Jaecoo 5 Review & Prices

As the smallest SUV offering from Chinese giant Jaecoo, the Jaecoo 5 is a true value for money proposition. It comes with loads of standard kit, stylish design and a budget-friendly price, but it really is very bad to drive and it’ll cost you a lot at the pumps.

It also falls under the same ‘Temu Range Rover’ banner as the larger Jaecoo 7, which is a backhanded compliment. You can think of it as an own-brand take on your favourite Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavour. It’s far cheaper than the real thing and looks similar from a distance, but once you experience it you realise it was worth paying more in the first place.

Though, even if you can’t stretch to a Range Rover Evoque, there are plenty of far more capable cars at a similar price tag to the Jaecoo 5. The Renault Captur, Peugeot 2008, MG ZS and Dacia Duster are not only better to look at and better to drive, but they won’t cost you much to buy, either.

It’s not that the Jaecoo 5 is ugly, either, because its slender lights and big grille are totally inoffensive. The small wheels, inconsistent paint finish across panels and comically small rear quarter windows are all just a bit…goofy; as if someone’s taken a wonky panorama photo of a Range Rover Sport.

Don’t expect Range Rover levels of poshness inside, either. Again, it’s largely inoffensive with a straight-laced design featuring a simple dashboard, plain door cards and a fairly neat, portrait-oriented infotainment display which curves up from the centre console. It’s just all a bit bland. Material quality is a bit inconsistent, with a mix of trimmed, soft-touch and scratchy plastics - par for the course in a small SUV these days.

The little Jaecoo fares well in terms of space and practicality, with plenty of room for tall adults both front and rear. The driving position doesn’t quite drop down low enough, that being said, but otherwise there’s enough adjustment to stay comfortable on long drives.

You won’t want for storage space, either, with loads of cubbies all round, big door bins, a pair of cupholders in the centre console and space for two phones in a dedicated tray. The 480-litre boot is very impressive, sitting between the Renault Captur (484 litres) and Dacia Duster (472 litres).

There’s only one engine choice for the Jaecoo 5, a 1.6-litre petrol item with an automatic gearbox, and both are pretty dismal. The engine is noisy and coarse, the gearbox is sluggish, and as we only saw around 37mpg during our time with the car, it isn’t even particularly fuel efficient. The battery-powered Jaecoo E5 is far superior.

Nor is it very pleasant to drive. The Jaecoo wallows over bumps and potholes in town, settling down a little on the motorway, but the noticeable body lean and vague steering means you’ll want to take it easy on a country lane.

Verdict

The Jaecoo 5 certainly has a lot going for it at face value. It’s attractive enough, well-equipped and spacious, but unpleasant to drive, noisy and far from fuel efficient. It’s worth paying a bit more for an electric Jaecoo E5, or saving some money and choosing the MG HS - which is a better all-rounder.

Check out the latest Jaecoo 5 deals and lease deals available through Carwow. You can also browse used Jaecoo cars through our network of trusted dealers, and when the time comes to sell your current car, Carwow can help with that, too.

Prices for the Jaecoo 5 start at around £24,500 for the entry-level Pure trim, or £28,000 for the Luxury model. That makes it very competitive among alternatives, starting a fraction cheaper than the Ford Puma despite being a bit bigger.

The Renault Captur, MG ZS and Dacia Duster are all similarly excellent value, while the Toyota Yaris Cross is a bit more expensive and smaller, but comes with an excellent hybrid engine.

Pure versions of the Jaecoo 5 get 18-inch alloy wheels, the large central infotainment display, and front and rear parking sensors. Stepping up to Luxury makes sense as it’s better value, reasonably priced but adding loads of kit such as a Sony sound system, artificial leather upholstery, LED headlights, a glass roof and more extensive assistance kit.

The Jaecoo 5 is comfortable enough, but it’s a bit jittery on rough roads and rubbish in corners

In town

Compact dimensions make the Jaecoo 5 easy to place on tight city streets and an upright body gives good visibility of the road ahead.

The petrol engine and automatic gearbox frustrate at low speeds, because they don’t respond quickly to your pedal inputs, making it difficult to be smooth. While it soaks up big bumps fairly well, the suspension fidgets, not settling down on poor road surfaces.

All-round parking sensors come as standard, but you’ll need to step up to the Luxury model to get a reversing camera camera - though it’s a fancy 360-degree one.

On the motorway

The Jaecoo 5 settles down nicely at motorway speeds, with the suspension’s low-speed jitteriness much less noticeable. It’s also pretty quiet on a cruise, but the engine is very noisy when accelerating and the gearbox won’t always change gears as quickly as you’d like.

Top-spec models get the good kit again, with adaptive cruise control and blind spot detection nice-to-haves if you do a lot of motorway miles.

On a twisty road

If you’re looking for something to put a smile on your face on a country road, steer clear of the Jaecoo 5. The engine isn’t particularly powerful, the gearbox is easily flummoxed, the body leans too much and the vague steering isn’t confidence-inspiring. The Ford Puma is a lot more fun to drive in the twisties.

Loads of interior storage and a useful boot, but alternatives are roomier in the back

It’s easy enough to get comfortable in the front of the Jaecoo 5, because the cabin is spacious - for a relatively small car. There’s a good amount of adjustment in the steering wheel, but it would be nice if the seat would drop a bit lower for taller drivers.

Storage is excellent, with cubby holes galore - big door bins, hidden compartments and a tray for two phones. The only complaint is the glovebox, which isn’t particularly big.

Space in the back seats

It’s a bit tight on kneeroom and headroom in the back, and finding somewhere to put your feet isn’t easy. The MG HS is your best bet if you really need space in the back.

Storage is good, with large door bins and pockets in the seats ahead of you, though just the single USB-A slot is outdated.

Boot space

Boot capacity is impressive. At 480 litres the boot is about the same size as the Renault Captur (484 litres) and Dacia Duster (472 litres), but the MG HS outguns it with a huge 507-litre boot.

There are no straps or hooks for your luggage though, just some side pockets for storing smaller items. There’s a double height floor to free up more space, but if you want to use the under-floor area there’s no carpet, so items will rattle around on bare metal.

The design might be simple and there are cheap materials here and there, but overall quality is good and the infotainment system works well

The interior lacks the poshness you might expect after looking at the exterior, but it’s simple and minimalist with materials that feel more than good enough for the price. That said, as with most alternatives you’ll find cheaper materials lower in the cabin, such as around the door bins.

Still, the large infotainment display is excellent. At 13.2 inches it’s just the right side of being too big, being incorporated into the centre console means it’s kept nicely out of your field of view. The graphics are sharp and it responds quickly to your inputs, with a useful shortcuts tab for functions you regularly use.

The on-screen temperature controls are fiddly, though. Entry-level Pure models get cloth upholstery and manual adjustment for the seats, but the Luxury model comes with artificial leather and powered seats with heating and ventilation.

Under the bonnet is a petrol-powered 1.6-litre engine that makes 147hp and comes paired to a seven-speed automatic gearbox. The engine isn’t very powerful and is quite noisy under acceleration, and the gearbox never feels quite in tune with what you want it to do.

It’s not very efficient, either. On a mix of suburban and higher-speed country roads we saw just 37mpg, which is half what you can expect from the hybrid-powered Toyota Yaris Cross. It also struggles to match the 42mpg we saw in the Ford Puma.

Emissions aren’t crazy high at 159g/km, but that does tip you into one of the highest first-year road tax bands, adding a hefty sum to the purchase price that you just don’t get with other small cars. If you’re committed to Jaecoo, the electric E5 falls into the lowest tax band for private and company car drivers.

Although the Jaecoo 5 hasn’t been put through safety tests yet, the experts at Euro NCAP gave the larger Jaecoo 7 and the mechanically similar Omoda 5 the full five stars, which indicates positive things for this car.

Assistance kit is much better in the Luxury model and justifies stepping up, budget allowing. Adaptive cruise control, surround-view cameras, blind spot detection and automatic headlights are all nice to have.

With Jaecoo still being new to the UK, we’re yet to build a picture of how reliable its cars will be. However it’s reassuring that Jaecoo offers one of the longest warranties for any car maker in the UK at seven years/100,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Toyota bests this with a ten year, 100,000-mile warranty - so long as you keep up annual dealer servicing.