I loved the previous model for its simplicity and easy ride and not a lot has changed. I found the MU-X didn't tick all the BabyDrive boxes with not having a modern media system etc but it was still just a great car that I didn't have to think too much about and could just jump in and go anywhere with no worries!
Isuzu has kept the same fantastically simple controls on the dash, central console and steering wheel that I loved in the previous model. It is perfect for minimal fuss and saving my attention for the road and the kids! However, I do feel the interior could be due for an update next time around so that it doesn't start to feel out of date.
There were ISOFix and top tethers in all three second-row seats, which is a fantastic BabyDrive feature. I found the second row seats weren't wide enough to have all three child seats using the ISOFix though. I had to move the rear-facing child seats out to the edges of the two outer seats and use the seatbelts in order to squeeze three seats across.
The seat belt clips were buried underneath the child seats and hard to locate. Installing the three seats isn't straightforward as you have to raise the seat backs of the third row of seats slightly in order to attach the top tether straps on the second-row seats, because the top tethers are positioned in the bottom of the backrests of the second row of seats, at just the point where the third-row headrest is when flat! So make sure you install child seats before loading up the boot!! Bad design! The top tether points just needed to be an inch higher to avoid this problem. There are no top tethers or ISOFix in the third-row seats. Any size dog would fit easily in the boot with only the second-row seats in use.
Accessing the third-row seats you have to uninstall a child seat in order to climb through to the third-row seats. The second-row seats do not slide so the legroom behind is fixed, I found a 184cm passenger could easily travel in the front passenger seat, with 31cm knee room when in front of a rear-facing capsule but not behind in the third-row. I am 162cm and I fitted in the third row with a fair amount of head and with 20cm of knee room.
The boot has great storage capacity when the third row of seats are not in use, holding 17 shopping bags but when the third-row seats are in use it would hold just five shopping bags.
All varieties of stroller fitted in the boot with shopping bags when the third-row seats were not in use, however when the third-row seats were in use only the Mountain Buggy Nano compact stroller would fit with two shopping bags.
The retractable roller blind storage box, underneath the boot floor, doubled as a separate storage compartment when not holding the cargo blind.
There was no cargo blind in this test car but in the previous model I drove, it was definitely the MU-X’s weakest link. It was very light and made of a thin waterproof material that rolled out revealing two elastic loops and two thin straps with plastic clips as the method to fasten it in place. Although it is very lightweight, making it easy to manage and manoeuvre, it seemed obvious to me that the elastic loops, straps and clips would last six months tops before they were broken, frayed and fallen off! Lost to the world of I'll get around to fixing that, knowing that you never will!!! Also, they are all very fiddly methods of attachment that took a lot of time with two hands, which I don’t get much of, and for those needing a seven-seater, I’d imagine you get even less!? The parcel shelf seemed like very much an afterthought! So you'd definitely want to check in the new model if you are looking at it.
There was a lot of storage compartments in the front of the MU-X but nowhere in the car would hold a large refillable water bottle than one cup holder in the third-row, which is just too far away when you're driving!!
The MU-X scored a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2013 and has 6 airbags as standard, including curtain head airbags that do extend to the third row.
BabyDrive Indepth - Storage
Folding down the third row of seats created a spacious and flat boot floor. With nothing else in the boot, I could fit 17 shopping bags.
The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.
Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.
I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres ia not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.
I could fit the Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller with nine shopping bags beside it.
The Britax Flexx tandem stroller fitted with nine shopping bags.
The Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle single stroller fitted with eight shopping bags.
The Mountain Buggy Nano compact stroller fitted with fourteen shopping bags.
With the third-row seats folded down, it was a good open space and you could get a big dog in there!
When using all seven seats the boot space would hold five shopping bags.
Or the Mountain Buggy Nano stroller and two shopping bags.
There is a 12V socket in the boot, a metal bag hook on either side and a light just above your head when you open the door.
When you’re using the third row of seats you definitely won’t have room for a nappy change! When only using five seats there is room on the carpeted boot floor!
The MU-X is nice and high so there won’t be any bending into the boot, you can just slide things straight in.
Storage in the MU-X is not very practical. In the front of the cab, there are four cup holders; two in the central console which is not well sized to hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup. They are in front of the small central console storage box, which isn't lined so anything in there will rattle around.
There are another two cup holders, one at either end of the dashboard under the air vents, I do LOVE these cup holders as I can cool my tea with the air vents and it keeps hot drinks out of the central console where small hands could reach them!!
There is a small space in front of the gear lever where your phone can sit and the USB charging points are above it, although I did find my phone kept sliding out of there though when I went around corners.
There are two glove boxes which are useful extra storage; the bottom one will hold an iPad and wallet and the top one is a good size too.
There is a lined glasses case in the ceiling and the front visors have vanity mirrors but they are not lit.
The door bins in the front are small and would only hold a 600ml bottle.
In the second row of the MU-X, there are two cup holders in a fold-down armrest in the central seat back that would hold a small disposable or reusable coffee cup and a 600ml bottle. Although they are all a good size for sippy cups and baby bottles, they don’t hold anything larger than that!
There are map pockets in the back of both front seats, they will hold but not conceal an iPad.
The door bins in the second row are just as small as in the front and would only hold a 600ml or Pigeon baby bottle.
In the third row, there is finally a cup holder that is large enough for a large refillable water bottle!!
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
The MU-X had very sensitive reversing sensors and I found I couldn't adjust the volume or mute them. When backing out of my driveway with not a thing in sight, it would beep a lot every time as if an impact was imminent! I think it was worried about the edge of the kerb?! There was no visual display for the sensor, just the reversing camera, so I couldn’t see from the screen what the alarming beep was referring to. Also, the camera image was quite dull so I found myself using the windows and mirrors more than the camera to reverse.
The indicator volume could not be adjusted either but they are nice and quiet and wouldn't disturb any sleeping passengers!
You can mute the Sat Nav voice guidance quite easily using the touchscreen, as there is a volume icon at the bottom of the Sat Nav screen which takes you to another screen.
There you can adjust the volume or mute it all together. I found this a really good BabyDrive feature.
The media system in the MU-X I tested was really old fashioned and basic, it didn't have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. The basic system did make it very easy to navigate with its minimal buttons on the home screen, including turning the screen off altogether, which I sometimes find hard to find in complicated systems.
The windows do not have a baby waking opening or closing noise! The doors do have quite a loud close to them though. You can open the driver's door while the engine is running without sounding an alarm which is great for a BabyDrive!
Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!!
SO this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (I only stand outside the car, I am not a bad mother!!)
The seatbelt removal alarms seemed sporadic; the seatbelt alarm went off when I had a heavy bag on the front seat but not when I was riding as a passenger in the back and removed my seatbelt to change seats whilst we were moving along.
Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!
That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.
If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?
It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?
A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.
Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!
I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.
The engine noise is much quieter in the MU-X than it was in the D-Max. Isuzu uses a truck engine with a lot of padding to dampen down the volume, so although it is a vast improvement it is definitely not a silent BabyDrive. It feels powerful and strong, like you could take it up a mountain but going uphill you can still hear the tractor-like engine!
The headlights do not turn off automatically in the MU-X, a beeping will sound to alert you if you get out and leave them on.
BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats
The seven-seater MU-X has three top tethers across the second-row seats, but there are none in the third row. The top tethers are within plastic guides and situated at the bottom of the backrests, where their location is a problem because the third-row seatbacks obstruct access to the top tethers! You have to lift up the third-row seatbacks in order to connect the top tethers which is really frustrating if you have loaded the boot before installing the child seat as we did!! It meant we had to unload it all, lift the third-row seatbacks, install the child seat and start again!!
There are ISOFix connections for all three second-row seats which this is a FANTASTIC BabyDrive feature! You can use the ISOFix to connect child seats in all three positions! The ISO Fix is not within plastic guides and I did find them a little bit tricky to attach to but still great to have all three there.
I installed three child seats across the second row, a rear-facing Britax Graphene and rear-facing Britax Unity infant capsule and a forward facing Britax Maxi Guard Pro in the central seat. Surprisingly the three child seats didn't fit across when using the ISO Fix as there wasn't as much room across the second-row as I thought so I had to move the outer child seats to the edge of the seat base and use seatbelts with them, although perhaps slimmer child seats would fit three across?
The central seatbelt does come from the backrest shoulder rather than the ceiling which is good so it doesn’t affect visibility or cut into the child’s neck. The headrests are removable in the MU-X which is important for installation of some child seats.
Accessing the third row of seats with child seats installed is a bit tricky! The second-row seats don't slide they fold forward on a 60:40 split. The 60% is the kerb side so that does mean if you had three child seats installed you would have to uninstall two of them in order for the third-row passengers to climb through from the curb side of the car! If they access from the driver's side then you would still need to uninstall one child seat.
Posting Tulsi into her car seat from inside and outside the car was very easy. There is plenty of room to post her from either side and from outside it is a nice height without having to bend down.
There is plenty of room to feed bub in the back with one child seat installed and the backrests recline so you can get nice and comfortable too!
The seats in this model were woven fabric rather than leather which would have been easier to wipe clean.
BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort
The front seats in the MU-X are comfortably padded and the seat bases are not too long for my legs, I'm 162cm.
I did find in the MU-X that the headrest position does allow me to wear a ponytail while driving!
I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get it just right too… said no new mum ever!!!
The second-row side seats are very comfortable but the central seat is not, due to the fold-down armrest and cup holders that mean it is hard and would be uncomfortable on a long journey. There is only a small hump in the central footwell though so you do not have to straddle that.
The third-row seats are supportive and comfortable to sit in once you put the headrests all the way up, leg room and headroom are fine for me, I'm 162cm, but when we tried a 6ft passenger they couldn't fit in the third-row.
Having rear-facing child seats installed in the second row of seats still allowed plenty of leg room in the front, where the front passenger seat still has 31cm of knee room!
The steering wheel does not adjust in and out, only up and down.
The cruise control in the MU-X is lovely and simple to use! It’s one of my favourite features about this car as it’s so basic, using a simple three-button control on your steering wheel. You set the speed on the speedometer as there is no digital display, a digital display would be a welcome addition but I found it easy to use without one and the MU-X held the set speed quite well on motorways at higher speeds but I found at 60km/h on undulating roads it wasn't as accurate.
It has occurred to me since becoming a mum that I seem to drive through at least two or three school zones every day and that is before Tulsi is of school age! Very few cars seems to have cruise control that works at or below 40km/h. Why not!!??
I find I am so busy watching my speedo so I don’t go over 40km/h, as school zones are always riddled with speed cameras, very little of my attention can actually be spared for the road ahead and spotting any potential hazards! Surely if we could set the cruise control in a school zone we could allow more attention on the road and less on the speedo!Â
There are air-conditioning vents throughout the MU-X. The front dash has four large ones, one either side of the media screen and one at each end of the dashboard.
There is also two round spotlight like vents in the ceiling above the second row and two in the ceiling for the third row.
You can angle and rotate the flow of the air from the ceiling vents however they have to be adjusted manually as you can not adjust them from the driver's seat, but you can simply turn the fan on or off using a button hidden behind the windscreen wiper stalk. Equally the controls are in the ceiling above the second row and you can not adjust that from the front either. This means you have to set the rear air-con before you set off on your journey as you can not change anything other than the fact it is on or off once you are driving. If you have little passengers in the back who cannot adjust it themselves or you have children fighting over the controls, at least you can turn it off from the front and use the front air-con to slowly cool the rest of the vehicle.
The aircon controls are really easy to use and easy to reach while driving, with a big round dial controller in the centre of the dashboard that, like the cruise control, is really basic and simple to use!
The windows are tinted in this model, reducing the need for the use of shades.
Visibility for the driver is good in the MU-X. With all seven seats and headrests up and three child seats across the second row, it is still considerably good. None of the child seat straps attaches to the ceiling, keeping all that space clear for seeing out of the windows, which are deep and long so they allow good visibility for both passengers and the driver.
There are unlit vanity mirrors for both the driver and front passenger. Perfect for checking your face when you are parked up somewhere while bub has fallen asleep!!! I do prefer vanity mirrors that are lit but the two interior lights in the ceiling with the glasses case are not too far away.
The MU-X has been a joy to drive. It has been effortless and doesn’t rock around as much as the D-Max ute, as it has different suspension making it a much smoother ride.
The engine is the same as the D-Max but they added a lot more padding to make it much quieter, so you don’t get as much noise, except on steep hills when you can still hear the tractor in there!!!
Around town, it is easy to manoeuvre and park, the turning circle is good and it doesn’t feel as big as it is! The digital display screen is quite dull and not very clear, which makes it hard to use the camera when reverse parking. It feels as though the media screen is perhaps at the wrong angle and points slightly toward the front passenger rather than the driver, making it hard to see clearly.
There are handles suitable for a baby toy on both sides of the ceiling in the second row, with the coat hooks, good for hanging a toy from.
The handles in the doors have little wells in them which are good for popping anything little in yours or your bub's hands, whilst you’re strapping them in. I could lock the doors and windows from the driver's door control panel too.
There are two 12V sockets, one inside the lidded storage shelf above in the glove box and one in the boot.
The MU-X interior in this model does not seem as nice as high spec as the previous model I tested, it is minimal with basic but clear and simple controls.
The floor mats throughout the cab of the MU-X are rubber, which is FANTASTIC for taking out and hosing down! So much easier to keep clean than carpet ones. Perfect for kids sand, mud, food spillages and sick bugs!
The tailgate was not powered on the MU-X I tested which was disappointing.
BabyDrive Indepth - Safety
The MU-X is available in 2WD and 4WD and all have a five-star ANCAP safety rating tested in 2103. With a total score of 33.58/37, made up of 13.58/16 for the frontal offset test, 16/16 for the side impact test and 2/2 for the pole test. Pedestrian protection was scored at marginal.
The MU-X only has seatbelt reminders only for the front passenger seat, not the two rear rows which is where you would want to know if seatbelts have been undone because you can't see them while driving!
All models have six airbags, dual frontal, side airbags for the front seats and curtain head airbags for all three rows of seats that run the length of the car. Pre-tensioner seatbelts are in the front seats only; these pull you back when the airbags are activated.
The MU-X has anti-intrusion bars in all the doors which provide increased protection in the event of a side impact as well as an energy absorbing chassis in the event of a frontal impact. The MU-X also has a pedestrian impact absorbing safety bonnet which reduces the chance of injury to pedestrians in a collision.
Also in the MU-X are anti-lock brakes (ABS), electronic stability control (ESC), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), traction control system (TCS), emergency brake assist (EBA), hill start assist (HSA), engine immobilizer and most models are fitted with an anti-theft alarm.
I think it’s important to weigh up which safety features are important to you when you’re considering buying a car. If for example you have a child that you know is always taking off their seatbelt then seat belt reminder alert might be a must have for your new car. Just because a car has a five-star safety rating it doesn’t mean it comes with the same passive and active safety features as another car with a five-star safety rating or that the cars scored the same in an ANCAP crash test!
Your reviews are great! Thank you for taking the time to do such detailed reviews of the features that parents care about! We are due for an upgrade from our 2014 RAV4 in the next couple of months and have been looking at the MU-X and the Toyota Fortuner as our next vehicle- any plans to review the Fortuner? 🤞
Th ank you Katie, I am looking into the Fortuner 🙂
Thank you for a great review. I have one more question. Will the MUX fit 3 car seats forward facing in the 2nd row? obviously it depends on your car seats but is it doable? Thank You
Yes you would fit three forward-facing child seats across the second-row, just check they fit before you buy them 🙂
Thanks for the reviews. It has certainly helped us choose a car that suits. We are looking at the MUX but it does appear tight with our current car seats. With a 0-4yo car seat, 2-8yo car seat and a 6-8yo booster to fit in the car, what brands of car seats do you believe would fit?