Jaecoo 5 Review: Attractive Outside, Disappointing Comfort
A week ago, an important move took place in Israel, the Aushar Ad chain announced that it was selling the Kia Sportage for 140,000 shekels. Israelis pounced, and the stock ran out. The fact that this was a non-hybrid model that had fallen out of favor did not matter to anyone. In Israel of 2026, buyers look at the package, not what is inside it. In practice, consumer focus in Israel has shifted from the product itself, that is, whether it is good, comfortable, efficient and reliable, to the circumstances under which the product is offered, that is, whether it looks good, whether the screen is large, whether the price is good.
Jaecoo 5 is a smaller brother to the Jaecoo 7, a car that has become a sales hit in Israel. It has a large screen, cheap plastic, and like the rest of Jaecoo's models and Omoda's models, the car is actually based on components from the Chery group, which means similarity in the powertrain, in chassis components, and also inside the car, especially the screen. The most relevant version for Israelis is the hybrid version, because the electric version has a relatively limited range, and the electric car market in Israel is also cooling. Many of the deliveries in Israel today are either hybrid cars or plug-in hybrid cars.
Back to the Jaecoo 5, which looks like a smaller version of the Jaecoo 7, which looks like a smaller version of the Range Rover Velar, which looks like a smaller version of the Range Rover Sport. Externally, this is a handsome vehicle.
The Jaecoo 5 is heading north quickly. The Chinese hybrid powertrains, especially Chery's, are more efficient, on paper, than what is offered in Korea and Japan. The Japanese and Koreans use a gasoline engine assisted by the electric motor. With Chery, the gasoline engine is only the generator that produces electricity. It can be said openly, Chery's hybrid system is an excellent system. First, it has plenty of power. Second, most of the time it does not want to consume gasoline, which means a calm driver can get 18 km per liter of fuel, enough for a round trip to Eilat with ease. The system itself is sometimes noisy under load, especially when the car's battery runs down. It is important to note that the default behavior is to be like an electric car, quiet, calm, running on electricity.
A proper electric car has regenerative braking, which allows it to brake using the engine. That of the Jaecoo 5 is hidden in menus, and that is a shame. On the highway this is a quiet car, but also an annoying one, the warnings about speed, fatigue, lane departure, returning to lane and the like are unnecessary. The screen in front of the driver displays most of them in a pale greenish font, which is not very comfortable to read. The quality of the materials in the front of the cabin gets a rating of fair, nothing more. For some reason, there is no consistency in quality between the rear and the front, the rear is not as good.
The driver's seat offers plenty of adjustment options, but oddly it is difficult to find a comfortable position, because the steering wheel does not lower enough and because the seat is slightly firm. The adjustment is electric, but there is no adjustment for lumbar support.
The steering wheel has several controls, those for the audio system are a bit annoying, not every press produces a result, and there is a limit to how much music can be heard at too high a volume. As with the rest of Jaecoo's models, most functions are controlled by a huge screen in the center of the vehicle. As attractive as it is, it is also dangerous, to control the climate control you have to open a special screen, and then take your eyes off the road. The same is true for activating or disabling safety systems, and for activating regenerative braking. Last week, the Chinese auto industry announced that it is banning "bed seats." Pop-out door handles have also been banned. It is time for these screens to disappear too.
The rear bench is reasonably spacious, but its backrest cuts into the lower back, which will not be comfortable on long trips. There is no point in talking about room for a third child. The trunk is decent, but almost spitefully, the huge space under the floor, the one intended for the spare wheel, contains a tire inflation kit.
The hybrid Jaecoo 5 crosses Haifa, a city whose roads are still partly stuck in the Mandate era. Some are a little better, most are a little worse. The Jaecoo 5 is a car that does not know how to deal with potholes, or bumps, or cracks. Omoda, another carmaker from the Chery group, knows how to produce a comfortable car even though it is based on Chery components. This is a significant defect that cannot be ignored. It is especially noticeable in the rear, which insists on punishing the driver's back. Those sitting in the back seat will probably suffer more.
The same story applies outside the city. The Jaecoo 5 is less impressive in road holding and feedback, but that can be lived with. Nobody is looking for sports car performance in a hybrid Jaecoo. But everyone is looking for comfort, especially in the city.
At the end of the day, the hybrid Jaecoo 5 will suit Israelis like a glove. It is cheap compared with the Korean offerings, it is handsome, it has a large screen and abundant equipment. It is likely to star on the lease lists companies offer employees, and on a drive through the north it was impossible not to notice that there are already such cars in the "first hand, zero kilometers" lots. For those who look at the package, this is a beautiful package. But for those who also look inside it, the Jaecoo 5 looks good and is loaded with equipment, but it is far from being a quality car. A large screen does not improve ride quality, and a software update does not fix a firm seat.
The Israeli car market is currently undergoing a very clear process of sinicization, and part of the revolution is also a kind of reeducation in the style of the Chinese regime, less quality, more quantity. For those who have successfully gone through this education and do not care about minor things like ride comfort, this is a great car. But in the future, an Omoda version of the Jaecoo 5 will probably arrive in Israel, and Omoda has convincingly proven that it knows how to take Chery components that also serve Jaecoo, and do good things with them. For now, for those looking for a large screen, it is a reasonable deal. Those looking for quality would be better off waiting for Omoda.
