Isuzu D-Max Review

Competing with an ever-shrinking pick-up truck market, the Isuzu D-Max is rival for trucks like the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger. Prices start (before VAT) from around £26,000 – but you'll find most on the used market are high-spec DL40 or V-Cross models, with price tags of more than £25,000.

The latest model uses a revamped version of Isuzu's old 1.9-litre diesel, which might sound a bit unrefined if you're trading in a more car-like SUV. It's a genuine workhorse, though, capable of serious off-road antics thanks to a locking rear differential that's standard on pricier models, as well as a trick hill-descent system.

As well as the higher-spec models, the D-Max is also available in Utility and DL20 forms, as well as the limited-edition, feature-packed Steel Edition.

On the road, the D-Max's old-school suspension means it clatters about more than a Nissan Navara, while its ponderous steering isn't the most reassuring. It's relatively easy to drive, though, and a long list of driver-assistance features mean the D-Max was awarded five stars in Euro NCAP crash tests.

Where it really shines is in the rough stuff, with a rugged four-wheel drive system and a true agricultural charm. While some modern pick-up trucks can feel more like cars with pick-up abilities added on, the D-Max – for good and for bad – feels like a working vehicle, albeit one available with lots of mod-cons. It's a lot of truck for the money and if you need something rough, ready and capable, but with a few luxuries thrown in to make life more comfortable, it's well worth a look.

heycar has 1000s of used vans for sale, including a wide range of Isuzu D-Max pick-ups for sale. If you're looking for the older version, you need our Isuzu D-Max (2012-2021) review.

If you're after a value-for-money working truck with some extras thrown in, then the D-Max is a great option with strong payload capalities and an excellent safety rating. It's important to look at this as a "proper" pick-up truck, however – compared to a car or an SUV it's fairly unsophisticated, so if its duties will largely be ferrying around families and trundling up and down motorways, there are more refined alternatives such as the Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux and Volkswagen Amarok.

Used models start at around £20,000, so they're not cheap even after a few years. That does mean, however, that they hold their value well.

If you're looking for a bargain D-Max, we'd recommend looking at the old model.

The Isuzu D-Max sits at the more affordable end of the UK pick-up truck market, alongside the the KGM Musso (formerly the SssangYong Musso). Other new options are more sophisticated but more expensive – the Ford Ranger, the Toyota Hilux and the Volkswagen Amarok. Used options, which are no longer supplied new to the UK, include the Nissan Navara, Mitsubishi L200 and the Mercedes-Benz X-Class.

The double cab is the most popular, accounting for around 80% of sales. This has room for up to five people in the cabin, meaning that despite its utilitarian strengths, you could use the D-Max as your main family car (or to carry several work colleagues).

It's a spacious and versatile interior, while high-spec models are fully loaded with features. Standard equipment on the D-Max V-Cross includes a 9.0-inch infotainment touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and leather seats. Utility models get easy-to-clean upholstery

As with rival trucks, you'd struggle to fit the Isuzu D-Max in a typical garage. In Double Cab and Extended Cab form, it measures 5265mm long, 1870mm wide and 1790mm tall. The Single Cab model is actually longer, at 5305mm.

The space within the Isuzu D-Max is a key selling point, and it's excellent. There's loads of space in the front for even tall adults, and in the Double Cab model we tried, space in the back is good too. Five adults will have few problems getting in and a nice flat floor to expand legroom. The Extended Cab model will be tighter, with two small folding rear seats in favour of a longer load bed, with small rear-hinged doors instead of the regular back doors of the Double Cab.

Storage is plentiful. There are two small glove boxes, one above the other on the passenger side, a lidded tray on top of the dashboard and a sunglasses holder in the roof. There's also a small storage space under the central armrest, two big cupholders between the front seats and a cubby in front of the gearstick, which in our test model houses a wireless phone charger. There are door pockets big enough for a drinks bottle in the front, and in the back there are smaller door pockets and retractable hooks in the back of the front seats.

The load bed on double cab models is 1495mm long, 1530mm wide and 490mm deep. All models are the same width, while the Single Cab is longer but shallower (2315mm and 465mm) and the Extended Cab model's bed length is between the two at 1805mm. The payload is 1000kg – the same as the Hilux and the Ranger, but less than the 1112kg that the Amarok can haul.

Numerous accessories are available to personalilse your D-Max. Our V-Cross test vehicle had a Truckman canopy and a BedRug liner that essentially made the bed into a massive boot – great if you have large amounts of stuff to lug about but don't need the rugged look of a regular load bed.

Towing capacity is excellent at 3500kg braked for all 4x4 models and 750kg unbraked. The 4x2 Single Cab model has a braked capacity of 2500kg.

The D-Max comes various infotainment options, depending on which model you go for. We tried the V-Cross and the Steel Edition, which both come with a 9.0-inch touchscreen for its infotainment system. But it's not an particularly great one. It looks and feels cheap and aftermarket – slow to react and not very intuitive to use. It has wireless Apple CarPlay, although we had mixed results in how fast our phone would connect – it took an age in the Steel Edition but was lightning fast in the V-Cross, so make sure you've got the latest software. Once it's connected it all works perfectly well. Android Auto is included too.

Lower-spec models have lower-spec systems. The Utility trim has a very basic two-speaker sound system, Bluetooth and a front USB port and, like all D-Maxes, a CD player. Remember them?

The DL20 upgrades to four speakers, with a front and rear USB port on double cab models, and the DL40 has a 7.0-inch screen with eight speakers.

One plus point, in an age when manufacturers are increasingly running all controls through touchscreens, is that air conditioning controls are button-operated, which makes it much easier to adjust the temperature on the move.

The materials used in the D-Max are as you'd expect for a working vehicle – tough and durable, but hard and with no premium pretensions at all. Go into the D-Max with appropriate expectations and they're entirely acceptable, but it will feel like a big step down in quality from a car or even more upmarket pick up trucks. Things like the thunk of the door closure, the haptics of the handles and buttons, all feel plasticky and unrefined.

All that said, for a truck that's touring yards and sites all week, and carrying kids about at the weekend, it's absolutely fine.

There's just one engine choice in the D-Max, a 1.9-litre diesel that feels rather agricultural, but it gets the job done. It puts out 164PS and 360Nm, which is plenty to haul both the truck and any load you might want to shift. We tried the automatic gearbox, which is unsophisticated and has a tendency to hold a higher gear than feels necessary, but it does the job well enough.

Buyers can choose from a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic gearbox. The majority of used D-Max models will have a manual transmission. The majority are four-wheel drive, too, although the basic Utility model is available as two-wheel drive.

All D-Max models come with old-school leaf-sprung suspension which means it lacks the on-road sophistication of something like a Nissan Navara or a Volkswagen Amarok. The ride is less than smooth, especially on poor road surfaces, and the steering lacks directness, but the D-Max does at least feel stable and composed around corners. The turning circle is impressively tight, too. Overall, it's fine on the road, but most of its rivals feel more sophistcated.

It's very impressive off road, though, with a four-wheel-drive system that lets you switch from two-wheel-drive while moving, a rear differential lock (standard on most models), underbody protection and a wading depth of up to 800mm. There's not much that it can't tackle when it comes to challenging terrain.

This isn't really a vehicle where refinement and quiet are priorities – the engine chugs and is particularly noisy under acceleration, although it's not too bad when cruising. Road noise and wind noise are high, but then this is a large, bluff vehicle with chunky tyres.

Safety organisation Euro NCAP awarded the D-Max a maximum five-star score when it was tested in 2022, and it comes with lots of advanced safety systems. Automatic emergency braking, traffic-sign recognition, a speed limiter with traffic sign recognition and lane-departure warning are all standard across the range. The Double Cab models feature blind-spot detection, emergency lane keeping and rear cross-traffic alert, and models with the automatic gearbox also get adaptive cruise control. The outer rear seats have Isofix child-seat mounting points.