Reasons to Have a Truck

This is pretty much the opposite of an eco-post. Sorry about that, I promise I’ll touch on the environmental side of the story before the end.

We bought a big massive Isuzu D-Max in June 2019. Honestly, I was really quite sceptical, especially as the truck is “my” car. Here she is, Talulah the Truck or Delilah the D-Max.

Himself was being super-practical and perhaps a bit aspirational. I was driving a Volvo V60 and missing the height and visibility that I’d had in my previous Honda CRV (that I’d written off at 5mph in an altercation with a roundabout and a lamppost in a fug of sleep deprivation). Anyway, I let myself be persuaded and I am now an absolute convert. Here’s why.

Value for Money

In terms of the upfront cost of a brand new car (yes, we bought ours brand new), trucks are excellent value for money. You get a lot of space, great robust quality and the comforts I’ll talk about later but at the fraction of the cost of a big posh SUV. A brand new Landrover Defender might set you back £60,000 or a lot more. A new truck might be £25,000. I mean seriously, it’s amazing the difference in price if you don’t want the status symbol of a badge and you get way more for your money.

Hold Value

The money isn’t the be all and end all of the matter. But in the current financial environment, it’s an important consideration. Not only are trucks relatively reasonable to buy, but when you’re ready to move on, you’ll find they’ve really held their value. A quick browse on Autotrader shows that after almost 4 years, our truck has lost only about 15% of its value considering its specification and mileage. That’s amazing! According to MoneyHelper.com, the typical depreciation is up to 50% in the first three years.

You Won’t Get Divorced

Well, I mean, I can’t guarantee that. But, when it comes to packing the boot for a long trip, I think most of us can related to the stress and arguments that can relate to fitting everything in. Before the truck, we’d need to set aside at least 30 minutes to pack everything into the boot for a big holiday. Even then, we’d need to plonk the kids in front of the TV and himself and I would most likely have a swearing match as we had differences of opinion about where to put stuff and whether we’d over-packed. Since the truck arrived, it’s a 5 minute job, everything fits in and in another 5 minutes we can have four bikes on a rack at the back.

That first time that we loaded everything in calmly and stress-free was a epiphany, that’s when I really came round to the advantages of the truck. I mean just look at everything we could fit in pre-bike rack!

You Can Go Anywhere

Narrow lane with steep verges and a tractor coming the other way? Not a problem, 30 degree angle up the verge is pretty interesting the but truck is fine.

Squishy grass parking for a rugby match after lots of rain? Not a problem, flip it into 4 wheel drive and off we go.

Snow and ice on a steep hill? Not a problem, select low range and carry on as usual.

Muddy field short cut to get around a blocked exit? Not a problem, the truck can handle anything!

Flooded road? Not a problem, we’ve driven through a foot of water with the only problem being a ripped off number plate, but that was my fault for messing about and going fast to make a big bow wave for the kids.

All the Creature Comforts

You might think that a truck is, well, a bit agricultural and in some ways you wouldn’t be wrong. Mine has leaf springs, like a 19th century carriage. But in the cabin it’s a perfectly normal, nice, modern car. I’ve got heated seats and air conditioning, Sat Nav, a reversing camera, parking sensors, bluetooth and Android compatibility. You couldn’t be more comfortable in a Mondeo. As well as all that there are three million cubby holes and cup holders everywhere, plenty of space for putting away all the bits and bobs that you need for a long journey with kids.

Amazing Service and Support from Dealerships

Maybe I’m just lucky. Our dealership is amazing, they happily collect my truck and drop it back after MOTs or services and always in plenty of time to work around school drop off and pick up. That specific experience aside, Isuzus come with a five year warrantee, so if there are any issues or recalls, it’s all covered and done for free. I had a parking sensor beeping randomly and mentioned that when it was in for something else, they replaced the whole control unit free of charge and gave it a really good wash at the same time. Because the dealership is small, they provide a really personal service, they know that me and my truck go together – if I say who it is, they know which truck to expect or if they see the truck pull in, they know it’ll be me and that I might go off for a run while they look at something. That makes it sound like I’m forever having issues, but that’s not the case. I’m in maybe twice a year for something but that’s all it takes. They’re a really great team; friendly and helpful.

You Don’t Always Need AdBlu

A lot of trucks do need an extra something adding to the fuel to make them right properly. However, my Isuzu doesn’t. That was one reason why we chose an Isuzu truck. Because we don’t use it, I can’t tell you much about it, but I just wanted to be clear that it’s not a given that you’d need AdBlu to run a truck.

Reasons not to…

Yep, I’m going to be honest and well-balanced here.

Fuel Economy

I get truly awful fuel economy. That’s partly because I do lots of short (less than 3 mile) trips to and from school or the supermarket. On long runs, it’s much much better. But still not in the 60mpg range that my dad gets from his Honda Civic. Still, much better than himself’s 20mpg from his Ford Focus RS. It’s painful when the fuel prices are so high, sometimes it has cost £130 to fill from empty to the brim.

Awful to Park

You’ve got to be a bit careful parking. My truck is 180cm tall. So if a car park’s maximum height is 6 feet, that’ll be a no no. It’s also 5.2m long, which means that it can be tricky to fit into some spaces. Not only in terms of fitting into the slot, but also manoeuvring into it. The reversing camera and massive wing mirrors make it a lot easier and I’ve never hit anything, so it’s not disastrous. But it’s not easy either.

Snarky Comments

This is somewhat specific to me and to the other who have made the comments. According to the fact that I’m female, slim and 5’2″ tall, some people find it comment-worthy and amusing to see me climbing in and out of my truck. I don’t actually find it hard to get in and out, but sure it’s a step up and down again. My kids manage it fine, my 70 year old parents are less comfortable but it’s not problematic. However, a few people have taken the trouble to tease me about it. Sod them! It’s not a reason not to get a truck but it’s worthwhile coming up with some quips to throw about at anyone who’s rude enough to mention truck size versus person size. If you have any let me know!

Getting Asked for Help

If everyone knows you have a big massive truck, you’ll suddenly find that you’re their new best friend when they need to move something big. Sofas, barbecues, camping equipment, a new TV that won’t fit in their VW Golf.

Stowaways

Now this one might be a bit unexpected, but it really did happen to us. The first year we had the truck, we stayed overnight in Calais before getting the ferry home. When we went to put our bags back in the truck, we found a lovely young Ghanaean man hiding amongst the bikes and pillows. He was very sweet, explained that he hadn’t broken the lock but found it open (it later transpired that some local French youths had been interrupted breaking in by the police and sent packing). If he’d been lucky enough that we didn’t notice him, he risked getting a surprise trip to the Dordogne as we’d done the same thing at the start of our holiday. I have seen one or two other stories of people sneaking into the back part of trucks to try to cross borders – because the back part is completely separate and very big, it’s easier to go undetected and often the alarm isn’t connected to the canopy doors.

Truck Options

I love my Isuzu D-Max, we’ve got the Blade version as I managed to restrain himself from getting the Arctic Truck (that’s just ridiculous and unnecessary).

The Nissan Navara has been around for years and is very popular.

The most famously robust option has to be the Toyota Hilux.

The industry leader, I think, is the Ford Ranger.

Other types that we see on the road are: SsangYong Musso, Mercedes X-class, Fiat Fullback, Renault Alaskan, Mazda BT-50, VW Amarok, and Mitsubishi L series,

For some more objective reviews, see Autotrader: Best pick-up trucks 2023.