Peugeot Expert 2019 Review

Peugeot is ready to make noise in the commercial vehicle space in Australia, but perhaps not in the way you might have imagined.

Whereas payloads, capacities and load space have traditionally dictated the trade-centric segment in the past, the French car-maker is venturing down a safety- and specification-oriented path with its new three-pronged line-up.

Part one of Peugeot’s revived commercial range is the mid-size Expert, available from this month. In due course it will be joined by a new version of the smaller Partner, along with the larger Boxer – both slated for a September arrival.

Rivalling models including the Ford Transit Custom might already boast a lot of the Expert’s safety suite, but the difference here is that Peugeot is adopting a universal approach to safety. That is, there will be no stripped out entry-level variant as has been commonplace in the past, be it for the Expert, the Partner or the Boxer.

Priced from $36,490 (plus on-road costs), the Expert is available with three different drivetrain tunes and two body lengths (short wheelbase and long wheelbase). Manual and automatic versions are available, with entry into the flagship LWB offering setting buyers back $45,890 (plus on-road costs).

At that money, the cheapest Expert undercuts the diesel-powered Toyota HiAce, Hyundai iLoad, Transit Custom and Volkswagen Transporter respectively – its key rivals. Only the Renault Trafic bests it, though not without equipment concessions.

With respect to safety, each Expert comes fitted with four airbags, a reversing camera, 180-degree camera and front and rear parking sensors, automatic high beam assist, speed limit recognition, adaptive cruise control, driver attention alert, collision risk alert, lane departure warning, blind spot detection and active safety brake.

Autonomous emergency braking is also standard fitment, but in the interest of accuracy, the system is camera-based, unlike most radar-based systems. As such, the Expert’s AEB is limited to 30km/h and below which, strictly speaking, only qualifies the Peugeot for a four-star safety rating under newly-adopted crash-testing guidelines.

Elsewhere, the Expert is loaded to the hilt with standard equipment that tends to read like passenger car’s: a 7-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, reversing camera (with overhead view) and front and rear parking sensors, climate control, voice-operated commands, high beam assist and 16-inch steel alloy wheels.

Diesel power is common across the Expert range. The entry-level 115 Expert ($36,590) uses a 1.6-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder good for 85kW/300Nm, whereas the mid-range 150 Expert and flagship 180 Expert both employ a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder. The former is good for 110kW/370Nm while the latter brings 130kW/400Nm outputs along with a superior Euro6 emissions compliance.

The car-maker’s newest trade offering is backed by a five-year/200,000km warranty along with five-years roadside assist.

Servicing intervals are set at every 15,000kms/12 months. The price of servicing over five years costs $2868.47 for the entry variant and $2982.46 for the rest of the range, which is relatively expensive for this segment. A 10 per cent discount applies if the package is purchased up front.

We’ll get to the front of the cabin shortly, but first, the business end.
Load space, load capacity and towing capacity are largely middle of the road in this competitive segment – positioning the Peugeot favourably when you consider what else is on offer.

Payload capacity is rated between 1000kg and 1300kg dependent on variant, while braked towing capacity varies between 1500kg and 2200kg.

The short wheelbase Expert offers a 2512mm load length, while the long wheelbase extends that figure to 2862mm. Then there’s the car-maker’s clever Moduwork system, which encompasses a removable flap on the cabin bulkhead to liberate an additional 1.16 metres worth of load length – ideal for pipes, hoses and conduit. On the LWB model, this extends overall load space to 4.02 metres.

All models promise 1258mm of width between the wheel arches – comfortably accommodating an Australian pallet – while load area height is rated at 1397mm, making the Expert amenable to motocross riders and plant or nursery transporters alike.

The load area is accessed via dual sliding doors and rear barn doors. Inside, there’s two interior lights and eight tie-down points, however, there are no grab rails to assist with entry/exit.

Up front, the Peugeot embraces its European charm with a comfortable and refined cabin fitout. There’s reach and tilt steering wheel adjustment, comfortable cloth chairs, an assortment of open storage cubbies and a neat clipboard/laptop holder integrated into the middle seat’s flip-down arm rest.

A big foam esky occupies the space under the middle seat, ideal for the day’s lunch, while dashboard-mounted cupholders team with large door pockets to accommodate coffees and oversized energy drinks alike.

Tech-savvy owners might take issue with the fact there’s only one USB point across the three-seat cabin, but otherwise, the Expert’s seven-inch screen and matching instrument cluster are clear, concise and easy to navigate.

The Peugeot loses some marks for the odd shortcut inside, like the ordinarily finished headliner and the lack of vanity mirrors. The interior plastics, hard-wearing and built for purpose, aren’t as soft as they could be either.

Furthermore, fitting three abreast across the front row seems like a straight-forward task given the Peugeot’s 2.01-metre girth. However, shoulder room can be left wanting if the outer pews are occupied by larger-set blokes.

Equally, the middle seat is severely restricted by the transmission console, which juts out from the dashboard and cuts into valuable knee room.

A point of difference from many of its rivals, the Expert is based on the same EMP2 architecture that underpins many of Peugeot’s passenger cars; offerings like the 308 small car.

With that in mind, there’s little surprise the Expert begins to approach the mannerisms of a car when unladen, with light electro-hydraulic steering that loads adequately through corners, admirable levels of body control for a van and decent bump suppression.

The front end is particularly well controlled when covering patchwork surfaces, and thankfully avoids any tendency to porpoise over bumps (a typical trait when you’re sitting above the front wheels).

With or without a load on board, the rear end of the Expert feels well controlled, recovering quickly from larger washouts and smoothening the edge off potholes and cat’s eyes. The rear’s leaf spring origins feel more pronounced in the LWB Expert, which tends to thud easily over harsher obstacles due in part to the additional mass over the rear and stiffer springs.

We cannot speak for how the Expert fares over an extended distance with a load on board, but a brief sampling reveals it feels well acquitted with 500kg riding in the back, maintaining balance and control.

The mid-spec 150 diesel engine appears an ample fit for the Expert, despite its Euro5 compliance and use of AdBlue additive. Developing 370Nm from a lowly 2000rpm, the turbo diesel mills feels largely devoid of lag and spins freely well into the mid-range.

The manual and automatic transmissions both offer a useable spread of ratios. The former does require quite a bit of shuffling in the city, but no matter, because the clutch take-up is light and the shift is smooth and predictable.

The Aisin-sourced automatic is equally smooth and well-timed in its shifts; a great accomplice in shifting the Pug’s 1900kg heft.

Irrespective of transmission choice, the diesel engine spins at a miserly 2000rpm at highway speeds, at which point outside noise is suppressed to adequate but not class-leading levels.

The safety assistance systems feel benign yet effective when in use on the open road; the active cruise control making smooth interventions, and the lane departure warning system helping to offset the unavoidable lack of rear vision imposed by the Expert’s slabby walls.

Back in the city, the Expert is a cinch to navigate through tighter obstacles, thanks to a relatively neat 12.4-metre turning radius, while its 1.93-metre height makes it feasible for most car parks.

The all roundedness of the Peugeot Expert is admirable. Not only does it attack the commercial space from a different angle, it should give long-time buyers an excuse to look beyond their traditional selections.

As the first model in the French car-maker’s new commercial onslaught, the Expert makes a compelling case.

How much does the 2019 Peugeot Expert cost?
Price: $36,490-$45,890 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 85kW/300Nm (BlueHDi 115), 110kW/370Nm (HDi 150), 130kW/400Nm (BlueHDi 180)
Transmission: Six-speed manual and six-speed automatic
Fuel: 5.2-6.4L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 137-168g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: N/A