Texas is refusing to register kei trucks, and owners are fighting back

A few years ago, some New England states became infamous in the car community when they began canceling existing registrations of legally imported and titled vintage Japanese cars, as well as preventing registration of additional examples. But they're not the only states that are starting to put up roadblocks to registering vehicles, particularly "kei" size cars, imported under the federal law that exempts 25-year-old vehicles from emissions and safety regulations. Highlighted by The Autopian in a recent article is Texas, and some owners are taking action to push back.

According to The Autopian, Texas hasn't been as aggressive as Maine and Rhode Island, where existing registrations were being canceled. But it shows a number of examples of people trying to register their legal imports and being denied. The piece notes that these denials have increased (though they have been occasionally argued for years based on some confusion between late-model, low-speed mini trucks and older imported Japanese examples) for the same reason as the New England examples: policy recommendations from the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA).