In-depth reviews

DS 7 E-TENSE reliability & safety rating

Proven hardware from other Stellantis Group brands and a decent showing in Euro NCAP crash testing provide reassurance for potential DS 7 owners

Overall rating

3.5 out of 5

Reliability & safety rating rating

4.0 out of 5

Price
£38,150 - £74,750
Fuel Type:
Hybrid Petrol
Euro NCAPAdult protectionChild protectionSafety assist
5 stars (2017)91%87%76%

The DS 7 has all the makings of a safe and reliable car. Its independent crash-test results were very good and it comes with a wide range of active safety systems designed to prevent you having a crash in the first place. On the reliability front, even though DS is a relatively young brand, it's part of the wider Stellantis Group and the DS 7's sister models from Peugeot and Citroen have done well in this area in recent years.

DS 7 E-TENSE reliability & problems

DS is a relatively new brand to the UK market that still sells cars in small numbers, so there isn't a great deal of long-term reliability data to go on. However, the brand uses a great deal of components from sister firms Citroen and Peugeot, so solid assumptions can be made.

Neither the DS brand or any of its models made an appearance in the 2022 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey. However, sister company Peugeot finished fourth in the list of best car brands, with owners commended the reliability of their cars, while Citroen came in 14th.

Safety

The DS 7 was crash-tested by Euro NCAP around the time of the petrol and diesel versions' launch in 2017. It received the maximum five-star overall rating, achieved scores of 91% for adult occupant protection, 87% for child occupant protection and 76% for its provision of safety assistance systems.

On the equipment front, all DS 7s (hybrid or otherwise) come with stability control, hill-start assistance, tyre-pressure monitoring, rear parking sensors, a full complement of airbags, a pair of ISOFIX child-seat mounts, speed-limit recognition, emergency braking assistance and lane-departure warning.

Prestige and Ultra Prestige cars get a reversing camera and front parking sensors as standard; these can be added to the entry-level Performance Line trim by specifying the Premium Safety Pack option. The Advanced Safety Pack (also standard on the top two trims and optional on Performance Line) brings blind-spot monitoring, lane-keeping assistance, enhanced traffic-sign recognition and driver drowsiness warning.

Finally, the 'DS Connected Pilot' system (optional on Performance Line and Prestige but standard on the Ultra Prestige) adds semi-autonomous driving capability. This includes adaptive cruise control to keep you a set distance from the vehicle in front, and lane-positioning assistance to automatically keep the car in its lane on a motorway or dual-carriageway.

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