This man loves his Kei truck, but plans to give it up because finding parts is hard

Craig Disbrow runs a removal business with his Kei
truck.
Craig Disbrow

A Kei truck owner plans to give up his mini pickup as it’s too hard and costly to find spare parts.
Craig Disbrow uses a modified 1990 Mazda Bongo for his removal business in New York City.
A new windshield wiper and side mirror alone cost him $600 to replace.

Craig Disbrow bought a a modified 1990 Mazda Bongo to start a removal business in New York City.

He said he fell in love with the mini Japanese “Kei” truck, but the unexpectedly high costs of replacing broken parts means he’s reluctantly planning to give it up.

Finding the Kei truck

Disbrow, 48, said he came across the truck while driving in North Carolina, where he’d moved with his wife during the pandemic. 

He said he had already been reluctant to go back to his job as a waiter in New York, so when he spotted the right-hand-drive mini truck, he had an idea.

“Within 30 seconds I had this whole rush of information come to me about what I’m doing right now, about the moving business,” Disbrow told Insider, speaking hands-free while driving his truck on a New York highway.

Disbrow’s modified Kei truck without covers on the back.
Craig Disbrow

After a bidding war, Disbrow said he bought the truck for about $4,500. He estimates he spent another $3,000 turning it into a mini removal van.

Disbrow said the truck had done only 23,000 kilometers (14,300 miles) when he bought it.

After purchasing the vehicle, he founded Truck and a Driver, a moving company operating across the five boroughs of New York.

He said his moving company was popular for people moving out of studio and one-bed apartments, and the nimble Kei truck can squeeze into small spots that bigger vans cannot.

Disbrow said that the Kei truck’s unique style also turned heads, offering him some free advertising.

“People see it and can’t help but smile. People beep at me all the time on the highway – it’s fun.”

Spare parts pain

Kei trucks have increased in popularity in the US in recent years, particularly in rural America where they’re used around ranches, beaches, and even as beekeeper wagons.

But Disbrow’s shown they can be effective in urban settings too.

There are a few problems with the trucks that potential customers need to consider, however.

The rarity of the vehicles, combined with their old age, means spare parts can be hard to come by.

Disbrow said he had first-hand experience of this, after vandals ripped off the windshield wiper and side mirror. 

The wiper cost about $250 to replace, while the side mirror set him back $350.

More recently, Disbrow said he had his driver-side window smashed and items stolen. He said he didn’t even know where to source a new one for import, adding that glass items have different import restrictions. 

“It’s literally like owning a unicorn,” Disbrow said. “It’s a wonderful truck, it does the job beautifully. The only problem is when something’s wrong because I don’t have the resources to get parts or anything.”

It’s been enough to make Disbrow begrudgingly plan to give up the Kei truck and find something more common, he said.

“Three problems ago my wife was like, ‘can’t we just get something you can fix easy?’,” Disbrow said. “But because something always seems to happen; I can now see what she means.”