Category: Large Family 
Price Range: £18,045 to £24,295
Distinctive styling, strong diesel line-up, pedestrian safety; good ride.
Rear seat and boot space, heavier than predecessor, complex electronics not a Peugeot strong point.
Combines high style with a hugely competent chassis and good all-round capabilities.
Peugeot believes that cavernous boots and loads of rear seat space matter less than style and the perception of quality in this class. To that end, the 407 has a smaller boot (albeit with a more sensible aperture) than the car it replaces. It feels less roomy in the back in both the saloon and the SW estate. Rear headroom is inadequate for tall adults and foot space is cramped too.
Up front, though, there's all the space you could possibly hope for - an impression boosted by the windscreen base being pushed so far forward, which also results in a nearly MPV-like dash-top. The instruments are clear and simply presented, but the multiplicity of ventilation and infotainment buttons on the centre console is a bit daunting at first. The sat nav in top-spec versions is more complex than it needs to be.
Standard levels of equipment are reassuringly high, including a six-CD player with a neat remote control, air conditioning, front foglights and a trip computer.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Peugeot 407
wrote on 10 10 2007