JAECOO 8 SHS-P (2026 - ) review

Jaecoo has been very successful positioning itself as a value for money brand, and British drivers have been voting with their wallets to the point the Jaecoo 7 is already a top-seller from basically a standing start. Can it pull the same trick in more premium circles? The jury is out, and while the Jaecoo 8 offers a lot kit for the money it doesn’t look quite the killer deal it might against more established alternatives like the Skoda Kodiaq,  Peugeot 5008, Hyundai Santa Fe or  Kia Sorento when comparing bottom-line prices. That is of course only part of the story when it comes to running costs, especially as most people roll finance or lease rates into the wider monthly ownership costs that really matter. On that score once on your driveway running costs for the Jaecoo 8 will depend on circumstance, the Super Hybrid system efficient enough to make visits to the pumps a rare occurrence, especially if you have facility to charge at home and spend most of your time on electric power. This contributes to the very low CO2 numbers, which will help company drivers with an eye to Benefit in Kind costs. ​

Jaecoos are so new to our roads most are still in the hands of first owners and well within their seven-year warranty periods, so if there are any inherent issues they should be dealt with by dealers. Certainly, the tech powering the Jaecoo 8 is well-proven and the wider Chery group of which it is a part has huge resources and engineering clout. So, we’ll take some confidence there. Just check the small-print of that warranty. Every such policy has its exclusions but the Jaecoo cover does have some surprising limitations.

Another example of best intentions not quite playing out as hoped, the Jaecoo 8 equipped with all the safety systems and driver aids you thought you wanted. But having experienced them might well be having second thoughts. Particular lowlights included random lane-keeping tweaks akin to your passenger randomly reaching across and grabbing the steering wheel for LoLs while cruising along the motorway. And just as annoying. Ditto speed limit alerts as tiresome for their intrusiveness as they are for constantly getting it wrong, and false alarms that had the emergency braking slamming on for parked cars. True, you can switch these systems off easily enough from a swipe-down on the main screen. But you shouldn’t have to. And the fact the instrument cluster hides the speedo out of view behind where your hands sit on the wheel suggests a worrying lack of attention to detail, the display instead serving you a cruide digital simulation of what you can see with your own eyes. True, there is a head-up display projecting the info onto the windscreen as well. But if there’s one piece of safety-critical information you need front and centre in your instruments it’s your speed!

Two main options here, given you can have your Jaecoo 8 in conventional seven-seat form with a regular bench in the second row or six-seat Executive trim as tested, this with two individual airline-style chairs in the middle. This also gets a significant upgrade in materials, with Nappa leather upholstery, suede headlining and more for a genuinely luxurious vibe that could – at a glance – pass for something much more expensive. This vibe is matched with a wafty, relaxing driving style with excellent refinement, light controls and soft suspension for those who prefer to chill at the wheel. Which, for a car like this, is probably the right call. Limited headroom in the back restricts the third-row seats to smaller kids rather than lanky teens or grown-ups but it’s good to have the option and they fold away when not needed to leave a decent sized (if shallow) boot. This and the luxury trimmings mean there are better family SUVs out there if your boot is typically used to carry muddy kit or dogs but each to theirs.

There are similarities to the ‘Safety’ score here, in that the Jaecoo 8 presents as very well-equipped and finished but with some annoying quirks in the user experience. These include having to exit CarPlay or Android Auto to do something as basic as adjust the heating, though in fairness Jaecoo is better than many rivals in retaining a decent selection of physical switchgear. For which we are grateful. The simple addition of a ‘home’ button for the infotainment would solve the above, meanwhile. Impressions of our Executive spec test car are otherwise favourable for the luxurious features it adds, these including a heated steering wheel, back-pummelling massage seats the middle row as well as for driver and front-seat passenger, power-operated doors and tons more. The regular Luxury version is hardly stingy in its equipment either, with power-adjustment for the front seats, a Sony speaker system, active noise cancelling, panoramic roof and lots more that rivals would charge extra for. In summary the Jaecoo 8 offers business class travel for the price of an economy ticket, a novelty that will surely go down well with those not troubled by badge snobbery.

The range of hybrid systems now available presents baffling options for car buyers, the good news being you don’t need to trouble yourself with the technicalities for the fact Jaecoo’s Super Hybrid System is very easy to use. And appreciate. It skews more to electrified than many, the petrol engine chipping in when necessary to keep the battery topped up or when you need maximum acceleration. But it does so without gatecrashing the party and, for the most part, the Jaecoo 8 glides more like an electric car than a partly petrol-powered one. The beauty being you can start a journey and with the combination of electric and combustion power not have to worry about fuelling or plugging in to charge for the next 600 miles or more. This and the 428 horsepower offer some very compelling figures for the number crunchers out there but the bigger takeaway is how little the stats really matter when the driving experience is so undemanding.
​