Overview

The Peugeot Rifter is the French company’s alternative to the Citroen Berlingo Multispace and Vauxhall Combo Life, aiming to appeal to buyers who are falling out of love with traditional MPVs and swarming to SUVs. It’s planning to do this with the van-based Rifter, which has a more crossover-style to it than its Vauxhall and Citroen counterparts.

It’s available with a range of familiar PSA engines under the bonnet, and a choice of Standard or Long bodies, with room for seven passengers in both.

The Rifter is all about versatility and practicality, then, but does it do the job? And will it tempt buyers out of the likes of the Peugeot 5008 and Skoda Kodiaq?

The Rifter comes in two body lengths – Standard and Long – the latter of which adds an extra 35cm to the rear overhang, meaning more room for the third row of seats or an even more gargantuan boot (full sizes can be found in the Practicality section of this review).

Inside, the Rifter is packed with various storage areas as you would expect, with genuine room for seven on board the longer models.

It’s easy to get in and out of thanks to sliding rear doors, that higher ride height and seats that fold flat, and you’re able to configure the car in pretty much any way you like, freeing up as much space as you’d find in a commercial vehicle should you need to.

Features such as three Isofix points across the middle row of seats will be of particular interest to families, as will a large glass roof with storage area running the length of the cabin at the roof. According to Peugeot, there are 28 storage areas inside the cabin accumulating up to 186 litres of storage space – that’s more than the 108 city car’s boot space when optioned with a spare wheel.

As with its Citroen and Vauxhall cousins, the Rifter scored a respectable four-star crash test rating from Euro NCAP in 2018.

In the seven-seat Long version with all six passenger seats folded flat, there’s up to 4,000 litres of room on offer.

Read on for the full review.