FAMILY CAR REVIEW: 2021 PEUGEOT 3008

How big is the boot of the 2021 Peugeot 3008?

The Peugeot 3008 has a practical shape and size boot. The boot floor drops down about 10cm which makes a big difference when fitting most modular prams that you have to stack up.

From empty, it would hold twelve shopping bags, that's two less than the 2021 Hyundai Tucson (review coming soon), one less than the Mazda CX-5 and the same as the VW Tiguan.

A twin pram or stroller fits in the boot of the Peugeot 3008 and you'd have enough room above for a bassinet attachment.

The tandem stroller fits in the boot of the Peugeot 3008 with five shopping bags.

The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Bub’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.

Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.

I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.

A single pram or stroller fits in the boot of the Peugeot 3008 with four shopping bags beside it.

A compact stroller fits in the boot with nine shopping bags beside it.

The boot floor of the Peugeot 3008 is nice and flat, making it good for an emergency nappy change and good for transporting the family pet dog, you could fit a medium-size dog in the boot if you took the parcel shelf off.

There are little plastic storage wells behind the wheel arches too, which are good for separating wet items into after the park or beach and there is a 12V power socket on the left-hand side of the boot too.

How good is storage inside the Peugeot 3008?

Storage in the cabin of the 2021 Peugeot 3008 is good too; there are two cup holders in the central console they are both a good size to hold a reusable and a disposable coffee cup.

Behind them, the central console storage box is a good, deep size (great for holding a collection of in-car toys!) and there is a rubber-lined tray in the top too.

Beside the gear lever is a little storage well for keys etc.

In front is a cordless phone charging well and a 12V and USB socket is in there too.

The glove box is small; it would only hold my wallet or phone fitted in there with the manual, an iPad would not fit.

The door bins in the front will hold a large refillable water bottle and an iPad fits in them too.

In the back, the door bins are smaller, they will hold a 600ml water bottle and an iPad fits too and the handles act as little storage wells in the back, which is great for storing little distractions in when buckling Bub into their harness.

There are now net map pockets on the back of both front seats in the 2021 Peugeot 3008 that will hold but not conceal an iPad. There is a small shelf below the rear air vents in the back of the central console box and two USB sockets there which is great for rear charging.

In a fold-down armrest in the central seatback, there are two cup holders, they are a good size for a disposable or reusable coffee cup.

How noisy is the Peugeot 3008?

The 2021 Peugeot 3008 is a nice, quiet BabyDrive. The media screen is nice and big, controlled using the silver paddles below it on the central dashboard to select menus and then the touch screen.

I found it easy to use the paddles while driving and got used to them very quickly.

The Peugeot 3008 has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, making connecting your phone and using it while driving nice and easy.

Within the media system you have sat-nav…

…also climate controls and media…

…as well as being able to customise a lot of the driving functions like turning the parking sensors on and off, and the vehicle settings.

The reversing camera image is small on the screen and pixelated which was the only letdown in the Peugeot 3008.

It does have a handy bird's-eye view as well, and you can change the main view, which both help when manoeuvring.

Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!

That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.

If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?

It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?

A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.

Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!

I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.

Road and engine noise is good in the Peugeot 3008, there is the usual engine sound when going uphill but nothing baby-waking.

The windows in the Peugeot 3008 can be locked from the driver's door control panel and I found they are pretty quiet and would not disturb small sleeping passengers when opening and closing them.

There is a child lock button by the driver's right knee to lock the rear windows and doors.

The doors in the 3008 are lovely and quiet to open and close and would not disturb a sleeping Bub. You can come to a stop with the engine still running and get out of the car without sounding any alarms.

Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!!

So this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (I only stand outside the car, I am not a bad mother!!)

There is a seatbelt removal alarm with a really good visual in the ceiling (where a sunglasses case would usually be) for both the front and rear seatbelts.

How many child seats fit in the 2021 Peugeot 3008?

There are three top tether anchorages in the back of the 3008's rear seat backrests. The outer two are clearly marked, though they are not within plastic guides and tucked behind the seat back fabric. They are nice and easy to connect to.

The central top tether anchorage is a D-shaped metal loop, that is labelled with a tag.

There are ISOFix points in the two outer rear seats. They are not within plastic guides but are nice and easy to connect to due to the way Peugeot has shaped the seat fabric around them, a lovely detail.

The rear seat base is nice and flat and wide, which makes installing child seats easier.

I could fit three child seats in the back seat of the Peugeot 3008. This time I tried a combination of rear-facing and forward-facing child seats as I had already confirmed when I tested the previous model 3008 that three forward-facing child seats fit in the Peugeot 3008.

The front passenger seat folds down, giving great access to step through to the rear seats and legroom is great in the Peugeot 3008. With a rear-facing child seat installed there was room for a 180cm driver in front of it.

We found space felt quite cramped in the back of the 3008 as our week went on but space when posting Bub into their child seat and taking them out was good.

Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!

There is plenty of room to feed bub in the back if you only have one child seat installed.

How comfortable is the 2021 Peugeot 3008? And How good is the Peugeot 3008 to drive?

In the front of the Peugeot 3008, the seats are very comfortable I love how shaped they are so they feel nice and snug. They are upholstered with quilted leather panels in the GT model I tested. The quilting will be a little trickier for keeping clean from kids' crumbs and spills but for keeping mummy comfy they are good!

The headrests are not adjustable backwards ad forwards and I found I couldn't have a ponytail in the driver's seat.

I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get this ponytail just right too… said no new mum ever!!!

For a mum travelling in the back with bub, the seats are comfortable at the sides. I could feel the fold-down armrest in the central seatback.

The central footwell only has a really low hump, unlike most cars, which is great for resting your feet on and makes moving between the rear seats easier.

For the first year of Bub’s life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Bub so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!

The steering wheel is nice and slim, so it fits very comfortably in your hands and I love the slightly different shape and lower positioning of it, making for a really comfortable driving position. The steering wheel is fully adjustable in/out and up/down.

The cruise controls are on a stalk behind the steering wheel on the left-hand side. You can't see them at all while driving and that makes them quite hard to use at the start but they soon become second nature.

There are four air-conditioning vents across the front dashboard; two central ones and another at either end.

The air-con controls are within the media screen and nice and easy to use while driving, better than many cars with this system but I'd still prefer old-school buttons and dials!

There are two air vents in the back of the central console box for rear passengers as well, I found I could reach those while driving and there are two USB sockets here too for rear connectivity.

There are carpet floor mats throughout the Peugeot 3008 and in the back footwell it is one long mat.

The rear interior lights are located centrally at the back of the ceiling. They are too far back to reach from the driver's seat while driving. There are handles above both rear doors that are great for hanging a toy from for little rear-facing passengers.

I have found Bub does not like travelling in the dark in the car so if it gets dark whilst travelling then I reach back and turn the interior light on for her. So it’s really important for me that I can reach the rear ceiling light.

Also if I am traveling home and it is getting near to bed time and I DEFINITELY DON’T want her to fall asleep in the car as even a five-minute nap in the car means bed time is all over!!!! I lean back and pop the light on so it’s not dark and try to keep her awake!! Along with screaming/singing at the top of my voice!!!

It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.

Visibility in the Peugeot 3008 is quite good. When loaded up with three child seats, the rear vision is compromised but the side mirrors are good for overcoming that. However, the rear-view camera image isn't as good as it could be.

One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Bub has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread parking new cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the Peugeot 3008 was easy to park.

Aesthetically the Peugeot 3008 looks and feels like a great five-seater SUV. It is just the quality of the reversing camera image that lets it down a little. I know you are not supposed to have favourites with your children but I LOVE its younger sibling the Peugeot 2008 and older sibling the Peugeot 5008 both a little bit more!

How safe is the 2021 Peugeot 3008?

The Peugeot 3008 scored a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2017.

Scoring a total of 86% or 32.9 out of 38 for adult occupancy. Broken down into 7.47 out of 8 for the full-width frontal crash test, 6.99 out of 8 for the frontal offset test. Full marks for the side impact test, 7.92 out of 8 for the pole test and 2.50 out of 3 for the whiplash test.

For Child Occupancy protection the Peugeot 3008 scored 42 out of 49 which is 85%.

Six airbags come as standard; there is are dual frontal airbags and front side airbags and side head curtain airbags for the front and the rear side passengers.

As standard, all models of the Peugeot 3008 come with seat belt pre-tensioners in both the front seats and rear outboard positions, anti-lock braking system (ABS),  automatic headlights,  daytime running lights (DRL), hill launch assist, electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), electronic stability control (ESC), emergency brake assist (EBA), emergency stop signal (ESS), fatigue reminder, lane departure warning (LDW), reversing collision avoidance camera, speed assistance – automatic / intelligent speed limiting (ISA), speed assistance – manual speed limiting speed assistance – speed sign recognition traffic sign recognition, tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) all come as standard.

Available on some variants are adaptive cruise control (ACC), autonomous emergency braking (AEB) for the city, Interurban and VRU, automatic high beam, blind spot monitoring (BSM), forward collision warning (FCW), lane keep assist (LKA).

Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Bub’s asleep!