 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 with limits, to confirm. Idaho will not register a vehicle its maker did not certify to federal motor vehicle safety standards, so a kei truck takes no ordinary plate. ITD classes a vehicle of that size that is not FMVSS certified as a UTV, which takes a restricted plate for the roads Idaho opens to off-highway vehicles.
A newer governed truck
Utility terrain vehicle. Titled at the county office as a UTV under ITD's measurement chart, which counts a vehicle not FMVSS certified for highway use.
Roads and towns
Roads and towns in Ada County.
To confirm. Boise's code bars an all-terrain vehicle from every city street, and the Ada County Highway District, not the county, holds the public roads, so a UTV's road here is a question for the district and each city.
In town To confirm
- To confirm Boise City. Boise City Code 6-8-3 makes it unlawful to operate an all-terrain vehicle on any public street or highway in the city, including controlled access highways, or on public property or private property open to the public, unless the vehicle is plowing snow or doing agricultural, horticultural, dairy or livestock work. The section names an all-terrain vehicle and not a utility type vehicle. Idaho Code 67-7101 defines an ATV with handlebar steering and a straddle seat and a UTV apart from it, so whether the section reaches a UTV was not settled in the text. The city's own definitions were not read. Boise City Code 6-8-3 as amended in the 2019 code; the section is read in the state's 2023 compilation and listed on the city's code page, read 28 October 2026
- To confirm Eagle. The city's code was not read in this pass. Idaho Code 49-426(3)(a) leaves a street that is not a state highway open to a licensed off-highway vehicle until the city closes or limits it by ordinance or resolution under 49-426(7).
- To confirm Garden City. The city's code was not read in this pass. Idaho Code 49-426(3)(a) leaves a street that is not a state highway open to a licensed off-highway vehicle until the city closes or limits it by ordinance or resolution under 49-426(7).
- To confirm Kuna. The city's code was not read in this pass. Idaho Code 49-426(3)(a) leaves a street that is not a state highway open to a licensed off-highway vehicle until the city closes or limits it by ordinance or resolution under 49-426(7).
- To confirm Meridian. The city's code was not read in this pass. Idaho Code 49-426(3)(a) leaves a street that is not a state highway open to a licensed off-highway vehicle until the city closes or limits it by ordinance or resolution under 49-426(7).
- To confirm Star. The city's code was not read in this pass. Idaho Code 49-426(3)(a) leaves a street that is not a state highway open to a licensed off-highway vehicle until the city closes or limits it by ordinance or resolution under 49-426(7).
County roads Open
Open by the state's own default and not yet ruled out as closed. Idaho Code 49-426(3)(a) opens every highway that is not a state or interstate highway to a licensed off-highway vehicle until the governing board closes or limits it under 49-426(7). No ordinance or resolution of the Ada County commissioners closing or limiting county roads was read in this pass, and the state's 2023 compilation holds only a chapter on off road vehicles on private land, Ordinance 102 of 1980 as amended by Ordinance 882 of 2018, which says a lawfully licensed vehicle on a public highway is outside it. The Ada County Highway District holds the public roads of the county, and its own policy on off-highway vehicles was not read. A road that belongs to a highway district or a city is that body's to close or limit and not the county's. Idaho Code 49-426(3)(a) and (7); no county closure read, read 28 October 2026
State highways Closed
Closed to OHVs.
Getting one here
From Japan to Ada County.
The nearest ports with a sailing from Japan on record
- The Port of Tacoma, The Northwest Seaport Alliance South Harbor, about 500 road miles.
- The Port of Seattle, The Northwest Seaport Alliance North Harbor, about 500 road miles.
- The Port of Everett, about 500 road miles.
How to import a mini truck, step by step.
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
Ada County, counted.
10 active surface mines and quarries work Ada County's ground. Ada County has 1,142 farms and 412 cattle operations, by the 2022 Census of Agriculture. Ada County averages 31 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 Ada County?
Ask about a truck, a state or the papers, and we answer with what applies to you.
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