Peugeot Partner Premium 2024 Review 

The 2024 Peugeot Partner, which Peugeot claims to be built for the 2025 model year, opens with the Partner Pro Short at $39,990. The Partner Pro Long is priced at $42,990, which is the same price for the Partner Premium Short. Upgrading to the Partner Premium Long will cost buyers $45,990. All prices quoted exclude on-road costs.

There is also the fully electric E-Partner, but no announcement has been made when a new ‘MY25’ model will come on line here. The E-Partner introduced in 2023 was available in one grade, based on the Pro Long, at $59,990 (plus ORCs), but currently now in runout at $49,990 drive away with few remaining at the time of writing.

Meanwhile, the new 2024 Peugeot Partner is priced around $2000 more than the outgoing MY23 Partner across each remaining spec variant. The entry $32,990 City manual is no longer offered, meaning the entree to Partner-ship is $7000 more than it was.

While prices are up (as is the tech and looks), the narrow competitor set in the light van segment is pitched at a similar dollar count for the new Partner; the new-for-2024 petrol Renault Kangoo starts at $38,990 for the SWB variant, rising to $43,990 for the LWB Kangoo. In the same vein, the Volkswagen Caddy comprises five diesel models ranging from $39,090 to $50,090. Volkswagen is yet to launch a light commercial EV, so the only new EV light van offered for now is the new Kangoo E-Tech EV for $61,990 in SWB and $63,990 as a LWB.

We reviewed the 2024 Peugeot Partner Premium Long with optional $690 Kiama Blue paint, for a total of $46,680 (plus on-road costs) as tested.

The 2024 Peugeot Partner offers cloth upholstery, remote central locking, trip computer, cruise control, Normal and Eco drive modes, dual sliding doors, three seats, overhead storage shelf and one-touch electric windows. New features include the e-toggle gearshift and paddle shifters.

The only factory option is metallic paint ($690), while the dealer fit accessory list is extensive, ranging from additional fixed rear windows, roof bars, towbar and more.

The Partner Premium as tested builds on the Pro specification with push-button start and keyless entry, dual-zone climate control, body colour rear bumper and door handles, black side body cladding and 16-inch ‘Taranaki’ alloy wheels. The Premium also has an additional 12v socket and LED headlights.

The Partner’s warranty cover is for five years/200,000km, and includes five years roadside assistance. Paint is covered for three years and corrosion perforation is covered by warranty for 12 years. Peugeot pay-as-you-go capped price servicing totals $2630 over five years, or $1900 pre-paid. You can also pre-pay for three years, at $1100, or four years for $1550. Service intervals are 12 months/25,000km.

New safety features introduced with the 2024 Peugeot Partner as standard on all models include blind spot detection, digital rear view mirror with lateral side view option, reversing camera with top-down view, auto high beam, rain-sensing wipers, front parking sensors and, on the Partner Premium only, LED headlights.

These are on top of carry over features, including Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), forward collision warning, blind spot detection, lane keep assist, driver attention warning, active lane keep assist, speed limit recognition and recommendation, speed limiter function, rear parking sensors, 180-degree rear-view camera, rear cross traffic alert and tyre pressure monitoring.

There’s no adaptive cruise control on offer, even as an option, and the rear-view camera now reverts automatically to a bird’s eye view when close to an object – making it harder to see how close you actually are. The digital rear-view screen cuts off vehicles following closely behind, which is not a big issue, and the option to show a side-view on this screen is helpful.

The Partner has been given a four-star ANCAP crash safety rating, dating back to 2018.

The new Partner offers much more technology than before, with a new configurable 10-inch 3D dash cluster and 10-inch centre infotainment screen, with wireless smartphone mirroring. Two USB-C charging ports are now also fitted in the lower centre dash area. Although the myriad menus and screen options are not immediately intuitive, it doesn’t take long to get used to working them out quickly. Having separate button controls for the climate controls (rather than embedded in the centre screen) is great, reducing driver distraction.

The 2024 Peugeot Partner range is equipped with the now familiar three-cylinder turbo-charged direct-injection Puretech 130 1.2-litre petrol engine, with a maximum 96kW at 5500rpm and 230Nm at 1750rpm. The powerplant is transversely mounted and drives the front wheels through an eight-speed conventional automatic transmission.

The 2024 Peugeot Partner sips fuel at a rate of 6.3L/100km on the combined cycle, and is fed from a 60-litre fuel tank. The engine requires premium unleaded (minimum 95RON), and offers an idle stop feature that can be switched off via the centre screen, although it automatically turns back on next time you start the vehicle.

We averaged 8.0L/100km on a mix of highway and urban driving, while a more concentrated urban driving period saw an average of 11.3L/100km.

It’s been a while since I have driven a Peugeot fitted with the Puretech 130 engine, and I’d forgotten how much character and useable torque this three-pot turbo offers. The Partner delivers responsive, accessible performance and a nice smooth thrum from the engine bay when revved.

The idle stop feature did take too long in some instances to restart the engine and also stopped the engine too quickly in some stop-start driving. After a few days of this, it became a regular practice to dive into the vehicle settings menu to turn off this feature each time the engine was started.

Ride quality is initially compliant but firms up over bigger bumps. It isn’t objectionable at all, however. Steering is responsive and direct, although clearly not as you’d expect from a well sorted sports car or hot hatch.

The near 4.8m length and 11.4m turning circle makes this a reasonably nimble city delivery van, although you’d go for one of the 4403mm-long Partner Short versions if load capacity isn’t so paramount and you often need to find a park in tight urban streets.

The carrying capacity is what these vans are all about, and the 2024 Peugeot Partner offers a decent compromise between cityscape use and load carrying capacity. The payload for the Premium Long we tested is shared with the Pro Long; that is 896kg.

The load dimensions are 2167mm to the bulkhead, or 3440mm with the bulkhead flap removed and passenger seat back lowered. Internal width and height measure 1243mm and 1527mm respectively. Between the wheel arches you get 1229mm width to play with, while the load capacity is 3.9 cubic metres, or 4.4 including through the bulkhead flap.

As for carrying or towing additional loads, there’s a 120kg roof rack load capacity, while maximum towing capacity with an optional towbar is 950kg (braked) or 740kg unbraked. Towball download is set at a maximum of 74kg.

The Partner has an SUV-like high driving position and is easy to get in and out for a long day’s delivery run. The controls are mostly simple to find — once you learn all the various menus — and the seats are supportive and comfortable.

There are multiple bins and trays to store all the stuff you need to keep handy, although the dash-mounted drink holder recesses at each end of the dash places your drink right under the windscreen — which is not so great on a hot day, unless you prefer a warm slug of watered-down cola with the ice cubes melted. At least there are bottle holders in the doors.

The centre seat is a great idea, allowing a plus-one to come along for the ride when necessary, and the centre seat back folds to reveal a handy work table, or else it can be used as an armrest.

The cargo area is accessed by the rear barn doors or a sliding door each side, and there’s also a handy tunnel boot arrangement on the kerbside passenger seat, allowing you to remove a section of the cargo divider, drop the passenger seat and load up long loads of timber or the like.

The 2024 Peugeot Partner is a good work van that provides an easy driving experience, a decent level of technology complemented by a convenient, well-apportioned load space in a small package. The idle-stop can get annoying in its slow response, the bird’s eye camera view during close parking is distracting and if your work day is spent in the city start-stop shuffle, fuel consumption can be a touch high.

2024 Peugeot Partner Premium Long at a glance:

Price: $46,680 (as tested, plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol
Output: 96kW/230Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 6.3L/100km
CO2: 142g/km
Safety rating: Four-star (ANCAP 2018)

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