Peugeot 108 (2014 – 2022) Review

Peugeot has been a small car expert for decades, and the 108 is the latest in a long line of low-cost offerings that deliver charm beyond their price tag. Designed and built as a joint venture with Citroen and Toyota that resulted in the near-identical C1 and Aygo respectively,  the 108 is competing with cars like the Hyundai i10 and SEAT Mii. Cost is generally the prime target at this end of the market, but this second-generation 108 is designed to offer a more refined and grown-up ownership experience whilst retaining the high value approach.

With its sharper looks and some plush options including a retractable fabric roof, the 108 feels like a more grown up car than the 107 it replaced. Quality, refinement and economy are all improved, but the car remains small, cheap to buy and cheap to run. It has all the ingredients to be just as successful as its predecessor – and to compete with rivals like the SEAT Mii, Hyundai i10 and Skoda Citigo.

As before, the underpinnings of the 108 are shared with Citroen and Toyota counterparts. This time around each car has more individual identity and Peugeot has gone for a sophisticated look, as opposed to the Aygo's aggressive ‘crossed’ front or the Citroen C1’s cuteness. The 108 certainly looks more modern and stylish than the old 107.

Early 108 models were available with a choice of two petrol engines, but this has been stripped-back to leave a single 1.0-litre, three-cylinder unit with 72PS. Despite the modest-sounding specification, the little three-pot unit is willing, economical and provides enough performance to make the 108 a usable machine outside of the city.

The key improvements to the 108 over the olf 107 are in refinement and ride quality. It still has that three-cylinder thrum when pushed hard, but in everyday driving it is quiet and comfortable, absorbing all but the worst potholes and bumps impressively well. It’s also capable on the motorway as long as you don’t expect miracles or load it up too heavily.

You can even have fun on a country road – the handling has been sharpened with new shock absorbers and a stiffer anti-roll bar, which means the 108 stays reasonably flat and composed through tight twisting roads.

The steering could be better, but the 108 is nonetheless at home in town. Manoeuvring in narrow streets or in multi-storey car parks is made easier by the light power steering, plus visibility is fairly good thanks to big windows.

The cabin is functional and hardwearing, rather than plush, but it’s attractive enough and if you opt for a higher trim model you’ll get a big, colourful touchscreen system.

It’s not packed with the most advanced features, but is simple enough to use. You can also customise the interior with graphics packs and there’s also a ‘Top’ model, with a retractable fabric roof.

The 108 is a worthy little city car. Not only is it affordable but it looks good and drives well, plus it should prove to be cheap to run. It doesn’t feel quite as modern as the likes of the SEAT Mii and Volkswagen Up, but it isn’t far behind. For those who need cheap, urban transport with a little bit of style it’s the ideal little car.

Changes to the suspension compared to the outgoing 107 make for a more controlled ride and stable handling, with less body roll through corners making the 108 feel more grown up.

The 108 is still at its best in town though, where its compact dimensions, nippy engine and easy-to-drive character come together well. Parking is easy, as is nipping through tight gaps and down side streets. The Skoda Citigo and its counterparts from SEAT and Volkswagen feel a little more mature on the road, but there’s really very little between them.

The 1.0-litre might sound underpowered with just 72PS and 93Nm of torque, but in reality it’s perfectly capable of zipping the little 108 up to speed thanks to the car’s light weight.

It’s at its best in town, but for occasional A-road and motorway trips it’s perfectly adequate and is probably the best choice for most. Those who tend to do more motorway miles may be better off with the 1.2-litre VTI petrol, which has 82PS and 116Nm of torque.

Those who need an automatic can choose the 1.0-litre engine with an ETG transmission – but it’s far from the best. It’s an automated manual system and so is slow and jerky in comparison to a traditional torque convertor. If you absolutely must have an automatic it will do the job, but for most buyers a manual model will be a smarter choice.

The 108 was tested by Euro NCAP in 2014 and scored an impressive four-star rating overall - city cars tend to be at a disadvantage in safety testing as they tend to be small, and their low cost means they frequently do without expensive safety systems. The little Peugeot scored 80 per cent for both adult and child protection, with a solid 62 per cent for pedestrian mitigation.

The only safety item on the options list is Active City Brake, which includes lane departure warning and traffic sign recognition - an inexpensive and worthwhile option at just £480.

Your friendly Peugeot dealer will not sell you a 108 with a tow bar, and although you might be able to find someone mad enough to fit one, it is not a car designed to be pulling anything other than its own weight. If you really need a small car to tow with, you need one bigger than this.

The seats are better than in old 107, with greater comfort and more support. They’re easily adjusted, too, as is the steering column, which means it’s very easy to get comfortable no matter how tall you are.

The tall body means head and legroom up front is generous. Rear seat passengers will struggle, though – knee room and head room is adequate but not generous, so long trips can be uncomfortable. As before there are five and three-door versions, so families with smaller children should manage with the 108.

Boot space is far from generous at 196 litres, or 180 litres with a spare wheel. For a small shopping trip it will do the job but those who carry larger things or regularly travel with suitcases will struggle.

Step inside the 108 and you can tell this is a low-cost car, but that doesn’t mean it is a grim place to be. The materials in here aren’t expensive but do feel solid, and with little exposed metalwork and some nice finishing touches to the dashboard it avoids the trap of being a sea of grey plastic.

There is a good level of customisation on offer – buyers can choose from five different interior upholstery finishes including two tartan fabrics, plus there are six graphics packs to decorate the car both inside and out. Additionally, there is a two-tone paint option, with the top half of the car finished in one colour and the bottom half in another. Eight colours are offered in total.

All versions of the 108 come with a seven-inch touchscreen on the centre stack, with DAB radio, Bluetooth, steering wheel controls and 3.5mm and USB inputs to connect your device. It’s an impressive system for a car at this price level, and once you’re familiar with the screens it’s a cinch to use.

One clever feature is Mirror Screen which mirrors the screen of certain smartphones allowing you to control your phone - and various apps - through the touchscreen. It means you can run navigation from your phone as an alternative to the optional integrated system.

Unlike its Citroen C1 compatriot, the 108 does without a super low-spec entry-level model to snare buyers looking for the cheapest option possible, so the basic Active model comes with a decent specification.

Your £12,580 gets you manual air conditioning, electric front windows, the 7-inch infotainment system, LED daytime running lights, 15-inch steel wheels and a speed limiter all as standard, with the five-door version costing an extra £400 and the TOP! model which adds the full-length electric fabric sunroof for £1,420 extra.

Above that is the Allure model, which adds features like keyless entry and start, alloy wheels and automatic headlights, costing £14,005 for the three-door, £14,405 for the five-door and £15,405 for the TOP!

The extra features are nice to have, but it’s hard to argue they are necessary or worthwhile on a car like this. The same goes for the top-spec Collection, which adds automatic air con and detail visual changes for £14,655 in three-door guise. go for the Collection model in TOP! form and you’re looking at £15,655 - only a few hundred pounds away from the brand-new 208.

However, such is the 108’s popularity that there are plenty to choose from whether you are looking at a pre-reg version or a used model. We found a stack of pre=registered examples, all with mileage in single figures and registered within the last 12 months for £10,000 or less, saving you a stack on the new price with plenty of warranty still in hand.

On the used front the earliest examples are now down around the £3,000 mark, and another plus of looking at an older model is that you can get the 1.2-litre version, which adds a useful bit of extra pep if you plan to do a lot of longer journeys.

Bear in mind that because the government likes to fiddle around with VED rates on an hourly basis, what you pay in road tax will vary depending on the 108 you buy. Because there’s one engine option for new cars, all versions cost £150, with £155 in the first year. Older cars registered before 1st April 2017 are VED-free, even if you go for the bigger 1.2-litre engine.

Fuel consumption is a strong suit, with an official combined figure of 54.8-58.9mpg (WLTP), with 50mpg and more achievable in the real world without too much effort. The older 1.2-litre models can also get close to this figure, and won’t need to be worked as hard either.

Insurance costs will be low too - all new versions fall into group 9E, low enough for new drivers to actually get cover and those with more experience to benefit from low premiums. Repair and maintenance costs should be low too, as there’s not much in the way of complicated or expensive parts, and reliability is better than the Peugeot average thanks to Toyota’s input from the start.

The specification of the entry-level Active model is pretty generous, and with a price hike of nearly £1500 to the next model in the range it hardly seems worth it - most of that premium seems to get you visual upgrades like alloy wheels. The TOP! models are not cheap but are best seen as a cheap way into a convertible rather than an expensive city car with a folding roof.