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A car given which doused it's hair in stilling gel, put on a cheap tracksuit and tried to pass on as a cool car. This is what the Peugeot 208 A9 wants to be when it shows up to take your money and a few years of your life through ownership.

All the hysteria begins in 1983 with the launch of the Peugeot 205, a small, simple and fantastic car. Then came the 206 and 207, which were small and simple cars, but quite not fantastic. Not even average.

 And now in the modern era Peugeot is trying to keep the supermini relevant by showing us the Peugeot 208 A9. They have definitely achieved something there with the GTi version which really brings back the old and glorious Peugeot 205 GTi and you can see that the french really tried.

And the regular, day to day versions?

Those unfortunately weren't tried for enough. The charm of the old 206 was that you had a cheap and cheerful car for the urban jungle. For the sort of person who doesn't know anything about cars and doesn't want to bother knowing about cars. The kind of person who is seriously thinking about LPG conversions to save money on fuel, and who searches for 2 weeks through auto parts stores to get the lowest price. He is not interested in the quality of the parts as much as he is interested in the price. For the Peugeot 208 A9 owner, the car should take him from point A to point B as cheaply as possible. The problem is that a Peugeot 208 A9 costs 14,000 euros new, whilst a Dacia Sandero used to cost 60% of that. But forget the Sandero, UK's cheapest car, a Suzuki Swift costs just slightly above the 10 grand mark. The Hyundai i20, the segment leader in supermini world of 2020, starts at 11 grand. In fact, with the money you spent on a Peugeot 208 A9, you could buy an i30 or a Duster, possibly even both.

Therefore, you have to be a very dedicated person with a constant fetish with garlic sticks in order to buy a new Peugeot 208. Or maybe you have Gerard Depardieu's portrait in your bathroom and he encourages you to buy french. But if we buy it used? Is it worth it tho?

Peugeot 208 A9 Engines

Petrol

• 1.0 VTi EB0 with 68 horsepower - It's good that they put only 68 horses and not 69, otherwise you would be hoping for something good to come out of it. It's hard to believe that there are engines slower than the old 1.9 SDI from VW, but here we are. If you take it to walk around town at 40 km/h, it's an ok engine. But that's it.


• 1.2 VTi EB2F of 82 and 110 horsepower – This little prince of an engine ruined the reputation of Peugeot and Mini, being developed by Peugeot and BMW. Legend has it that with the Peugeot 208 1.2 PureTech you also get a complementary t-shirt with your picture, address and number in case you get lost, a complementary lollipop and a helicopter hat


• 1.4 VTi EP3 of 95 horsepower - You have the same mechanical issues, but less problems in general. And at 95 horses we are already talking about something else. We have already advanced from the pogo-stick to the electric scooter and here you have the most balanced engine available on the Peugeot 208 A9, even with it's timing chain premature wear.


• 1.6 VTi EP6C of 120 horsepower – An excellent engine for the Peugeot 208 A9 but which costs so much that you'd might aswell go straight for the GTi version. If you still stay with the aspirated version, you will have to occasionally feed it with coil packs and complementary timing chains.


• 1.6 THP EP6DT Turbo of 155, 200 and 208 horsepower – The sensational engine on the Peugeot 208 GTi pays homage to old school hot hatches. Just make sure to take care of the premature timing chain stretch and otherwise you will have fun that will make you stop at every gas station bathroom. With napkins, hand soap and an open mind.
  

Diesel

• 1.4 e-HDI DV4 of 68 horsepower – Ideal for moving a wheelbarrow, this proper midget of an engine comes with big ideas to topple the big boys of the automotive world. Unfortunately, it is so microscopic that it overheats when it tries to move faster than 2 miles an hour.


• 1.5 HDi DV5 of 102 horsepower – Launched 2 minutes before the official retirement of the Peugeot 208 A9, this engine is meant to be the reliable replacement of the 1.6 HDi. Fairly reliabile and economical engine, although the very first engines came with a timing chain which was too thin and it rattled and wore much faster than it should've. Realistically the timing chain has been replaced with a larger, sturdier one in the meantime, but you never know. An average, peppy, economical engine in general but not quite suited for the city life as the modern emissions devices such as EGR and DPF will get you.


• 1.6 HDi DV6 of 75, 100, 102 and 120 horsepower – Retired in 2019 by the 1.5 HDi, this is the end of the line for one of the worst engines in the automotive industry. An engine that single-handedly ruined the reputation of Peugeot, Volvo, Ford and Mini. IN 2020 however most of the issues are solved and it should be a decent engine.
  

Peugeot 208 A9 Reliability Issues

• "Oh snap!" - said the parking brake cable which can fail and you can remain stuck in the parking lot. Unfortunately, it's a classic scenario of "it happens" and you will have to leave by taxi to work and the car will have to leave on the towtruck's flatbed.


• The front coilovers are built of smiles and hope and they wear out faster than my patience at work on the first day after vacation.


• The intake manifold gets clogged, a scenario valid for all direct injection petrol engines. Moreover, there is a more serious issue with the VTi engines. The camshaft has a play of up to 0.5 mm and this ultimately leads to the destruction of the engine. The problem was found with the 1.2 PureTech engine, but it is good to check the status with the other engines as well. After all, it is an engine made by the French in collaboration with BMW, there is no way it will turn out well.


• For diesel engines, be very careful with the oil change interval. Besides that, the oil pump usually has a habit of failing.


• And because the French are not racist at all and do not discriminate against anyone, the electrically operated water pump could not be ignored, as a result it does not always start. Not much of an issue on short distance city driving, but on a longer drive it might fail.


• The 2-Tronic robotic automatic gearbox proved to be a failure, as is with pretty much every robotic gearbox from every other French manufacturer. Isn't that Dacia?


• Next onto the alternator which has a habit of not charging the battery and leaving you stranded in the parking lot. As with the parking brake, you will have to take a taxi into town. Kind of a theme going on here. 


• Last but not least, the infotainment system is based on an operating system used on ancient 486 computers and has a tendency to freeze / reset / close. This means that you are left without satnav, without display, without media, without music, without hope for life, you are left only with the regrets that YOU SPENT SO MUCH MONEY ON A PEUGEOT LEMON.

Peugeot 208 A9 Verdict

The Peugeot 208 A9 proves that you can make bad cars even when you play in the segment where you theoretically make simple, cheap and reliable cars and play it safe. And this can be seen in the number of sales on the used market, but also from the fact that a Peugeot 208 has a price comparable to that of the Sandero from the same year, even if the new purchase price was almost double.

Which engines do I recommend? It's hard for me to believe that there will be too many people who will use a Pug 208 for the long drive. So I will recommend the 1.4 VTi 95 horsepower petrol engine, and if you somehow have to drive a diesel, then the 68 hp 1.4 e-HDi is for you.