Faults:

7 months waiting for the car to show up to the dealer... and it ended up at another dealer an hour away from my house.

Wind noises when driving on the highway, automatic gearbox that hesitates to change gear, extremely annoying start and stop, and the ergonomics of the Flintstones car.

The car horn works sometimes, sometimes not, and if I insist, sometimes it starts squealing like a little pig being chased by a wolf.

Radar warning alarm will randomly set herself to maximum volume, giving the driver a heart attack just when you don't need it. Lowering the volume involves stopping the car, enabling the GPS, make the GPS talk and WHILE THE GPS IS TALKING, lowering the volume. Yep, you don't get it right the first time.

If you connect an iPhone to the infotainment system and you are able to make it work, please tell me how.

General Comments:

This car is made for someone that does not like cars. Impractical, panel fit is approximate, all plastic (including all the back of the car) and, while being the size of a VW Touran, the trunk size and cabin size is ridiculously small.

I am 1,90 and 130kg. For a man that size, the seating position is horrible. Too narrow and the seat base has this horizontal bar that hurts your legs.

The steering wheel is very small and very chubby. It just does not feel right in your hands.

There are chrome accents everywhere that give you reflections on the windshield.

The dashboard rattles while driving as if the car was 40 years old.

The cruise controls are totally hidden from view because of the small driving wheel.

Turning on or off fog lights requires you to stop the car, open the manual... wait, there is no car manual, you need to download an app for that... and do some research.

Faults:

All of the ABS wheel speed sensors have failed at one point.

Electronic handbrake has failed and has been replaced under warranty.

Air con resistor switch (I'm not precise about the terminology) also failed under warranty.

That's it.

General Comments:

You wouldn't think that a humble Peugeot 3008 would stand out for its reliability, low cost of running, a perfectly matched engine and transmission, and even handling, but it does!

Our family previously has a 2005 Mazda 3 2.0R as a benchmark for handling and sportiness, but that car I felt always lacked a good enough heart to maximise its chassis and suspension. The 3008 fulfils the promise of the former, even though it is based on the Peugeot 307!

While quite an oddball to look at from the outside (it looks like they took a 307 and stretched it vertically), once you enter the car, everything makes sense: the taller frame allows for a perfectly comfortable seating position for all passengers while not occupying too large a footprint, the relatively low centre of gravity allows for excellent handling, and the quality of the cabin surprises many with its Audi R8-inspired dashboard and excellently cosseting front seats.

With the 2.0 HDi engine with 120 kW and 340 NM of torque paired with an Aisin 6-speed automatic gearbox, you get one of the most flexible yet frugal powertrains in modern cars. Quieter and more refined than the EA188 and 288 VW engines, it can be mistaken for a petrol engine by some! It's very easy to overtake nearly any car on the expressway up to 130 km/h, but still returns 10km/l in mixed urban and highway driving. FYI, Metro Manila has some of the worst traffic in the world, so having a 2.0 liter displacement car that makes those numbers is impressive!

The leather wrapped and flat-bottomed steering wheels makes promises that the car actually keeps. Steering feel is balanced from stable high-speed cruising to rapid switchbacks in mountain driving. Despite the relatively tall height of the car I feel this handles better than some (non-sport suspension equipped) German sedans.

A flexible multi-level loading bay and ergonomic cruise control and radio control buttons round off the experience for me. Despite the initial apprehension you get about not being able to see the buttons, I quickly found that controlling the cruise control and radio become second nature as you can operate the controls entirely by touch.

Despite the fact that the new 3008 was released in 2018 here in the Philippines, and is highly impressive in its own right, I don't feel bad about hanging on to ours. That's how much I love the car.