Peugeot 508 SW Review 2024

The Peugeot 508 SW is the estate version of the sharply styled Peugeot 508 saloon. With a generous boot, it’s a practical choice, although not as big overall as a Skoda Superb Estate. The French firm hopes to rival the likes of the Audi A4 Avant and stylish Volvo V60, but there are some areas where the Peugeot 508 SW can’t match its upscale competitors. Read on for our Peugeot 508 SW review.

The Peugeot 508 SW is an attractive estate car that rivals the likes of the Skoda Superb and Volkswagen Passat.

Like the Peugeot 508 saloon, the Peugeot 508 SW is an attempt to move the brand upmarket – which explains why prices start at around £5000 more than for most equivalent rivals.

It certainly looks the part, thanks to its lower and sleeker design, while frameless doors are offered for the first time in an estate of this size. 

The interior feels equally special, taking a similar approach to the excellent Peugeot 3008 and Peugeot 5008, even if the build isn’t quite as impressive as the looks.

There’s Peugeot's trademark tiny steering wheel, a 10-inch wide HD touchscreen and a configurable 12.3-inch digital head-up display.

Toggle switches help it stand out, while plenty of soft-touch materials make it feel more premium than mainstream alternatives, although not quite in the same league as a Volvo V60 or Mercedes C-Class.

The Peugeot 508 SW’s 530 litres of boot space falls short compared to the Skoda Superb, but it’s a useful shape with easy access. Folding the rear seats, using Peugeot’s Magic Flat feature, is easy, should you need more space, and frees up a generous 1780 litres of space.

There’s a petrol engine or hybrid available, with even the lower-powered models offering more than adequate performance for a car of this type.

All are paired with a very good eight-speed automatic transmission. The plug-in hybrid – added in early 2020 – provides some company car appeal, emitting 23g/km of CO2, with claimed fuel economy of 274.8mpg and an all-electric range of up to 42 miles.

Few buyers will be convinced the 508 SW is a genuine alternative to premium brands – and, with top-spec models not too far off £50,000, it’s certainly a bold choice.

But it’s a good one, with an excellent interior and plenty of room for the family.

Fancy a second opinion? Read heycar's Peugeot 508 SW review.

We’ll start with the most important feature of the Peugeot 508 SW for many buyers: the boot.

It’s big, with 530 litres of capacity (up from 487 litres in the saloon). The Skoda Superb Estate might offer more room, but the Peugeot 508 SW’s boot compares favourably against premium rivals such as the Volvo V60, Mercedes C-Class Estate and Audi A4 Avant.

Not only is it a big boot, it’s also a very useful shape with easy access. There’s little in the way of a boot lip (aside from a small lump in the boot floor), and the rear wheelarches don’t impede into luggage space too much.

If you need more space, dropping the rear seats flat is easy, using a button located near the boot opening.

Rear passengers have a generous amount of room, with plenty of headroom for even tall adults, while legroom is reasonable – although those wanting to transport adults regularly might be better with an SUV.

Families are well catered for, with two Isofix fitting points for child seats on the rear seats. The rear windows are big and square offering a good view out, ideal for those wanting to protect children from travel sickness.

Up front, you’ll find comfortable seats and a futuristic looking cabin. Plenty of soft-touch materials means it does feel noticeably more upmarket than mainstream rivals.

On the face of it, the Peugeot 508 SW has all the style and appeal to give rivals from Audi, BMW and Mercedes a tough time.

Delve a little deeper, and you find some of the materials and build are not quite in the same league as the Germans, and certainly not on a par with the Volvo V60.

However, it all feels more than up to family use on a daily basis.

One bugbear is the navigation system, which is standard across the range. It’s slow to respond and requires delving into menus for simple tasks.

All models now have a 10-inch display, which at least looks the part, and they all come with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, allowing you to use your phone to bypass certain irritating functions of the media system.

It’s hard to see how the French company justifies the higher cost of the Peugeot 508 SW compared with rivals such as the Skoda Superb Estate or Volkswagen Passat Estate.

At the time of writing, the cheapest way into the French car is the 1.2-litre PureTech Allure model that costs from £35,370, while the GT version comes in at a shade over £38,000.

Go for the HYBRID model and the Allure’s price leaps to just shy of £45,000, while the GT rings the till at a faintly astonishing £47,640.

Even allowing for some keen deals on new models, the Peugeot 508 SW has ground to make up in its running costs to offset its high initial prices.

The 1.2-litre PureTech petrol that comes with an eight-speed automatic gearbox as standard turns in a combined economy of up to 50.0mpg, which isn’t bad. However, it's not a patch on the HYBRID’s 274.8mpg claimed combined average.

The HYBRID model also offers carbon dioxide emissions as low as 27g/km, which means free road tax. But you do have to pay the £390 surcharge for cars costing more than £40,000 new.

The petrol model emits 136g/km and pays £255 for road tax in the first year, and £180 after that.

Insurance groups range from 21 to 34 for the Peugeot 508 SW, while servicing will also be much the same as for the saloon, with Peugeot offering fixed price maintenance for up to five years and 60,000 miles.

The Peugeot 508 SW also comes with a three-year, 60,000-mile warranty as standard that can be stretched to five years and 100,000 miles.

The Peugeot 508 SW is a pretty good car to drive, handling well, without too much lean in bends, while the tiny steering wheel adds to the feeling of agility.

It does make it feel slightly nervous on the motorway, though, responding keenly to small inputs. This might become a bit tiresome on a long journey, but it’s something most drivers will get used to quickly.

With the standard suspension, the Peugeot 508 SW feels a bit fidgety on broken roads, struggling to smooth out bumps in the same way the Skoda Superb Estate does.

Peugeot’s active suspension is available on all but entry-level models, and is standard on higher-spec variants. This firms the suspension up if you select Sports mode, while Comfort or Normal modes makes it feel slightly floaty.

The differences are negligible, though, and we wouldn’t advise paying more for the adaptive suspension as an optional extra.

The plug-in hybrid Peugeot 508 SW – added in early 2020 – combines a 12kWh battery with an 80kW electric motor, providing a 32-mile range under electric power.

The batteries are located under the second row of seats to ensure there’s no compromise to space or practicality, while the power equivalent of 225PS made the hybrid the most-powerful Peugeot 508 SW on sale. 

That changed when the 360e version was added for the Peugeot Sport Engineered model.

The only other engine on offer in the Peugeot 508 SW now is the 1.2-litre PureTech petrol with 130PS. It might be a small engine for a car of this size, but it does a decent job and the standard eight-speed automatic transmission is blissfully smooth.

It’s not that brisk, taking 10.0 seconds to cover 0-62mph compared to 7.9 seconds for the 225e and just 5.2 seconds for the 360e hybrid version.

One clever gadget that’s available on the Peugeot 508 SW is night vision assist. This uses an infra-red camera to monitor the road ahead and detect pedestrians when it’s dark or visibility is reduced.

All models come with a reversing camera. Rear visibility is pretty poor, thanks to large pillars blocking your view and weirdly small door mirrors.

It’s no surprise to learn the Peugeot 508 comes with a five-star Euro NCAP score and did especially well for adult occupant protection.

With the 1.2-litre petrol model, Peugeot quotes a maximum braked trailer weight of 1330kg. With the 225 HYBRID model, you’re limited to 1320kg, while the 360e drops to 1290kg.

There is no figure quoted for an unbraked trailer for any Peugeot 508 SW model.

From November 2021, the range comprised three models, starting with the Peugeot 508 SW Allure that has heated and electrically adjusted door mirrors, reversing camera, automatic headlights and wipers, electric windows all-round and an updated front grille.

Inside, there’s the i-Cockpit, 10-inch infotainment screen with voice recognition, TomTom sat-nav and eight speakers.

The Peugeot 508 SW GT comes with the Driver Assist Pack Plus that includes adaptive cruise control with Stop and Go.

It also has a 360-degree parking camera, 18-inch Epherra alloy wheels, GT badging, aluminium trim inserts, half-leather and Alcantara upholstery, heated front seat and electric front seat lumbar and cushion adjustment.

At the top of the pile sits the Peugeot 508 SW Peugeot Sport Engineered model with its ‘Claw Effect’ light design front and rear, keyless entry and ignition and Active suspension with Comfort, Normal and Sport modes.

An uprated stereo is joined by Nappa leather upholstery and front seats with eight-way electric adjustment. On the outside, there are 20-inch alloy wheels and a front grille unique to this trim.

Up to November 2018, the trims were slightly different. 

The Peugeot 508 SW Active had Peugeot Connect SOS and assistance, safety pack (with advanced autonomous emergency braking, distance alert and lane keeping assistance), automatic dual zone climate control, rear parking sensors and a warning triangle.

There was also a leather steering wheel, cloth seats with manual adjustment, navigation, voice recognition, DAB radio , Mirror Screen (with MirrorLink, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), 17-inch alloy wheels plus the visibility pack with automatic headlights, automatic windscreen wipers, auto dimming rear view mirror and ‘follow me home’ headlights.

In the Peugeot 508 SW Allure there was have active suspension (on the 1.6 PureTech), safety plus pack (with active blind spot detection, advanced driver attention alert, smart beam assist, speed limit and road sign recognition), Peugeot i-Cockpit with 10-inch touchscreen infotainment display, keyless entry and push button start and power-fold door mirrors with a blind spot detection indicator.

There was also a rear armrest with ski flap and two cup-holders, front and rear parking sensors, a reversing camera, ambient interior lighting, front and rear carpet mats, electric front seat lumbar and base angle adjustment, heated front seats, leather seats, two rear USB sockets and 17-inch alloy wheels.

The Peugeot 508 SW GT Line came with self-levelling headlights, tinted windows, aluminium pedals, wireless phone charger, black door mirrors, chequered radiator grille with chrome trim, 18-inch alloy wheels, LED head and taillights and visibility pack (with frameless, auto-dimming rear view mirror).

With the Peugeot 508 SW GT, buyers got active suspension, drive assist pack plus (with adaptive cruise control and lane positioning assist), memory function for door mirrors, power folding door mirrors, smart electric tailgate, multi-way adjustable electric seats, massage seats, a premium speaker system and 19-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels.

At launch, the Peugeot 508 SW First Edition featured night vision, 360-degree colour camera system, fully automated parking assistance, Alcantara and part leather seat trim, stainless steel door sill scuff plates with ‘First Edition’ inscription, chrome chequered radiator grille with gloss black edge trim, plus 19-inch two-tone diamond cut alloy wheels.