Nearly new buying guide: Peugeot 3008

Among the diesels, the 129bhp 1.5-litre four-cylinder BlueHDi 130 (manual or automatic) is a flexible engine that doesn’t make the 3008 particularly fast but still offers strong pace and will pull the car effortlessly, even when it’s fully loaded. The 2.0-litre four-cylinder BlueHDi 180 is punchy but pricey.

Last we come to the PHEVs. The Hybrid 225 (222bhp) is a neat performer, while the Hybrid4 300 (296bhp) manages impressively rapid acceleration and officially can drive for up to 40 miles on electricity alone from a full charge – although you can expect a figure closer to 25-30 miles in reality.

The 3008 has a softer ride than most in its class and manages to soak up the worst of the road furniture with aplomb. The steering is precise and quick at low speeds, too, helped partly by the small steering wheel.

It’s inside where this 3008 took the biggest strides on from its predecessor. It’s a very stylish environment, albeit mostly free of buttons, because all the infotainment and air-con controls are taken care of through an 8.0in touchscreen, which itself could be more intuitive.

All models get a 12.3in digital instrument display instead of more traditional dials, and this is configurable depending on what information you want it to show.

There’s plenty of space up front. Rear-seat accommodation isn’t class-leading, but there is a flat floor for more foot room. The boot is par for the course, meaning it can manage a buggy and a couple of suitcases.

A mid-life facelift in 2021 gave the 3008 some design cues introduced by more recent Peugeot models, such as ‘sabre-tooth’ LED daytime-running lights, a frameless front grille and smoked LED tail-lights.

Prices for a 3008 start at £13,000. Up the folding to £16,000 for a 2019 car, or £19,000 for one from 2020. Expect to pay upwards of £22,000 for a facelifted model.

Need to know

Most petrol 3008s offer similar fuel economy to much smaller cars. For example, the 1.2-litre petrol gets 47.2mpg on the WLTP test. The auto-only 1.6-litre petrol bucks the trend, however, with 39.6mpg.

The 1.6-litre diesel gets 70.6mpg as a manual or 67.3mpg as an auto, although these are more generous NEDC figures. The replacement 1.5 130 has a WLTP figure of 55.1mpg. The larger 2.0-litre diesel is available as a frugal manual with an average of 47.1mpg.

Buyer beware