In my continued quest to find the ultimate vehicle for my dog-owning, car-towing rural lifestyle, the latest vehicle to find its way onto my drive is the recently facelifted Isuzu D-Max V-Cross.
Update 1: Welcome to the fleet
While it might be the same Spinel Red Mica colour as the previous DL20 D-Max I ran for a while in 2024, there are plenty of differences to talk about. The very fact that it’s a V-Cross means it’s a few rungs up the spec ladder to start with, sitting at the top of the ‘normal’ range, but below specially modified versions such as the Arctic Trucks AT35 models.
And that’s fitting, because in 2025 Isuzu is expecting to sell 70% of D-Maxes to ‘all-purpose’ buyers, with the remainder going to businesses, and 45% are V-Cross versions. The firm sold 41% of their stock to what they class as ‘adventure’ buyers, and that’s where I come in, I suppose.
In recent years the mix of sales has shifted from mainly manual to more automatics, but I’m testing the former this time simply because I think it’s easier for towing and off-roading.
What’s special about the Isuzu D-Max V-Cross?
This top-spec truck comes equipped with grey 18-inch wheels, rugged-looking grey plastic cladding, folding heated door mirrors, a swish 9.0-inch touchscreen multimedia system with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, eight speakers and leather upholstery. There’s also the V-Cross branding across the tailgate, which itself has been revised for 2025.
Other highlights from the impressive list of specifications include automatic LED headlights and auxiliary ‘Lazer’ LED main beams, heated front seats, dark grey exterior styling elements, a full suite of active and passive safety and driver-assistance tech (adaptive cruise control, automatic braking, lane-keeping assistant, traffic sign recognition, rear cross-traffic alert, blindspot monitoring and fatigue detection system), keyless entry and ignition, automatic lights and wipers, and a reversing camera.
What updates did the Isuzu D-Max get for 2025?
As well as the sorely needed upgrade to the multimedia system, the range gets a modernised exterior and refreshed interior design, and an all-new Rough Terrain driving mode that aims to smooth out the truck’s progress on tougher surfaces.
There has also been work on the rear suspension to apply additional softness over larger bumps, achieved by a repositioning for the shock absorber.
What will you do with the truck during your test?
I’ve got a packed roster of activities in mind. I’ll be doing my usual towing – I’m planning on attending several historic race meetings with the D-Max, travelling from my base in Northamptonshire to far-fetched locations like Thruxton and Castle Combe with my Sunbeam Alpine on the trailer and my race gear in the loading bay.
It’s for this reason I’m very thankful for the Truckman rear canopy, which will keep my stuff dry. It’s fitted with a Bed Rug back there too, which is a thick carpet that stops things sliding about in the load area.
But that’s not all. I’m also going to pit it against some of its main rivals in a group test and drive it to the north of Scotland for a brief holiday, taking Ace the 30kg Golden Retriever (and my wife) along for the ride.
How much is this Isuzu D-Max?
Having loved life with the previous D-Max and knowing the firm appears to have fixed several of the faults I highlighted last time, I’m very curious to see how this one will stack up, and whether I think it’s worth its £37,995+VAT asking price.
But this truck has also got some optional extras installed, so I’ll be evaluating those too. Here’s a list, including fitted pricing:
- Truckman GLS Leisure Canopy – £2,400.00
- Lazer Linear-6 Elite auxiliary headlights -£560.00
- Over Fender Set (chunkier styling) – £741.50
- Bonnet Lift – £111.25
- Bed Rug (carpeted rear load area) – £482.50
- Wireless smartphone charger – £117.50
- Towbar – £360.00
- 13-pin electrics for towing – £227.50
That means the total price of the truck you can see here is £42,995.25 (not including VAT).
On paper it looks near perfect for my lifestyle. Let’s put that to the test…
Update 2: Diving right in
As has become traditional with my long-term test vehicles, the Isuzu D-Max V-Cross and I dove right into hard work. Two days after I took delivery, I’d wire-locked the spare numberplate to my trailer, packed the load area with race gear and departed home for a weekend’s racing at Thruxton, down near Andover in Hampshire.
But before we get into that, a few first impressions sprang immediately to the fore. Firstly, after spending six months with the KGM Musso, I was astonished by the comfort of the front seats in the Isuzu. The leather perches are supportive and soft in all the right places, and I knew right away this was going to be a big improvement.
And that screen! Isuzu’s latest 9.0-inch touchscreen multimedia system has brought the D-Max right up to date, and the addition of wireless Android Auto means you can simply get in and go, with all of the advantages of the apps on your smartphone: Spotify, Google Maps, WhatsApp with voice control, weather forecasting and plenty more besides.
There’s one modern feature that I truly dislike, though, but isn’t unique to this vehicle. The electronic safety systems on board are required on all new cars these days, and I find them amazingly irritating. On the roads around me in rural Northamptonshire they simply can’t cope with roads with no markings, unclear speed limit signage and randomly parked vehicles.
The result is a beepfest that will quickly drive you mad, and within 10 miles I’d pulled over to work out how to switch the worst offenders off. Thankfully it’s easy – there’s a button on the screen that takes you to the necessary menu, then one press switches off everything except automatic braking and lane-keeping assistance, both of which I can live with. Then one more navigation button gets me right back to Android Auto and my journey can resume in rather more peaceful fashion. I’ve taken to doing this every time I climb in.
Loving the long range
Anyway, back to my Thruxton jaunt. With the huge 76-litre diesel tank brimmed the predicted range was 550 miles, which meant in theory I’d do the whole trip in one hit. It’s necessarily expensive to fill this truck up – it’ll approach £100 if you’ve drained it to nearly empty – but there’s a reassuring feeling that you’re ready for a considerable time behind the wheel without having to stop and refuel.
The route I took weaved through Northampton and onto the A43, past Silverstone and then onto the M40 for a handful of miles before heading south west on the A34, before picking up the A303 west towards Thruxton. That sounds easy, but on a Friday afternoon in June it wasn’t exactly quiet and we experienced loads of traffic that equated to roughly four hours on the road.
Thankfully, this is a much more comfortable truck than the previous D-Max. The firm has done some work on the rear shock to make the ride more cosseting, and the effect seemed amplified with all the kit in the back and the trailer with race car hitched to it. It seems quieter in the cabin as well, and both of these things mean I didn’t feel anywhere near as worn out by the drive as I would in other pickups at this price point.
The racing came and went with the normal sorts of dramas – bits falling off my 1961 Sunbeam Alpine followed by frantic paddock repairs, plenty of chatting and eventually my best finish of the season – and the journey home was much easier, meeting far less traffic and cutting 90 minutes from the time spent behind the wheel.
All in all, it was a fantastic first foray with this truck. My next big events are two weekends at Silverstone, plus a drive to Yorkshire with Ace the dog to see the in-laws and transporting a large amount of BBQ kit to work for a celebration. I’m looking forward to seeing how it does…
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