After an exhaustive evaluation exercise, including Toyota, Nissan, VW, Isuzu, Mitsubishi and Ford, I now run a fleet of 4 x Isuzu D-Max and 3 x V6 hi-output VW Amaroks. The Isuzus are virtually indestructible and when the engines are warmed up and stop being so rattley, they’re fine. We have an outstanding dealership (Oliver Landpower) who we use to keep them properly maintained. I drive one of the V6 Amaroks. I have the optional lockable diff (on top of ‘Off-road’ mode) for when the going gets really bad and spectacularly comfortable optional seat upgrades. That 3.0 litre diesel is awesome and bloody quick when needed. (DPF replacement under warranty for every VW Amarok we’ve ever run) All our trucks are on the road 24/7, 365 whatever the weather. All are fitted with General Grabber AT3 tyres (good for 30k plus) which get us anywhere in the worst conditions, and all carry a tonne in the load bed and back seat combined, routinely every day. All are 2/3 off-road and 1/3 on-road. Fuel economy is surprisingly good across all our fleet. I would happily drive my top spec Amarok all day in any conditions - but……….the VW commercial vehicle dealership support network in the UK is shockingly, abysmally, stunningly, catastrophically awful (I think I’ve made that clear) and so we will eventually move to an all-Isuzu fleet. The VW Amaroks were discontinued in May this year and ours are some of the last off the line for the UK market. We’ll run them for 3 years (150k) and then trade in for D-Maxs. This is just our experience, other brands are available, other opinions equally valid etc., etc.
PS - I might even switch my personal drive to a commercial Ineos Grenadier. I test drove one of the Pre-production models and was suitably impressed.