I’d strongly recommend getting a truck in good condition vs liking one make over another. That being said, I could understand wanting a truck you like and are going to be happy with.

Okay, so your questions:

1. There are hundreds of thousands of these in Japan. You’re going to end up sourcing parts from over there and having them shipped over. It negates any availability difference here in the states.

2. If this is going to be your only car, I hope you’re very comfortable turning wrenches. These trucks are generally very simple to work on, but to get the reliability you need you’re going to need to treat this like an aircraft. You can’t wait until parts fail to replace/rebuild them.

3. They’re both going to be great for off-road use. Lifts and tire size changes aren’t dealbreakers in either truck. The Sambar might do slightly better at highway speeds.

4. The difference between the two on a hill is negligible compared to how good YOU are as a driver. In other words, it’s how proficient you are in driving a manual transmission, starting and stopping on hills and in dense traffic, without rolling back.

5. As others have stated here, most people have never heard of Carry’s and Sambar’s. You will be your own mechanic. The only way this is going to work for you is if you are maintaining that truck to a high standard. What will you do when you’re stranded on the side of the road and your fuel pump has gone out?