Living with a Peugeot 308: is this small estate really worth £40,000?

Peugeot’s styling team are on a roll with really good-looking cars such as the 3008 and 408, but I wanted a bit of a change from the SUVs that everybody seems to be buying these days. That’s why I’ve been given the keys to this Peugeot 308 SW for the next six months.

I’ll be seeing if an estate car can really be as useful for daily life as a jacked-up SUV. It’s going to be used for just about everything, short trips and long, quick runs across town and big motorway treks, so it really does have to be an all-rounder. Let’s start by getting acquainted with the model I’ve gone for.

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Living with a Peugeot 308 SW: everything you need to know about this car

This is the 308 SW, which means it’s the estate car version of the 308 hatchback. It’s also in mid-spec GT trim, but with the pricey plug-in hybrid engine, so the overall price is a hefty £37,200. With options, including paintwork, our car comes in at £39,350, so it only just misses paying the expensive car supplement on the yearly road tax bill.

Of course, if I’d bought it through Carwow, I wouldn’t have spent that – you can save over £3,500 on this exact model with our Peugeot 308 deals at the time of writing.

It uses a 1.6-litre petrol engine and an electric motor for a combined 195hp, with a large 17.2kWh battery for an all-electric range of up to 59 miles. However, my home charger is currently not working, so for the most part I’ll be running it as a self-charging hybrid and occasionally topping it up when I get the chance.

It’s pretty posh-looking inside, and standard equipment is okay – there’s the usual climate and cruise controls, a digital dashboard, sat-nav, heated front seats and steering wheel, and all the safety equipment you could want. It feels a little mean that on a car this expensive you don’t get a wireless phone charger or electric seats as standard, though.

For the same price I could have a top-spec BYD Seal 6 Touring (my colleague James Drujon just spent six months in one of these, if you’re interested in his thoughts) which comes fully loaded. Or, I could get a bigger, posher SUV such as a Chery Tiggo 8 or Jaecoo 7.

Why am I living with the Peugeot 308 SW?

SUVs weren’t always the family cars of choice, and plenty of people think an estate car is still a superior option in a number of regards. Also, Peugeot is a really interesting brand – it’s so closely related to the budget Vauxhall and Citroen, but it’s been really pushing upmarket with posh interiors and eye-catching looks.

So, I wanted to see if a small, premium estate car can really be worth nearly £40,000 – a significant price when you consider what you could get elsewhere.

First impressions of my Peugeot 308 SW

I’m having a really good time with the 308 SW so far, and it’s fitted into my life very nicely. A recent house move put the boot to the test – the good news is that even with the battery storage eating up some of the space, the 308 SW still has one of the largest boots in its class at 548 litres.

I’ve also really liked how comfortable it is. When I commute down to the Carwow drag strip for video shoots, it’s a three-hour-plus journey. On the motorway the 308 SW just settles down to be really quiet and cossetting, with great cruise control and lane-keeping assist taking the sting out of those long motorway slogs.

It’s not been perfect – I’m already getting annoyed at the touchscreen infotainment system. It’s responsive and easy to use, but the fact is that everything is routed through it – including the climate controls. It’s a real pain having to adjust the fans and temperature through a display when a Vauxhall Astra just has a handy button.

It’s also suffering as a regular hybrid car, because when the battery’s discharged it’s not very responsive. When I put my foot to the floor, it takes ages to kick down – possibly because it’s expecting a boost from the electric motor that it just can’t get.

I would put it into Sport mode to make it more responsive, but doing that gives you a fake engine noise that’s so bad I’d rather avoid it.

But as a relaxing daily driver, I’m really enjoying this great-looking car.

I’ll be reporting back after my next month with the Peugeot 308 SW, so stay tuned to find out more.

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