By Ian Strachan.
Pick-ups have become a lifestyle choice in recent years – the cool vehicle to be seen in. You don’t have to be a builder or a farmer to enjoy the advantages of these increasingly stylish vehicles.
And just because pick-ups may have started life as workhorses doesn’t mean they have to be basic. The latest Isuzu D-Max V-Cross is a case in point. It has all the ruggedness, powerful looks, loadspace and capability you’d expect, but this Isuzu is every bit as well-equipped as most upmarket 4x4s.
The Isuzu pick-up has rocketed up the choice lists since the Mitsubishi L200 exited the UK new car market. And the 2025 version builds on its strengths, with new leather upholstery and dashboard improvements as well as impressive 18-inch dark grey alloys.
In 4×4 double-cab guise it has smart styling, a comfortable well-equipped interior, capable off-road performance and an impressive range of technology, including plenty of safety aids. My test car was fitted with an ARB Ascent canopy (£3097.50), side bars (£438.75) and a laser light bar (£795) on the roof to further increase its style credentials.
Imported by the International Motors Group, the Isuzu D-Max V-Cross automatic has a roomy double cab body with striking graphics and a huge carpeted load-space (£482.50). It also has that rare beast – a full-size spare wheel!
The multi-award-winning D-Max is powered by a strong, if slightly agricultural, 1.9 litre diesel unit. It sounds tough and is tough – a growling 164 bhp engine with plenty of grunt if you need it for towing or off-roading. The D-Max has a comfortable suspension set-up which sits high, with plenty of ground clearance, enhancing its off-road credentials, and helped by a new rough terrain drive setting.
Despite its size, the unladen D-Max with a six-speed automatic gearbox can still return fuel economy figures of almost 31 miles to the gallon in mixed driving. That might not sound impressive, but this is a big vehicle with four wheel drive.
It handles nicely too. Suspension is quite soft, which means you’ll roll around corners a little, but straight-line handling is comfortable and steering is light and precise. There’s adaptive cruise control, intelligent speed limiter, hill descent control, hill start assist, forward collision warning, blind spot monitor, traffic sign recognition and lane keeping assist among a host of safety features.
The external appearance of the D-Max V-Cross, with its huge dark grey grille and sidesteps, may be tough, but inside you get lots of features aimed at driver and passenger comfort, including comfortable seats with eight-way electric adjustment for the driver.
You also get automatic headlights with high-beam assist, front and rear parking sensors, reversing camera, rear diff-lock, leather steering wheel with mounted controls, and heated front seats.
There’s plenty of room for five people in the double cab, with good headroom. The V-Cross specification also gives you dual-zone air conditioning, updated eight-speaker DAB radio with Apple CarPlay and Bluetooth connection controlled via a nine-inch multi-function colour touchscreen, heated electric door mirrors and all round electric windows – all for £40,005 on the road.
My test car had £8,000’s worth of options added, including the previously mentioned additions. Others included Dolomite White Pearl Paint (£600), over fender set (£741.50), ARB base roof rack (£1,035) and tow bar (£360).
Oddly there is no satellite navigation as standard, which seems an omission in 2025. So you have to connect to your Smartphone, assuming you have one.
The V-Cross gives you all the safety features you’d expect on a car, plus the advantage of a high driving position. It has a towing capacity of 3.5 tonnes
Isuzu pick-ups have been around for a long time, but this is undoubtedly the most car-like to date. It sells in more than 130 countries worldwide and could easily take sales in the UK from more established competitors.
