What Van? Britain's biggest and best van buyers' guide

2nd Report

Unless employed in the building trade, by a landscape gardener or spending much of its time putting in shifts on construction sites, the D-Max is less at home in the city than in the countryside where the trucks can often be seen rubbing shoulders with the tractor and trailer in farmyards across the nation’s rural counties.

This is particularly true of the more workhorse-oriented models in the D-Max line-up, such as my DL20 double-cab.

Isuzu has traditionally marketed its pick-up trucks in rural communities, at country fairs, for example, and most of its dealerships are located outside of big cities.

During the last couple of months though, I must confess my DL20 has spent most of its time out of its natural habitat, serving as an urban runaround. Its open-topped load bed has been used to carry the weekly ‘big shop’ and boxes of books for charity, securely fastened down with bungee straps attached to the load bed’s eight tie-down points (two either side and two at each end) rather than bails of straw or bundles of firewood.

The big truck copes better when bowling over speed bumps, keeping within 20mph speed limits, of course, than it does when forced to negotiate the narrow, winding lanes in underground and multi-storey urban car parks where I’ve occasionally needed to stop and reverse before taking a second run at particularly tight entrances and exits. I should stress, however, that the two-metre height limits are not a problem.

So, what’s the cabin like as a place to wile away the hours when stuck in cross-town traffic? Well, for a start, it takes a bit of effort to get into. Unlike higher-spec D-Max derivatives, such as the DL40 and V-Cross, the DL20 does not come with a footstep to ease your entry into the cabin, although the driver and front passenger do get a grab handle, at least.

The driver’s seat is manually six-way adjustable, and the steering wheel is height and reach adjustable, which makes it easy to find the most comfortable driving position, as does a driver’s footrest and central armrest.

Despite the DL20’s relatively lowly position in the D-Max hierarchy, it’s nice to find the cab is not entirely Spartan and includes features such as heated front seats, which were particularly welcome in the January cold snap, and steering wheel-mounted controls for audio and cruise control. The fact that the latter is not adaptable though, means I have steered clear of using it on rare forays beyond city limits.

Storage provision is good and includes front cup holders, door bins that can accommodate litre water bottles, a decent-sized lidded central storage box, a glove box and a shelf
on the dashboard top. The DL20’s seats are cloth-covered (leather comes from DL40) and in my opinion are none the worse for that.

On the downside, the DL20 does not get the 7in and 9in touchscreens that feature in higher-spec models and the radio is small and fiddly to operate. It does come with DAB but this has a tendency to lose reception and cut out. Although Bluetooth is purportedly part of the package I have found this to be impossible to engage (see picture) and so have not been able to pair my smartphone to enable hands-free calls. A blast from the past is the inclusion of a CD player, not to mention the old school ignition key and manual handbrake. While the D-Max range overall is generously equipped with ADAS, the rear parking sensor on the DL20 is less impressive: the long gaps between bleeps when reverse is engaged suddenly become frenzied, making parking manoeuvres difficult to judge and more stressful then necessary. With the high bonnet making it difficult to gauge distances in front of the truck, a forward sensor would be a useful addition too.

Report card: Cabin = 3/5

A comfortable enough space but the switchgear could do with an upgrade.

Isuzu DL20 Double Cab 4x4 

Mileage 1,521mls