Best Pick-Up Trucks to Buy in 2025

27/08/2025 17:14 Share

Best Pick-Up Trucks to Buy in 2025

Capable of hauling large payloads and venturing off-road, pick-up trucks have long been popular choices for businesses – but which is the best pick-up truck you can buy in 2025?

Designed to tackle the harshest conditions – both on and off road – while lugging both hefty cargo and up to five passengers, pick-up trucks often serve a dual-purpose as commercial workhorses and family-friendly runabouts.

Blurring the lines between a stylish lifestyle accessory and a heavy-duty business tool, pick-up trucks have cornered a unique section of the commercial vehicle market.

That means competition among the current crop of contenders is fierce – but which stands out as the best pick-up truck on the road right now?

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What Types of Pick-Up Truck Can You Buy?

While all pick-up trucks are available as a double-cab with a full complement of five seats, a handful of models can be specified in different body styles. This therefore has an effect on the load length.

Single Cab – Often available in a model’s most basic form, a single cab is differentiated from the double cab by having just a single passenger compartment and therefore only two seats. The loss of a rear compartment therefore allows the load bay to be extended thus making single cabs particularly popular as commercial-only pick-ups.

Extended Cab – Extended cab pick-up trucks feature a rear compartment with either four or five seats, but the passenger area is smaller in dimension to that of double cabs. Extended cab models feature a small envelope-style entry door, referred to as ‘suicide doors’. These are doors that open in an opposite direction to that of the front doors, allowing for a larger opening aperture to the rear compartment. Extended cab models are best for those who carry rear passengers infrequently.

Double Cab – Each pick-up truck on sale in the UK right now is available as a Double Cab, meaning they have five seats and four full-size doors. This therefore makes them viable family cars, as well as being able to haul large cargo in a hard-wearing, strengthened load bay.

Pick-Up Truck Load Bay Lengths

Top 6 Best Pick-Up Trucks in 2025

Ford Ranger

Body Styles: Single Cab, Double Cab
Engines: 2.0-litre (Diesel), 3.0-litre (Diesel), 2.3-litre/11.8kWh (Plug-In Hybrid)
Payload Capacity Range: 1010-1108kg
Braked Towing Capacity: 3420-3500kg

The perennial favourite in the European pick-up truck market, the Ford Ranger is a best-seller for good reason.

The latest generation Ranger has never been more complete, offering rugged good looks and a discernibly premium feel inside. Despite the move upmarket, the Ranger remains an honest workhorse with excellent off-roading abilities, generous payload and towing capacities, not to mention the longest load bay in the class.

Coupled with the choice of either a Single Cab or Double Cab, plus an array of trim levels – including the off-road focused Wildtrak, the classy Platinum and the wild sporty Raptor – the Ranger sets a high standard in the pick-up truck class.

Toyota Hilux

Body Styles: Extended Cab, Double Cab
Engines: 2.4-litre (Diesel), 2.8-litre (Diesel)
Payload Capacity Range: 1010-1025kg
Braked Towing Capacity: 3500kg

One of the longest running nameplates in the automotive industry, the Toyota Hilux has earned a well-deserved reputation as one of motoring’s toughest models.

Whether it’s scaling sand dunes in Africa, wading through mud in the Americas or doing the school-run in a British town, the Hilux is a multi-faceted and multi-talented pick-up truck.

Within that chunky exterior is the choice of 2.4 or 2.8-litre turbodiesel engines, a raft of driver settings to use on and off road and a spacious cargo bay capable of hauling up to 1025kg of payload.

It is also one of only two models in the pick-up truck class to come as an Extended Cab style.

Volkswagen Amarok

Body Styles: Double Cab
Engines: 2.0-litre (Diesel), 3.0-litre (Diesel)
Payload Capacity Range: 835-1101kg
Braked Towing Capacity: 3420-3500kg

The first-generation Volkswagen Amarok represented the German marque’s first foray into the pick-up truck segment and arguably set the tone for today’s more premium offerings in the class.

The second-generation Amarok is based on the same running gear as the Ford Ranger, so expect excellent off-road ability, compliant driving manners, a well-built and well-equipped interior and one of the sector’s biggest and most practical load bays.

Trim levels include Life, Style, PanAmericana and the luxury Aventura, plus the choice of 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel engines or 3.0-litre V6 diesel engines.

Maxus eTerron 9

Body Styles: Double Cab
Engines: 102.2kWh (Electric)
Payload Capacity Range: 620kg
Braked Towing Capacity: 3500kg

An entirely fresh prospect for the segment, the Maxus eTerron 9 makes headlines as the first four-wheel drive electric pick-up truck to launch in the UK.

While it remains to be seen whether electric power can catch on in a class that has relied on diesel power for decades, the eTerron 9 at least presents some very intriguing details.

For one, it’s huge! Measuring 5500mm in length, it’s 180mm longer than a Ford Ranger. While this doesn’t translate to a class-leading load bay (1561mm), it does have a massive 236-litre ‘frunk’ hiding under the bonnet too.

It’s also very quick, the 102.2kWh battery generating a whopping 436bhp and 700Nm of torque for a 0-62mph time of just five seconds. Moreover, it hasn’t sacrificed range for grunt with the eTerron 9 going a potential 267 miles on a full cycle.

There are some key compromises, namely the modest 620kg payload capacity, but it can tow a full 3500kg in line with its rivals.

Isuzu D-Max

Body Styles: Single Cab, Extended Cab, Double Cab
Engines: 1.9-litre (Diesel)
Payload Capacity Range: 1085-1110kg
Braked Towing Capacity: 3500kg

The Isuzu D-Max has earned a loyal following among the pick-up truck community, celebrated for its no-nonsense, utilitarian abilities with just a dash of premium flair thrown in.

Aimed at the commercial end of the market, the D-Max is the only pick-up truck on sale with a full set of Single, Extended or Double Cab body styles on offer.

Engineered to be particularly adept off-road, the D-Max – with its torquey 1.9-litre turbodiesel engine - is considered one of the most capable models on the market when the going gets tough.

It is also the only pick-up truck on sale that comes in under 2040kg, thus meaning it can be driven at the national speed limit. Rivals that weigh more than 2040kg must be driven at LCV designated speed limits.

KGM Musso

Body Styles: Double Cab, Double Cab Extended
Engines: 2.2-litre (Diesel)
Payload Capacity Range: 1095-1205kg
Braked Towing Capacity: 3200-3500kg

While the KGM Musso is only available with a Double Cab body style, it differs from rivals by having two distinct load lengths within its range.

The standard KGM Musso is aimed more at the family lifestyle market in that it can carry five passengers comfortably with a load bay ideal for modestly sized items to be slung onto the back of it.

However, opt for the KGM Musso Saracen+ and the load bay grows to 1610mm – just shy of the Ford Ranger – while payload increases to a class-leading 1205kg.

The Musso also impresses with its classy interior, while its ladder on-frame chassis makes it ideal for towing too.

Honourable Mention

Maxus T60 MAX

Body Styles: Double Cab
Engines: 2.0-litre (Diesel)
Payload Capacity Range: 1050kg
Braked Towing Capacity: 3500kg

The handsome Maxus T60 MAX fulfils the demand for a diesel pick-up truck in the Chinese marque’s range alongside the imposing new electric Maxus eTerron 9.

Boasting a strikingly designed, very well-equipped interior, the T60 MAX feels more upmarket than its value-orientated leanings would have you believe.

The payload capacity is 1050kg, while the T60 MAX can pull a braked 3500kg towing load as well. It’s also powerful with the 2.0-litre diesel engine generating 215PS and 500Nm of torque.

What is the Double-Cab Pick-Up Tax Change?

From April 2025, the erstwhile tax regulation based on payload capacity was scrapped in favour of a new tax classification measured on the number of seats in any vehicle.

Double-Cab Pick-Up vehicles are therefore subject to BIK (Benefit-In-Kind) tax rate using a figure based on CO2 emissions, like a standard company car.

As these models generate higher emissions than most vehicles, taxpayers could be paying out thousands a year more on their car tax if they own a diesel pick-up truck.

Pick-Up Truck Speed Limits

UK speed limits are dictated by the unladen kerbweight of a vehicle, the reasoning being a heavy vehicle driven at higher speed could pose a greater risk to a driver, passenger, other road users, pedestrians or cyclists in the event of an accident.

As such, the DVLA states that a vehicle 2040kg or more is classified as an LCV (light commercial vehicle) and are therefore subject to speed limits which are 10mph slower on single and dual carriageways.

Since newer pick-up trucks have become heavier over the time, the vast majority of the models available in the UK exceed this weight limit and are therefore bound by speed limits for LCVs

The Isuzu D-Max is currently the only double cab pick-up truck on sale in the UK that comes in under 2040kg and is therefore subject to the same speed limit regulations as passenger cars.

All other double cab models from Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, Maxus and KGM are over 2040kg and are subject to the following LCV speed limits:

Speed Limits For Pick-Up Trucks Over 2040kg (Unladen Kerbweight)

Which Engine Is Best for a Pick-Up Truck

- Diesel

Pick-up trucks have long favoured turbodiesel engines as they provide superior torque and pulling power, which is most preferable when towing or driving off-road. Diesel is also more economical than petrol models with greater mileage range between fill-ups.

- Plug-In Hybrid

Models like the Ford Ranger PHEV are plug-in hybrid, which mates a petrol engine with a small battery for significantly reduced combined CO2 emissions output and the potential to drive short distances entirely on electric power only.

- Electric

The new Maxus eTerron 9 and forthcoming Isuzu D-Max BEV will fulfil the growing demand for electric pick-up trucks. Electric power ensures zero emissions, as well as superior acceleration and power output, though there is a compromise on payload and towing capacity.