Used Porsche Panamera for sale: everything you need to know

The Porsche Taycan might have overtaken it in terms of sales, but the Porsche Panamera remains a core model in the Stuttgart brand’s range, squaring up to high-performance saloons and estates from other marques with Porsche’s enviable dynamics, prestige, and heritage.

The Panamera lineup has changed quite a bit over the years, with today’s range comprising a mixture of petrol and petrol hybrid variants, with the most potent making 700 horsepower and accelerating like a true supercar. But the Panamera is fantastic to drive around corners too, as well as being comfortable and even practical, especially in estate-style Sport Turismo form.

With a large gulf in price and performance between models at either end of the range, there’s an equally broad choice of rivals, covering everything from high-end BMW 5 Series and Mercedes E-Class, to performance variants like the M5 and E63, and even some true luxury saloons like the Audi A8, BMW 7 Series, and Mercedes-Benz S-Class - and of course, Porsche’s own, all-electric Taycan.

Should you buy a Porsche Panamera?

While not as controversial as the Porsche Cayenne SUV was on its launch, the Porsche Panamera still caused a few raised eyebrows when it debuted in 2009 - largely because in translating 911 sports car styling cues onto a large four-door fastback body style, the end result looked rather awkward from some angles.

It’s never sold as strongly as the Cayenne, but the Panamera nevertheless ticked away quite happily in the annual sales charts, and when the second generation model arrived in 2016, it largely fixed the original’s styling, became even more luxurious, and offered even faster variants than its predecessor. It was quickly followed too by the Panamera Sport Turismo in 2017 - an estate-style model that offered an even more prestigious alternative to the likes of the Audi RS6 and Mercedes-AMG E63 Estate.

The Panamera has been offered with petrol, diesel, and hybrid powertrains over the years, but the 4S Diesel was dropped in 2018, and if you want a frugal Panamera today, it’s the plug-in E-Hybrid models that will do the trick. The current range spans everything from a 330PS V6 to a mighty 700PS Turbo S E-Hybrid, and while some Panameras are clearly quicker and better equipped than others, the entire range combines performance, comfort and dynamics in a way that few other brands outside Porsche have mastered.

The majority of Panameras are also four-wheel drive, helping to contain the car’s power as much as make all-weather driving easier, though behind the wheel of a Panamera it’s easy to forget just how much car you’re controlling - all have an ability to shrink around you like a proper sports car, yet make long-distance driving an absolute doddle.

The sleek electric Porsche Taycan has taken the wind out of the Panamera’s sails slightly - it’s arguably a better-looking machine, as well as making high performance even more accessible thanks to electric power, and outside of supply blips, has begun outselling the Panamera too. But while the Panamera doesn’t feel as modern or advanced, it’s still hugely appealing inside and out, to drive, and to own.

Outside of the Taycan, other potential rivals include performance models like the BMW M5 and Audi RS6 (the latter a natural alternative to the Turbo S Sport Turismo), but also luxury cars like the BMW 7-series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class. These limos do have the edge on the Porsche for pure comfort and space, but few are as driver-focused.

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What’s the best used Porsche Panamera model to buy?

There’s no such thing as a bad Porsche Panamera, but some are better than others. If driver appeal is your primary goal, without sacrificing comfort, then the Panamera GTS is a highlight of the range. Like all Porsche’s GTS-badged cars it’s the most agile and involving, but doesn’t take away much, if anything, from the car’s everyday abilities.

The E-Hybrid models are appealing too, taking over from where the diesels left off in offering high combined economy figures with no performance penalty. If you’re looking at older Panameras though, the diesels are still worth a look - fuel economy in the 40mpg range is significantly better than any of the petrol models, and the enormous torque at low revs makes it truly effortless to drive.

Used Porsche Panamera fuel economy and performance

• Porsche Panamera: With a 2.9-litre turbocharged V6, the basic Porsche Panamera develops 330PS, and sends its power to the rear wheels alone through an 8-speed PDK automatic. 0-62mph comes up in 5.6 seconds, and it’s capable of up to 27.7mpg combined.
• Porsche Panamera 4: For Panamera 4, think Panamera, just with the front wheels driven as well as the rears. So you still get 330PS, but the extra traction means a 5.3-second 0-62mph time, and economy dips only slightly to 27.2mpg.
• Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid: With another 2.9-litre turbo V6 the engine itself makes the same power as the regular Panamera, but electric assistance means a combined total of 462PS and 0-62mph in as little as 4.4 seconds. It has up to 35 miles of electric range, and combined economy of up to 141.2mpg.
• Porsche Panamera 4S E-Hybrid: There’s still electric assistance at play here but now with a more powerful variant of the turbo six, so there’s 560PS of combined power and a 0-62mph time of only 3.7 seconds. It’ll go up to 33 miles on the electric portion of its drivetrain, and offers 128.4mpg combined economy.
• Porsche Panamera GTS: While less powerful than the 4S E-Hybrid, the non-hybrid GTS has a 4-litre twin-turbo V8 in its favour, making 480PS and allowing for a 3.9-second 0-62mph time. The penalty is 23.3mpg combined economy.
• Porsche Panamera Turbo S: Another non-hybrid, but the Turbo S’s 4-litre twin-turbo V8 doesn’t need any help to make 630PS or reach 0-62mph in 3.1 seconds. It’s only a touch thirstier than the GTS, at 22.1mpg.
• Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid: The Panamera range-topper pairs the V8 with electric assistance, for 700PS. Extra weight means it’s actually a touch slower off the line than the Turbo S, at 3.2 seconds to 62mph, but 31 miles of EV range and up to 104.6mpg economy are the benefits.

What used Porsche Panamera trim levels are available?

Porsche’s trim levels typically correspond to the powertrains available, so you’ll notice that all the models below match the engines mentioned above. Porsche currently sells Platinum Edition specials of both the Panamera 4 and 4 E-Hybrid which are separated mostly by a dark colour scheme, while variants from the 4 E-Hybrid and up are available in Sport Turismo form as well as the regular fastback. We’ll keep this simple though, as Porsche’s options list gets complicated very quickly indeed.

• The Porsche Panamera is visually distinguished by a set of 19-inch alloy wheels, and inside by Comfort-spec seats. All Panameras get a touchscreen media system. The Panamera also features Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) using steel springs.
• The Porsche Panamera 4 looks identical to the regular Panamera from the outside and inside, and is offered with the same options packages too, along with PASM as standard fitment.
• The Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid in standard spec is difficult to tell apart from the previous models, other than its use of ‘acid green’ brake calipers and exterior badging. Adaptive air suspension with (PASM) is standard however, as is the Sport Chrono package.
• The Porsche Panamera 4S E-Hybrid goes up an inch with its standard alloy wheel size but has the same highlighter-yellow detailing as the 4 E-Hybrid.
• The Porsche Panamera GTS is distinguished by its own unique 20-inch alloy wheel design and GTS exterior badging, while inside it gets Sports Seats Plus as standard. These can be customised with interior themes specific to the GTS. The GTS also gets a sports exhaust system.
• The Porsche Panamera Turbo S bumps the alloy wheel size up to 21 inches as standard, with Comfort seats once again. Adaptive air suspension with PASM is once again part of the spec list, as are ceramic brakes.
• The Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid basically ticks all the standard boxes, including air suspension, PASM, and Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control Sport, while the options list is as extensive as ever. Being an E-Hybrid, detailing is once again in acid green.

Used Porsche Panamera dimensions and boot size

The Porsche Panamera’s dimensions are:

• Length: 5049mm
• Width: 1937mm (mirrors folded), 2165mm (with mirrors)
• Height: 1423mm
• Ground clearance: N/A

The Porsche Panamera’s boot size is:

• 403-495 litres
• 1242-1334 litres (with the rear seats folded)

Used Porsche Panamera road tax

All Porsche Panamera models since the car was first introduced have come in at comfortably more than £40,000, so all are subject to the government’s VED or ‘road tax’ surcharge in the second to the sixth years of registration. This currently stands at £570 per year for non-hybrid models, and £560 per year for the hybrids, and drops to £180/£170 per year respectively from the seventh year onwards. First-year rates are dependant on the car’s CO2 emissions, so the hybrids, with their low CO2 ratings, cost very little in their first year.

How much is it to insure a Porsche Panamera?

This one is nice and simple: As expensive, high-performance vehicles from a premium manufacturer, it’s possibly not a surprise to discover that all Porsche Panameras sit in insurance group 50 - though there will naturally be some variation between models when it comes to individual quotations, given the performance and equipment disparity across the range.

Read our full Porsche Panamera review