Peugeot 5008 review - Practicality, comfort and boot space

The Peugeot 5008 is a seven-seater, so if you only need five seats, you can save some money by opting for the cheaper Peugeot 3008. There’s enough room for five adults to ride comfortably, and a further two can fit in the third row on shorter trips, similar to the amount of room you’ll find in a Skoda Kodiaq.

The 5008 certainly isn’t the best for visibility, as the exterior design has resulted in a lot of rearward blind spots. To that end, you may want to consider the top-spec GT because it comes with blind spot monitoring to warn of approaching traffic along your flank. The rear window is also small and feels far away, so the 5008 isn’t the easiest car of its type to park, as we found during our long-term ownership of one. You’ll rely on the standard rear parking sensors and cameras to miss hitting things when backing up.

At least the driving position is good, as you can see the dials over the top of the steering wheel, unlike the i-Cockpit set-up in some older Peugeot models. It’s comfortable to sit in thanks to the quality seats, and forward visibility is good. Every 5008 has LED headlights as standard, with Allure trim and above adding automatic high beam assist to help illuminate the road ahead better when there aren’t cars ahead of you.

Size

The 5008 is just over 4,641mm long and 1,844mm wide (2,098mm including mirrors), which means it’s a little smaller than the Kodiaq, and it’s slightly lower, too, at 1,646mm. The Peugeot’s wheelbase is longer than the Skoda’s, at 2,840mm, although legroom in both is plentiful. The Skoda has more headroom in the back, especially if you have a 5008 with a panoramic sunroof.

Leg room, head room & passenger space

The middle row sets the 5008 apart from its closest rivals because there are three individual seats, all with Isofix child seat mountings, and they slide and recline for maximum comfort. Thanks to the 5008’s long wheelbase and flat floor, there’s a huge amount of knee room. We would prefer a bit more give in the hard seat base over longer journeys. 

The amount of headroom is good, too, although the panoramic roof (standard on GT Line Premium) robs middle-seat passengers of some space.

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The third row is more accessible than the seven-seat Kodiaq, because the middle row pushes further forwards. The rearmost seats are primarily designed for kids, but adults can sit there as long as the row in front is slid forward. Both chairs fold into the floor when not in use, and are covered by lift-up panels that mean you can slide longer items in the back much more easily, plus the second-row seats fold flat. 

If you need more under-floor storage, the seats can be removed.

Boot

As in most people carriers, there's not a huge amount of boot space in the back of the 5008 with the third row up. A Kodiaq has a little more boot space with all seats up, while a Nissan X-Trail is pretty pokey. 

Fold the Peugeot's seats down, and you’ll find 952 litres of space, much more than the Kodiaq’s 720 litres. You can also take the rear seats out completely (they are comparatively light compared to some rivals) which means you’ve got a massive 1,060 litres of space.

Fold the second row of seats down, and the 5008 has 2,150 litres of space, which also beats the Kodiaq’s 2,065-litre capacity. It’s impressive and means the 5008 is one of the roomiest cars in its class.

Towing

The loss of the bigger engines means the towing capacity for the 5008 has reduced considerably. If you’re looking for a tow vehicle in this class, the Kodiaq and Tarraco may be better options.

The 1.5 BlueHDi diesel with 129bhp has a maximum braked trailer weight of 1,200kg, and it only decreases from here. The 1.2-litre petrol model has a 1,100kg towing capacity, while the 1.2-litre Hybrid reduces this even further to 1050kg.