Family car review: Peugeot 5008 SUV

 This is the least car-y car review you'll ever read. I don't know what a carburetor does (and spelling it wasn't easy either). I could more easily change a nappy whilst blindfolded, and handcuffed, than change a wheel. When the mechanic starts talking at the end of an MOT, I zone out at the gobbledygook and focus on hoping the final price isn't too high.

But this is a parent's car review of Peugeot's new SUV (aka Mum-Mobile) - from a mum with limited car knowledge, but with a ton of honest feedback after a week driving this seven-seater, ramming it with luggage, squeezing it into parking places to the backdrop of one screaming babe and one shouting toddler, driving it for hours on the motorway, fitting and unfitting it with car seats, and - spoiler alert - falling in love with this car. Here's why... 


Peugeot's new 5008 is big. Really big. It has three rows of seats (the back ones are removable) - and the middle row fits in that rare thing: three car seats. Three sets of Isofix fittings, they're well-positioned and easy to fit. (I didn't even swear when popping mine in: very rare where Isofix comes into things..) 

If you've got two car seats fitted in the middle, there's still enough bum space for an actual human to sit inbetween (unlike with our Ford Fiesta). And even with three, there's enough leg room to climb in, get the kids in and out, and store things in the footwell.

That's not all the bums you can fit in - the front row is spacious; the steering wheel is so small that there's tons of leg room, storage space, a big media display, lots of nooks for those vital half-opened packs of car bribes, rice cakes and raisins etc. In the back, there are two more 'bucket' style seats that pull up or down really easily. They massively eat into boot space when up, and have the kind of (zero) leg room that Ryanair's Michael O'Leary would approve of, but they're fab for kids or squeezing two more adults in for a journey.

So three car seats in the middle row and seven seats in total - BUT the Peugeot doesn't look like an ugly fat people carrier, like most of the other three car-seat-fitting cars do. 

(I'm not naming car names, because all the school run chums own them, but seriously this is one of the only nice-looking cars that fits three in a row!). That's my favourite thing about this car: it looks great, AND fits a whole lot of people in. A rare combo.

The 5008 is comfy: big leather seats, (our model included an epic seat heating / massage option: switching this on at the traffic lights is basically the closest you get to a spa session as a mum). The AC also had a useful feature of picking whether it was on in the back, front or both - a nice touch for families especially.

The car was also surprisingly easy to drive. I'm not a tank-owning mama... In fact my usual Ford Fiesta is about the smallest motor on the school run. So I was a bit worried about negotiating our narrow, packed local roads whilst driving around such heft. But it was fine; easy, in fact, thanks to the on-board cameras - not just a reversing one, but a whole computer screen giving you guidance lines to park into, and even a birds' eye overhead shot showing you your car in relation to the space.

OK not THIS easy to drive...

Whilst driving, there's a road sign recognition system that tells you the speed limit, and warns if you drift out of a lane, the wing mirrors automatically move whilst you're reversing to eliminate any blind spots and there's even an automatic system to steer the car back into a lane if you move over a white line - not something that kicked in, luckily, but good to know it's there.

Overall - and with that caveat that my car knowledge is lower than my toddler's - the 5008 was a joy to drive: great visibility, it felt responsive on both motorways and local roads, was much nippier than I expected - especially considering its size - and wasn't very noisy inside either. We tested the top-of-the-range GT Sport model, which gave nice flexibility with the gearbox - you can choose manual or automatic and also a hybrid where you can change gear in automatic, with steering wheel paddles.

Another thing I noticed was that other cars seemed to get out of my way a lot more than when I'm driving the Fiesta. Whether this is because the big car commanded respect, or because I look about 12 and they were worried about me going anywhere near their own motors, I can't say.

On board, there are trays for the middle row of seats: tiny man loved this, and they would have been great for in-car colouring etc if they stretched out a bit further - as it was, they're too far forward but would be good for filling time/picnics etc when you're parked. Built-in blinds were great for instigating nap time and blocking out the sunshine for the kids.

The storage space is huge. We had two buggies, four suitcases and about 2.3 million extra pieces of stuff when we went away for a week, and it all fitted in easily. There's a removable parcel shelf so you can cover your belongings if parking for lunch etc mid-journey, or take it away to get more stuff in. The two spare seats at the back are also (easily) removable, so you can squeeze in more stuff if needed.

We had a ball testing out the 5008. When Peugeot came to take it away after our week's trial, tiny man looked on mournfully and said, 'I'm a bit sad at saying goodbye to our big car.' So was I. If you're thinking about buying the Peugeot 5008 SUV, I'd say go for it. Any questions? Ask below or get in touch.

* We were sent the car for a week's review but rest assured we're seriously gobby and only rave about things we really love.