Peugeot 5008 review: A competent and practical family car that commands your respect

Once upon a time the Peugeot 5008 was a good-looking if largely unloved people carrier which mostly spent its time in dusty corners of the company’s retail showrooms, wating for someone – anyone – to come and buy it.

But then, in 2016 Peugeot took the 5008 and completely revamped it, turning it into a seven-seat SUV and radically altering the look and appeal of the car. The move was an enormous success and led to many gongs being handed out to its’ designers and engineers.

Indeed, the 5008 has pioneered something of a golden era of Peugeot with the company scoring big successes with the 2008, the 3008 and the 5008. The latest 208 is a big wow on many fronts the and the soon-to-arrive 308 is eagerly anticipated.

From a position in the not too distant past where Peugeot products were something only for Francophiles, diesel-loving African adventurers or farmers, aspirational rally drivers and a few family punters, the company has moved on considerably.

As far as the latter – family – category goes, I can confess to having been brought as a small boy to the Schwartzwald in a Peugeot 404 on an adventurous family trip in the late 60s which included stops in Ommen, which is in The Netherlands and a visit to Strasburg in France as well. 

All told we covered over 1,200 miles in just over a fortnight and, apart from a blown windscreen wiper motor and a dodgy alternator, the 404 performed impeccably.

But, if my dad, bless him, ever envisaged that Peugeot would produce something like the 5008, he’d have had that for the gig without batting an eyelid.

Peugeot is now a regular top ten sales performer here in Ireland and the three SUVs in the line-up are its three best sellers. The 3008 leads the fray, followed by the 2008 and finally the seven-seater 5008.

In essence, the 5008 owes much to its smaller brother as it is essentially a reworked 3008, albeit considerably longer, wider and taller. Thus, everything but the two extra seats is pretty much shared between the two and it is easy to see why people who may have been enthralled by the 3008, also greatly like big brother.

Although the interior of the car was originally quite radical, what with the ‘piano key’ switchgear and the i-cockpit layout, it has not – like so many radical things – aged poorly. Indeed, it looks as good and as sharp as it did five years ago and, operationally, it is as good as anything out there.

All seven seats are adjustable independently and the front five are typically French – i.e. exceptionally comfortable – while the rearmost, as is the case with most of these things, don’t offer much legroom and are only really suitable for smallies or adults on very short trips. The rear two can also be removed completely if needs be.

These seats are a little tricky to get into, but on the plus side they do fold flat. When they are in use there is not a lot of boot space, but when they’re not there is a decent amount of luggage space and when the second row of seat are folded down, there’s an incredible amount of room for cargo.

The infotainment system with its 10” screen is a joy to live with – even for tech morons like me – but the i-cockpit design is something of an acquired taste, as is the flat-bottomed steering wheel. That said, it is probably a good thing it is flat because for anyone to get a proper view of all the instrumentation (which are a nice digital design) you have to have the wheel practically in your lap.

That quirk aside, the driving position is really good (and comfortable, as already averred) and your view of your surroundings from it is imperious and the amount of stuff to keep the passengers happy is plentiful.

On the road, the 5008 is a very pleasing companion. You might have thought that the 130 bhp BlueHDi diesel option would be far too weedy a choice to pull around a vehicle this big, but not so. Although it will only achieve the 0-100 km/h dash in a glacial 13.5 seconds, it will still manage a top speed of 190 km/h.

This is partly due to the excellent gearing of the eight-speed auto that came with the tester, the GT specification model which has a lot of extras on it, which makes driving the car around town every bit as much of a doddle as highway driving. Also worth mentioning is that this is a very economical car and one which will return a very decent 5.5 l/100 km (50.9 mpg).

It is a decent handler for its size and the ride too is as good as anything else in the class. The only fault in this area was the steering which did not really seem to weight up as you increase speed, but weight-down, which made it a bit counterintuitive and took a little getting used to.

So it is a decent driving proposition and it is a top-drawer companion to live with. From the alcantara and faux leather upholstery, to the ambient lighting, to the foldable front seats which can be turned into picnic tables, to the fancy electrochrome rear mirror, there are all sorts of nice touches and some very practical ones as well.

One very annoying feature, however, was the fact that when not in use, the rear seatbelts seemed to have a mind of their own and created all sorts of irritating rattling.

One thing about the car too is that its SUV demeanour may lure many into thinking it has off road abilities. It doesn’t. Thus, while the 5008 may have shed its MPV origins, its essentially remains was it originally was, albeit in SUV guise.

That in turn means this is a car which is every bit as engaging for the passengers as it is for the driver and that’s something of a rarity.

This is a car which competes in a very crowded market segment, what with the VW Tiguan Allspace, the Skoda Kodiaq, the SEAT Taracco, Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento all competing for customers. That said it is a car which holds its own well in this sort of company and offers quite a lot in terms of driving characteristics, economy, practicality and specification by comparison with them.

I liked this car not because it excited me greatly, but so much if it good bits pleased me no end. It is not a car that’s going to exhilarate you, but it is one that will earn your respect for its’ honesty and general industrious demeanour.

It might be coming towards the end of its lifecycle in the not-too-distant future, but for now it is a very decent contender and will attract a lot of people for its style, economy and price. 

The old man would have loved it – and not just for his trans-continental ventures.