Peugeot 308 S HDi 90 Review & Road Test part 2

We continue our review / road test of the Peugeot 308 S

The 308 range as a whole can stretch north of £22,000 as a base price, which is far too much money for what’s on offer. But this car – the Peugeot 308  S HDi 90 – comes in at a more reasonable £16,955. Our car did have a few extras thrown at it - metallic paint (£410) and SatNav (£715) – which pushed it up over £18k. Which does make it far from the cheapest in its class.

But at least the standard equipment levels are decent. The 308 S gets AirCon, electric windows, remote locking, a decent radio and CD and ESP. So although our car has a couple of extras the standard kit is far from feeble.

Where you will feel the value is at the fuel pumps. This 308 averages out a 62mpg – although we only averaged 58mpg – which for a decent-sized family car is hard to argue with. Not only is the 308 frugal at the pumps, it manages to chuck out just 120g/km of CO2, meaning you have the princely sum of just £35 a year for road tax.

So the 308 is frugal on daily running costs and around the same sort of money – once you take in to account the spec – as the competition. But what about residuals. Well, if you’re averaging at 10,000 miles a year your nice shiny new 308 S will be worth £5,300 in three years time. A comparable Golf – the 1.6 TDI S – will be worth £7,525 from a similar starting price and a Focus – the 1.6 TDCi Style – would be worth £5,200 from a starting price of over £19k (although no one would really pay that).

So the Peugeot does better than the Focus but not as well as the Golf, although the Golf would need speccing up to match the 308 for toys. I think we’ll call it a draw

So there’s nothing in it on running costs – either depreciation or residuals – worth taking in to consideration. So it’s a subjective one. And actually there is a lot to recommend the 308 as a family car. It’s easy to drive, probably more comfortable than most of the competition and as well built. It won’t set the world on fire, but then quite honestly nor does the Golf or Focus at this level of trim and engine.

To our surprise and delight we found the Peugeot 308 S HDi every bit as good a car as the equivalent Focus or Golf. In many ways, as a family runabout with no pretences, its comfort could actually make it a very good choice.

Not a result we were expecting.

Full Peugeot 308 S HDi 90 specification, data and price

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By Cars UK