Hi Seth,

Thanks for the enquiry. The R1 is a Subaru Kei Car with 660cc engine. The chassis prefix is RJ1 & RJ2. 2 or 4 wheel drive. We have not heard of any adverse reports of engine or similar problems with this model. As regards a car for 1st use, excellent, small nippy and of course economical. It is only 660cc engine so prolonged higher speed driving is not what it is designed for, that is not to say you could drive it occasionally at a higher speed of course, but not prolonged constant high speed usage. The R1 does have 4x seats but it is a small car so 4x average sized people is fine – but again not for frequent long journeys, its a small car. ideally for a couple or a couple with young children or average adults but on shorter journeys is fine. Again consider the size of car and engine, it is small so dont expect to load it up with 4x adults and go flat out down a motorway……the engine wont thanks you. Hope that helps a little for you.

Hi,
thanks for the question. Kei cars are quite unknown within the UK, they are of course as you will know limited to 670cc for tax reasons in Japan. they are excellent little cars and most manufactures make them in Japan of various models, even tipper trucks and vans. We do get enquiries for them from UK customers and then source via our Japan garages and import / register here in the UK. You will get insurance but of course they are not on the databases so you would need to speck with a person / broker as opposed to a website page. We can import and supply for you, better to email us from our Contacts page, we shall do our best for you. Thanks Algys Autos.

Thank you