£579.02
Monthly payment
£3,474.12
Initial payment
Peugeot 408
New from £32,095 / £419 p/m
Petrol or hybrid options
Automatic
Hatchback
5 seats
5 doors
Is the Peugeot 408 Hatchback a good car?
Read our expert review
Words by: Erin Baker
Additional words by: Catherine King
"SUV-coupes - SUVs with a sloping, sporty roofline - are now a thing. Spearheaded by premium models like the BMW X4 and Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe, the trend has caught on with more affordable alternatives like this Peugeot 408 and its sister car, Citroen’s C5 X. Available as petrol or plug-in hybrid, with electric to follow, the 408 is a very handsome, if less practical, take on the 3008 crossover. It now comes with two trim options Allure and GT."
3.5
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Running costs for a Peugeot 408
5/5
As ever, it depends largely on whether you choose petrol, hybrid or pure electric but, whichever you go for, Peugeot offers a very low cost of ownership model these days, partly thanks to massively improved reliability and less money spent at the service centre. The pure electric version, when it arrives, will give you by far the lowest running costs, but will be more expensive to finance. The plug-in hybrid versions (there’s a choice of 180 or 225 horsepower) may be the best blend of lower monthly payments and affordable running costs for those who can complete most of their daily journeys on the available electric range of up to 40 miles. Peugeot’s petrol version is also a winner here, however, because it’s a small 1.2-litre engine so sips fuel and should cost less to insure. The mild hybrid meanwhile promises to slightly better the petrol version’s efficiency for only a fractionally higher initial cost.
Reliability of a Peugeot 408
4/5
It used to be French brands suffered a reputation for poor reliability, but Peugeot has very much clawed its way out of that hole and is now one of the most dependable choices. Confusingly, if you compare multiple owner satisfaction and reliability surveys the picture is more mixed. For instance, we found one 2021 reliability survey pitching the 308 as the second worst car for reliability, but in 2023 Driver Power, an owner index, had Peugeot as a brand in ninth place for owner satisfaction feedback. At Auto Trader our editorial director bought a Peugeot five years ago on finance and hasn't had had a single issue, so we’re tempted to go with the positive stories here. The 408 shares its underpinnings with the 308 hatchback, and its petrol and hybrid powertrains with pretty much everything in the Peugeot/Citroen/DS/Vauxhall group so there should be zero nasty surprises here. You get the standard 60,000-mile/three-year warranty while the battery in the hybrids and pure electric version is covered by the industry-standard eight-year/100,000-mile warranty.
Safety for a Peugeot 408
5/5
The basic version of the 408 gives you lots of kit that competitors will make you pay for, especially the German premium competitors. All 408s get two lots of Isofix in the rear, dark tinted rear and tailgate windows, rear parking sensors and a reversing camera, lane-keep assist, emergency braking, cruise control and a driver-attention warning that beeps when it senses you’ve been driving too long and are not alert. Step up to GT trim and you also get lane positioning assist which keeps you in the middle of your lane. You’ll still have to pay extra for the 360 Visions & Drive Assist Pack which includes rear-cross traffic alert that pings if you’re reversing out into the path of an approaching car, adaptive cruise control, 360-degree cameras and long-range blind spot detection. Opting for these technologies give the 408 a very premium feel by taking much of the driving strain away from you. Accordingly, the return on investment for that extra monthly payment is worth it in spades.
How comfortable is the Peugeot 408
2/5
Uh-oh. In its quest for a slinky silhouette (box ticked) the 408 has massively compromised head height for rear-seat passengers. This is a natural problem with cutting into the roof line at the back, but competitors have managed to retain most of the space inside with sculpted rooflinings and other tricks. Peugeot has simply pulled the ceiling down and, in doing so, made the rear seats inaccessible for anyone over about 5ft 10in. Our poor colleague, who is admittedly 6ft 5in, couldn’t even unfurl his torso, let alone his neck. Your Auto Trader road tester is a mere 5ft 6in, but even she struggled to get in through the rear door, because the door frame is also pulled down in line with the roof. The second issue is the boot of the plug-in hybrid. Here you lose the depth thanks to the battery’s position so, while it’s long, it’s not deep enough for a car of this size. Go for the petrol version if that matters to you, or look before you buy. Otherwise, the car is commodious and wide, with lots of clever Peugeot storage solutions, and a very easy driving position thanks to Peugeot’s habit of putting the steering wheel below the digital display. In the range-topping GT model the steering wheel is heated, though you’ll need to pay extra if you’d like heated seats to match, but these also come with a massage feature.
Features of the Peugeot 408
5/5
Call us complete suckers, but boy, are we still swept away by Peugeot’s 3D revolving digital graphics in the instrument display, which we first saw on the e-208. It’s all just beautiful, combining multiple colours, slithers of dancing light captured in crystal-clear graphics and a choice of about four different displays, depending on what you find easiest and most helpful. With the exception of Mercedes’ MBUX technology which is equally innovative but in a more sombre way, Peugeot’s display feels like a graceful celebration of everything cars can show you now. It’s deeply satisfying to get in every time, switch the car on and watch it all twirl away. Every 408 owner also gets sat-nav, voice recognition and smartphone mirroring.
Power for a Peugeot 408
3/5
That 1.2-litre petrol engine sounds a bit raucous because its 130 horsepower has to work quite hard in a car this big. If you want good fuel economy above all else it’s the one to go for, though it feels underpowered in the 408. We’ve not driven the mild hybrid version yet, but we would wager it’s a similar story there too. The plug-in hybrid version exists as a Hybrid 180 or Hybrid 225, the number denoting the combined power of the battery and 1.5-litre petrol engine. We very much enjoyed the Hybrid 225 with that extra power, although you’ll see a slight drop-off in the claimed 40-miles electric range and the reality in our hands was more like 25-30 miles and a bit more in the 180. However, trying the 225 again more recently we were seeing range as low as 14 miles on a full charge. Admittedly it was a little cold, but it was hardly Arctic conditions, so the lack of efficiency felt rather disappointing. Perhaps this was a fluke, as we later managed 19 miles, but it’s worth bearing in mind if you were hoping to go further on battery power alone. Above all, though, like other Peugeots it has wonderfully light steering with a very tight turning circle, making it excellent for parking, and an eager power delivery that belies the low power outputs across the range.
Lease deals
These deals are based on terms of 8,000 miles, for a 36 month lease with a 6 months initial payment.
£610.27
Monthly payment
£3,661.62
Initial payment
£759.71
Monthly payment
£4,558.26
Initial payment
£791.73
Monthly payment
£4,750.38
Initial payment
Standard equipment
Expect the following equipment on your Peugeot 408 Hatchback. This may vary between trim levels.
Other vehicles in the 408 family
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