The Isuzu D-Max interior has had a big update, aesthetically it was a much more pleasant environment to be in than the previous model D-Max I tested and Isuzu has made the interior more like its sister SUV the M-UX.
The updated interior was very nice but I still find it shocking that ISOFix has not been added in the rear seats, especially as the MU-X has three sets of ISOFix points on the second row! Come on Isuzu, there are families using these vehicles 😉
You may not think the Isuzu D-Max would be an obvious choice for a family car! With five seats, the huge tray carrying capacity, great off-road ability AND the fact the D-Max’s main competitors the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux being the top-selling cars in Australia two years running (and counting), it’s pretty obvious that practicality and versatility are what’s making utes very popular as family cars.
The second big improvement with the D-Max is the drive and the ride, Isuzu have changed the suspension and it was SO much better than the previous model, especially for a BabyDrive. The previous model felt like you were driving off-road when you were just popping to the shops, pitching and rocking as you turn corners or go up and down the smallest of kerbs. The child seats seemed to move around considerably because of it, causing a lot of protesting from their small occupants!
This was not the case in the new D-Max, the ride was fantastic! Much smoother than previously with none of the pitching and rolling or child seat movement.
The D-Max was a bit tall for me. At 162cm, I had to hop up on the side steps just to do up Tulsi's child seat restraints, which on a day to day basis was impractical for reaching other things in and out of the cab also.
The D-Max does have my favourite end of dashboard cup holders, which I love for convenience while driving but also because it keeps hot drinks out of the central console where little hands can reach through. Although none of the cup holders would hold my large refillable water bottle, which is frustrating in a vehicle of this size!
Storage throughout the D-Max was quite poor, there are a few extra storage compartments in the dash but none are big enough to hold an iPad.
In the back, there is NO ISOFIX!!! Which is crazy! There are three top tethers, they are metal bars on the ute body, behind the seat back. Connecting the top tethers is extremely difficult like it is in all utes because you have such a small space to work in, connecting all the child seats and then tightening top tethers is difficult and using the seatbelts because there are no ISOFix adds another element of difficulty.
Three child seats do fit well across that rear row and there were no seat belt clips underneath seat bases.
I loved the simplicity of the previous model D-Max’s dash and controls. This update has a much more aesthetically pleasing dashboard and cab environment but the controls are still nice and simple.
The air-con, media and steering wheel mounted controls were so simple and uncomplicated. Just what was needed and nothing more.
Bringing me to the lack of ‘beeeeeeeeeeping’ in this Isuzu D-Max. Beautiful and quiet!
Reversing was peaceful with the absence of any sensors, there were no flashing lights or sirens blaring and the tight turning circle and reversing camera made it easy to manoeuvre confidently.
On a serious note, the D-Max does come with just a reversing camera. There are no sensors, lane departure warnings, blind spot warnings, it is featureless in that sense compared to some of its rivals. That is how it feels in a BabyDrive sense. It isn’t a vehicle designed to cross over into the family car category. It is as its name suggests, a utility vehicle. It would be my vehicle of choice to cross the Simpson Desert but I wouldn’t choose it to do my weekly shopping!
BabyDrive Indepth - Storage
The tray of the Isuzu D-Max is covered with a tarp cover which I didn't find very practical for every day quickly putting things in and out. The tailgate doesn’t have gas struts so falls down quickly. Both the lid and tailgate require two hands to open and operate. You definitely wouldn’t want the tailgate to fall open onto a child’s head that was standing beneath it, and it is at toddler head height.
I found when I went to load up the tray with Tulsi and bags in my arms, I’d have to put everything down in order to open the tray. So I’d dump everything on the floor behind the tray and put Tulsi into her child seat in the cab first, then go back to the tray to load it up. I’m not a fan of doing things in this order because Tulsi hated the car so much when she was younger that I had to put her in last so she wasn't waiting for ages and getting into a frenzy while I loaded the tray!
From empty, the tray would hold 29 shopping bags.
I found only the first metre of the tray was really reachable and usable without having to hop up into it.
The tailgate is around half a metre deep so it is quite a stretch across. Hopping up wasn’t too bad either at my 162cm height, on those occasions when I did need to carry more.
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.
There is obviously heaps of space in the back of the tray and could easily get my Mountain Buggy Duet with 17 shopping bags.
The Britax Flexx tandem stroller fitted with 20 shopping bags around it.
The Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle fitted with 19 shopping bags beside it.
The Mountain Buggy Nano fitted with 25 shopping bags beside it.
Inside the D-Max cab, there are four cup holders; two in the central console in front of the handbrake and two that pop out, one at either end of the dashboard under the air vents. All of them hold a small disposable or re-usable coffee cup or a 600ml water bottle.
My large refillable water bottle would not fit in any of the cup holders or door pockets. The door pockets are really small too; they will hold a sippy cup and a baby bottle or 600ml water bottle but nothing bigger than that.
The central console storage box is a big square box with a lid that doubles as an armrest. There are no USB sockets in the central console box, they are in front of the gear lever with a little space for your phone to sit.
There are a lot of storage compartments in the front of the D-Max, and although the glove box is small (it would only hold my wallet with the manual) and there is another small storage box in the dash above it that has a 12V socket in.
On the top centre of the dashboard is another lidded compartment but anything you put in there is going to cook in the Australian sun and it took a lot of tries before the lid would open each time! Every Isuzu seems to have this same problem!
There is a glasses case in the ceiling in front of the lights and vanity mirror in the visor but it is not lit.
In the back of the cab, there is a half map pocket on the backs of both the front seats. I fitted my iPad in there, but you can just see the top of it so you need to push it right down so it’s out of view.
The cup holders in the back fold down out of the back of the central console box and will hold disposable or re-usable coffee cups and 600ml and baby bottles.
The door pockets, like those in the front, are really small.
There are hidden under seat storage areas in the back, although neither have any bases to them The larger one holds the car jack etc which is fastened down. I’m not sure how useful the smaller one would be as it doesn’t have any base so you wouldn’t be able to put anything in there without it disappearing into the depths of the car! The seat bases tilt independently with a 60:40 split so you can place bulky items in the cab. They have a hook on the front of them so you can securely fasten them to the headrests.
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
There are no parking sensors or lane departure warning systems in the model of D-Max I drove, so in that sense, it was actually a very quiet BabyDrive for a change!
The indicators have quite a quiet sound so nothing to worry about in terms of baby-waking noise inside the cab.
The Sat Nav voice guidance can be altered easily through the touchscreen display. You can either go into the Sat Nav settings or there is a simple shortcut volume icon at the bottom of the Sat Nav screen and by clicking on that the next screen allows you to mute the guidance altogether or alter the volume. This is a really good BabyDrive feature and I found I could turn the volume down enough that it wouldn't disturb a sleeping baby.
I find on most journeys when I use sat nav I only need directions for the last part of the journey. I know how to get to the area I am going and then it’s just the exact address I need help with. Because I need to input the address before I head off I found myself on most occasions when you can’t mute the sat nav voice having to listen to all the directions, which disturbs your concentration, any conversation in the car at the time or more importantly my sleeping baby! So being able to mute the sat nav voice until you reach the part where you actually need it is gold!
The audio is easy to connect your phone to and when I plugged my phone in, while it was playing nursery rhymes, they started playing out of the D-Max speakers within a couple of seconds without me having to press anything, which was fantastic!
The media system in the D-Max doesn’t have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto and is quite a basic old-fashioned system, it is very simple and I found it easy to use and navigate. I have found the screen a little dark and milky though, so it was sometimes hard to see clearly. On the Home screen, there are a few simple options and one of them is to turn the screen off, which is brilliant as I sometimes have had to search a long time to find out how to do that when driving at night because a bright screen can be a bit glaring and disturb a sleeping baby.
There is no digital display of the speed on the screen in front of the steering wheel which I found frustrating. You are just using the speedometer dial which I don't find accurate enough to rely on.
The cruise control is very simple to use and the controls are on the right side of the steering wheel but because of the lack of digital speed display it is hard to tell what you are setting it at and I didn't find it accurate at 60kmph on undulating roads.
There are two surround-sound speakers in the ceiling in the back, which make the sound quality of the stereo really crisp and clear. It is nice for a change because often with the practicality of a BabyDrive, a good sound quality stereo can seem like a luxury that gets overlooked! Also, the speakers are toward the back so you can fade the sound towards the back passengers when it is nursery rhymes for example.
There is no welcome tune when you fire up the D-Max but the driver display does say hello and goodbye and reminds you to put on your seatbelt when you first get in. This is good as there is no audible seat belt alarm system. There is a light display on the driver's dash alerts you to the fact a seatbelt is not fastened but no alarm sound.
In the D-Max, I can start the engine and open the driver's door and drive along without an alarm sounding. So I could park once the baby has fallen asleep, take off my seat belt or get out of the car for a stretch all without the car making a sound!
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!!)
From outside, the doors have a really soft closing sound. So soft that I have double checked the doors are actually shut properly quite a few times! It is great they make such a soft sound but you do have to get used to it. On the inside, the sound is not so soft and they actually shut with a firm sound. I can lock the doors and windows from the panel on the driver's door, but it is not auto-lock so you do have to remember to do it. The windows have a nice gentle opening and closing sound to them.
The engine noise, in the Isuzu D-Max, has been greatly improved. It seemed much quieter than the previous model I tested and was a much smoother drive too. This was a major factor in the previous model not being BabyDrive friendly so it is fantastic to see such an improvement! Now we just need some ISOFix, please!!!
BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats
There are five seats in the cab of this D-Max and I easily fitted three child seats across the back row of seats, but there is no ISOFix at all, which is a serious downside. Although the D-Max does have a five-star ANCAP safety rating I wouldn’t buy a new car without ISOFix and if it were retested under ANCAP 2018 testing that now takes child seat fitment into account, I'm not sure it would get five stars without any ISOFix.
I fitted the Britax Maxi Guard pro, Platinum Pro and Kid Guard Pro in the rear seats.
The backrest comes forward as one complete panel where there are three top tether points on the bodywork of the cab. My experience with most other utes is that they have a tab on either side of the backrest to pull it forward and you have to go around to each side of the cab to pull them individually. However, in the D-Max, there is just one tab to the side of the central headrest towards the driver's side of the vehicle which is FANTASTIC! I didn't have to have ‘go go gadget' arms to reach two tabs!
Having one continuous backrest makes fitting, and removing, child seats a little more difficult as you have to attach or release all the top tethers at the same time, then click the backrest back into place and attach the seat belts. Getting top tether straps tightened in this small space is really difficult, it is the case in most utes.
Three child seats fit really comfortably along the back row, I don’t know if it is because there is no ISOFix that there is more flexibility in the position of the child seats and that’s why they fit so well? I found there were no difficulty to access seatbelt clips underneath child seats, they all seemed perfectly positioned which rarely happens in cars I have driven.
It makes it really easy for the child in the middle booster seat to do up their own seatbelt, unlike in most cars I have tested where the seatbelt clip is underneath the booster seat making it impossible for them to access! The seatbelt comes from the shoulder on the backrest, not the ceiling which is preferable so it doesn’t cut into the child’s neck.
The ceiling height in the back makes posting Bub into their car seat from inside and outside the car easy. From the outside, I can lift her in okay but I have to climb up onto the step to do her straps up as I couldn’t reach from the ground.
Legroom in the D-Max is quite good, with a rear facing capsule in the rear side seat a 180cm passenger could fit in the front with 25cm of knee room
With only one child seat installed in the back, there is plenty of room to feed bub and the backrest is at a nice angle and not bolt upright.
All the seats are comfortably padded, they are black leather and the central panels are perforated. The perforations would make them hard to clean with sand, crumbs and kid detritus getting into them!
BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort
The driver's seat had electronic adjustment and was very comfortable; I found you could not adjust the angle of the headrest but I could still have a ponytail while driving the D-Max.
I spent ages styling my hair this morning, said no new mum ever!!
The steering wheel only adjusts up and down, not in and out, which meant I found I couldn't reach it properly so I have to sit with my shoulders leaning forward unsupported by the seat back.
There are four air vents across the front dashboard and none in the back. I did find the flow was strong enough to cool the whole cab quickly.
The aircon in the D-Max is really easy to use, there is a big round dial in the middle of the dashboard, it is lovely and simple!
There is no vanity mirror for the driver, there is one for the passenger but it has no light.
I do like to have a lit vanity mirror as I find nowadays the only time I get to look at myself or put makeup on is in the car mirror when Tulsi is asleep in the back of the car and I stop somewhere!!
There are two interior lights just above the driver with the glasses case and a rear light in the ceiling just behind the driver, which is well positioned as the driver can reach it from their seat.
I often will reach back to turn on the interior light if I am driving at night time, I find my little girl gets less distressed traveling at night that way. It helps if I can reach the interior light from the drivers seat so I can turn it on and off whilst driving. I often find my daughter will need it on as we start our journey in the dark but once she falls asleep I can turn it off.
It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.
There is a handle above both back doors that are well positioned for hanging a toy from.
The side windows are deep and go back far enough that rear-facing and forward-facing infants get a good view out, but like all dual-cab utes, the back windscreen is flat and close to the backrest, which I find this a really bad BabyDrive feature as it lets the sun straight in onto a rearward facing baby. While it is good that Bub can see out of the back windscreen, the sun is often shining  too strongly straight onto her face. Putting shades on the back window meant I wouldn’t be able to see out very well.
Visibility for the driver is pretty good, you sit really high in the D-Max, 5.5cm higher than the Colorado. The passengers front and rear facing have good visibility too. With three child seats installed, I can still see quite well out of the back, especially in the rearview mirror. The rear pillars are not too wide so there is still good vision around them.
With the headrests up, in addition to the pillars and the bars on the back corners of the tray, that area is harder for vision but at least the wing mirrors are nice and large and the rearview camera makes reversing fine. You do need to take extra care when changing lanes as there is no blind spot warning system on the D-Max.
Sitting so high up in the D-Max you can see well on the road, which is good because you feel like you fill your lane, if not as much as in the Amarok, but if you are driving next to another big vehicle then you definitely feel like you might touch!
The interior of the D-Max has been made much nicer than the previous model and you feel much more like you have the comforts of a modern car.
The drive of the D-Max has also really been improved, the previous model really rocked and pivoted about but this one has a great drive and is much smoother. The model I tested had a rear suspension tune update for 2018; from a traditional 5 leaf spring set up to a new 3 leaf spring set up that has also been applied to SX Crew Cab, LS-U Crew Cab and LS-T Crew Cab utes versions, which gives them a more comfortable and controlled ride, something unloaded utes are not exactly renowned for having.
Isuzu reckons the ride is of similar quality to a coil set up, but without compromising the payload capacity. Sounds (and feels) good to me!
The rear seats are also 60/40 split and fold down completely flat, which is useful and quite a unique feature in ute land.
In terms of parking and visibility, I find the D-Max really easy to park especially reverse parking. Forward parking in a really tight supermarket car park I found a little tougher because of how narrow the spaces are and how wide this ute is. When I needed to park front end in I found it easier to find a double space and turn in.
One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread when we get the big cars and utes as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, the D-Max was not difficult to park!
In the D-Max, I found I needed to park front in if I needed to access the boot/tray to get the pram out. Because it is so long and fills the whole parking space I wasn’t able to get the tailgate down to get the pram out if I reversed in. This is an important BabyDrive consideration with a vehicle of this size.
Without needing to access the tray, and using the camera, I found reverse parking incredibly easy. The model I drove didn’t have any parking sensors and I found it fine without sensors if anything it was easier, perhaps because I was more relaxed without anything ‘beeeeeeeping’ at me!!
There are two 12V sockets; one in front of the gear lever and the other inside the lidded storage shelf above the glove box.
The steering wheel feels solid in your hands, the surfaces all feel basic but easily cleanable plastic which will scratch and mark over time but they will be hardwearing.
The rubber floor mats throughout the cab of the D-Max are GREAT! The nice thick rubber that you can just take out and hose down. Perfect for kids' mess of  sand, mud and food spillages!
For mum sitting in the back of the D-Max, the seats are nice and comfortable. It is spacious for feeding Bub and the seat backs are not too upright, they have a slight recline. The central seat does have a slight hump in the footwell. The central seat has a fold-down armrest in the backrest but is still comfortable.
For the first year of Tulsi's life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Tulsi so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!
There is good leg, knee and foot room for the central seat too, with a good amount of space before the central console so you don’t have to straddle it with your legs.
Sitting at the side the leg room is ample too and the roof height is good, the ceiling does taper in at the edges but is high enough that taller passengers shouldn’t have to tilt their head.
The high ceiling helps provide ample space when posting Bub into the car seat from the inside as well.
BabyDrive Indepth - Safety
We drove the 4WD LS-T model D-Max, which like all 4WD and high-ride 2WD models has a five-star ANCAP safety rating from 2016 onwards. (Isuzu also do some 2WD low ride models which do not score five stars).
All the LS models come with reversing cameras fitted as standard and they’re also available as extras for the SX and EX models.
Active safety (crash prevention) features include electronic stability control (ESC), emergency brake assist (EBA), anti-lock braking system (ABS), hill descent control (HDC), daytime running lights, electronic brake force distribution (EBD), traction control system (TCS), trailer sway control (TSC) and hill start assist (HSA).
All models have six airbags as standard; dual frontal, side and curtain airbags and pre-tensioner seatbelts which pull you back when the airbags are activated. The D-Max has a safety cabin shell with anti-intrusion bars in the doors which provide increased protection in the event of a side impact. There's also a pedestrian safety bonnet and an impact absorbing chassis.
The D-Max doesn’t come with many of the safety features that come as standard in a lot of new cars and drive me crazy as a mum, filling the dashboard with buttons and the cab with beeping alarms! This is something I have REALLY enjoyed whilst driving the D-Max.
You would need to weigh up carefully when considering the D-Max which safety features are important to you in a family car.
Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound.
I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Tulsi’s asleep!
I find the speed and weight of the tailgate dropping down a little worrying. It is the same for all the utes I have tested and none of them have a damped motion for this. It is definitely something to be aware of with little ones around. The tailgate is just at toddler head height and would cause quite an injury if it dropped down or they walked into it.
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