Isuzu Ute Class Action: D-Max and MU-X structural cracks and dodgy DPFs investigated
Lawyers have started circling Isuzu Ute Australia. Turns out, D-Max's reputation for truck-like endurance and herculean prowess off-road could be coming to a halt, if proven.
There’s blood in the water at Isuzu Ute Australia, in their palatial tin shed by the Brisbane River.
The recipients of Drive’s thought-bubble Car of the Year 2022, formerly Car Advice, are up to their neck in class action hellfire, so let’s see what it’s all about, shall we?
Charles Bannister Law, the perennial thorn in the car industry’s side, is the meddling consumer advocate behind all this. If you already know this story, you can sign up to the class action here >>
Bannister Law, in case you’re unaware, brought you the timeless class action classics like Volkswagen Dieselgate, the Ford PowerShit transmission & record fine (circa 2018), and a tribute to Toyota’s infamous ‘aggregate damages’ shitbox 2.8 diesel engine.
If you’re affected, check out the class action sign-up page at Bannister Law here >>
They’ve launched a class action investigation into the previous generation Isuzu D-MAX and MU-X for alleged engine bay structural failures and also DPFs that fail. (If you’re considering buying a new Isuzu D-Max ute or the box-on-the-back version called MU-X - also a pretty pricey 4WD, click here for my reports on those.)
Poor DPF systems that crap themselves are always quite difficult to explain, in my view, from the carmakers’ perspective. When there is a widespread failure, there’s rarely any accountability like, ‘Sorry, we didn’t do a very goo job on that - let’s get it fixed for you immediately’. Have you noticed?
There’s always a fall guy, usually something unforeseen by the carmaker’s small army of technically qualified brainiacs - which should tell you it’s probably the result of an account with blinkers on, refusing to spend time and money fixing that small technical gripe with the potential to undermine the whole cost analysis of the new model.
Bannister Law investigators are zeroing in on 90,000 previous-generation D-MAXs and MU-Xs sold from 2017 to 2019. Not really that old, is it? Most must be still under warranty.
Apparently these allegedly tough vehicles have this - alleged - pesky habit of cracking in the structural bits of the engine bay. It doesn’t sound good, does it? Like, last time I looked, best practice for fabrication design was to avoid structural cracks in the bits holding the engine in the car.
We covered that kind of thing one day at university, if memory serves.
So, that’s not good. Apparently, this process is accelerated if you’re the kind of mouth-breather who bolted on a bullbar and drove down a corrugated road. Like, nobody at Isuzu could have foreseen this unexpected turn of events, in a vehicle such as this, surely.
Have they not paved the road to Australia’s Mecca, Dingo Piss Creek? Would paving the road to ‘The Creek’ make Australia less shit, or more shit? I can’t decide. I can see it both ways.
Bannister Law’s mob says:
Oh dear. Welding up a crack in steel is not actually that hard: You drill it out at the ends, bit of a bevel, cheeky pre-heat, spray it with a bit of ER70S-6 or something. Maybe a gusset here or there (never hurts).
Crack repair isn't exactly a new process.
My AutoExpert AFFORDABLE ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE PACKAGE
If you’re sick of paying through the neck for roadside assistance I’ve teamed up with 24/7 to offer AutoExpert readers nationwide roadside assistance from just $69 annually, plus there’s NO JOINING FEE
Full details here >>
AutoExpert DISCOUNT OLIGHT TORCHES
These flashlights are awesome. I carry the Olight Warrior Mini 2 every day - it’s tiny, robust, and super useful in the field or in the workshop. Olight is a terrific supporter of AutoExpert.
Use the code AEJC to get a 12% discount >>
Generators suck! Go off-grid with AutoExpert BLUETTI PORTABLE POWER STATIONS
Need mobile, reliable power? If you’re camping, boating, caravanning or building a dirty big shed in the back paddock, and you need to run a refrigerator, lights, air conditioner, cooking, and/or a bunch of tools - Bluetti has a clean, tidy, robust solution…
Get your AutoExpert free shipping discount here: https://bit.ly/3n62heK
DID ISUZU UTE TAKE SHORTCUTS ON R&D?
And then there’s these allegedly problematic DPFs. According to Bannister Law’s backing vocalists:
Goodness me, that’s astonishing. A DPF is nothing more than a small stainless steel box with some fireproof filter material inside it. Holes for two pitot-static pressure probes at each end.
I’ve only got two words for that alleged replacement cost: Daylight robbery. You could make them in China, ship them here and sell them for a profit for $250. There’s the size of the gouge - and the true cost is that they’re taking it from you (the consumer) for a design deficiency, which they committed.
Seems unfair, in my view.
Looking at this like an engineer, DPFs tell me a lot about the calibre of R&D in play at various car companies. There has to be a reason why DPF failures in Toyotas and Isuzus and Land Rovers are endemic and they’re not in Hyundais and Kias - especially as they all meet the same exhaust emissions standards - globally.
This kind of observation is a window that bypasses the bullshit on the various carmaker websites, and the brand affinity of various tribal individuals, and gives you an unfiltered look inside, at who has their act together, and who doesn’t.
The big question for me is: How many of these design deficiencies carried over onto the new D-Max and MU-X versions. Did this philosophical lack of commitment to getting the details right, both in terms of structural design and powertrain engineering continue, or did they quietly address it in designing and producing the new generation?
And how long would it be until evidence surfaces of the latest D-Max and MU-X version’s shortcuts, if there are any? Wouldn’t that be lovely having to go through the whole uplifting discovery process again in eight years’ time? As a risk-management exercise (which you should run every time you buy an expensive widget such as a car) this class action investigation would raise serious concerns about Isuzu for me.
Don’t expect the mainstream media - especially the advertising hungry motoring media - to fire both barrels at the potential revenue source over this story.
They’re just allegations at this point, which are ultimately for a court to determine, if it gets that far, but if I were in the market right now, I would be seriously concerned. As I pointed out in the recent Toyota report, law firms don’t do this stuff for free - they need to have a compounding reason and substantive evidence, as I see it, before committing to taking on big organisations like this. Nothing’s free, so clearly the pile of claims they have might suggest to you that Bannister Law is not playing around here.
Partly this would be because class actions usually don’t have legs if carmakers bend over backwards to support owners who experience problems, and they do whatever they can to fix things. But from what I’ve seen of Isuzu Ute - that’s not my impression of how they roll.
I also wanted to let you know about the class action investigation so you could register if you own a D-MAX or MU-X that has made one or both of these malodorous messes in its trousers. Perhaps you would like to make yourself a pain in Isuzu’s RS, as a gesture of reciprocity.
What goes around, comes around. bannisterlaw.com.au/Isuzu to register - or just Google it, mate.
The all-new Kia Tasman 4X4 dual-cab ute is finally coming to Australia in mid-2025. The covers are off, too. Here’s everything we know so far