Peugeot 2008 Review & Prices

The Peugeot 2008 is essentially a Peugeot 208 hatchback after a few months with a personal trainer. It is taller, broader and a little more rugged-looking, but underneath the SUV styling it still has the same compact-car appeal, helped by a properly posh cabin and low running costs. It is not the roomiest small SUV, though, and prices can climb pretty quickly.

If a compact family SUV is a pair of cargo trousers - practical, sturdy and ready for the mess of everyday life - then the Peugeot 2008 is the designer-label version. It still has the pockets and the outdoorsy image, but it costs a bit more, cannot carry quite as much and might not shrug off hard use quite as easily.

It also faces a seriously crowded field of alternatives. The Volkswagen T-Cross is roomier, the Ford Puma is sharper to drive and the Toyota Yaris Cross is brilliantly efficient. Then there are larger, better-value Chinese SUVs such as the MG ZS, Jaecoo 5 and Chery Tiggo 7, all of which make the Peugeot look quite expensive for its size.

The 2008 does fight back with style. In Allure or GT trim especially, it is one of the more distinctive-looking small SUVs on sale, with plenty of sharp creases, bold lighting details and a cabin that feels much more upmarket than you might expect. The trade-off is that it is not as spacious in the back as its SUV shape suggests.

Taller drivers should be able to get comfortable up front without much hassle, although the cabin can feel a little tight around the elbows. The bigger issue is rear-seat space. Try to carry four tall adults and those in the back will quickly notice the shortage of legroom, with knees likely to end up pressed against the front seats.

The boot is better. At 434 litres, it is competitive for this type of car, and the load area itself is a useful, square shape. That makes it easy enough to stack shopping bags, suitcases or a buggy, although the high boot lip means heavier items need to be lifted up and over rather than simply slid in. There are also two storage areas beneath the boot floor, which are handy for keeping smaller bits hidden away.

Even if passenger space is not the 2008’s strongest point, the interior does a great job of making the car feel special. The dashboard design is dramatic, the materials are impressive and the whole thing has a much more expensive feel than many small SUVs. The touchscreen system is not the most intuitive setup in the world, but once you get used to it, most of the main functions are easy enough to find.

The engine range now consists of one petrol manual and two automatic hybrids. The petrol model is the cheapest way into the range and will suit lower-mileage drivers who want to keep the purchase price down. The hybrids are more expensive, but they make the 2008 feel easier to live with thanks to their automatic gearboxes, extra electrical assistance and better efficiency in town.

Around town, the Peugeot is a bit of a mixed bag. The raised driving position gives you a decent view forwards and the steering is light, so it feels easy enough to guide through tight streets. However, the thick pillars create some awkward blind spots, particularly when you are looking over your shoulder while parking or pulling out of junctions.

It feels more at home on faster roads. On the motorway, the 2008 settles down nicely, with good refinement and a soft ride that helps take the edge off longer journeys. It is not especially sporty, though. On a twisty country road, broken surfaces can make it bob around, and that does not give you loads of confidence if you try to drive it quickly. It is much happier being treated as a comfortable, stylish runabout than a back-road entertainer.

Verdict

The Peugeot 2008 is a fashionable small SUV that slips easily into everyday life. It is simple to drive, cheap to run in hybrid form and the interior is a real highlight, giving you the sense that you have bought something more premium than the badge might suggest. The problem is that once you choose one of the better engines and a nicely equipped trim level, it starts to look expensive. A basic 2008 makes a fair amount of sense, but high-spec versions are harder to justify when roomier, cheaper alternatives such as the Volkswagen T-Cross and MG ZS are available.

You can find new Peugeot 2008 deals on Carwow, or Peugeot 2008 lease deals instead. There are used Peugeot 2008s and other used Peugeots for sale through our network of trusted dealers, and Carwow can even help you sell your current car when it’s time to switch.

The Peugeot 2008 is almost identically priced to the Volkswagen T-Cross and Ford Puma; somewhere in between the mechanically similar Vauxhall Mokka and Alfa Romeo Junior Ibrida.

Entry-level Allure models come equipped with 17-inch diamond cut alloys, 10.0-inch infotainment screen, rear privacy glass, front and rear parking sensors and a semi-leatherette interior as standard. GT models get a black roof, sports seats and LED headlights on top - as well as a swish 3D driver’s display - while GT Premium cars get 18-inch alloys, a front camera and suede seats as well.

If you don’t need as much boot space, you should check out the smaller 208 hatchback. It’s better to drive, looks even more stylish and features nearly the same interior as the bigger 2008 - while being around £5,000 cheaper.

The 2008 manages to be comfy while you're driving around, but there are some annoying blind spots and it can feel floaty on bumpier surfaces

In town

The 2008 has nice, light steering, although it does suffer from the traditional vague Peugeot manual gear change. At low speeds, the brakes feel a touch grabby, so you need to train your right foot to be gentle with them or you’ll be head-banging the steering wheel. 

The big, thick windscreen pillars do create some annoying blind spots, and those aren’t helped by a huge rear view mirror that leaves only a narrow gap between it and the top of the infotainment screen to look out through. 

It’s the drive comfort that lets the 2008 down, because while you don’t get bounced around by bigger bumps, small, sharp potholes and broken roads send thuds through the cabin and really shake the car about. The electric motor is particularly noisy too, noticeable when you set off from a standstill.

On the motorway

The 2008 is fairly quiet and relaxing on the motorway, and actually quite enjoyable to go on a long-distance run with. The little 1.2-litre engine also has plenty of punch, so it actually does surprisingly well when it comes to overtaking. There's some wind noise from the mirrors at higher speeds, but otherwise it’s well insulated.

The lane-assist cruise control is a let-down though, bouncing you around between the dashed lines and disengaging when you’re not expecting it. You’re far better off steering by yourself.

On a twisty road

There’s a good bit of body lean when you go around bends in the 2008, exaggerated by the small steering wheel which encourages you to flick the car into corners with a bit of verve.

You never quite have an idea of how much grip the front wheels have either; even though the steering wheel does weight up at speed it feels artificial, and while it never feels sketchy or out of place on a twisty road it will skip and hop slightly if you hit a bump mid-corner.

Really, the 2008 does exactly what you need a car such as this to do. It’s relaxing and comfortable enough for daily duties, but if you really want a tall-ish small SUV that’s properly fun to drive, you should probably be looking at the Ford Puma.

Managing to beat many of its key rivals in boot space, the 2008 can be quite tight for those sitting in the back seats

The front of the 2008’s cabin is reasonably spacious, and the way the passenger-side dashboard is scalloped in means that there’s a little more knee-room on that side. 

For storage, there’s a nice lidded storage box in front of the gear lever, which can optionally have a wireless phone charging pad, and another open storage space just below that. 

There are two cupholders on the centre console — one deep, for bottles, and a shallow one for smaller coffee cups — and there’s a small storage box under the centre arm-rest, which has a tiny, kinda pointless, lift-out tray in it. Why? Nobody knows… 

The glovebox is also tiny, a common bugbear for UK-market Peugeots, because it has to share space with the fusebox. If you had a left-hand drive model, the glovebox would be twice the size. The door bins are decent, though, and can hold a big bottle of water.  

The door bins in the back are good too, and are actually almost the same size as those in the front. There are seat-back nets for storage, too.

Space in the back seats

There are ISOFIX points in the outer two back seats for child safety (and GT models can have another set of points in the front passenger seat) but there are some niggles here.

First off, the door opening is quite narrow, so it can be a faff to squeeze a big seat in, while the ISOFIX anchors are covered with little zipped panels. That zip feels pretty flimsy and it’s likely to break if you’re using them a lot. Still, there’s enough space to load in a bulky rear-facing seat, which is good. 

Rear seat space is fine in terms of legroom and headroom for adults, but if you’re trying to fit three people across the back, the way the roof-line leans inwards means that those sitting in the outer seats will find their heads brushes the sides of the roof. The rear windows are quite shallow too, which means that kids won’t be able to see out quite so well.

Boot space

The 2008’s boot is decent, with 434 litres of available space on offer. You can fit a big suitcase, little suitcase, and a squashy bag; or you could easily fit in a big, folded-up baby buggy.

That's better than the Skoda Kamiq's and Seat Arona's 400 litres but falls short of the Jaecoo 5, which has 480 litres, and the Ford Puma, which has 456 litres. It's much more space than the Vauxhall Mokka (355 litres), while the funky Citroen C3 Aircross also doesn't quite match up at 410 litres.

There’s no load lip, so heavy items can be slid in and out easily, and the boot floor is adjustable to height if you really need to pack things in — plus, there’s even a nice, tactile metal handle for moving the boot floor. A nice touch. However, don’t bother looking for tie-down points, luggage hooks, or 12-volt sockets because they’re not there. 

The rear seats split-fold in a 60:40 ratio, and they do lie mostly flat (although there is a slight incline). The 2008 has the Ford Puma beaten for seats-down space — 1,467 litres. 

Annoyingly, though, the rear seatbelts get caught and trapped very easily when you fold and unfold the rear seat. That wouldn’t happen in a Skoda Kamiq… However, what is very good is that the luggage cover fits under the adjustable boot floor when you’re not using it, which is so much better than leaving it at home.

For those wanting a funky cabin, the 2008 delivers in spades. It's just a shame the updated infotainment system still isn't the easiest to use

If anything, the 2008’s interior is even more interesting than its striking exterior. You get a multi-layered dashboard, which is mostly made from very nice, soft-touch materials (although things do get a bit cheaper and scratchier as you go further down). 

Below the main touchscreen, there’s a nice panel that has shortcut controls for the screen, as well as ‘hot keys’ for things like defrosting the windscreen and switching on the hazard lights. These can be a pain to use as they're touch-sensitive rather than physical dials and buttons, so you have to look away from the road to use them.

Some parts seem a bit cheaply built, but overall the 2008’s cabin looks and feels pretty expensive. 

That new 10.0-inch infotainment screen, introduced as part of the 2023 updates, helps to elevate the interior. It looks great and gets some smart, snazzy graphics that respond quickly to your inputs. The only downside is that it's still not the most intuitive system to navigate around – though Apple CarPlay and Android Auto come as standard, which is good news.

You get two USB sockets (one regular, one USB-C) in the front on all but the most basic models, and two more in the back. The digital instruments — again standard on everything but the base model, which gets analogue dials — are really nice, looking high-tech and allowing you to choose from a swathe of different displays.

The mix of high-set instruments with the tiny, low-set steering wheel looks pretty cool, and it can work for some drivers, but many will find that when they’re sitting comfortably, the top of the steering wheel cuts across the instruments. That’s annoying. 

What’s not annoying is that the doors wrap around under the sills of the car, so when you’re getting in and out, you won’t be putting stripes of road grim up the backs of your trousers.

There are two petrol engines to choose from. The entry level engine is a 1.2-litre unit that comes with a six-speed manual gearbox and makes 100hp with official fuel economy of up to 53.2mpg. Step up the range and you get the same engine with a 130hp output. Allure versions have the same manual gearbox, but GT models use an eight-speed automatic. The manual is a bit more economical, seeing up to 52.7mpg in official tests, compared with 48.9 in the auto.

The 2008 is a reasonably economical vehicle. We averaged 47mpg, driving the 130hp version of the 1.2-litre petrol engine with the six-speed manual gearbox. You won’t get much better economy from the cheaper 100hp version, because it does struggle with the car’s weight. 

All have very similar CO2 emissions of between 120 and 140g/km, meaning first-year road tax is on the lower end of the scale. When it comes to company car tax, each is around 30% benefit-in-kind, but the electric E-2008 is your best bet in this regard at just 2%.

Euro NCAP score (2019): 4/5

Adult occupant: 91%
Child occupant: 84%
Vulnerable road users: 62%
Safety assist: 68%

The Peugeot 2008 scored four stars when tested by Euro NCAP in 2019, scoring particularly well in adult and child occupant safety. Its pedestrian safety and safety assist systems are what stopped it getting a full five-star rating.

All models get front driver and passenger airbags, as well as front side airbags, and full-length curtain airbags. Also standard is cruise control with a speed limiter, lane-keeping assistance for the steering, and speed sign recognition. Adaptive cruise control, which maintains your distance to the car in front and can keep you in lane, is an optional extra on top-spec versions.

*the basic three-year warranty is extended by a year with each approved service

Peugeot came seventh out of 31 manufacturers in the 2024 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, which bodes well if you’re considering adding a 2008 to your driveway.

Peugeot’s warranty isn’t all that generous, though. You get a basic three-year, 60,000-mile warranty as standard, although that can be extended out to 100,000 miles as a cost option. Peugeot offers an inclusive service plan, which costs £18 per month for petrol or diesel models.