Peugeot Partner Review & Prices

The Peugeot Partner shares all of its structure and engines with the Citroen Berlingo, Fiat Doblo, Toyota Proace City, and Vauxhall Combo. Like them, it’s a compact delivery van with lots of space for cargo in the back, and a comfortable cab up the front. It’s not too big to be awkward in town, but large enough to carry a useful load — the Goldilocks’ porridge of vans. 

Because all of those vans — all from brands which are part of the massive Stellantis Group — are essentially the same, it mostly comes down to your on preference when you’re choosing, but it’s worth remembering that some are more affordable than others and in this case the Citroen and Fiat versions are much cheaper than the Peugeot. 

There are also differences in warranty. For instance, Toyota offers a five-year warranty, and Fiat will give you the same for a small extra cost. Peugeot’s standard warranty isn’t as good, but for an extra cost it can be extended annually — tied to servicing with a Peugeot main dealer — for up to ten years. 

The Partner is a decent size for a compact van, and is slightly bigger than one of its main rivals, the Renault Kangoo (and therefore the Mercedes Citan, which is a Kangoo with a Mercedes badge). The Volkswagen Caddy is bigger again, though, as is the outgoing Ford Transit Connect (although the new Transit Courier is actually smaller). 

You can choose from a three-seat van or a six-seat crew-van (albeit one without windows for those sat in the back) and there’s a choice of standard or long body lengths. 

There is an electric version — which we’ll cover in a separate review — but the internal combustion Partner models get a choice of two diesel engines and either a manual or an automatic gearbox (the previous option of a 1.2 turbo petrol engine has been dropped). 

The diesel engine choice is actually two versions of the same 1.5-litre ‘BlueHDI’ four-cylinder turbo engine. There’s a basic 100hp model with a six-speed manual gearbox, or a 130hp version with an eight-speed automatic. 

There are two trim levels from which to choose — Professional and Asphalt. Professional comes as standard with a six-way adjustable driver’s seat (which gets adjustable lumbar support and an armrest — great for driver comfort), manual air conditioning, an overhead storage shelf, a fixed bulkhead with a jacket hook, steering wheel audio controls, a smartphone cradle with two USB sockets, six airbags, electric and heated door mirrors, tyre pressure monitoring, brake-activated hazard lights, cruise control and speed limiter, emergency automatic braking, lane keeping steering, rear parking sensors, and automatic high-beam headlights. 

Asphalt models get all that and an electronic parking brake, load-through bulkhead, a 10-inch infotainment screen with connected sat-nav, wireless smartphone connection, a 10-inch digital instrument panel, electric folding mirrors, LED headlights, rain-sensing wipers, driver attention assistant, and a digital rear view mirror and a surround-view camera system.

The cab is basically the same as that of the other sister models from Citroen, Fiat, Vauxhall, and Toyota, and it works well. The difference is that it gets Peugeot's i-Cockpit dial arrangement, which can be an acquired taste.

There’s reasonable space up front, although getting three big people in side by side is a bit tight. If you’ve got the optional touchscreen then that’s a bit annoying to use, with confusing menus, but otherwise the Partner’s cab is well-made, comfortable, and a good place from which to work. 

Interested in a Partner? Then why not check out our best Peugeot deals? And don’t forget that you can sell your old van through carwow.

For the most part, all of the Stellantis Group vans — from Peugeot, Citroen, and Fiat — are priced very similarly, in and around the £21,000 mark ex-VAT. The outlier is the Vauxhall Combo, which is quite a bit more expensive, and the related Toyota Proace City, which also costs more. All are cheaper than the outgoing Ford Transit Connect (but more expensive than the new, smaller, Transit Courier). The most expensive van in this segment is the VW Caddy, but then again it’s also the most spacious.

Pleasant and comfortable to drive but a little less satisfying than a Ford Transit Courier

The Partner’s 1.5-litre diesel engine is fine, although the 100hp version can start to feel strained if you’re trying to combine a heavy load and motorway speeds. The 130hp with the automatic gearbox is a much better bet if that’s a regular task, and it’s also a better engine and gearbox around town too. If you can afford the upgrade, it’s well worth the extra. It’s a pretty refined engine in either form, which makes a working day somewhat more relaxing. 

As for how it goes down the road, it's not at all bad. The Partner has quite soft suspension which means it takes bumps and poor road surfaces well, even when unladen. It can feel a little wobbly compared to a Ford Transit Courier, though.

Usefully easy to load and with a clever load-through bulkhead and crew van option - but the Berlingo can carry more

The Partner’s rear doors — split asymmetrically — open to a full 180-degrees, so it’s easy to load the roomy space inside from the back. 

If you want two sliding side doors, you’ll have to upgrade to the Long model, as the Standard length only comes with one side door, on the left hand size. 

That Long model is a full 4,752mm long compared to the Standard’s 4,403mm, and that extra length is split between the wheelbase and the rear overhang — getting the Long definitely allows you to carry much bigger loads. The Crew-Van version, which seats six, gets clever back seats which can fold flat into the floor, and which also has an adjustable bulkhead, making it genuinely multi-role. Asphalt versions also get the load-through bulkhead function, in which the outside passenger seat also folds flat to allow you to carry long, narrow items. 

Peugeot Partner internal and external measurements

Exterior dimensions

All versions (Standard/Long)
Exterior length: 4,403mm/4,753mm
Exterior height: 1,796-1,860mm/1,812-1860
Exterior width with mirrors: 2,107mm
Exterior width without mirrors: 1,848mm

Interior load length (Standard/Long)

Panel van
To bulkhead : 1,817mm/2,167mm
With load-through bulkhead: 3,090mm/3,440mm

Crew Van

To bulkhead: 1450mm
Rear seats folded, bulkhead forward: 2,000mm
Rear seats and passenger seat folded: 3,050mm

Interior loading width
All versions
Max: 1,527mm
Between wheel arches: 1,229mm

Interior loading height (Standard/Long)
Panel van

Max height: 1,200mm/1,270mm

Crew Van
Max height: 1,243mm

Rear door aperture height/width

All versions: 1,196mm/1,241mm

Side door aperture height/width

All versions: 1,072mm/675mm

Peugeot Partner towing capacity

Partner models can tow between 720-1050kg braked.

Peugeot Partner payload

The Citroen Berlingo is the best of this Stellantis Group bunch when it comes to payload, as it can handle just over one-tonne of weight. The Partner is just behind its French cousin, with a maximum payload weight — for the 984kg for the Standard length model in Professional spec, with the 130hp engine and the automatic gearbox. 

The lowest possible payload is 840kg, which is for the Long body Crew-Van with the 100hp engine and six-speed manual gearbox, in Professional spec. All the other versions can carry between 927kg and 982kg. 

Cab feels high-quality, but not all the tech is easy to use

The Peugeot Partner is built on the Stellantis Group EMP2 platform, which may sound like a meaningless jumble of letters, but it actually means that it’s based on passenger car mechanicals. This is a good thing, as it means that much of the cabin’s fixtures and fittings are car-based, so they look and feel a bit more high-end. 

The centre console of the dashboard is angled towards the driver, and that’s especially handy when you’ve got an Asphalt-spec model with the ten-inch touchscreen. Peugeot’s played it sensible, too — there are proper buttons for the air conditioning, rather than having to cycle through annoying touchscreen menus just to turn up the heat. It’s just a shame that they’re fiddly buttons to use at night — more lighting needed. 

While that ten-inch touchscreen looks good, with very smart graphics, it’s a bit of a pain to use as the menus are too confusing, and items that you’ll expect to be under one menu are actually under something totally different. At least there’s some handy online services, including connected sat-nav which can warn of traffic jams (although most people will probably just use Google Maps on their phone). 

Just as well there’s Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connections for Asphalt spec models then, although we kinda like the basic Professional versions simpler smartphone cradle and USB sockets, which turn your phone into the car’s screen — an idea Peugeot seems to have nicked from Dacia. 

Space is good, although it’s a bit tight for three sitting side by side. The middle seat folds down flat to form a handy table, and there’s lots of storage split between two gloveboxes, two open storage trays, door bins, cupholders, and an overhead shelf. 

One quirk of the Peugeot Partner is that, as with all Peugeot models these days, it uses the tiny, hexagonal steering wheel that sits low — almost in your lap — with the instruments mounted above it. It’s more distinctive than most, but try before you buy as not everyone can get comfortable with the tiny wheel. 

Peugeot’s BlueHDI diesel engines have long been renowned for good fuel economy, and the 1.5-litre engine in the Partner is no different. 45mpg is easy, and over 50mpg is doable with a little care. There’s a good-sized 17-litre AdBlue tank too. 

All Partners come with driver, passenger, side, and curtain airbags, which is good by small van standards. There’s also tyre pressure monitoring, stability control, brake-activated hazard lights, lane-keeping assistance, automatic emergency braking, speed limit warning, driver attention alert, and high-beam assistance for the headlights. However, if you want radar-guided cruise control or more advanced lane-keeping, those only come as part of a pricey options pack. There is regular cruise control and a speed limiter, though.

The remote central locking comes with deabolts and an immobiliser, while there’s also an auto-lock that kicks in once you’re driving at 7mph or above. If you want a perimeter alarm, that’s only standard on Asphalt models. 

Reliability should be solid, not least because Peugeot shares the 1.5 BlueHDI engine between its vans and its passenger cars, and those passenger cars have been performing very well in customer satisfaction and reliability surveys in the past several years. Just watch for software glitches with that touchscreen. 

Peugeot’s standard warranty lasts for three years and 60,000 miles, but that can be optionally extended out to ten years if the vehicle is serviced with a Peugeot main dealer each time, with a years’ extra warranty given at each service. There’s also Peugeot’s ‘Free2Move’ preventative service option, which lasts for four years, and which monitors the condition and health of the van in real-time, giving you a service alert to cover off a problem before it becomes serious. 

Service intervals for the Partner BlueHDI are every 25,000 miles or 24 months.