Final Report
So it’s farewell to the long-term Isuzu D-Max – and I’ve mixed feelings about its departure.
On the negative side, and despite two visits to a local dealer, the radio and satellite navigation system still don’t function consistently.
Sometimes I can get a good reception, switch to Radio 4, and listen contentedly to The Archers or shout at the Today programme.
Sometimes I’m rewarded with a load of static. It’s not due to a patchy DAB reception, either – I’ve driven other vehicles with digital radio along the same routes and not experienced a problem.
So far as the satnav is concerned, I’ve concluded that the best course of action is to revert to attaching my trusty Garmin to the windscreen and plugging it into the 12V power point – something I did earlier on in the game in the hope of shaming both the radio and satnav into behaving themselves.
My other gripes concern engine noise – when you accelerate away from rest it is way too high, and it’s an area that Isuzu needs to address – while I don’t like the keyless ignition system, although they’re not peculiar to the D-Max and are a trend I guess I’ll have to get used to…
What about the positives? Fortunately, there are plenty of them.
The D-Max is solidly built, doesn’t rattle, groan or squeak, and seems capable of absorbing any amount of punishment when you take it off-road. I
ts performance in the rough easily matches that of its other 4×4 double-cab rivals, and four-wheel drive, plus the set of low-ratio gears that can accompany it should you need them, are easy to engage.
Offering smooth, jerk-free changes and a useful kick-down, the automatic gearbox is excellent.
You can always switch to manual mode, and I did so once or twice just for the say-so, but in most circumstances you can let the auto ’box get on with it – and it is more than capable of doing so.
With heated seats – the driver’s perch is electrically adjustable for height, reach and rake – and an effective air-conditioning system, driver comfort isn’t an issue, while the reversing camera and beepers ensured I didn’t come to grief during low-speed manoeuvring.
The load area is easy to access but requires more tie-down points, and the optional Mountain Top Roll lockable roll-top cover is invaluable.
The D-Max was less frugal than the (seldom accurate) official combined figures suggested it would be. But a heavy vehicle tackling steep hills fully laden will always struggle a bit in the fuel economy stakes, plus the handsome-looking pick-up does not require periodic infusions of AdBlue to meet the Euro6 standard. Now that is a definite plus-point.
For a comparatively large pick-up, the handling is exemplary.
You can push the Isuzu D-Max quite hard into bends without worrying that it will come adrift, and even the deepest potholes seem unable to deflect it from its course.
That’s a tribute to the suspension system, which offers an acceptable ride.
Isuzu D-Max Utah Double Cab automatic 4×4 pick-up
Mileage 3,176
Official combined consumption 36.2mpg
Our average consumption 33.0mpg*
Price range (ex VAT) £16,499-£28,999
Price (ex VAT) £26,149
Warranty 5yrs/125,000mls
Service intervals 2yrs/12,000mls
Load length 1,485mm
Load width (min/max) 1,080/1,530mm
Gross payload 1,091kg
Engine size/power 1,898cc/164hp
Gearbox 6-speed auto
CO2 205g/km
* approximately
Options (ex VAT)
Load area roll top £1,127.50
Special paint finish £430
13-pin towing electrics £226.25
Tow bar £187.50
End-of-term Report
Safety 4/5
All the usual electronic safety devices are fitted and a camera and sensors help prevent reversing accidents.
Options list 4/5
It doesn’t come cheap, but the lockable load area roll-top cover is a must-have.
Driving 4/5
Exemplary handling, a smooth gear change, plenty of off-road capability and a decent turn of speed for a big pick-up have to be balanced against in-cab noise levels.
Load bay 3/5
Easy to access and I like the tailored liner, but it could do with more tie-down points.
Cabin 4/5
Comfortable working environment with heated front seats and aircon.
Build quality 2/5
Well put-together, but our D-Max was let down by an unreliable radio.
OVERALL SCORE 70%
Click below to see previous report
5th Report
I’m not sure about the use of increasingly fashionable keyless ignition technology.
If the D-Max is locked then all you do is wave the key fob close to the driver’s door and it will unlock itself, and to start the truck you just need to have the key fob handy and the engine will fire up when you press a button on the dashboard.
Which, on the face of it that sounds laudable. However, I’m becoming increasingly concerned about the growing number of reports of keyless ignition systems being overcome by thieves, although to be fair I’ve not heard of this happening to D-Max pick-ups.
Furthermore, I’m finding that because I don’t have to physically take keys out of an ignition, I’m tending to leave the fob in the cab – not a great idea so far as security is concerned.
To be honest, I’d like to see the motor industry reverse this trend and go back to the good old-fashioned ignition key; just because technology allows you to do something doesn’t make it sensible.
Other than being made to feel like a social pariah by the politically correct, one of the more irritating aspects of owning a modern diesel light commercial is having to top it up with AdBlue every so often.
Fortunately, some manufacturers employ engineers clever enough to design vehicles in such a way that pouring a mixture of urea and distilled water into an onboard reservoir to ensure the exhaust emission regulations are complied with is not necessary.
Isuzu is one of them, which means that D-Max is an AdBlue-free zone, and they should be applauded for it.
It means that owners enjoy both weight and cost savings – modest ones admittedly, but helping to enable a useful payload of 1,091kg is an advantage worth having – as well as less inconvenience.
Meanwhile, the DAB radio and satnav have both decided to work properly again. Maybe my decision to start sticking my portable Garmin to the windscreen and plug it into the 12V power point concealed inside a lidded bin on the fascia embarrassed the built-in satnav so much that it decided to stop being so contrary.
The recent blazing-hot weather has necessitated the full-time use of the D-Max’s highly effective onboard aircon, set at the lowest-possible temperature with the fan turned up to its maximum setting. But running the aircon constantly is having little discernible impact on fuel consumption, which still resolutely hovers at around 33.0mpg.
Fuel economy would probably be better if I hadn’t got into the habit of flooring the accelerator pedal at every (safe) opportunity and making full use of the automatic gearbox’s kick-down facility to get past slower-moving traffic. As well as being great fun it means I get to my destination a bit quicker – cue all the road-safety analysts who will tell me that, in reality, I won’t – but I’m conscious that by doing so I’m burning more diesel given the D-Max’s weight.
Maybe I should try being more feather-footed – but I’ve a funny feeling that’s not going to happen any time soon.
Report Card: Load area = 4/5
Easy to access, decent payload, and the roll-top cover is proving invaluable.
Isuzu D-Max Utah Double Cab automatic 4×4 pick-up
Mileage 2,856
Official combined consumption 36.2mpg
Our average consumption 33.0mpg*
Price range (ex VAT) £16,499-£28,999
Price (ex VAT) £26,149
Warranty 5yrs/125,000mls
Service intervals 2yrs/12,000mls
Load length 1,485mm
Load width (min/max) 1,080/1,530mm
Gross payload 1,091kg
Engine size/power 1,898cc/164hp
Gearbox 6-speed auto
CO2 205g/km
* approximately
Click below to see previous report
4th Report
When the weather gets really hot, what were once muddy, heavily rutted tracks occasionally criss-crossed by rivulets get baked dry in the sun.
On the face of it that should make them easier to tackle because there is no danger of getting stuck in clinging gloop. Nor is there any need, in the D-Max’s case, to turn the knob between the seats to engage four-wheel drive, still less to push it down and twist it again to engage the Isuzu’s low-range set of gears too.
Crossing baked-hard ruts, however, is rather like crashing over concrete ridges: tackle them at anything other than (very slow) walking pace and you are rewarded by a series of loud bangs as the underside of the truck encounters something hard and unyielding.
It is then you start to wonder whether you might have done some serious damage.
That’s when one of the D-Max’s key advantages comes to the fore. Far from being an SUV that’s fine for the school run but for not much else, it is built like the proverbial brick outhouse. It can absorb a remarkable amount of punishment without anything falling off or starting to groan and squeak. Clearly, the ground clearance it enjoys helps, aided by the big, 18in wheels on our demonstrator.
Tackling rock-hard terrain is guaranteed to shake your passengers about so it is fortunate that the one in front has a grab-handle on the A-pillar.
The outboard rear passengers can hang on to handles above the doors, but there is nothing for the centre passenger to grasp. Maybe it might make sense to fit a handle in the middle of the ceiling. It’s an arrangement you see quite regularly in panel vans with three-seater cabs.
Fortunately, the front seat offers the driver plenty of support when the truck’s rocking and rolling, while it’s in hot weather that the aircon comes into its own.
Report Card: Build quality = 4/5
The tough D-Max easily handles scorched, bumpy off-road terrain.
Isuzu D-Max Utah Double Cab automatic 4×4 pick-up
Mileage 2,556
Official combined consumption 36.2mpg
Our average consumption 33.0mpg*
Price range (ex VAT) £16,499-£28,999
Price (ex VAT) £26,149
Warranty 5yrs/125,000mls
Service intervals 2yrs/12,000mls
Load length 1,485mm
Load width (min/max) 1,080/1,530mm
Gross payload 1,091kg
Engine size/power 1,898cc/164hp
Gearbox 6-speed auto
CO2 205g/km
* approximately
Click below to see previous report
3rd Report
According to Isuzu’s website the nearest dealership to me is Warners of Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, just over 17 miles away and a bit of a distance to travel to get a faulty radio rectified.
But perhaps that’s the penalty one pays for living in rural Herefordshire.
Warners couldn’t offer me an appointment for another 13 days, alas. So I rang the next closest, which was nearly 19 miles away but also in Gloucestershire – M J Fews of Charfield, Wotton-under-Edge – and they told me they could look at the fault in 10 days’ time.
Best-known as a well-established Land Rover dealer, M J Fews boasts some of the friendliest service receptionists I have ever encountered plus a comfortable waiting area.
I sat there for upwards of an hour and was then told that the problem stemmed from a wiring fault, but, unfortunately, the workshop couldn’t identify which wire was responsible.
The D-Max would have to be booked in for a day so that the culprit could be hunted down.
I brought the truck back just after 8am several days later, was provided with a clean, almost brand new Ford Fiesta as a courtesy car, and went home to await events.
During the afternoon a receptionist rang to tell me the technicians had taken the unit out of the dashboard no less than three times, checked all the wires and connections, and could find nothing amiss. They had then tuned the radio and driven the truck some distance out of Charfield, and everything appeared to be working.
Bemused, I drove back to the dealership, retrieved the D-Max’s fob – it’s keyless – went out and turned on the radio.
Initially, all seemed well, and I headed off up the M5 rejoicing.
A few miles on, however, the radio started playing up again, refusing to tune into DAB stations that the digital radio in my wife’s Skoda Yeti can pick up easily. It has remained that way ever since.
And while FM reception is better, the multimedia unit doesn’t seem overly keen to let me make use of the satellite navigation system. Fortunately, the higher of the dashboard’s two lidded glove compartments conceals a 12V power point, so if the worst comes to the worst I’ll be able to plug in my trusty Garmin portable nav unit and attach it to the windscreen.
M J Fews has undoubtedly tried its best, so the fault I suspect lies within the actual unit. So it’s over to Isuzu itself now for further investigation – I’ll keep you posted.
Report Card: Infotainment = 2/5
A fault with the temperamental radio has proved stubbornly difficult to resolve.
Isuzu D-Max Utah Double Cab automatic 4×4 pick-up
Mileage 1,921
Official combined consumption 36.2mpg
Our average consumption 33.0mpg*
Price range (ex VAT) £16,499-£28,999
Price (ex VAT) £26,149
Warranty 5yrs/125,000mls
Service intervals 2yrs/12,000mls
Load length 1,485mm
Load width (min/max) 1,080/1,530mm
Gross payload 1,091kg
Engine size/power 1,898cc/164hp
Gearbox 6-speed auto
CO2 205g/km
* approximately
Click below to see previous report
2nd Report
Maybe it’s because I’m a thick-fingered technology-challenged baby boomer who can remember manual typewriters and the days when you could smoke in offices, but I’m finding it almost impossible to tune my D-Max’s radio.
I’ve tried everything – even reading the manual, which has to be counted as a first – but whichever station I light upon, the radio drifts away from it the first chance it gets. The 7.0in touch-screen is covered with finger-marks as a consequence of my frantically stabbing at anything that is likely to deliver a solution.
I’m fast coming to the conclusion there is either a fault with the radio or with the aerial.
Time for a call to somebody at Isuzu, who will doubtless tell me the fault is mine.
When you engage reverse the aforementioned screen throws up an image of what is behind you thanks to the rear-view camera.
A model of clarity when the weather is dry, the image quickly becomes blurred if it’s raining heavily. Reverse at night and it is partially obscured by light reflections.
Gripes over, let’s concentrate on the positives. They include the handling – exemplary around twisting country roads for a truck of its size – and the easy-to-engage four-wheel drive system. To activate it just turn a knob between the seats; to engage a low-range set of gears push it down and turn it again.
The D-Max is manoeuvrable too, allowing you to squeeze into field gateways that look too tight for it so you can get out of the way of oncoming tractors and trailers.
So far I’ve only made the gentlest of forays off-roads, but the D-Max has coped with thick, clinging mud and some fairly deep water admirably in four-wheel-drive mode, and without the need to go anywhere near the low-range setting.
Nor – aside from the infuriating radio – can I complain about driver comfort. The seat is easy to adjust, offers plenty of support, and it is heated.
One of the things I really like about the D-Max though is its solidity: it feels tough and durable – just what you want from a pick-up designed to be a working tool.
Fuel economy is still around 33.0mpg and would probably be better if I didn’t floor the accelerator pedal at every (legal) opportunity. A lighter right foot invariably spells lower fuel bills.
Report Card: Ride = 4/5
Seems unfazed by potholes and appears to steamroller transverse ridges flat.
Isuzu D-Max Utah Double Cab automatic 4×4 pick-up
Mileage 735
Official combined consumption 36.2mpg
Our average consumption 33.0mpg*
Price range (ex VAT) £16,499-£28,999
Price (ex VAT) £26,149
Warranty 5yrs/125,000mls
Service intervals 2yrs/12,000mls
Load length 1,485mm
Load width (min/max) 1,080/1,530mm
Gross payload 1,091kg
Engine size/power 1,898cc/164hp
Gearbox 6-speed auto
CO2 205g/km
* approximately
Click below to see previous report
1st Report
Driving through the Herefordshire countryside on a bitterly cold day yet with clear blue sky, bright, albeit wintry, sunshine and the driver’s heated seat on maximum output has to be one of the most pleasurable experiences you can have.
That is what I was doing a few days after I took delivery of an automatic Isuzu D-Max Utah Double Cab 4×4 pick-up – the latest addition to What Van?’s long-term test fleet.
The Isuzu D-Max was a worthy winner of our Pick-Up of the Year award for 2018.
Power comes courtesy of a 164hp 1.9-litre diesel, which you fire up by pressing a button on the dashboard – always assuming, of course, you have the magic key fob to hand.
The four-door five-seater Utah is some way up the D-Max specification walk so you enjoy a more than decent level of standard kit as the earlier reference to a heated driver’s seat indicates. The front passenger seat is heated too.
Climate control is included in the deal, as is cruise control. All five seats are leather-trimmed, and the driver’s is electrically adjustable for reach, rake and height.
For your money you also enjoy Bluetooth connectivity with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto alongside satellite navigation, a 7in touchscreen and an eight-speaker DAB digital radio.
Switch to reverse and a camera allows you to see whatever is behind you on the dashboard screen. Rear parking sensors are fitted too.
A drop-down tailgate gives access to the load area, which is protected by an optional, lockable Mountain Top Roll roller-shutter cover.
For a big, heavy, truck the Isuzu D-Max pulls strongly away from rest. Progress is aided by the fuss-free way it slips from one set of gears to the next.
Should you tire of automatic transmission then you can always switch to manual mode and go up and down the gearbox using the shift lever. In most cases, however, there is no real need to take the trouble and you might just as well leave it in ‘D’ for drive.
To engage four-wheel drive all you have to do is rotate a knob between the seats. If you wish to engage a low-range set of gears then you push the knob down and turn it again.
The D-Max handles surprisingly well and you can push it through bends without having to worry that it will suddenly decide to become tail-happy. The ride is by no means perfect, but is better than I remembered from my previous encounter with this model.
Noise levels have not improved however, with the engine sounding harsh as you accelerate off the line. It is a problem Isuzu needs to address.
As for fuel economy, we averaged around 33.0mpg. That is a little below the official combined figure of 36.2mpg; but it’s early days.
Report Card: Handling/performance = 4/5
Both are far better than might be expected given the size and weight of the vehicle.
Isuzu D-Max Utah Double Cab automatic 4×4 pick-up
Mileage 227
Official combined consumption 36.2mpg
Our average consumption 33.0mpg*
Price range (ex VAT) £16,499-£28,999
Price (ex VAT) £26,149
Warranty 5yrs/125,000mls
Service intervals 2yrs/12,000mls
Load length 1,485mm
Load width (min/max) 1,080/1,530mm
Gross payload 1,091kg
Engine size/power 1,898cc/164hp
Gearbox 6-speed auto
CO2 205g/km
* approximately
