By Jonathan Crouch
Introduction
It's easy to see the appeal of a van-based mid-sized MPV. You get a lot more space than a more car-like People Carrier of similar size - and for a lot less money. You can also see though, why customers steer away from utilitarian models of this sort. Who wants to look like a delivery driver? So what if you could have a five or seven-seat vehicle of this kind with car-like looks and LCV-based versatility? That's what Peugeot's Rifter set out to provide. Here, we look at the combustion versions of this model sold between 2018 and 2020.
History
So, would you buy a van-based MPV? Once, not very long ago, the idea of strapping your offspring into the back of something designed for parcels and plumbing equipment seemed a little odd but, as with so many things, time has brought much greater acceptance of the idea. It helps of course that the product has become much more car-like. Take, as an example, Peugeot's offering in this segment, the Rifter, first launched in combustion form back in 2018.
This was that French maker's version of the third generation version of Citroen's hugely successful Berlingo mid-sized People Carrier, so even if you haven't heard the name before, you can rest assured that you're buying into a well established product. This Rifter also shared its engineering with Vauxhall's offering in this sector, the Combo Life.
Thanks to SUV styling cues and this smart, sharky front end, you won't be immediately pigeon-holed as a delivery driver when you drop the kids off at school. Nor does the interior feel particularly utilitarian. And there's just as much camera-driven safety tech and media connectivity as you'd get in any modern family hatch from this period. Certainly more than you'd find in other significant van-based mid-sized MPV models in this sector from this time like the Ford Tourneo Connect and the Volkswagen Caddy Life.
As with those competitors, this Peugeot offered a choice of short and long wheelbase body shapes and five or seven-seat interior configurations. Plus, to distance itself from its in-house Citroen and Vauxhall rivals, this car adopted its brand's more focused 'i-Cockpit' instrument binnacle design. It was all a decent step forward from Peugeot's previous contender in this segment, the Partner Tepee, which launched in 2008 to replace the previous Partner Escapade and sold until the launch of this Rifter in mid-2018. You probably won't remember those two models, but there's a fair chance that buyers in this sector looking for a small used MPV might take a good bit more notice of this one. In 2020, Peugeot discontinued sales of the combustion version of this Rifter, limited this model to a full-electric powertrain.
What You Get
Peugeot reckoned that this Rifter would bring 'dynamism' to the van-based mid-sized MPV segment, which was over-stating things a bit but at first glance, this MPV was certainly a little more visually interesting than practical products of this kind had previously tended to be. The distinctive Peugeot family nose borrowed from the sharky look pioneered by the second generation 508.
From the side, you might pick up the designers' intention to give this model something of an SUV vibe, delivered courtesy of heavily emphasised strangely indented wheel arches, substantial swathes of black plastic lower cladding and standard roof rails. It all creates a chunky, Tonka toy-type vibe suggesting that this Rifter might be up for the odd adventure. Peugeot offered buyers not only a 4.4m 'Standard' body shape but also an alternative 4.75m 'Long' body style which was intended to deliver a lot more space for those wanting to get their Rifter fitted out with a third seating row.
Inside up front, quite a few changes were made over previous models that Peugeot had offered in this segment. One area of distinct improvement lay in the area of infotainment, courtesy of a large 8-inch capacitive centre-dash screen which came fitted above entry-level trim. Slightly more intriguing though, was the other key enhancement, this one applicable to all models - the brand's much talked-about so-called 'i-Cockpit' design, which used a much smaller little three-spoke wheel. You view the dials over the top of its rim, rather than conventionally through its spokes.
We've saved arguably the best bit though, until last: cabin practicality. If you were to add up the capacity of all the 28 different nooks and crannies available within the interior of this Rifter, you'd arrive at a figure of 192-litres - about as much as you'd get in the entire boot of a city car.
Enough on what the front of the cabin's like: what about the second row? Both short and long wheelbase Rifter models offer access to this part of the car via sliding side doors. The sliding doors are rather heavy to close from the inside and this format means you can't have door pockets either. Still, on the plus side, this second row offers enough space to suit a wide variety of passenger shapes and sizes. There are vast standards of headroom and because the centre transmission tunnel is virtually non-existent, it's straightforward to accommodate three fully-sized adults if need be.
Let's take a closer look at boot space. Whatever way this Rifter is specified, its cargo area will be vast. The 'Standard'-length model has 775-litres of boot space to the window line - or up to 3,000-litres if you were to fold the rear bench and load to the ceiling. Most models got a fold-flat front passenger seat too. Activate that on a long wheelbase model and you could be looking at as much as 4,000-litres of total carriage capacity. And enough loading length to accommodate something as long as a kayak inside. If you just need the boot area, a nice touch is the way that the parcel shelf just mentioned can be positioned at two heights and can take a reasonable amount of weight. Enough so as you could put the family dog on top of it, with your shopping safe below.
What to Look For
The Rifter has a reasonable reliability record. If you're looking at a base-spec version without rear parking sensors, check for parking scrapes. You also need to thoroughly check the infotainment system, which has been known to develop issues, freezing or crashing without warning. This can be caused by software glitches, which require the set-up to be updated or reset. You might also find the central screen has slow response times, which can be due to an overloaded processor or insufficient memory.
A few owners reported issues with the sound quality from the speakers, caused by problems with speaker wiring. We've heard problems with the air conditioning system not cooling properly during hot weather conditions. This can be due to a faulty compressor, a refrigerant leak or a blocked condenser. Some owners have also reported problems with the central locking system malfunctioning. Otherwise, it's just the usual things; check the interior for child scrapes - the Rifter is after all a family vehicle, so its cabin might have been well used and the loading area bashed about a bit. Check the wheels for parking scratches. And insist on a fully stamped-up service history.
Replacement Parts
(approx based on a Rifter 1.5 BlueHdi 100 excl. VAT) Front brake pads vary in price between £36-£39 for a set; rear pads are around £24-£39. For front brake discs, think around £55-£74 for a pair. Rear discs sit in the £76-£112 bracket for a pair. A starter motor is in the £67-£141 bracket; an alternator is in the £346-£409 bracket. An oil filter is around £10. Wiper blades sit in the £8-£12 bracket.
On the Road
This deceptively spacious Gallic MPV is a lot more pleasant to drive than you might expect. You're not encouraged to throw the thing about (the steering's a bit too vague for that) but other, more important attributes have been prioritised. For a start, the ride is excellent, soaking up the bumps without creating too much body roll through the bends. Refinement's not bad either, despite the vast interior space.
And under the bonnet of the combustion models? Well there's a decent petrol option, Peugeot's 1.2-litre three cylinder PureTech turbo unit. This puts out 110hp in its standard form - or 130hp if you get it with the brand's EAT8 8-speed auto gearbox. That auto transmission was an option for those who chose the top 130hp version of the brand's familiar 1.5-litre BlueHDi diesel. This frugal unit can return up to 65.7mpg on the combined cycle and a CO2 reading of 114g/km. This BlueHDi powerplant could also be ordered in 75hp and 100hp states of tune.
Overall
In an ideal world for many families, the perfect car would be one with SUV style and MPV versatility. A car like this one? Perhaps. One thing's for certain. Try a Rifter and you'll be left in no doubt that commercially-based People Carriers have genuinely come of age. Today, vehicles of this sort are a very different proposition from the vans with windows that originally characterised this segment. If that's your perception when it comes to vehicles of this sort, then you need to change it.
This Peugeot is certainly a much more attractive proposition than its Partner Tepee predecessor - and not only because of the way that it looks. With safety and infotainment well up to scratch, a few more reasons not to buy a model of this kind have been removed. Plus, thanks to BlueHDi technology, no other combustion rival in this segment from this period can better this model when it comes to offering an efficient set of running costs. Whether it makes more sense than its very similar Vauxhall and Citroen design stablemates from this era is a key question of course. But if the price is right, it could all be enough to seal the deal for what still remains one of the most versatile vehicles that sensible money will buy.
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