Isuzu D-Max DL40 Double Cab Automatic

If any of my recent observations are anything to go by – and they’re anything but scientific I can tell you – the Isuzu D-Max pick-up is rather popular out here in The Far Unlit Unknown. The builder’s merchant’s yard is their usual stomping ground; the local sparks and chippies all drive a D-Max, their mate the plumber has one too.  All the utility bods, the pylon erectors, and the electricity cable riggers; the ones in the fluorescent coats, multiple hoodies, and steel toecap boots: the ones who put the water and the gas pipes in, they all drive D- Max pick-ups.  And find me a farmer, or indeed a farmer’s wife, these days that doesn’t drive a D-Max – the roads around here come the school-run are awash with them.

       I seem to remember writing something somewhere along the lines of “The D-Max then, is a truck for those with working lives rather than for those who simply like to live lifestyles”. That was not long after the D-Max won the Trade and Van Driver Best Workhorse pick-up award – at the time, for the 8th year on the trot. I’ve just received a press release telling me that Isuzu UK is proud to announce that the multi-award-winning Isuzu D-Max has once again been crowned ‘Best Workhorse Pickup’ at the prestigious Trade Van Driver Awards 2025 – they’re Oscars of the trade van world, apparently – marking its 13th consecutive win in this category. Plus ca change, eh?

   Clearly then, Isuzu are doing something right. But then they are the people who refer to themselves as The Pick-up Professionals… No doubt the D-Max’s ability to carry over a tonne on its load bed, tow up to 3.5 tonnes, and cruise legally at 70mph (some pick-ups are restricted to 60mph due to their weight), go in no small way to gain it applause. As do, no doubt, a five year/125,000 mile warranty, and 12 year anti-corrosion warranty.

      Dare I say it? The D-Max has always felt a little more working class than its competition, a little rougher around the edges perhaps? Like I said, a bit less lifestyle; more Jewson than Jet-ski. That said, there’s far less pick-up competition these days than there once was. You simply can’t buy a brand new Mitsubishi L200, Nissan Navara, Mercedes X-Class, or a Fiat Fullback (remember them?), anymore. Ford’s ubiquitous Ranger, of course, is still going strong, VW have their Amarok – which is essentially a Ford Ranger… And of course, there’s the evergreen Toyota Hilux.

     That’s not to say in any way that the D-Max feels Spartan or short-changed when it comes to standard equipment. Yes, you can still buy a D-Max with a steel wheels, vinyl flooring, a truck cab, and a manual gearbox – the ideal spec. I’d say, for a work truck. But even then it comes with an 8” infotainment screen, reversing camera, rear differential lock (4×4 model only), Rough Terrain Mode (4×4 model only), and many an Advanced Driver Assist System.

    The D-Max Double-Cab DL40, such as the one Isuzu were kind enough to lend me for a few days, comes with Premium styling (Whatever that means? The metallic paint was nice…) the aforementioned 8” infotainment, a 7” driver information display (dashboard to you and me), heated front seats, Bi-LED headlights, 8 airbags, leather upholstery, dual-zone climate control, front and rear parking sensors, Apple Car Play & Android Auto, plus the all-important selectable “on the fly” 4×4 systems,  rear diff lock, and Rough Terrain Mode. Even the load bed on “my” D-Max was carpeted (and covered).  Honestly, I’ve driven Porsches with less kit. Although, with the dreaded VAT applied a fully loaded (please, pardon the pun) DL40 now costs over £40k – enough to make many-a tight-fisted farmer suck through what’s left of his, or indeed hers, teeth for years to come.

      It’s a shame that Isuzu couldn’t have applied a little more refinement to the D-Max’s engine. There’s only one choice, a 1,898cc 4 cylinder 16 valve, turbo-diesel. It’s more than punchy enough to provide ample oomph for day-to-day duties, but it develops its power quite high up in its rev-range, and the din it makes whilst doing so…

    It rattles like a ball-bearing in a biscuit tin, sending vibrations through the cabin even at idle. Throw-in Isuzu’s somewhat hesitant 6-speed automatic gearbox – perhaps the manual is not such a bad option –  and a leaf-sprung rear that’s clearly been set up for load-lugging rather than luxuriating, and on a country road the D-Max sounds, and rolls, like a trawler tackling the incoming tide.

    It does eventually settle into a not-so-distant hum once on smoother surfaces, and un-laden you should see the claimed 30.7 mpg without having to be too gentle with your right foot. Furthermore, once up to speed, it’ll happily cruise along all-day long and go, or go over, wherever or whatever you decide to point it at. I’ve driven a D-Max in mud so deep you could swim it: it felt reassuringly unstoppable. Proof perhaps this a very much a load-lugger first, a limo a very, very, far-distant second.

     That said, and uncouth oily-bits aside, there’s a lot to like about the new Isuzu D-Max, not least the fact that there seems to be a variant to suit all walks of life. The D-Max is by no means perfect, yet amongst its current competition, it can genuinely still hold its own.

     I feel perhaps that I damning the D-Max with faint praise, that’s not, and never was, my intention. Part of me is glad I don’t have to drive one every day; if you don’t actually need a D-Max, it’s hard to recommend you buy one.  But, when all said and done, ultimately it’s my job to decide whether or not whatever it is I’ve been driving is fit for purpose. And when it comes to the D-Max, I can think of few vehicles that are fitter for the job.

Isuzu D-Max DL40 Double Cab Automatic

Engine: 1,898cc 4-Cyl 16 valve, turbo-diesel  

Transmission: 6-speed automatic with manual mode and switchable “on-the-fly” 4×4

Power: 163 bhp @ 3,600 rpm

Torque: 265 lbft at 2,000 – 2,500 rpm

Max Speed: 112 mph

0-62 mph: 12.7 Sec.

CO2: 235 g/km

MPG: 30.7 (combined)

Price: from £38,495 CVOTR.

Many thanks to Filip at ISUZU for the loan of the D-Max

@bird_liam