Isuzu D-Max: Pure functionality

Independent

08-03-2025

There aren't many ways to get ahead of the game these days, what with the Western world going fascist and everything. So just to ease the pain of losing your human rights within about the next decade or so, I thought I'd let you know about a nice little bit of entirely legal tax avoidance – but you'll need to hurry.
The vehicle of choice here is admittedly not for all, being one of those chunky big double-cab pickups you'll have noticed around the place the last few years – such as the much improved Isuzu D-Max that's just been released. If it is bought as a company vehicle for an employee's use, both business and private, the annual benefit-in-kind (BIK) charge remains a very reasonable flat rate of £3,960, coming out as £792 pa for a basic-rate taxpayer – but only for vehicles 'ordered' by 6 April 2025. After that date, thanks to HM Treasury, things are radically different. In the case of 'my' test car, for example, the value of the BIK is put at £17,585, yielding a tax bill of £3,517 for a basic-rate taxpayer.
So if you've already got a D-Max, or one of its rivals, and your company has ordered legitimately by that date – say by paying the deposit and using the usual purchasing channels – you keep that low tax liability until 2029. Any double-cab (ie family-friendly) pickup ordered after 6 April will be subject to the same BIK charge as a passenger car – meaning that unless you really like the looks, or have some need for this versatile type of motor, then you may as well buy a more conventional car, unless you want a more 'interesting' toy. Which a D-Max is.
Most of the other tax advantages to a business of buying a pickup are either unchanged or only modestly less advantageous – so firms can still reclaim the VAT, for example. If you can prove you definitely only ever use the double-cab pickup for work, you won't be affected; and single and extended-cab vehicles are not affected either. In summary: another tax loophole is about to be slammed shut.
The only escape I can see is something called the Maxus T90EV, which is the only all-electric battery-powered twin-cab pickup on the market. It's a rarity now, but as a zero-emission vehicle it is cheap (circa £23,000 plus VAT), has an extremely low BIK liability, and may be about to become much more popular – but strictly for road use only (200-mile range maximum).
Which brings us to the Isuzu D-Max, in all its butch glory, which is a vehicle for all seasons and all terrains. There are a multiplicity of variations, with some quite fun lifestyle editions featuring fitted tent, kitchen and fridge, or one with ocean-faring snorkel exhausts, but they're all based in the same good-value, rugged, straightforward, reliable, and above all durable diesel 'ladder' frame. In each case, you can switch from rear-wheel drive only, ie on the highway, to off-road four-wheel drive mode.
A towing capacity of up to 3.5 tonnes and a payload exceeding a tonne is standard across the range, which runs from a two-door basic 'Utility' model with steel wheels and vinyl mats right up to luxury models that do their best to look and feel 'premium', with lashings of leather and snazzy metallic paint jobs and accessories. As a matter of aesthetics, I happen to think the Utility model, with its completely black front grille/bumper assembly, has a certain purity of functional form. You, on the other hand, may like something that screams 'I'm dead hard, me' at other road users.
The top of the range V-Cross features an advanced 9' infotainment system, and an eight-speaker premium sound setup. What used to be a drawback, using your own phone and Google Maps as a satnav, is now quite acceptable. The D-Max, despite its rather high and forbidding bonnet (surely tough on a pedestrian), manages to get a full overall five-star rating in the key NCAP safety ratings.
The D-Max as a model dates back decades and has developed a strong following among farming and utility-company types; having had some fun off-road in one, I can attest to the confidence it can instil even in an amateur. The revised models have improved traction control, which means that the car can get down a muddy hill without injuring itself or its occupants.
In truth, most of the off-roaders available nowadays can do this, but the Isuzu is one of the better-value options – the KGM (formerly SsangYong) Musso being its main rival. The VW Amorak and Ford Ranger are more sophisticated, and the Toyota HiLux enjoys a near godly reputation, but again, basically, if you're not so fussy, then the D-Max will do you nicely. For the sake of completeness I should also mention the Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster, an old-school Land Rover lookalike with equally hardcore manual four-wheel drive controls – and it's absurdly expensive.
Off road, the D-Max is excellent, and on road it's surprisingly driveable. The diesel motor hustles along and will easily return more than 32mpg. It's also worth noting that the D-Max is light enough to avoid the lower speed limits being applied to some other pickups, so it can do 70mph rather than 60mph on a motorway, for example. Apparently, if you've got the time on a suitable unrestricted German autobahn, you can eventually get the thing up to 112mph, by which point you'll discover what a diesel engine screaming for mercy sounds like.
All D-Max models these days get a full complement of driver assistance, such as adaptive cruise control, blind-spot warnings and a sensor that beeps if it 'sees' something coming across your path. The steering isn't too vague, and the performance is acceptable. In town it's too big to pick up any speed anyway.
With the best will in the world, none of these double-cab pickups were ever a match for the premium SUVs, but they're all quite entertaining in a funny sort of way, if you like a bit of rough.
That's basically it, if you'll pardon the pun.