OMODA 5 Review & Prices

The Omoda 5 was the first car from the Chery group to hit the UK way back in 2024. It’s fair to say that it’s been outshone by its siblings such as the Chery Tiggo 8 (Carwow Car of the Year) and the Jaecoo 7 (one of the UK’s best-selling cars), and it’s no wonder - even after a mid-life update, the Omoda 5 is a pretty poor SUV with a cramped interior and a nasty driving experience.

It’s like touchscreen smartphones - we all had to go through that period where they were tiny, barely held a charge and needed a stylus to use, but once the iPhone had launched those models seemed irrelevant even if they stayed tenaciously on sale for a few years, with the manufacturers installing better cameras and new colour options to try and spice them up.

Thusly-spiced, the Omoda 5 is an alternative to popular small SUVs such as the MG ZS, Chery Tiggo 7, Ford Puma, Renault Captur and Toyota Yaris Cross.

Not too much has changed on the outside of the Omoda 5 - it’s still quite a striking-looking small SUV. It takes inspiration from lots of other models, though - the body-coloured grille looks like it was lifted from a Peugeot, while the whole rear panel seems as though it was borrowed from a Nissan Ariya.

It looks sporty, though, compared to the more upright, staid alternatives. And inside, at first glance it looks downright posh - there’s a Mercedes-aping twin screen setup atop the dashboard, and an uncluttered centre console with some wood-effect trim.

Handsome it may be, but it doesn’t stand up to too much scrutiny. There are quite a few soft-touch plastics which is rare at this price point, but it doesn’t feel as well screwed-together as a Toyota Yaris Cross or Renault Captur. The screens have big, plasticky bezels and the graphics are quite poor, while the cover for the cupholders feels really fragile. It’s more like a posh veneer.

The infotainment in general is a bit of a pain to use. There are some quick shortcuts for turning key functions on and off, which is nice, but the climate controls are tiny and fiddly, the driver display doesn’t use its space well when displaying information, and the whole affair is a bit too far away from the driver to be comfortable to prod.

We’re accustomed to small SUVs being cramped in the back, but the Omoda 5 does the rare trick of being tight in the front too. Any driver nearing six feet tall will find their hair brushing the headliner, even with the seat in its lowest position. And that doesn’t mean loads of rear legroom in compensation - space is really poor.

The 380-litre boot is also very small for a car of this class, lagging behind the MG ZS, Ford Puma, Toyota Yaris Cross or Renault Captur. Its shallow height makes it tough to load in bulky items.

There are two engines to choose from - a thirsty, noisy 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol, or a self-charging hybrid. The latter is the one to choose by a country mile, being smoother, quieter and more efficient. It still pales in comparison to the hybrids in the Renault Captur or Toyota Yaris Cross, though, both of which provide superior efficiency and a less clunky driving experience.

The Omoda’s wobbly suspension means it lumbers over bumps, the steering is vague and the body moves around a lot in the bends. While it’s pretty well-insulated against wind and road noise, it’s generally pretty unpleasant to drive.

Verdict

You get lots of standard equipment and a relatively posh interior for your money with the Omoda 5, and it’s easy to see how that could appeal. But the driving experience is so poor, and the interior so impractical, that those advantages quickly disappear. There are better alternatives for your money, not least similarly-priced cars from within the Chery/Omoda/Jaecoo ‘family’.

Have a look at the latest Omoda 5 deals on Carwow, as well as Omoda 5 lease deals and used Omoda 5 models though our trusted dealer network. There are other used Omodas to choose from, and Carwow can help you sell your current car, too.

Starting at around £24,000 in petrol guise, there’s no denying that the Omoda 5 offers strong value for money. That’s less than a petrol-powered Volkswagen T-Roc or Peugeot 2008, but roughly in-line with the (lesser equipped) Renault Captur in the mid-tier trim level.

The hybrid version starts at almost £26,000, but it’s worth every penny of the price increase. Entry-level Knight trim comes as standard with wireless phone charging, heated front seats, LED lights and parking sensors both front and rear. The top-dog Noble model adds adjustable ambient lighting, surround-view cameras, Sony sound system, heated windscreen, sunroof and a heated steering wheel.

A powerful engine, but dimwitted gearbox and wallowy suspension spoil matters

In town

The Omoda 5 is a bit annoying to drive in town for a few reasons - but there are some positive points - especially in the hybrid version. Every model comes with a reversing camera, and top-spec Noble cars get a 540-degree surround-view monitor which even activates at junctions to help you avoid clipping kerbs.

As a hybrid trim it’s easy to potter around town at low speed, with a smooth electric motor and peppy acceleration. In petrol guise, however, the gearbox can be a pain. At junctions it can be hesitant, refusing to pull away without first girding its loins - and then it has the tendency to do so with rather more gusto than needed. All of this makes for jerky progress.

The suspension is a bit wallowy, too. It’s soft enough to iron out bumps, but you soon notice that the car’s body keeps moving for a little bit after you’ve been over a big pothole or speed hump. This can be a bit nauseating. Visibility is also quite poor, especially for taller drivers whose heads will almost be touching the ceiling, meaning you have to lean forwards to get a good look at traffic lights.

On the motorway

Both of the Omoda’s engine options are gutsy when compared to the rather weedy SUVs you can usually buy at this price point. They make short sliproads and overtaking much easier, and then once you’re up to speed the wind, road and engine noise are well contained.

The suspension is a bit less irritating on smoother roads at higher speeds, though if you hit a bump or a crest the car does still bob about for a while, which can be disconcerting.

The Omoda has a full suite of assisted driving features, with adaptive cruise control standard on both models. These work fine, though even the closest following distance is rather hesitant. The lane-keeping aids are fairly unobtrusive though the obligatory driver attention monitor and speed limit assist are very irritating - and require quite a bit of searching through menus to turn off.

On a twisty road

This is where the Omoda 5 loses most of its points, because it’s nowhere near as fun to drive as its sporty looks might suggest. The hybrid has quicker acceleration than the petrol engine, but its three-speed, efficiency-focused gearbox and heavier weight hamper it around corners, where there’s even more body lean than its pure-petrol counterpart.

You’ll be able to show it a clean pair of heels in a similarly powerful Skoda Karoq, Renault Captur or Nissan Qashqai as they’re just much more reassuring to drive. The Omoda’s steering is very remote, giving you no real idea what the front wheels are up to, as are the brakes. A sensible family car doesn’t need to get your heart racing, but the Omoda 5 is so far behind the curve it’s worth paying attention to.

A small boot and cramped rear seats, but storage spaces aren’t bad

The Omoda’s front passengers sit in fairly comfortable seats, with the driver’s adjustable electrically as standard. Electric adjustment for the passenger seat comes with the Noble trim level. However, neither seat can be set low enough for even a moderately tall driver - our 6’2 tester’s hair was brushing the headlining, so if you’re taller than that you should definitely test-drive the Omoda before buying to check you fit.

Storage space consists of a reasonable glovebox and door bins, a centre cubby and a pair of cupholders. There’s also a big space under the centre console suitable for things you want accessible but out of the way. And up top, you get a pair of spaces to store your phone, one of which is a wireless charger - though it’s a shame this is the one positioned furthest from the driver.

Space in the back seats

Though the Omoda 5 isn’t a particularly small car, space in the rear is quite limited. Sat behind a six-foot driver, there’s limited legroom, and though the centre seat is flat and there isn’t too much of a hump in the floor the cabin is still a bit too narrow to accommodate three adults comfortably.

The real issue is headroom, though, which is very poor. A six-foot adult will find their head brushing the roof, and the door line is quite a bit lower than the roofline so you really have to duck your head to get in or out. ISOFIX points are on both outer rear seats, but there’s not a lot of room for a bulky rear-facing car seat and the doors make getting one in quite tricky.

Boot space

With just a 380-litre boot on tap the Omoda 5 doesn’t offer much of a practicality boost over a standard family hatchback such as a Golf. Certainly all of its main SUV alternatives have more space on offer - the Citroen C5 Aircross has 580 litres, the MG HS has 507 litres, and even the dinky VW T-Cross has 385 litres of space.

While the Omoda’s boot is quite long, it’s also shallow, and the rigid parcel shelf means you’ll have to remove it to carry larger items. There’s also nowhere to store it inside the car. The rear seats fold down easily, though you may need to remove the bulky headrests first to stop them fouling on the front seatbacks, and then they leave a reasonably flat load area for bigger items.

Generally very posh-feeling for the money, but lacks final polish

The Omoda’s interior looks very premium when you first step in. The dashboard has two 12.3-inch screens across the top for driver information and infotainment, set under a single housing - but it has a very chunky bezel.

The updated infotainment features nicer graphics than in the earlier Omoda 5, with a sharp, clear and very responsive screen, but the menu system is a bit labyrinthine and based too much around tiny virtual buttons that are very hard to hit on the move.

There are some clangers, too - if the system detects you’ve looked away from the road for too long, it flashes up a warning in the cluster - which feels more distracting than it is safe.

Quality is a mixed bag, but that’s normal in a car this price. Some of the plastics feel quite cheap and there are some really poor areas, like very ill-fitting floor mats, but most of what you touch feels posh and premium. It definitely appears to be much more expensive than its price tag, and compared to similarly priced cars from other brands it comes out rather well.

Fuel economy is where the hybrid version shines, because on our hilly, fast-paced test route around Oxfordshire we managed a solid 51.0mpg, which is properly impressive. You ought to see more than the claimed 53.3mpg in the sort of mixed driving conditions that make up the typical commute.

The Omoda’s 1.6-litre petrol engine, however, is extremely thirsty compared to most alternatives. Omoda claims about 31mpg, though we actually beat the claimed figure with an average of 34mpg over a lot of mixed mileage.

That’s really poor for a car of this size - any comparable SUV, even much larger ones, can get over 40mpg with their petrol engines. An equivalent Volkswagen T-Cross will get over 50mpg without much difficulty. That’s a difference of around £600 a year in fuel bills based on 10,000 miles - not insignificant.

The Omoda’s tank is quite small, too, so you’ll struggle to get 400 miles from a fill in the petrol model, necessitating lots of visits to petrol stations. With CO2 emissions of 170g/km, the petrol Omoda falls into the most expensive band for company car Benefit-in-Kind tax, and attracts a beefy first year’s tax bill.

Again, go for the hybrid, it’ll be far easier to live with and cheaper to tax with emissions of 120g/km of CO2.

Omoda 5 Euro NCAP score (2022): 5/5

Adult occupant: 87%
Child occupant: 87%
Vulnerable road users: 68%
Safety assist: 88%

No arguing with Omoda here - the 5 achieved a full five-star Euro NCAP safety rating when it was tested for the European market back in 2022. Scores of 87% for both adult and child occupants are pretty good.

The usual glut of standard safety systems are fitted - lane-keeping aids, adaptive cruise control and speed limit assist. These have to be turned on and off through quite a fiddly menu, while alternatives have shortcuts set up - a useful touch that we’d love Omoda to implement.

Omoda didn’t feature in the 2026 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, so it’s hard to tell just how well the Omoda 5 will stand up to daily use. Chinese brands have poor reputations in the UK, with BYD and MG - for example - coming flat bottom in the 2025 Driver Power results.

Omoda offers its cars with a seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty - the equal of a Kia or MG - which is reassuring, but lagging behind Toyota and Suzuki with their ten-year coverage.