Isuzu D-Max review

Prices start from just over £25,000 but top out close to £40k. Go through Isuzu’s own lease scheme and you can drive away a D-Max for as little as £230 a month (on a four-year business lease) with around £3,000 down.

The model range is structured into three segments: Business, All-Purpose and Adventure. Within Business you’ll find the Utility trim, offered in a choice of 4x2 or 4x4 and in three different cab types: single, extended and double cab. Features include vinyl flooring and cool-as-ever steel wheels, plus hard-wearing black bumpers, door mirrors and door handles. The workhorse, in other words.

The All-Purpose range consists of the DL20 and DL40, with ‘DL’ signifying that the rear diff-lock comes as standard, and the ‘20’ and ‘40’ demonstrating the model hierarchy. Fairly straightforward, right? The DL20 introduces body-coloured front and rear bumpers, silver door handles, a grey grille and 18-inch alloy wheels for a more ‘premium’ look, whilst the DL40 also gets additional LED lights, a chrome grille, silver side steps and two-tone wheels. Because two tones are better than one, apparently. 

As previously mentioned the range topper is the V-Cross, which sits on its own in the ‘Adventure’ range. In terms of exterior styling it also gets 18-inch alloys plus a few gunmetal grey bits that include the grille and mirrors. Got it? Good.

Which should you choose? Depends what you’re planning on using it for. Commercial buyers needn’t look further than the rough-and-ready Utility trim, which will be more than a match for everyday working life. Families? If your budget can stretch that far you’ll appreciate the extra luxuries offered in the V-Cross, that is if you’re considering a pick-up as your next family runaround.

The other big news here is that the Isuzu D-Max is the safest pick-up in the sector, with a mightily impressive five-star Euro NCAP rating. That’s thanks to the standard active safety systems like lane departure warning and prevention, traffic sign recognition and an intelligent speed limiter. There’s also an Autonomous Emergency Braking system that Mitsubishi helpfully demonstrated to us with the help of a polystyrene cut out. All of this helps sell the D-Max to fleet buyers, who should save on insurance claims with fewer accidents.

There are up to eight different colour options, but Utility buyers will have to make do with a choice of just four. Go for Valencia Orange on DL40 models upwards. 

Break something in the rough stuff and you’ll be covered by Isuzu’s 125,000 mile/five-year warranty.