Versatile pick-up maintains award winning streak

I SET this week’s drive, an Isuzu Utility pick-up, a task that it was originally designed to do.

Today’s pick-up trucks are more like well-turned-out SUVs than the everyday workhorses they derived from.

But it was good to stack up the load area with all kinds of home paraphernalia, from old garden furniture to various defunct pots and pans.

A trip to the local refuse tip is nothing new for myriad UK motorists every week.

But it does present its challenges and there was no way I could have put the accumulated discarded items I transported to the tip in my car.

And while you haven’t got to get too precious about this kind of job, a pick-up such as the Isuzu Utility took to the task in hand with aplomb.

This model — the new Isuzu D-Max Utility Double Cab — had a manual gearbox which is never a problem for someone of my vintage.

I learned to drive in a car with a manual gearbox and do not seem to have any difficulty driving any car that is not an automatic.

However, to qualify that, there now seems to be far more automatics around and not just fitted in big cars. From superminis to supersize SUVs, automatic transmission is becoming the norm and a manual box more of a rarity.

So having swallowed up my stuff to the brimful of the pick-up load space, I secured it with bungee cords with hooks.

I have learned lessons the hard way over the years when it comes to securing loads on cars or pick-ups.

Once on a pick-up I nearly lost an armchair on the way to the tip and on holiday in Cornwall decades ago had another load mishap.

We had to do an emergency stop and the roof rack with all our belongings and tent slid off and landed on the bonnet causing some damage but thankfully no collision with the car in front.

So, my rule is now always double secure loads – be they bikes or gear on top or even trailers. Apart from losing stuff it can be highly dangerous if the load unravels.

The soft-drop tailgate on the Isuzu was a blessing for easing the load bit by bit into the various dedicated receptacles at the tip. There were bins for plastic bottles, glass bottles, wood, metal, shoes, books and one dedicated to small appliances.

Into the latter I cheerfully dumped an ancient electrical heater that had taken up quiet residence at the back of a cupboard for years.

Of course, getting rid of stuff is cathartic. I watched a TV programme recently where the contents of a house were removed and filled what looked like a hangar (I think it was in fact a sound stage at a film studio).

A lot of stuff was sorted then thrown, and the house was rejuvenated by a super spring clean — reality TV style, of course. These types of shows have an army of backroom workers you never see.

Do not kid yourself that the contents of your home would not fill a similar space. I am convinced that unless you are a nerdy minimalist, you, like me, would easily fill even a moderately-sized hangar.

If this ever happened to you then a truck such as the Isuzu pick-up would become very useful.

True, because most of them are double cabs now — as was the test vehicle — the amount of load space is reduced. But as I said, I would not have wanted to do this job in a family car.

Incredibly, the news is with this pick-up that the Isuzu D-Max won the best workhorse pick-up category for the 13th consecutive year at the 2025 Trade Van Driver Awards, maintaining an unbroken winning streak since the awards began.

Judges praised the D-Max’s blend of toughness, strong spec and value, saying no rival could quite match its all-round capability.

The judges added: “No prizes are offered for those who guessed that the mighty D-Max would clinch this prize again.”

But I would add that the D-Max is also a lot more comfortable inside these days as well as being a bit of a bruiser.

The test vehicle had a work pack that included front seat covers, rubber mat set, tow-bar and 13-pin electrics, 12V socket in the load bed, tailgate assist and wireless charger.

The starting price for the Isuzu D-Max is £27,755 CVOTR (commercial vehicle on the road) plus VAT. I reckon that it is great value against any large SUV going.