Peugeot 508 Fastback GT 1.6 PureTech 225 EAT8 auto S&S 5d Owner Review

We purchased a 68 plate Peugeot 508 Fastback in December 2019. The car is GT Spec with optional red Pearlescent paint, night vision and sunroof. With 8500 miles on the clock and one owner the car was priced at just under £25,000. With regards to design, my personal view is that the car is stunning. On roads that’s are congested with grey SUV’s this red fastback really stands out and is a true head turner. From the front, a large chrome plated grill, with “508” stamped proudly on the bonnet and black detailing sits proudly between two fang like day running lights that flow into aggressive, slim LED headlights and merge into bold lines, sweeping roof line and sharp creases that flow along the body of the car into wide haunches at the rear. This blends seamlessly into a gloss black LED light bar which reaches either end of the rear and is complimented with modern lighting that dances across the bar when you unlock the car. This is enhanced by a gloss black diffuser, gloss black wing mirrors, dark tinted windows and black glass roof which add to the aggressive sporty styling and give the car an overall appearance of being planted, muscular and ready to launch into action. It’s finished with 19-inch diamond cut alloy wheels that suit the car perfectly. Once you step inside the car the class leading design continues. The seats are upholstered in real leather, black, with a diamond pattern. They are big, comfortable and fantastically supportive. In this trim, they also benefit (driver and passenger) from being electric (driver’s memory), heated, massaging, electric lumbar support and extendable thigh support, even taller drivers can get comfy easily. I’m 6 foot and a friend in the passenger seat had no issues at 6 foot 7 inches. The massage function is truly fantastic and has a range of options and pressures. The dashboard has a two-step cockpit design upholstered in faux carbon fibre, leather and gloss Black trim. At the Centre is a 10-inch touch screen with piano style short cut keys and touch sensitive keys for quick access to heated seat settings, demister and stop/start functions underneath. In front of the driver is a high definition fully digital instrument cluster, set higher than in a typical car with a small go-kart like steering wheel which you look over rather than through. This is fitted with some short cut buttons, chrome effect paddle shifters and a cruise control stick. The Centre console benefits from a concealed wireless charging pad with ambient lighting – in my opinion perfectly positioned to reduce distractions caused by mobile phones – out of sight out of mind, two USB points, two cup holders with ambient lighting rings, smaller cubby next to the gearstick with a 12V socket and a decent sized arm rest with split opening cubby. In addition, there is a glove box, but this is next to useless due to the fuse box not being moved over to the driver side when it was converted for right hand markets. In the rear there are two USB points, air vents and centre arm rest with two cup holders. The rear bench also has Isofix points, they are neatly hidden away under zips, but these are stiff and difficult to access. There are decent door bins in the front with blue ambient lighting strips across the door and adequate bins in the rear. For some reason in Europe they have fitted ambient lighting to the length of the dashboard which is absent from UK cars and is somewhat disappointing. There is no ambient lighting at all in the rear, which is again disappointing as it is very dark with black leather, black roof lining and dark windows, not ideal for children. Peugeot also offer other materials in lieu of the gloss black in Europe, which would be preferable as the gloss black is susceptible to scratches, dust and fingerprints. The nets on the back of the front seats aren’t the largest and feel a little cheap. However, overall everything is solidly put together with soft touch materials everywhere and a reassuring clunk when you shut the doors. To the rear, the large boot is electrically operated with gesture operation. In the boot are 4 tether points, a carrier bag hook and 12v socket. With the seats folded down the 508 offers plenty of space and an almost flat loading bay. There are no clever storage spaces in the boot but there is a space saver spare wheel. The boot is large enough to accommodate a medium sized dog and pushchair together. It would not suitable for a large dog to be able to sit up in due to the sloping boot. This car is packed full of technology; automatic parking, adaptive cruise control, automatic lights and wipers, spotlights, cornering lamps, auto dip main beam lights, auto dimming rear view mirror, auto dimming and power folding heated wing mirrors which dip in reverse, front and rear parking sensors, front and rear cameras, night vision, apple car play, android auto, voice control, dual zone climate control, keyless entry and ignition, navigation, individual profile settings, a fantastic Focal sound system with a sub in the boot, connected apps and customisable instrument cluster. All of this is very impressive but it not without fault. At the time of writing this review there is a known “glitch” with the climate control system. When set to mono, so both sides are set at the same time, you have to switch the mono function on and off manually every time the car is switched on and off or it won’t allow you to adjust the temperature. The system can be laggy for the first couple of minutes, you must wait for it to fully load as all the cars functions are controlled through it. The automatic parking function is very clever, but in all honesty is only suitable for quiet roads and car parks as the process is a bit of a faff. The system can be a little over complicated with lots of menus and sub-menus, but once it is set up how you want it, it is easy to use and works very well. It would be nice to have more options linked to individual profiles such as personalisation of the instrument cluster and radio settings. It would be better if these were linked to each key rather than being something you need to select through the screen. Apple car play and android auto work well with the system. It would be good if you could use the project the navigation onto the instrument cluster in lieu of the Peugeot Tom Tom system. There is nothing wrong with the Tom Tom system supplied by Peugeot, guidance is clear, fluid and utilises traffic information well, but after three years there is a fee to keep it updated and when I updated maps, it took 50 minutes to install a 17 GB update that required the car to be left running, I couldn’t lock it either! Another oversight we noticed is the auto wipers can’t be adjusted. Most of the time they get it right, but occasionally they go wild and this can’t be adjusted with anything other than manual operation – they also neglected to fit a single wipe function so you have to turn them on and off to wipe the windscreen. Finally, the cameras are a little low definition but work well enough. Due to its position the rear camera could benefit from either being retractable or equipped with air/water nozzle to clean it in bad weather. These minor oversights aside, the system is very good and instrument cluster is clear and concise. Front wheel drive, 8 speed automatic gearbox and a 1.6 turbo petrol with 225 brake horsepower. Wow! What a surprise! The adaptive suspension and choice of driving modes genuinely shift the way the car drives. In eco mode it is firm but comfortable, provides reasonable response for day to day driving when accelerating and can easily achieve in excess of 55 MPG on the motorway. In comfort mode you can enjoy a very supple ride with improved throttle response and a very small sacrifice in MPG. Click it into sport mode, and everything changes – it holds the gears right to the top of the rev range, the exhaust sounds fantastic, then when you put your foot down it pushes you into your seat as firmer suspension settings help keep you planted and gripped, even in the sharpest of bends. It is truly a remarkable engine with a still and well-balanced chassis. This is a car that will give any equivalent German car a run for its money. It’s fun, dynamic, comfortable and capable to adapting to country roads, driving around town and cruising down the motorway in the quiet and well insulated cabin. On the motorway, the adaptive cruise control combined with semi-autonomous functionality makes for relaxed and easy driving. Generally, it keeps you in lane and adjusts speed with ease in traffic. Occasionally, the lane keep assist can be excessive, but this generally limited to when being used off the motorway and can be deactivated by a simple button on the dashboard. To conclude, the car isn’t perfect, no car is, but it is certainly very close. There are some niggles and oversights Peugeot ought to get sorted, in reality the computer systems are not as refined as those in the Audi A5, but for the price difference, they are a very close second. Overall, the car is balanced, practical, fun and comfortable. As a second hand buy it is great value and with innovations like night vision – this is a game changer for safety and convenience, especially in fog, Peugeot is really stepping up its game. Although the sloping roof line is a little inconvenient for those passengers in the back who are over 6 foot, the car is comfortable and does everything you need it to do. I would highly recommend this car for both families and professionals, short journeys or commuters and needs to be experienced to believed.