Peugeot 5008 review

There are plenty of desirable seven-seat SUVs to choose from if you have a big budget, but the Peugeot 5008 proves you don't necessarily need deep pockets to bag a really good one.

The 5008 is roughly half the price of the luxury SUVs with seven seats and a posh badge you can buy – the Audi Q7 and Volvo XC90 for example – yet offers many of the same virtues. You get a high-up driving position, a smart interior and lots of safety equipment.

It's essentially a roomier version of the excellent Peugeot 3008 so it's from good stock. The biggest difference is that Peugeot offers the smaller 3008 as a plug-in hybrid while the 5008 is available with a diesel engine or as a self-charging petrol hybrid.

So, you know already that the 5008 has its good points, but that still leaves some key questions. What's the performance like? Which trim is best, and is the interior smart? And how well does it square up against the best seven-seat SUVs including the Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Sorento, Nissan X-Trail, Seat Tarraco and Skoda Kodiaq?

Read on to find out all you need to know about the Peugeot 5008, including the engine and trim options we recommend.

The Peugeot 5008's engine range consists of a 134bhp 1.2-litre petrol regular hybrid and a 129bhp 1.5-litre diesel. Whichever one you choose, you get an automatic gearbox.

You might be suspicious that the 1.2-litre – badged Hybrid 136 – will struggle to power a big SUV adequately, but you can relax – it packs enough punch for most people's performance needs.

It feels punchier than its official 10.4 seconds 0-62mph time and has more than enough shove to feel confident for a burst of acceleration on to a motorway, for instance, although the hybrid Kia Sorento is usefully quicker.

The 129bhp 1.5-litre diesel (Blue HDi 130) isn’t what you’d call fast (0-62mph takes 11.8 seconds), but it has solid mid-range pull. In the end, the Hybrid 136 is our pick of the range because it’s the quickest and most efficient.

A fully electric version is due in 2024 – the Peugeot E-5008.

The 5008's relatively softly sprung but still well-controlled ride is up there with the Kia Sorento making this one of the more comfortable SUVs available. The 17in or 18in alloy wheels it comes with have plenty of give overall, only thumping if you encounter a particularly gargantuan pothole, and take the sting out of rough urban roads well.

It's far calmer at motorway speeds than the stiffly sprung Seat Tarraco and even has the edge over the generally comfy Skoda Kodiaq. If you’re after a very restful long-distance machine, only the Citroën C5 Aircross betters it for high-speed waft, unless you start looking at more expensive premium models with air suspension, such as the Audi Q5.

One word of warning for anyone thinking of opting for a 5008 with Grip Control is that it will come with all-weather tyres, which introduce a harder edge to the ride compared with the standard tyres.

The tiny steering wheel you can see in the pictures comes courtesy of the Peugeot i-Cockpit design. It gives the 5008 accurate but rather quick steering, which takes a bit of getting used to when placing the car in corners but is a real boon when you're parking and want to add lots of lock quickly.

Ultimately, the Tarraco and Kodiaq offer better body control and grip. Buyers of big SUVs tend not to be especially concerned about having amazing handling, and if that's you, fear not: the 5008 is easy to drive, capable and surefooted.

If you live in the countryside or need to go off road, it's worth noting that the 5008 is front-wheel-drive only with no four-wheel-drive option.

You can add Grip Control, which is an electronic traction control system with hill-descent control that works with mud and snow tyres. That lends a hand in slippery conditions, but won't match the extra traction of four-wheel drive, which is available on the Sorento, the Nissan X-Trail and the Kodiaq.

At motorway speeds, the 5008 is enjoyably quiet. It produces less wind noise than the Kodiaq and less road roar than the Sorento. Only when you hit a really worn, coarse section of asphalt do the tyres emit a noticeable drone.

The 1.2 Hybrid 136 petrol is very quiet and smooth when it trickles along at low speeds on electric power, but you do notice a bit of hesitation and vibration as the engine kicks after electric-only running at low speeds.

The petrol engine stays quiet unless you accelerate hard, and the 1.5 Blue HDi diesel is perfectly acceptable for noise, producing just a bit of grumble when cold and the odd vibration through the controls.

On all versions, the brakes are a bit grabby in stop-start traffic. The auto gearbox is pretty good, changing smoothly most of the time, but can be a little abrupt at parking speeds, especially with the diesel engine. None of those weaknesses make the 5008 unpleasant to drive – it's just not as well-mannered as the Kodiaq.

Driving overview

Strengths Petrol engine is punchier than you expect; delivers a relatively plush ride; neat handling

Weaknesses Hybrid Kia Sorento is quicker; no plug-in hybrid or electric option yet

All versions of the Peugeot 5008 come with a height-adjustable driver’s seat, and a reach and rake adjustable steering wheel. That provides enough adjustment to get comfortable, and on GT trim you get manually adjustable lumbar support too. An electrically adjustable seat with memory presets and a massaging function is available as an option in GT cars.

The 5008's tiny steering wheel is designed so you view the high-set instruments above the steering wheel, rather than looking at them through it, which potentially obscures them. Does it work? Well, in the 5008 (as opposed to some other Peugeot models with a similar set-up) it does, but it takes a while to get used to. There's little wrong with the more conventional driving positions in other seven-seat SUVs.

The driver display is digital as standard, and is very clear and can be arranged in multiple ways, with the option of showing your navigation route across the entire 12.3in screen. Elsewhere, the physical knobs and buttons are positioned well, but it's a shame there aren't more of them.

The climate controls are on the touchscreen, so you have to swap to the climate menu every time you want to change the temperature. That's just silly – and distracting.

Seeing out of the 5008 is about as easy as it gets in a modern SUV. The front pillars are not as wide as they are in some rivals, so you get a great view forwards. Looking behind, the over-the-shoulder vision is relatively good thanks to its large rear side windows.

If you fear that a car of this size will prove a headache to park, you needn't: all versions come with a reversing camera as standard. Rear parking sensors are standard, while front parking sensors are added to GT. A 360-degree camera system is available as an option on the top two trims and shows you a bird’s eye view of the car as you manoeuvre.

That’s not all the electronic trickery the 5008 has to offer. All versions come with dusk-sensing lights, rain-sensing wipers, LED dipped headlights and an automatically dimming rear-view mirror. GT trim upgrades you to full LED headlights with a Fog Mode that reduces their intensity (and the glare) when you activate the rear foglights.

Let's start with the features. The entry-level Active trim comes with DAB radio, Bluetooth, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. You get an 8.0in infotainment touchscreen unless you upgrade to Allure trim, which gets you a bigger and sharper 10.0in one with built-in sat-nav and live TomTom traffic updates as standard.

The touchscreen is positioned sensibly high up on the dashboard so it's easy to reach, but we prefer the systems you get in the Kia Sorento, Seat Tarraco and Skoda Kodiaq.

Why? Well, it's the 5008's software. There are far too many sub-menus, so it's not intuitive to navigate around the levels, and a lot of the icons are too small. Then you have to deal with the system's sluggish reactions. When you press an icon, there’s usually a noticeable delay. Most rival systems are considerably less frustrating.

The standard audio system is fine, and on GT trim you can opt for a Focal sound system with a 515W amplifier and extra speakers if you want something punchier. Wireless phone-charging isn’t available.

While the Sorento and Kodiaq are slightly more robust in places, the 5008 is solid enough. Only rivals with premium badges (and the price tags to match) can deliver the same sense of occasion.

Most of the interior surfaces are soft to the touch, and those that aren’t tend to be hidden lower down. There’s an eclectic mix of materials that work harmoniously to enhance the ambience, giving it a really upmarket feel. They include the chrome highlights around the centre console and, depending on which trim you opt for, attractive cloth or wood inserts across the dashboard and on the doors.

At night, the interior of the mid-range Allure trim is bathed in the subtle glow of ambient lighting. It looks truly special and makes the 5008 a thoroughly enjoyable place to while away the miles.

Interior overview

Strengths Attractive interior; decent all-round visibility; optional Focal sound system is punchy

Weaknesses Adjustable lumbar support reserved for top trim; climate controls on touchscreen; slow infotainment system

There’s plenty of leg room in the front of the Peugeot 5008, and although there’s not as much head room as there is in a Hyundai Santa Fe, Kia Sorento or Skoda Kodiaq there's still plenty for taller folks.

That changes if you order the panoramic sunroof available with GT trim because it limits head room (we advise trying one before you buy). The interior is wide enough to put a comfortable distance between you and your front passenger.

While you'll struggle to fit even gloves into the glovebox, the rest of the storage options are plentiful and varied. There's a vast cavern beneath the front central armrest, and it's air-conditioned to keep your packed lunch chilled.

You'll also find a couple of cupholders and a large tray for your mobile phone in the centre console. The huge door bins are carpeted so loose items won’t rattle around.

Head room in the middle row is fine for most adults, if not the best in class. If you have a panoramic sunroof, it really reduces headroom for passengers. Yes, it makes the interior light and airy if you’re a kid staring wistfully up at a blue sky above, but any 6ft-plus adult with their head wedged against the roof will be turning the air blue with frustration. Think carefully before ordering it.

Leg room in the middle row is fine too. The Santa Fe, Sorento and Kodiaq have a bit more to spare, but the 5008 still has plenty of space for long legs, even when the front seats are slid way back. It's also one of the best seven-seat SUVs for seating three adults abreast in its middle row.

Each person gets a comfortable individual chair that slides and reclines, and there’s a good amount of shoulder room for all. It has a flat floor, so there's no awkward hump for the middle passenger to straddle, as there is in the Sorento, Tarraco and Kodiaq.

Some large SUVs (the Citroën C5 Aircross and Mazda CX-5 for example) are strictly five-seaters, but the 5008 has two fold-out seats at the very back to make it a seven-seater. They’re better suited to children than adults, but 6ft passengers could possibly stomach them for a short trip.

The Nissan X-Trail and Skoda Kodiaq have less room for adults in their rearmost seats, while the third rows in the Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento have more space.

Front passengers get height adjustment as standard, but there's no option to add adjustable lumbar support or full electric adjustment to the passenger seat. Similarly, only the driver gets to enjoy the massage function on higher trim levels.

Allure and GT trims add versatility, with a front passenger seat that folds flat, freeing up the full length of the car – from boot to dashboard – if you need to carry a particularly long load. The middle-row seats fold down in three equal parts, rather than in a 60/40 split, so you have lots of flexibility for mixing longer loads with passengers.

The third-row seats pull out manually, and are easy to erect or stow as required.

In five-seat mode, the 5008's boot is very big at 952 litres, and we managed to fit in 10 carry-on suitcases with little effort. That beats many of the nearest price rivals, such as the CX-5 and the Kodiaq, and is a match for the Sorento and the Audi Q5.

Its ability to swallow such big loads isn't just down to the sizeable floor area, but also its useful shape. The whole boot is square with no wheel-arch intrusion, and it's really tall from floor to load cover. That doesn't mean it's high from the ground, though: the boot floor is relatively low set and ends flush with the tailgate opening, making it as easy as reasonably possible to get heavy loads in and out.

The rear seats slide forwards, so you can extend the boot space while maintaining three seats in the middle row. Or, if you don't need to carry passengers, they fold flat to give you a long load bay with the carrying capacity of a small van. An electric tailgate is available as an optional extra on the top two trims.

Practicality overview

Strengths Plenty of space for adults in middle row; no awkward hump in middle of floor; decent third-row space

Weaknesses Folding front passenger seat reserved for GT model

For cash buyers, the Peugeot 5008 is similarly priced to an equivalent Skoda Kodiaq and costs much less than any version of the Hyundai Santa Fe or Kia Sorento, while the Citroën C5 Aircross is cheaper. The Ford Kuga and the Sorento have better resale values, but the 5008 still holds its value pretty well. Servicing and insurance costs are higher than average, but only by a few hundred pounds over a three-year ownership period.

If you drive a company car and are looking for a regular petrol or diesel, the petrol hybrid 5008 makes sense, costing you a lot less in BIK tax than the Sorento or Santa Fe.

We haven’t yet carried out a fuel economy test on the 1.2 Hybrid 136, but its official economy and CO2 figures are usefully lower than those of the Kodiaq, and even the hybrid Sorento and Santa Fe. The Blue HDi 130 diesel will happily return 45-50mpg if driven with care.

The 5008 is well equipped as standard, with an infotainment touchscreen, auto lights and wipers, an auto-dimming rear-view mirror, LED dipped headlights and a rear-view camera. Entry-level Active has 17in alloy wheels, keyless start, two-zone climate control and power-folding door mirrors. 

We think mid-spec Allure trim is worth paying extra for, though. It gets you a bigger infotainment screen, keyless entry and a slightly posher interior with ambient lighting. 

Range-topping GT trim adds adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assistance, which effectively means the 5008 can help with most of the hard work on long motorway journeys, as well as a foldable passenger seat, rear picnic tables, rear blinds and a number of sporty cosmetic enhancements. It’s not a big step up in price from Allure so it's worth considering.

Peugeot came 21st out of 32 car brands featured in the 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey below Lexus, Hyundai and Kia but ahead of Volkswagen.

The 5008 comes with a two-year Peugeot warranty, followed by a one-year dealer warranty. That’s par for the course, but some brands offer longer warranties as standard, including Hyundai, Kia and Toyota.

In terms of safety, Euro NCAP awarded the Peugeot 3008 five stars in its crash tests, and applied the same score to the larger 5008 because of how much the models have in common. The scores are good in all categories, but the Toyota RAV4 does a better job of protecting the driver’s chest and looking after kids in the back seats.

All models come with active safety gizmos, including automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane-departure warning with lane-keeping assistance, e-Call emergency assistance and speed-limit recognition. All trims include a driver attention alert system (to warn when the driver is tired), Allure trim adds automatic high beam and GT cars get a blind-spot monitoring system.

The security experts at Thatcham Research gave the 5008 five stars out of five for its ability to resist theft and four for holding out against someone trying to break in.

Costs overview

Strengths Competitively priced against its peers; Hybrid looks abstemious on paper

Weaknesses Doesn’t have the strongest predicted depreciation; poor reliability

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