The reason that sales of pickups have increased is that the utility old Defenders are no longer available and working ones are now coming to the end of their useful life and are being replaced by these pickups. The four door is the most popular because it isn’t too much more expensive that a cab and a half and that isn’t much more expensive than a single cab. Most users, myself included, are happy with the five foot load deck with the king cab being six foot and single being seven foot but having no secure in-cab storage for tools and valuables. Utility companies and the military are others that are fast replacing old style Defenders with these pickups as well. Today my loadbed was too short for the 4.8 metre 8x3” planks I needed to haul, so the 14ft flatbed dropside trailer was hitched on in a jiffy and off I went. My other pickup [a ten year old] was hitched to a 14ftx6’6” livestock box and hauled a full load of a 3.5 tons out and back from another direction. Probably the best on-road ride is offered by the Amarok Adventura but this is not rated for the same loads and does not qualify for VAT repayment to eligible business people. The best ride from a qualifying utility pickup is probably on the Ford Ranger Wildtrak and Platinum but they do not match a good car or SUV. Not even close.
You need the Isuzu M-UX SUV in the UK. It is sooooo much better than a D-MAX Ute with a canopy. You can still get genuine Isuzu bull bars and nudge bars Down Under for both models.
Nobody in their right mind will buy a new pickup unless they have a business that is VAT registered. Even the best of them, which the Isuzu isn’t, have very hard leaf sprung live rear axles, rated to carry an imperial ton and tow three and a half tonnes. There are exceptions, mainly the Ranger Raptor, which is a rich man’s toy, and the very rare VW Amarok Adventura which although having leaf springs is derated with softer springs and a lower payload, which excludes it from VAT reclaims and possibly the business tax relief available on ‘commercial’ versions. As for this Isuzu, it’s only engine available in the UK is the barely adequate 1.9 which they will, in their desperation to be competitive, remap them at the dealer to give it a bit more power and torque. The six speed automatic is hardly competitive in this day and age either when most rivals have anything from eight to ten ratios in high range alone. This is a workaday pickup that is cheaply built to compete at the lower or utility end of the market and it is indeed popular with farmers but at that level the Ssangyong/KGM Musso pickup is taking a slice of its market. It helps that many of its dealers are rural based and some even major on agricultural machinery, such as Tallis Amos Group that are primarily John Deere dealers with multiple depots. All versions apart from the Arctic Truck conversion come under the 2040kg unladen weight limit, so they do indeed have normal car speed limits but this just emphasises how lightly built this vehicle is compared to more meaty rivals like the HiLux, Ranger, Amarok which exceed this weight class and therefore have a 10mph lower speed on most A roads and dual carriageways [but not motorways]. The Isuzu is also easier to source than other rivals, with more UK stock and is cheaper than the rivals mentioned apart from KGM. A friend has an Arctic Truck version and it does look rather ridiculous parked beside his family’s various Defender and Range Rovers, parked outside his restaurant. In summary it isn’t in the same league as a Ranger or Amarok, but then again it is a good bit cheaper like for like, although it never offers the features that are standard and available on the top variants of those vehicles. Being ‘more commercial’ is no excuse because all the others are just as much bought and driven ‘commercially’. It doesn’t have the tow/haul mode and full time 4wd on the road features that are on some others. If you can’t use these commercially, are not VAT registered business or are mainly using it as a car, this is not for you. You can only reclaim the VAT if VAT registered and a business, which a self employed person may qualify to be, especially if turnover exceeds £80k/year. Being registered for VAT means that VAT must be charged for your services, therefore instantly making you 20% less competitive, so the ability to reclaim VAT must be weighed against the necessity to charge VAT and pass it on to HMrc. The Amarok is pure Ford and is mechanically and electronically identical to Ranger.
A carpenter would love one of these. In Australia we take them down the old telegraph track and they handle it with ease.
The reason that sales of pickups have increased is that the utility old Defenders are no longer available and working ones are now coming to the end of their useful life and are being replaced by these pickups. The four door is the most popular because it isn’t too much more expensive that a cab and a half and that isn’t much more expensive than a single cab. Most users, myself included, are happy with the five foot load deck with the king cab being six foot and single being seven foot but having no secure in-cab storage for tools and valuables. Utility companies and the military are others that are fast replacing old style Defenders with these pickups as well. Today my loadbed was too short for the 4.8 metre 8x3” planks I needed to haul, so the 14ft flatbed dropside trailer was hitched on in a jiffy and off I went. My other pickup [a ten year old] was hitched to a 14ftx6’6” livestock box and hauled a full load of a 3.5 tons out and back from another direction. Probably the best on-road ride is offered by the Amarok Adventura but this is not rated for the same loads and does not qualify for VAT repayment to eligible business people. The best ride from a qualifying utility pickup is probably on the Ford Ranger Wildtrak and Platinum but they do not match a good car or SUV. Not even close.
You need the Isuzu M-UX SUV in the UK. It is sooooo much better than a D-MAX Ute with a canopy. You can still get genuine Isuzu bull bars and nudge bars Down Under for both models.
Please compare to it to the Hilux, Ranger and L200... Is it really as bad as you say? Or even a Cruiser 150, Shogun etc.
Nobody in their right mind will buy a new pickup unless they have a business that is VAT registered. Even the best of them, which the Isuzu isn’t, have very hard leaf sprung live rear axles, rated to carry an imperial ton and tow three and a half tonnes. There are exceptions, mainly the Ranger Raptor, which is a rich man’s toy, and the very rare VW Amarok Adventura which although having leaf springs is derated with softer springs and a lower payload, which excludes it from VAT reclaims and possibly the business tax relief available on ‘commercial’ versions.
As for this Isuzu, it’s only engine available in the UK is the barely adequate 1.9 which they will, in their desperation to be competitive, remap them at the dealer to give it a bit more power and torque. The six speed automatic is hardly competitive in this day and age either when most rivals have anything from eight to ten ratios in high range alone.
This is a workaday pickup that is cheaply built to compete at the lower or utility end of the market and it is indeed popular with farmers but at that level the Ssangyong/KGM Musso pickup is taking a slice of its market. It helps that many of its dealers are rural based and some even major on agricultural machinery, such as Tallis Amos Group that are primarily John Deere dealers with multiple depots. All versions apart from the Arctic Truck conversion come under the 2040kg unladen weight limit, so they do indeed have normal car speed limits but this just emphasises how lightly built this vehicle is compared to more meaty rivals like the HiLux, Ranger, Amarok which exceed this weight class and therefore have a 10mph lower speed on most A roads and dual carriageways [but not motorways]. The Isuzu is also easier to source than other rivals, with more UK stock and is cheaper than the rivals mentioned apart from KGM.
A friend has an Arctic Truck version and it does look rather ridiculous parked beside his family’s various Defender and Range Rovers, parked outside his restaurant.
In summary it isn’t in the same league as a Ranger or Amarok, but then again it is a good bit cheaper like for like, although it never offers the features that are standard and available on the top variants of those vehicles. Being ‘more commercial’ is no excuse because all the others are just as much bought and driven ‘commercially’. It doesn’t have the tow/haul mode and full time 4wd on the road features that are on some others. If you can’t use these commercially, are not VAT registered business or are mainly using it as a car, this is not for you. You can only reclaim the VAT if VAT registered and a business, which a self employed person may qualify to be, especially if turnover exceeds £80k/year. Being registered for VAT means that VAT must be charged for your services, therefore instantly making you 20% less competitive, so the ability to reclaim VAT must be weighed against the necessity to charge VAT and pass it on to HMrc.
The Amarok is pure Ford and is mechanically and electronically identical to Ranger.