2023 Isuzu MU-X LS-M review

Isuzu’s MU-X is a bit of a modern marketing miracle. Always a niche player in Australia, adding a seven-seat SUV body to the ladder-frame chassis of its D-Max ute seemed, to me at least, a bridge too far. The masterstroke, of course, was establishing the brand with affordable pricing and showing us all in TV ads how much damn fun you can have in one, either driving it over all sorts of terrain or getting you to somewhere exclusive and 'naturey'.

And according to Isuzu, a massive chunk of its owners get out there and do muddy/saltwaterey/digging holes for a toilet type stuff. The miracle is that a brand not previously known for passenger vehicles in Australia so quickly found a niche.

The second-generation MU-X has been with us for just over two years now. Again, Isuzu’s pandemic marketing acknowledged that MU-X owners had itchy feet and we couldn't get out there soon enough, so why not consider the new MU-X if you want to get out there and see it all?

The MU-X comes in three spec levels, all with a choice of 4x2 or 4x4. The 4x4 is more popular, and this base-grade LS-M starts at $54,900 plus on-road costs.

Modest is the best way to describe the LS-M’s list, with 17-inch alloys, 7.0-inch touchscreen (no sat nav, sorry), auto LED headlights, auto wipers, blacked-out side steps, black door handles, manual tailgate, manual air con, four-speaker sound system, tyre pressure monitoring, cloth interior and a full-size spare slung under the boot rather than in it.

And that’s kind of it. You’re not missing anything at all important – if you want a sunroof, leather trim, or a powered tailgate – spend more. On the upside, it doesn’t look like it from the outside and there are benefits to the basic car.

The MU-X is massive inside. It always was, of course, because it’s huge on the outside too, but owners of the first-generation machine were not always enamoured with its weird packaging. A tweak to the positioning of the second row and the B-pillar means middle-row passengers now have easier access.

That middle row flips and tumbles forward with the pull of a lever, and I don’t know why every other seven-seat SUV doesn’t take this approach. Climbing in through the big door aperture isn’t too difficult if you’re not too tall or unfit, and once you’re in you have a modest footwell to put your feet and generous room under the seats in front once they’re returned to base.

It’s not a limo but reasonable for a short trip. You even get cupholders, your own air vents and a couple of storage cubbies.

Boot space starts at 311 litres behind the third row, which is startlingly reasonable and enough for a decent amount of sporting stuff or shopping. My condolences if you’re taking that many people shopping with you.

If you’re not using the third row, the seats drop out of the way with the pull of a tape hanging off the back. You get a flat floor with a whopping 1119L, the seats themselves lowering into the footwell. A middle armrest features two cupholders and there are, again, air vents.

If you need that space for your stuff, you can flip and fold the middle row out of the way for a mind-boggling 2138L of space. There’s even a small section of underfloor storage at the loading lip. Further condolences are on offer when people discover how great an Ikea hauler the MU-X is.

All the seats in the LS-M are cloth and oddly firm. I’m not sure why this is, but spend time in them and they’re quite comfortable if not massively supportive. There are grab handles for the front and outboard middle-row passengers, so if the going is rough you can hang on. A nice touch is the padded transmission tunnel in the front to save your knees from a battering.

Down here in the entry-level machine, the interior is pretty basic. I’m a fan of cloth trim, but the small media screen absolutely swims in a bezel so thick you could be looking at a 1950s television. The switchgear is commendably chunky and honest, including the air-conditioning dials.

Front seat passengers also have a pair of cupholders between them, but also retractable ones at each end of the dash. Each door has a bottle holder too. The materials are hard but not scratchy, and I get the impression it all holds up really well. Including the plastic steering wheel, of which I am not a fan.

The 7.0-inch screen is kinda hilariously dinky in what is a fairly large dash structure, but it does what few jobs it has reasonably well. Apple CarPlay is both wired and wireless, Android Auto is USB only via the single USB port, and you can just use basic Bluetooth streaming. The next model up has a larger 9.0-inch screen and therefore sat nav (apparently this is a logical progression we’re all meant to accept), but it does seem curious that a hardy off-roader doesn’t have it at every level.

Wireless Apple CarPlay is a bit annoying. Once it connects it’s fine, but you will be waiting a while for it to recognise it. In other cars that usually means it won’t connect, so the time it takes for the MU-X to see it’s there is perplexing, at least to the short-term user like me.

AM/FM is along for the ride as is DAB+ Digital Radio. The four-speaker system has to stretch to fill the giant space, though.

The screen itself is reasonably snappy to use, but the basic software looks as old as the hills.

ANCAP tested the MU-X in 2021 and came up with a five-star rating, the maximum available.

The MU-X scored well in Adult Occupant Protection at 86 per cent, Child Occupant Protection at 85 per cent, Vulnerable Road User Protection at 69 per cent, and Safety Assist at 84 per cent.

Isuzu calls its extensive safety pack Isuzu Intelligent Driver Assistance System (IDAS), and it packs eight airbags (including curtain airnags reaching all the way to the third row), the usual stability and traction controls, forward autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with turn assist, forward collision warning, post-collision braking, traffic sign recognition, misacceleration mitigation, lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, lane-departure prevention, driver attention detection, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, hill descent control, trailer sway control, rollover mitigation, reversing camera and tyre pressure monitoring.

Only the middle row features child seat anchoring, with two ISOFIX points and three top-tether points.

The lane-keep assist can be a bit pushy but is easily switched off with the press of a button.

One of the eight airbags is a front-centre airbag to help prevent head clashes in a side impact.

The difference-splitting six-year/150,000km warranty outpunches Ford and Toyota's five-year/unlimited km warranties on time but not distance, but is beaten by Mitsubishi’s 10-year/200,000km offering. You also get seven years of roadside assist and seven years of capped-price servicing.

According to Isuzu, the servicing is not only capped but also locked to the MY19 prices. While that seems good, it’s not exactly cheap, and this is where the value proposition runs into its only bit of trouble. Three years is $1545, five years $2435 and seven years $3689. Over the seven years you’re looking at more than $500 per service.

Comprehensive insurance came to $1979 per year based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

The MU-X’s claimed 8.3 litres per 100 kilometres is probably achievable given the 9.2L/100km I got in what was a largely suburban-bound week with only a brief highway run.

Obviously it runs on diesel, which is a bit on the nose for anything other than an SUV, but it’s pretty good going to get under 10L/100km with a two-plus-tonne SUV. I can’t speak for its consumption with three-and-a-half tonnes hanging off the tow bar and four kids hanging off the walls, but with an 80-litre fuel tank, you’ve got plenty of juice to get on with the long drives.

You will hear, and I have already mentioned, that the MU-X is based on the D-Max ute, the same way the Pajero Sport is based on the Triton and the Everest on the Ranger and so on. Ladder frame chassis, four-wheel-drive with low-range, and high ride height.

The rear end of the MU-X has a more people-friendly coil spring suspension set-up, compared to the leaf-sprung D-Max ute, which quite honestly will stop you from bashing your skull on the ceiling if you’re riding in the rear.

One thing that did survive the step up to the second generation was the loudness of the 3.0-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel engine when cold. It’s quite clattery even when warmed up and under load, there’s plenty of induction roar. Hilariously, though, once you lift off the throttle after, say, a highway overtaking manoeuvre, the engine goes virtually silent.

Going back to its suburban behaviour, if you were doing big miles in the MU-X, you’d find it pretty tiring. You need to do a lot of steering even going around roundabouts, and parking is a particular delight with the assistance sometimes struggling to keep up with your changes of direction.

The engine is also quite lazy, with a six-speed torque converter automatic transmission that’s looking for a quiet life. There are, of course, extremely good reasons for both of these things, where slowness in both steering and throttle response are no longer complaints but critical when you’re rock-hopping.

Overall, the ride is pretty good, and compared to the bigger-wheeled MU-Xs it’s by far the best. The big balloon tyres take the edge off the ride – again, you can’t add nearly four tonnes to a plushly sprung machine without it dragging along on its belly – so where the springs can’t, the sidewalls will. Yes, I know you’re not adding four tonnes to the car’s weight when you’re towing, but you see what I mean.

What you’re getting with the LS-M is the MU-X distilled to what it’s good at – moving people and stuff over pretty much any distance and doing it comfortably. If there are a bunch of sand dunes, fordable rivers and muddy tracks in the way, you will more than likely overcome them, and even more likely seek them for the hell of it.

I’m not entirely convinced of its utility in town given its length and the slow-moving nature of the steering and engine, but both are that way for a reason. I appear to be in a corner on my own, though, because MU-X owners love their car and won’t hear a word against it.

Is the LS-M the best MU-X? No, I’d go a step higher and get the bigger screen and slightly plusher interior. However, if you can’t stretch to that, you’re still getting what the MU-X is best at.

To answer my question, though, has Isuzu taken it a bit easy on the updates? Yes and no. The MU-X has never been about looking amazing or having the last word in cabin tech. It has excellent safety (apart from no reverse AEB), the kinds of things you need without showing off, and it’s very capable and comfortable. So, no, it’s doing just fine.

As always, your first port of call is either the Isuzu website or your nearest Isuzu dealer. The LS-M isn’t the sweet spot in the range unless you only have exactly $60,000 to spend on a white one, but it has much to commend it. The mid-spec LS-U will be a nice fit if you have a few more dollars to spend.

You may also find dealers offering MU-Xs at Drive.com.au/cars-for-sale.

When you’re pricing up your Isuzu on the website, it helpfully tells you delivery delays apply. Less helpfully, it won’t say specifically what they might be.

Definitely check out the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, Ford Territory and perhaps the LDV D90 Executive diesel. Each of these cars has its own charms, but for sheer grunt and genuine bang-for-buck, the MU-X is tricky to beat.

If you want to stay updated with everything that's happened to this car since our review, you'll find all the latest news here.