2024 Mazda BT-50 Dual Cab Ute Family Review

It's time to test the 2024 Mazda BT-50 with my family. So let's get straight into testing this dual-cab ute with our family of four, child seats, and the Thule range of prams and see how it stacks up as a BabyDrive.

Since I shot this review an updated BT-50 has been released with some styling changes and many of the same upgrades applied to the Isuzu D-Max it's based on, none of which change child seat installation or space in the tray. The 2025 Mazda BT-50 dual cab ute pricing starts at $46,610 (excluding rego, stamp duty etc) for the XT 4×2 model and the top spec SP 4×4 model costs $71,500.

How big is the tray of the BT-50 Dual Cab?

Storage in the 2024 Mazda BT-50 Dual Cab Ute's tray is practical for family use. It will hold twenty eight shopping bags, which is two more than the Mitsubishi Triton (26), Nissan Navara (24), Ford Ranger (30) and the Toyota Hilux (29).

The Thule Sleek, future-proof, multi-configuration pram with a single seat…

…will fit in the tray of the 2024 Mazda BT-50 Dual Cab Ute with seventeen shopping bags.

The Thule Sleek, future-proof, multi-configuration pram with two sibling seats…

…will fit in the tray of the 2024 Mazda BT-50 Dual Cab Ute with seventeen shopping bags.

The Thule Sleek, future-proof, multi-configuration pram with a single seat and bassinet beside it…

…will fit in the tray of the 2024 Mazda BT-50 Dual Cab Ute with thirteen shopping bags.

The Thule Urban Glide 3 single is the ultimate all-terrain and running stroller…

… with the back wheels on, fits in the tray of the 2024 Mazda BT-50 Dual Cab Ute with eighteen shopping bags.

The Thule Urban Glide 3 double is Thule's beloved ultimate all-terrain stroller…

…with the back wheels on, it will fit in the tray of the 2024 Mazda BT-50 Dual Cab Ute with thirteen shopping bags.

The Thule Spring, lightweight and one-handed folding stroller…

…fits in the tray of the 2024 Mazda BT-50 Dual Cab Ute with twenty two shopping bags.

The tray of the 2024 Mazda BT-50 Dual Cab Ute can also accommodate two 90L, two 70L and two 40L Thule Chasm duffle bags.

You can fit a very large family dog in the tray of the 2024 Mazda BT-50 Dual Cab Ute.

How good is the storage in the BT-50 for families?

When it comes to storage inside the 2024 Mazda BT-50 Dual Cab Ute, there is a fold down armrest in the central seat back with two cup holders. They will fit a reusable or disposable coffee cup or a child's drink cup will fit in there too.

The rear door bins will hold a refillable water bottle.

There are map pockets on the back of both front seats that will hold but not quite conceal an iPad. There is also a little tray for a phone in the back of the central console box and a single hook on the back of the front passenger seat that's good for hanging a school backpack!

In the front of the 2024 Mazda BT-50 Dual Cab Ute, the storage is minimal and practical too.

There are two cup holders in the central console that will hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup.

In front of the cup holders is a phone charging tray with USB-C sockets.

The central console box is a good size for your wipes and keys etc.

The glove box will fit a wallet and iPad with the manual and there is a second smaller glove box in the dash that's a good size for a mobile phone.

There is a lined glasses case in the ceiling.

The front door bins are larger than those in the back! They will hold a large refillable water bottle and an iPad or wallet will fit in the door bin.

How many child seats will fit in the Mazda BT-50 Dual Cab Ute?

Now moving on to the rear seats and installation of child seats…

This 2024 Mazda BT-50 Dual Cab Ute has ISOFix in both of the outer second-row seats. They are not within plastic guides but are nice and easy to connect to.

There are top tether anchorages for the two outer rear-seats onlyin the BT-50. They use the woven fabric loop top tether anchorage method. They are situated behind the headrests instead of having fixed metal anchorages behind the vehicles seat backs.

There are lots of concerns around these woven loops in terms of safety, longevity and being able to safely and correctly install child seats, not least because of the difficulty in attaching and then adjusting the straps. Find out which dual-cab utes BabyDrive rates as easiest to fit child seats.

In the 2024 Mazda BT-50 dual cab ute you have to feed your top tether strap through the fabric loop behind the headrest and then across to clip it on to the central metal tether anchor point. The top tether strap on the passengers side also has to passover or behind the central seat belt too which is not ideal and gives another point where the strap could rub over time and get worn out.

There is also the obvious concern that your top tether strap is going to be constantly rubbing against the woven strap and this will cause fraying of both, thus eventually causing a weak point on the straps in the event of an accident. Being a ute it is also likely to be driven on rough and corrugated roads which could speed up the fraying process. A top tether strap can be replaced on a child seat (although it is a task you don't want regularly) but the woven straps fixed to the Mazda BT-50 would be a lot more difficult and I'd imagine more expensive to replace (that's if they can be).

Fewer and fewer utes now have a central top tether anchorage, the GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra, Volkswagen Amarok and Ford Ranger are the few left that use the metal bar top tether anchors behind the rear seat backs.

The woven loop top tethers are difficult to use and you can only use the outer seating positions for child seats, it doesn't give you the flexibility of being able to put a child seat in the central position if you needed to.

Removing the option to put a child seat in the central rear seat is a shame because it's often the safest position and because it gets a good view out of the front windscreen it's often the best place for a child who gets travel sickness to be seated.

It also eliminates all customers who need to carry more than two child seats. With it being mandatory for all children up to seven years old to be restrained in a child seat, that is a long time for families with more than two children to struggle in finding a modern ute that meets their needs.

Once you become a parent you realise it is not only three-child families that need to be able to install three child seats. I often have to install an extra child seat in my car as we often take our children's' friends home from school or home for playdates, and family members too, so it's important to be able to be flexible and have room for them as well.

This now only leaves only three dual cab Utes in Australia that can take three child seats in the back. The Nissan Navara (which also has woven loops for all three top tether anchorages with no metal anchorage at all. The others are Ssangyong Musso and Jeep Gladiator.

Legroom is good, if you have a rear-facing infant capsule in the back of the 2024 Mazda BT-50 then about a 180cm driver can sit in front of it.

There is a small hump in the central footwell of the BT-50 so it's comfortable for an adult passenger in the back.

We found I could sit between two child seats in the back of the 2024 Mazda BT-50 which is good for families that need to.

How comfortable is the Mazda BT-50 Dual Cab Ute for families?

All members of the family were quite comfortable in the 2024 Mazda BT-50 Dual Cab Ute.

Front passengers have four large air vents across the front dashboard. Two in the centre either side of the media screen and one at each end of the dash.

The air conditioning is controlled with the paddles below the screen on the dash below the media screen.

Second-row passengers in the BT-50 have aircon vents in the back of the central console box.

The seat upholstery in the 2024 Mazda BT-50 Dual Cab Ute I am testing is a combination of two coloured leather paneling with contrast stitch detail feels like it will be very durable.

How safe is this Dual Cab Ute for families?

The Mazda BT-50 Dual Cab Ute from August 2022 onwards has eight airbags as standard including:

Dual frontal, side chest-protecting and side head-protecting (curtains) and a driver knee airbag are standard. A centre airbag which provides added protection to front seat occupants in side impact crashes is also standard on all variants.

The Mazda BT-50 Dual Cab Ute scored a five-star ANCAP safety rating, scoring 89% for child occupancy and 86% for adult occupancy.

Of the child occupancy testing ANCAP wrote:

In both the frontal offset (MPDB) and side impact tests, protection was GOOD for all critical body areas for both the 6 year and 10 year child dummies.

The Mazda BT-50 dual cab is fitted with lower ISOFix anchorages and top tether anchorages on the rear outboard seats. Installation of child restraints in the centre seat of the second row (dual cab variants) is not recommended as there is no top tether anchorage for this position.

Installation of typical child restraints available in Australia and New Zealand showed that all of the selected child restraints could be accommodated in each of the rear outboard seating positions in the dual cab and full points were scored for this assessment.

Installation of child restraints in the single and freestyle cab variants is not recommended as there are no top tether anchorages.

As standard, the Mazda BT-50 Dual Cab Ute come with adaptive cruise control (ACC), anti-lock braking system (ABS), autonomous emergency braking (AEB)-(Car-to-Car, VRU, Junction Assist), blind spot monitor (BSM), electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD), electronic stability control (ESC), emergency brake assist (EBA), emergency stop signal (ESS), fatigue reminder, fatigue monitor/detection, forward collision warning (FCW), lane departure warning (LDW), lane keep assist (LKA), rear cross-traffic alert (RCTA), reversing collision avoidance (camera), roll stability system, secondary / multi-collision brake, speed assistance – auto / intelligent speed limiter, speed assistance – manual speed limiter and speed assistance – speed sign recognition & warning on all variants.

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 Bub’s asleep!

The driver's door control panel has a separate lock button for the windows and doors, which is great for families who want to lock doors or windows so little ones can't fiddle with them.

How easy is the media system to use in the Mazda Dual Cab Ute?

The media system in the 2024 Mazda BT-50 Dual Cab Ute is easy to use while driving, although the system is a little pixelated.

It has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto so you can safely access your phone's navigation, podcast/music and messaging apps while driving.

The sound menu allows you to change the volume of a lot of things, which is helpful if you have noise-sensitive kids or if your little ones are sleeping.

What is this Dual Cab Ute like to drive?

The 2024 Mazda BT-50 Dual Cab Ute is a very nice ute to drive with your family on board. With two child seats installed in the back you can see out of the rear windscreen. The side mirrors are good for towing. The BT-50 has a 3.5-tonne towing capacity, which is perfect for towing caravans and camper trailers for family holidays.