Isuzu D-Max Review 2025: Price, specs & load capacity

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.

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 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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Isuzu has an excellent reliability record while its five-year/125,000-mile warranty ought to put your mind at rest. All models come with five years roadside assistance, too.

As well as budgeting for heavy fuel use, set some cash aside insurance money, too, because the D-Max sits in insurance group 50. Of 50. That means annual premiums will be about as high as they can get, although as with all insurance, exact costs will depend on your personal circumstances.

As a light good vehicle, the D-Max is subject to a flat rate of Vehicle Excise Duty, which is currently £335 a year.

The Isuzu D-Max range is structured into three sections: Business, All-Purpose and Adventure. The Business line is basically just the Utility model, which comes in single, extended or double cab form and with two-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. Standard features include automatic headlighhts, auto windscreen wipers and a DAB radio, but it's pretty bare bones.

The All-Purpose range comprises the DL20 and DL40 models (the DL signifies the presence of a differential lock as standard). DL20s get heated front seats, rear parking sensors, front fog lights, and a front centre armrest, as well as 18-inch alloy wheels. DL40s, meanwhile, get bi-LED headlights, LED daytime running lights, LED front fog lights, and LED rear lights, side steps and two-tone alloy wheels, as well as a reversing camera, keyless entry and push-button start and leather seats, as well as an electrically adjustable driver's seat.

The Adventure range features the range-topping V-Cross trim, which has dark grey exterior styling elements, including the grille, the upgraded infotainment system and V-Cross branded mats. There's also the Steel edition, based on the V-Cross and limited to 300 units, which adds rear arch extensions, roof rails and various other minor embellishments.