Peugeot 3008 at a crossroads
Why did Peugeot give the second generation 3008 such a radical makeover?
Date: 9 November 2017 | Current mileage: 498 | Claimed economy: 64.2mpg | Actual economy: 46.1mpg
When it comes to crossovers, it’s fair to say that Peugeot hasn’t exactly delivered the goods in recent years. The previous generation 3008 was a mismatched mix of crossover and MPV that seemed to combine the worst of both worlds.
It was practical, but it lacked any of the wow factor that makes the current crop of crossovers so appealing to buyers. It did everything okay, but nothing well. It was outclassed by its rivals in almost every department. Driving dynamics, interior, infotainment, styling… it was bland and just a bit boring.
Peugeot obviously realised the 3008 was being left behind. Perhaps that’s acceptable in a low-volume sector – but crossovers are a licence to print money for carmakers. To be left behind in one of the fastest growing market sectors of the past decade made zero point zero per cent sense for a company whose only job in life is to sell cars.
Thankfully, Peugeot was up for a fight and in 2016 it took the covers off its new 3008. A car so radical that it bore no relationship to its predecessor. In a world where models are given a new generation number for just a facelift, not giving the 3008 a new name for such a radical departure seemed like a missed opportunity.
The 3008 interior is as striking as the exterior
Reception to the car was, on the whole, positive. It won the 2017 European Car of the Year award beating the excellent Mercedes-Benz E-Class (W213) and so-so Alfa Romeo Giulia. Okay, so winning ECOTY is a bit like winning the Eurovision Song Contest these days (in that it says more about rivalry and relationship between countries than the overall quality of the car), but for once it was generally agreed that the 3008 was a worthy winner.
The motoring press reckons the 3008 is a good bet, but what about the people who buy it and use it every day? What’s it like to live with daily? That’s the question we’ll be aiming to answer over the next six months with our latest long-termer.
We’ll be putting it through its paces on everything from shopping and school runs to the daily drudgery of stop-start traffic and an office commute… and hopefully a few more fun things in between.
So, say hello to the latest addition to the Honest John long-term test fleet: our 2017 Peugeot 3008 BlueHDi GT Line. We'll explain what all that means in our next update...
Check out our full review of the latest Peugeot 3008
3008? BlueHDi? GT Line? Your guide to speaking Peugeot
Our 3008 has a lot of letters after the name. So here's a handy guide to understanding the Peugeot 3008 line up.
Date: 23 November 2017 | Current mileage: 1017 | Claimed economy: 64.2mpg | Actual economy: 47.7mpg
The distance from London to Paris might only be a couple of hundred miles (214, to be precise) but the automotive language barrier can often seem a lot further away. Just look at our latest long-termer. It’s a Peugeot 3008 GT Line BlueHDi 150 M6. But what does this collection of numbers and letters actually mean? Happily, we’re going to provide a handy guide.
The Peugeot 3008 started life a dull but worthy family car, but quickly got revised to take on rivals like the Nissan Qashqai in a fast-growing market sector. It’s done a decent job, too, with huge improvements to both the inside and outside of the car. So much so that it really should be called the 3009.
GT Line is the trim level. In this case, we’re one down from the top of the range model – the GT – but we’re not missing much, just the adaptive cruise control. Everything else we’ve got as options, like the keyless entry and push button start and the tailgate you open (or not) by kicking (or not) the rear bumper of our Nera Black example.
Okay, so we’re missing the panoramic sunroof, the memory function seats and full leather trim (as well as some dubious chrome) but you still get a lot of car for the money. How much? £29,515. Oh, you mean how much car? Well, I’m glad you asked that…
Our GT Line spec model is the pick of the bunch.
The GT Line spec makes for a decent automotive Christmas list. In no particular order, there’s a two-position boot floor, LED headlamps and ‘lion’ puddle lamps, a mobile phone charging plate, lane departure warning, dual zone climate control, parking sensors, DAB, fancy grill and almost auto everything (let’s not mention the twin exhaust effect trim).
Next up, the engine. The BlueHDi 150 is a four-cylinder diesel 2.0-litre diesel. At some point, Peugeot decided that blue was the green and that’s fine. So, while its 150PS will get you to 62mph in under ten seconds (9.6 to be exact), CO2 emissions are a none-too-shabby 121g/km while it returns 60.1mpg. Roughly speaking, that’s £140 for the tax and 12,000 miles will cost you £1116 if you go steady.
And the M6? Sadly, it’s not a reference to the motorway but the gearbox. A manual six-speeder – as opposed to the EAT6, which is an automatic and not a Little Chef special offer. So far, this has proved the biggest bug bear with the car.
The manual 'box is clunky and has a nasty habit of popping out of first gear… normally just after you drive away. Given the low mileage on the car, we’re hoping that this is a running-in issue that will go away as we put some more miles on the clock. But we’ve looked up the translation for gearbox (boîte de vitesses) just in case.
Our 3008 develops a gearbox fault
Just a few weeks into life with our Peugeot 3008 and we have encountered a big problem...
Date: 7 December 2017 | Current mileage: 1431 | Claimed economy: 64.2mpg | Actual economy: 43.4mpg
Just a few weeks into the long-term test of our Peugeot 3008 and we have encountered a big problem. The issue is with the gearbox and it causes the car to jump out of first gear – normally just after you’ve moved away from a standstill.
Doesn’t sound like much does it? You pull away from the traffic lights and then you find yourself in neutral. It’s easy enough to re-engage first because the car’s anti-stall technology should kick in so all you have to do is dip the clutch. Unless there’s a super-keen Audi driver behind you who is going for a full-blown racing start and not expecting the vehicle in front to suddenly lose momentum. Or completely stall.
The worst time it happens is when you’re turning right across busy traffic. You’ve got the kids in the car, you’re stopped waiting for a gap. There’s a perfectly safe gap, you pull away… only for the car to pop out of first gear and leave you stranded at 90 degrees to the oncoming traffic – a T-bone of an accident waiting to happen.
At first, I thought it was driver error. Perhaps I wasn’t depressing the clutch pedal fully, or maybe I wasn’t engaging first gear properly. I tried everything, moving my seat closer to the wheel to make sure the clutch pedal was all the way down. Holding first gear in place as I moved away. But nothing worked. My suspicions were confirmed when the car was driven by my colleagues, who also experienced the same issue.
So I rang our local Peugeot dealer in St Neots. After dropping the car off, I waited to hear back. The verdict? There was nothing wrong with it. As I pulled away from the dealer, two things happened: the car jumped out of gear again and I noticed they’d only driven it from the front of the garage to the workshop at the back. Well done.
With no options left, I spoke to Peugeot’s press office. I’d been in contact with them regularly and they hadn’t seemed that interested. Naturally there were no other reports of anything similar happening. I find this hard to believe, so if you’re having the same issue please do get in touch.
But enough was enough. After one particularly awful incident with a car full of children on the way to school, I sent Peugeot the dash camera footage. Now we'll just have to wait and see what their reponse is...
How does the Peugeot 3008 ride and handle?
With the Peugeot 3008, the French car maker seems to have rediscovered the mojo that helped it develop the 205 GTi.
Date: 21 December 2017 | Current mileage: 1958 | Claimed economy: 64.2mpg | Actual economy: 52.1mpg
After sending Peugeot the dashcam footage of our 3008’s gearbox fault, they’ve agreed to collect the car early. It’s for the best because being stranded at 90 degrees to oncoming traffic with a car full of kids is, quite frankly, dangerous.
The gearbox fault has marred our time with the car. It’s made using the 2.0-litre diesel fairly unpleasant. Although the 150PS version of the 1997cc is hardly the star of the range. And it’s certainly not powerful enough to warrant the 42mpg we’re currently getting.
On paper, the car can make 62mph from standstill in 9.6 seconds. And with 327Nm of torque available from 2000rpm, it should have more than enough in the crucial 30-60mph range to see off heavy, slow-moving vehicles confined to the crawler lane. But somehow, it feels laboured and lacking in grunt.
It’s also not as nimble as might think. While rivals like the Ford Kuga allow you to make decent progress across B-roads thanks to excellent handling and steering, the 3008 doesn’t really fill you with confidence.
Our 3008 flatters to deceive
It’s electrically-assisted steering offers no clues as to when grip levels are about to be surpassed – it just remains as weighted as ever. Something that’s nearly got us into trouble during our testing runs. The tyres don’t help, either. That’s not to say they’re bad – not at all.
We’re riding on Conti CrossContact, which offer superb levels of grip, braking performance and consistency. But that’s the problem. With an uncommunicative steering set-up, the first you know about any imminent grip loss is when the tyres go squishy and you start to drift off line.
That said, the 3008’s chassis is fairly neutral. While it might not tuck and be as nicely balanced as the Ford, it’s unlikely to snap – unless you totally overload the steering input. We’ll be the first to admit that agility and handling isn’t top of the wishlist for many potential crossover buyers. I’m not sure the misshapen steering wheel helps, either. Yes, perhaps it is useful in giving you a bit of extra legroom but it only serves to accentuate the over-assisted steering.
We only mention this as, on first impressions, the 3008 does a decent job of sticking to the tarmac. Overly firm ride, heavy steering – it’s only when you dig a little deeper (especially in the wet) that you expose its short-comings for enthusiastic drivers.
