Peugeot 208 Review & Prices

The latest Peugeot 208 is an extensive facelift of the second-generation car, first launched in 2019. The newest model brings the car’s styling right up to date and adds an in-vogue hybrid engine as a sort of halfway house between a pure petrol model and the all-electric E-208.

What it doesn’t change is what’s great about the 208 - its sense of style, lovely interior and chuckable chassis which make it a pleasure to drive.

In many ways the 208 is like the designer handbag of the small hatchback world - it’s not as practical as some of the alternatives, but it’s handsome, glamorous and feels good to own.

There are some really strong options available as alternatives, though. The Renault Clio is just as good-looking and offers a huge boot, nice interior and super-efficient engines. The Toyota Yaris offers a ten-year-warranty and proven hybrid engine, and the Volkswagen Polo is solid, posh and with an unmatched image.

The 208’s style stands out from the crowd. It’s small, with a squat stance and intricate detailing that makes it look really glitzy even as a low-spec model. The front is dominated by Peugeot’s distinctive ‘three-claw’ LED daytime running lights, the line of which continues up into the headlights - you get a similar effect at the rear. The new Peugeot badge sits on a grille with body-coloured flashes, and round the side you even get a shortened rear window line which is a call back to the iconic 205.

Inside, the 208 is the equal of any premium car in terms of its quality and design. There’s a new 10.0-inch touchscreen sat high up, with a clear display, responsive interface and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto included as standard. Material quality is high throughout, and you can feel that on the soft-touch dashboard with a woven finish or the row of piano key-style switches above the gear lever.

It’s not particularly roomy, though. A Renault Clio has a much bigger boot than the 208’s 311 litres, and a Skoda Fabia is far better for accommodating rear passengers. Even the 208’s front seats aren’t the best for very all drivers, which is a shame.

You also get Peugeot’s unique i-Cockpit layout, which means the shrunken steering wheel sits low and you view the dials over the top of it, rather than through the rim. Though this is divisive, it can be very comfortable - and the tiny wheel makes the 208 feel darty and responsive to drive.

There are three engine options available for the 208. The entry-level car comes with a 1.2-litre petrol engine with a six-speed manual gearbox, or you can have a 1.2-litre hybrid automatic in two power outputs. Whichever you choose, you can expect good efficiency and a really nice refined drive. The 208 is comfortable on the motorway, feels darty and nimble around town and can even be quite fun on a twisting back road.

The challenge is that a Renault Clio is arguably the more fun car and has a wider breadth of talents, while a Toyota Yaris will be even cheaper to run. But the 208 doesn’t remotely embarrass itself out on the road.

If the 208 catches your eye, then you can nab yourself one for a great price by looking at our best Peugeot 208 deals. You can also browse deals on other Peugeot models here, or click here to find a used Peugeot for sale. And remember, Carwow’s the place to be if you need to sell your car.

You get a choice of two trim levels with the Peugeot 208 and all are generously equipped. The new 10.0-inch touchscreen comes as standard, as do all-round parking sensors, 16-inch alloy wheels and dual-tone leather and cloth upholstery.

The GT model gets glitzier 17-inch wheels, a 3D-effect instrument cluster, ‘Smartbeam’ LED headlights, keyless entry and full artificial leather upholstery.

It’s priced a little higher than most small hatchbacks, with prices kicking off from nearly £24,000 - a Renault Clio or Volkswagen Polo are both around £20,000, though the gap does narrow if you specify them with similar levels of power or equipment. There’s no denying, though, that the 208 looks expensive - especially when you consider that the Vauxhall Corsa, with which the 208 shares all of its mechanicals, is less than £20,000.

Petrol and hybrid engines are eager and efficient, and the 208 is great to drive - though a Renault Clio is more fun

In town

The 208’s small steering wheel and light steering make it extremely easy to thread about urban streets. Visibility is good straight ahead, but to the sides and behind, the 208’s swoopy styling makes for rather large blind spots. 

Still, all-round parking sensors and a reversing camera are standard, so you should have no trouble when it comes to slotting it into small spaces.

The smaller-wheeled Allure model is more comfortable over bumps at low speeds than the sportier, larger-wheeled GT. Even then, the 208 isn’t as settled over broken urban road surfaces as a Fiesta or Polo, but it never frustrates.

All of the engines cope well with traffic but the hybrids are the nicest to drive in town. They can drive on electric power for short periods, and they also come with automatic gearboxes to take the strain off your left leg.

On the motorway

All 208s are pretty good on the motorway. Even the basic 100hp petrol has enough punch to easily get up to speed, and as it's a six-speed manual gearbox the top gear is enough for comfortable cruising without the engine revving too fast.

The hybrids are better still as they have a bit of extra punch, though all the engines can be quite noisy when you're revving them hard.

The comfort over bumps improves the faster you go in all models, and the 208 stays nicely planted at speed on the motorway. Avoiding the larger alloy wheels means less road noise, too, and the only wind noise is a faint bit around the door mirrors at 70mph.

On a twisty road

The 208’s small steering wheel and light steering make it feel sporty and fun to thread around twisty roads, although ultimately the 208 doesn’t feel as fun as Renault Clio. Its steering isn’t as communicative and it doesn’t contain its body lean in bends quite as well either, but there’s nothing alarmingly bad about the way it corners. 

It has high grip levels and enough steering accuracy to be confident in what you’re doing.

Two adults will have no issues in the front, but space in the back is more limited and the 208’s boot is average in size for the class

The 208 is a small car, so owners won’t be expecting miracles, but it is worth noting that the Peugeot isn’t going to cut it as a family car once your children grow into lanky teens as it starts to get tight on head and legroom in the back.

Two adults will have no problems getting comfortable in the front seats and the driver gets loads of standard manual seat and wheel adjustment. Electric adjustment is optional if preferred. Taller drivers will note, however, that the seat sits quite far back - actually behind the B-pillar - so getting in can be a little awkward and the seatbelt doesn't always sit very comfortably.

There’s not quite as much headroom as you’d find in taller cars such as a Volkswagen Polo or Honda Jazz though, but it won’t be an issue unless you are much bigger than average. However, the tiny and oddly shaped steering wheel can cause issues - depending on your driving position - as it blocks the view to some of the instruments when in its most comfortable position.

Between the front seats is an armrest which covers a storage space which is big enough for a purse or phone. Elsewhere in the cabin there are quirky features such as a flip-down smartphone ledge, along with decent sized (but more conventional) door pockets and a glovebox. As you’d expect, there are also cupholders behind the gear lever.

Space in the back seats

Adults in the back seats will find their knees brushing the front seat backs even if their heads are clear of the ceiling. They will also have to fold themselves up in order to access the back seats in the first place. The door openings are deceptively small, which will make it tricky for those of larger proportions or who are less mobile.

The two outer seats are comfortable enough once the headrests have been moved up, but the sculpting of the bench means anyone in the middle is going to feel short changed. The door bins are smaller but still take a litre bottle of water. The nets on the backs of the front seats are pretty shallow, though, and there’s no rear armrest or cupholders.

Boot space

At 311 litres the Peugeot 208’s boot is average compared with its alternatives. To put it into context, it’s slightly larger than the boot in a Ford Fiesta, but around 10% smaller than the VW Polo and Seat Ibiza.

There’s quite a pronounced lip to lift your bags over, but the access is good via the opening and once your bags are inside the space on offer is a usefully square shape – albeit on the narrow side. You have to do without any handy extras such as hooks, lashing points or 12v sockets, and there’s no option of a variable height boot floor either.

The Peugeot 208’s interior not only looks stylish, it is also well built from quality materials. Its infotainment system has all the kit you want, too, although it can be fiddly to use

Not only does the 208 look striking outside, it stands out for its interior design and quality too. There are some cheaper feeling plastics on the door tops and lower-down areas, but overall the soft-touch dashboard and classy, nicely damped switches help the 208 feel a cut above the rest.

The two-tier, concave dash design is striking, too, and touch-sensitive buttons for the infotainment and heated seat controls (if fitted) that help make the 208 feel more expensive inside.

Entry-level models get part-leather seats and a leather steering wheel, while the GT upgrades this to full faux leather.

On the tech front, a 10.0.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system sits atop the 208’s dashboard as standard, which includes DAB radio and Bluetooth, but more importantly Apple CarPlay and Android Auto too.

Peugeot’s new 3D digital dials are standard from Allure trim. They’re projected onto different layers to give a three-dimensional effect and look superb, but importantly also display key information clearly and are customisable so you can choose what you want to see.

Wireless charging also comes as standard for the GT model, but if your smartphone can’t handle that then the USB connections are plentiful – there are two in the front (one standard, one USB-C) and you get a further two in the back. There’s just one six-speaker audio system across the range and no option to upgrade, but it offers a good sound in any case.

The 208 should prove pretty cheap to run, with all engines providing good fuel economy. Sadly the mega-efficient diesel is no longer available, but in its place you'll find a couple of hybrids which promise to come close to it in terms of real-world running costs.

The entry-level 1.2-petrol should be good for around 50mpg if driven carefully, while both the 100hp and the 136hp hybrid options should return in excess of 55mpg. The hybrids are also great for round-town economy, where the stop-start nature allows them to make the most of their battery assistance - though they're not quite as accomplished as the diesel was when it comes to long-distance fuel economy.

Other running costs should be low. Insurance is reasonable, though there's no real entry-level petrol model to keep costs down for the youngest drivers. As for road tax, CO2 emissions are low enough to give either a £195 or a £220 bill for the first year - not too unreasonable.

They also result in palatable BIK costs for company car drivers, though the all-electric E-208 is the much more obvious choice for this.

In terms of safety, the 208 scored four stars in the independent Euro NCAP safety assessment, which is average for a car of this size and price.

All versions have Automatic Emergency Braking, road sign recognition and a lane departure warning system as standard, but the AEB is more sophisticated on the GT models as it will also spot (and stop for) pedestrians and cyclists.

Top-spec models also add adaptive cruise control and active lane positioning on the automatic gearbox equipped models.

In terms of security, all 208s have an alarm and remote central locking as standard.

Peugeot doesn’t historically have the greatest of reputations for reliability, but it is getting better and this is reflected in customer satisfaction surveys, where it now rates above average. A sixth-place finish in the 2024 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey is particularly impressive, ranking just behind Citroen but importantly many places ahead of Renault, Volkswagen and even Toyota.

The company’s three-year warranty offering is only average, although it does cover you for unlimited miles in the first two years. The third year only covers up to 60,000 miles though.