THE PEUGEOT 5008 seven-seat SUV has a lot to offer potential buyers – especially in terms of value for money.
Much like its smaller sibling, the 3008, the 5008 has morphed from an MPV to a handsome SUV. It is also based on the same EMP2 platform as the 3008 and shares the same engines. In fact, the 5008 is just an extended version of the 3008 (read our review here) with two extra seats and more legroom.
Those extra seats are located in the boot. If you slide the middle row of seats forward they offer a good amount of leg and headroom, and not just for children.
The second row consists of three individual seats and are lovely and spacious with plenty of legroom and most adults will be very comfortable travelling back here. These seats recline and also slide forwards to allow easy access to the rearmost seats and to give extra legroom to those sitting behind.
The two seats in the boot can be tumbled to lie flat and they can easily be fully removed to create extra storage underneath the boot floor. Tumble those two seats and boot space is 1,060 litres. Flip all the seats down and the space increases to a massive 2,120 litres.
I was really impressed with the practicality of the 5008. It was designed with families in mind with plenty of large, handy storage areas, big door bins, wide opening doors (great for getting child seats in and out) and easy access to the rear seats. Folding the seats is also easy. There is a lot of faffing around with flaps and covers to create a flat loading bay, but nothing that a bit of practice won’t speed up.
The interior is one of the draws of this car. It is best-in-class in terms of design, quality and features, especially as many of these features come as standard whereas they are extras on rival models.
There are five trim levels to choose from. The entry-level ‘Access’ models start at €29,345 for the 130hp 1.2-litre petrol version. As standard, all models come with LED rear, DRL and indicators, rear side and tailgate privacy glass. Those two rear seats are also standard (they aren’t on the rival Skoda Kodiaq).
The cabin has a reach and rake adjustable steering wheel, electric windows, and see-automatic air con. But the big draw of the cabin is the I-Cockpit with its wonderful 12.3-inch head-up digital panel and 8-inch touchscreen infotainment display and compact leather multi-function steering wheel.
You have to step up a level to Access+ to get parking sensors, a rear view camera and Mirrorlink and Apple CarPlay connectivity. Access+ models start from €31,645. For comparison, an entry level Skoda Kodiaq with seven seats costs €30,832 and whilst it is very comfortable and good to drive it just can’t beat the 5008 in the interior style stakes or equipment levels.
Out on the road, the Peugeot 5008 handles rather nicely and it is comfortable and easy to manoeuvre. There isn’t too much body-roll or lean even on windy country roads. The suspension does a decent job of absorbing lump and bumps.
Most importantly it didn’t feel like a long seven-seat car. It isn’t as agile as the 3008, but stick the 5008 in ‘Sport’ mode and the experience improves thanks to a sharpening of the throttle response and some more enthusiasm from the automatic transmission.
Overall, the 5008 is a partial seven-seat SUV that seems good value for money. It won’t be a thrilling ride behind the wheel but at least when you are ferrying a gang of kids around you can do it in style and comfort – and the decent amount of rear legroom means they’ll have a harder time kicking the back of your seat.
(They’ll still do it, but it will be a bit more of an effort.)
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