Peugeot 208 2019 Review Long-Term Test #3

The Suzuki Jimny got me thinking about the carsales.com.au Peugeot 208 Allure long-termer.

No, it wasn’t their similar size that had them meeting in my mind, it was this word ‘character’ that gets chucked around in modern motoring.

The Jimny is a classic ‘character’ car. Devoid of many modern comfort and safety items, it gets saved in some people’s psyche because it has ‘character’.

What is character? I guess it’s a positive emotional response a car can generate in people that for them more than compensates for its faults.

Now you’re beginning to see why I drew that connection. There is a rusted-on group of Peugeot fans and French car lovers for whom the 208’s idiosyncrasies will be tolerated, even dismissed, because of its origins.

They love its character.

Admittedly that group isn’t very big these days, but for them the 208 will deliver appreciable rewards.

The 208 does the basic ride, handling and steering thing really nicely, as French have been known to do in the past. Hey, it’s not up there with a 504 as the epitome of comfortable touring, but for its size and footprint it does impressively well.

There is a suppleness to the ride rare in a mini and a responsiveness to the steering that makes this car great for twirling around shopping centres.

I’d also give the little three-pot engine a pass mark. It’s got that distinct rough soundtrack this sort of engine makes – some would call it character – but more importantly it does get along without too much intrusive noise and fuss.

No, the fuss starts when you combine it with the Aisin-sourced six-speed automatic transmission, which can take a while to launch from standstill and then jerks and lurches into action.

OK, a recalcitrant transmission is hardly unique to Peugeot, but the 208 manages to add some operational annoyances on top of the mechanical imperfections.

First there’s CarPlay – or the lack of it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. To be fair, other cars have this issue too, but that doesn’t excuse the 208.

More fundamental is the minimal amount of storage. Clearly the French travel light. There’s nowhere to put a decent-sized take-away coffee cup, so apparently, it’s short blacks only.

Force something larger into the opening, like a can of Coke, and you’ll be lifting the whole cup-holder out of the centre console when you go for a sip.

And then there’s the most fundamental issue of all; i-cockpit.

What Peugeot wants us all to do is dump the small steering wheel into our laps rather adopt the traditional driving position. If you do that, then the rim blocks the instrument panel.

Look, I’ve tried it and I can’t adjust to it. I just don’t like it. I’d rather drive with the wheel at the normal position and not see the speedo than do what they want me to do. It seems odd that this should be something Peugeot should be so adamant on.

For me, i-cockpit is a deal-breaker. For other people, it probably just adds character.

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Long-Term Tests
carsales.com.au aims to make your choice of vehicle easier. Our Editorial section does this via our mix of news, international and local launch reviews, as well as our seven-day tests.

From time to time we also take the opportunity to spend even longer with a vehicle. These longer-term tests can be as short as a couple of weeks, but more recently we’ve settled on a three-month period as indicative of ‘normal’ ownership.

Long-term tests give our staff writers and contributors a chance to get to know a car as an owner would. While the car is with us, we pay for fuel, the servicing, and generally use and live with the car as a new owner would.

We believe long-term tests give car buyers a deeper insight into the vehicle on test, but also the qualities behind the brand and nameplate. The extended period also allows us to touch base with the dealer networks in question.

It comes as no surprise that manufacturers tend to have a love-hate relationship with long-term tests. Three months is plenty long enough to fall out of love with the latest and greatest, and start to nit-pick — just like real owners do.