John Kendall reports back on our Isuzu D-Max pickup long-termer.
Isuzu D-Max Utility Double Cab
P11d: £28,614 CVOTR (excl. VAT) BiK: LCV flat rate £3,960 CO2 emissions: 219g/km Economy: 33.6mpg Test MPG: 40.4mpg
Report 2:
We’ve topped 10,000 miles on the Isuzu’s clock. Test mpg has slipped a bit to 40.4mpg, down from 42.4mpg a month ago because I’ve been covering a fair few motorway miles. Even so, 40mpg from a pickup truck with no load cover to improve aerodynamics is impressive. An unladen weight below 2,040kg means that the D-Max can be driven at car speed limits, unusual among its rivals. This doesn’t help fuel consumption either, but does help with journey times.
Apart from motorway running, the D-Max has been put to work with a few loads of garden waste shipped to the local recycling centre. It’s also served as airport transport so it’s certainly earning its keep.
First gear is quite low, a sensible arrangement for a vehicle designed for towing, and I find that a rapid upward shift after pulling away helps to keep revs down and noise with it. It can be a bit tricky reversing without an alarm or camera, just don’t rush.
If there is one thing I would change, it’s the sensitivity of the ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems), designed to keep you out of trouble. A loud alarm and red flashing light will let you know if the system thinks your closing speed on the vehicle in front is too great. For instance, I was turning at a busy junction angled to my right at more than 120 degrees recently, when a car approaching from the right and turning into the road at speed took the junction quite wide. This was enough to convince ADAS that a collision was imminent and its response was to slam the brakes on just as I was pulling out into a gap in traffic. You can’t put a price on safety, but…
Report 1:
Just over 41,000 pickups were registered in the UK in 2023, up 38.7% on 2022. Many of these will have been company vehicles, either because the user needed the vehicle for their job or because they were taking advantage of the LCV flat rate of Benefit-in-Kind tax imposed on the vehicles, offering lower BiK tax rates than for cars. If that’s your motive, then the Isuzu D-Max is a good choice because its unladen weight of less than 2,040kg (1,985kg in the case of our D-Max) also means that it can be driven at car speed limits rather than LCV speed limits.
Isuzu launched the new-look D-Max range last year, bringing largely cosmetic changes with a new grille. Our base spec utility model is pitched at business users who are going to use it for work. Additional kit includes Isuzu’s silver pack of side bar, Pioneer screen and a reverse camera, as well as tailgate assist which damps the descent when opened, rubber floor mats, tow bar, 13-pin electrics and an over-rail load bed liner. So far, so good, except that the reversing camera is not connected, probably because the Pioneer audio system does not have a suitable screen.
The D-Max is proving to be a comfortable motorway cruiser, with the engine more subdued than when driving around town. Without a load area cover, luggage space is restricted to what you can carry in the cab, but so far that hasn’t been a problem. Fuel consumption is generally good too with mid-40s mpg on a longer trip and an average of 42.4mpg overall.
