Chery Tiggo 8 Review & Prices

The Chery Tiggo 8 is a big, seven-seater family car with a cracking plug-in hybrid engine for the price of a mid-range Volkswagen Golf - while also being plush inside and full of standard kit. The entry-level petrol version is to be avoided, however, and some alternatives are more practical.

But pound-for-pound, the Tiggo 8 is such an impressive car that it drove off into the sunset as the winner of the 2026 Carwow Car of the Year Awards, clinching the Hybrid Hero award in the process.

It’s like buying a cheap coffee machine from a seller on Amazon, rather than a more expensive piece of kit from a high-street store. Sure it isn’t as glamorous and you might not have heard of the brand before, that doesn’t really matter when the end result is a tasty cup of java.

Aside from the MG S9, there aren’t that many direct alternatives to the Tiggo 8, in all honesty, down to its stellar price. Other seven-seater SUVs include the Peugeot 5008 and Kia Sorento, which are far more expensive, while the similarly-priced Citroen C5 Aircross and Hyundai Tucson are both five-seaters. Sure there’s the tiny Citroen C3 Aircross which is a seven-seater on paper, but in reality it just isn’t. Not comfortably, at least.

With its tall proportions, aggressive grille, pointy headlights and intricate rear light bar the Tiggo 8 isn’t an ugly car - though it is a little generic. There’s a touch of Audi to its front end, if you squint enough, and it’s an imposing car in your rear view mirror.

Step inside and you’re greeted with a cabin that’s not only more stylish than the exterior, but is nicer than what you’ll find in a lot of more expensive, European alternatives. It’s minimalist without being as bleak as what you’ll find in an Xpeng or Tesla, and not only does everything feel properly screwed together and high-quality, but most of the surfaces are trimmed in soft-touch leatherette.

The infotainment system is crisp, clear and lightning-quick to react to your inputs, but it’s a bit of a pain to navigate as the menus are fussily laid-out - and there aren’t any physical shortcut buttons, either.

Thanks to its size the Tiggo 8 is a very spacious car, with loads of room for tall adults across the front two rows. The third row is still usable, but better suited to kids on long drives. With all the seats in place the boot is a tiny 177 litres large, but if you drop them down then there’s 700 litres to fill.

Entry-level models come with a 1.6-litre petrol engine, but really, stay away. It’s noisy, slow and uses a lot of fuel. The 1.5-litre plug-in hybrid is not only more powerful and refined, but can travel 56 miles on a charge, too.

Unfortunately the Tiggo 8 isn’t very comfortable around town no matter which engine you choose, as it wallows and fidgets its way over bumps and dips. It doesn’t settle down on the motorway where it’s noisy, too, while it leans an awful lot around bends on a country lane.

Verdict

The Chery Tiggo 8 is about as good a value for money as cars come these days, especially in plug-in hybrid trim with its properly impressive engine and motor combo. There’s more than enough room for a typical family in the posh cabin - with a pair of emergency seats in the third row, all for the price of a family hatchback.

See how much more you could save with Carwow’s Chery Tiggo 8 deals as well as Tiggo 8 lease deals. You can also browse the latest used car stock from our network of trusted dealers, and when it’s time to sell your car, Carwow can help with that, too.

The Chery Tiggo 8’s trump card is its price. If you’re looking at the petrol model, prices start at about £28,500, or it’s £33,500 for the plug-in hybrid. In both cases it’s £3,000 extra to step up to the Summit trim, which absolutely feels worth it given the fact you get heated and ventilated seats in the front two rows, a head-up display and a Sony sound system. These are all things you wouldn’t be surprised to pay extra for on cars that cost twice the price.

For context, the natural alternatives are the Kia Sorento and Peugeot 5008, which start at £43,000 and £40,000 respectively, or £47,000 and £44,000 respectively for the plug-in hybrids. The Dacia Jogger is the seven-seat outlier, starting at about £19,000, but then it’s nowhere near as posh nor tech-filled as any of the cars mentioned above.

The Chery Tiggo 8 is disappointing to drive, particularly on a country road, but it’s much better around town

In town

Surprisingly, considering this is a relatively large car, the Chery Tiggo 8 is at its best around town. That’s particularly true in the hybrid, because you can scoot around on silent electric power, and when the engine does kick in it’s not too noticeable.

You sit high so visibility is good, though the rear-view mirror is odd and makes it tricky to judge how far behind other cars are. The light steering makes tight manoeuvres easy, and the standard-fit surround-view cameras make it easy to judge how much space you have.

On the motorway

We tested the plug-in hybrid and found its acceleration sufficient, so you’ll have no issues getting up to speed on slip roads. However, the premium illusion created by the posh interior is somewhat broken by the fact there’s quite a lot of wind and road noise in the cabin. Adaptive cruise control is fitted as standard, which is very nice to have at the price.

On a twisty road

It’s twisty roads where the Chery Tiggo 8 really disappoints. Around town the suspension can be a bit fidgety, but at higher speeds, on broken country roads, the car never really settles down. Worse, if you hit a bump mid-corner it can jolt through the steering wheel, which isn’t particularly pleasant. And because the steering is so light, it can be quite difficult to judge where you’re placing the car when turning. If you want a family car that feels planted on a twisty road you should consider the Peugeot 5008 or Kia Sorento (or pretty much anything else, to be honest).

Interior space is excellent, but the boot capacity is less than alternatives

Space in the front is good and you sit nice and high, though the driver’s seat doesn’t go very low at all, so you might be disappointed if you like a sportier feel.

There’s loads of storage throughout the car with huge door bins that can take a big bottle, a cubby beneath the armrest which has a neat split opening, two cup holders and a large space under the centre console. You also get a hook for hanging bags next to the glovebox.

There are two pads for phones, with only one offering wireless charging, though it is very fast and has a cooling fan underneath. You also get a USB-A and USB-C socket.

Space in the back seats

Back seat space is also excellent, with lots of headroom, legroom and space for your feet. The seats can move forwards and backwards as well as reclining, and while it’s a bit tight for three it would be fine for shorter journeys.

The third row is pretty good too. Because the second row can slide forward it can help with legroom, though there’s not much under-thigh support so long journeys could be tiring. These seats also recline, which helps with the tight headroom.

The ISOFIX points in the second row are really easy to access and there’s plenty of space for even the bulkiest of child seats. Storage is good if not great, with a small cubby between the seats ahead, door bins, and cup holders in the armrest.

Boot space

With the third row in place, boot space is underwhelming. At 117 litres, we could only fit one cabin bag and it wasn’t easy. The Kia Sorento is a bit better at 179 litres, but the Peugeot 5008 rules here with 348 litres, equivalent to a hatchback such as the Volkswagen Polo.

Fold the third row and things improve a lot. At 700 litres the boot is bigger than most families will ever need, but again, that’s down on alternatives. In five-seat mode the Kia Sorento has 813 litres while the Peugeot 5008 has a massive 916 litres to play with.

The other downside is that if you have the plug-in hybrid there’s nowhere to stash your charging cables in the car, because there’s very little in the way of under-floor storage.

Lovely materials, solid build quality and lots of technology, but routing so many functions through the touchscreen always causes problems

You’d never guess the Chery Tiggo 8’s price by simply sitting inside. The interior design is subdued but upmarket, with lots of high quality materials and design touches that look more than a little inspired by Mercedes.

The synthetic leather seat upholstery is soft, there’s real leather on the steering wheel and the stalks are nicely damped. It all creates quite the premium image.

The infotainment screen is a 15.6-inch unit that’s crystal clear and responds really quickly to your inputs. The menus are fairly well laid out so it’s not too tricky to navigate and you can create shortcuts for things like the driving assistance settings so you can change them quickly on the move.

You get Android Auto and Apple CarPlay fitted as standard, but this can be a source of frustration. Pretty much everything is controlled through the screen, so if you’re using one of these systems you have to keep jumping out and back in if you want to change anything in the car’s settings.

There are two engine options in the Chery Tiggo 8, and the petrol engine is the cheapest. It’s a 1.6-litre unit with 147hp, and although we haven’t tested it in the Tiggo 8, the same engine in the Omoda 5 and Jaecoo 5 is, well, a bit rubbish. It’s not very powerful, not very efficient, unrefined and just feels quite outdated.

The plug-in hybrid in our test car is the complete opposite. It’s smooth when running on electric power and the switch to petrol is barely noticeable most of the time. You get 56 miles of electric range, according to official tests, which is pretty good, and as a result we saw 52.3mpg during our time with the car. Miles off the totally unrealistic official figure of 202mpg, but good for a car of this size.

The plug-in hybrid is the best bet for company car drivers too, because the Benefit-in-Kind rate is lower, and because it’s better for CO2 emissions you’ll pay less road tax than the petrol if buying privately, too.

Chery Tiggo 8 Euro NCAP score (2025): 5/5

Adult occupant: 82%
Child occupant: 85%
Vulnerable road users: 80%
Safety assist: 78%

The Chery Tiggo 8 scored the full five stars in tests by safety experts Euro NCAP in 2025, with particularly good occupant protection scores: 82% for adults and 85% for children.

The Tiggo 8 comes with a surround-view camera, adaptive cruise control, parking sensors and various driver assistance systems such as traffic jam assistance and automatic headlights. There are a pair of ISOFIX points in the middle row of seats, too.

Chery is relatively new to the UK and has not yet featured in the Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, so it isn’t possible to know how reliable its cars will be. However, what’s reassuring is that you get an excellent seven-year/100,000-mile warranty - with unlimited mileage in the first three years. You also get RAC Home Start breakdown cover.