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The tax-beating Isuzu D-Max V-Cross Commercial is a real professional-user's pick-up. Jonathan Crouch drives it. By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Reviewword count: 61

If you're fed up with being heavily taxed on your choice of pick-up and really do use this class of vehicle as part of your job, then you should be interested in this more practical version of Isuzu's D-Max, the V-Cross Commercial. As long as you don't need rear seats in a double cab pick-up, it makes a lot of sense.

Backgroundword count: 179

Since April 2025, pick-up owners have been having to pay larger amounts of tax because their double cab models have a back seat and could therefore be used privately. But how many double cab pick-up owners do you know who regularly use the back seat? Not that many we're guessing - which is something of a waste, not only for tax reasons but also because that back seat takes up a lot of space that could otherwise be used for the cargo bay. You could buy single cab pick-up of course, but there aren't many of those left on the market and the ones are only available with poverty levels of spec. And anyway, what if you as a pick-up owner have something different in mind for the space usually occupied in a double cab for back seats? Something covered and more secure. If that's the case, you ought to be interested in this model, Isuzu's D-Max V-Cross Commercial. It's a top-spec D-Max double cab - but not quite as you might know it. Here, we'll tell you more.

Driving Experienceword count: 236

Like other D-Max models, this one gains the brand's latest 2.2-litre diesel engine, a torquier evolution of the previous 1.9-litre unit which is also Euro 6-compliant and more efficient. There's now 400Nm of torque, so Isuzu has redesigned the optional 8-speed auto gearbox to suit this new unit (a more flexible transmission than the old 6-speed auto). The 3.5-tonne braked towing capacity is unchanged. On the move, things are much as before. Of course, no contender in this class can properly replicate the car-like drive dynamics of an SUV and in this one, there remains plenty of body roll at speed through tighter turns as you slide around on the flat-bottomed seats. At least there's now a lot less back end floatiness than there used to be in a D-Max when the load bay is empty; and with a bit of weight in the back, it's possible at times to forget you're in a pick-up - until you lurch into a corner or clump over a speed hump. Refinement is slightly better than it used to be with D-Maxes of the past, though is still hardly car-like. But you might forgive this Isuzu that because, as ever with this pick-up, off road prowess is really impressive, helped by a quick-shifting 4WD system, considerable levels of suspension articulation and the lockable rear differential. Ground clearance is up to 235mm and the fording depth is up to 800mm.

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