Ordering the New Panamera Turbo

Last weekend, I finally went to the dealership to complete the final paperwork for our new Panamera Turbo. This car is seriously impressive: it set a world-record lap time for its class at Germany’s Nürburgring—7 minutes and 38 seconds.

@ Image courtesy of Porsche Panamera Turbo Experience

For comparison, I tried driving the same Nürburgring circuit in a video game. I kept missing corners and crashing into things, and after giving it everything I had, I managed a time just under nine minutes. In real life, I’d have been completely dead.

We’d already decided to replace our Panamera Edition before I started this blog, but last weekend the plan finally began to feel real. That said, this time, too, it was my husband—not me—who bought the car. So my goal of “buying a Panamera with my own money” is still very much alive.

After the Panamera Edition and now the Panamera Turbo, it may be ridiculous to still be setting myself a goal of buying a Panamera… But the car I’ve wanted for years is the Panamera GTS, so I’ll keep working toward it.

At this point, I might as well make it my mission to own the whole Panamera lineup! (LOL)

At the Porsche Dealership

Back to the story… We headed to the dealership to wrap up the final order paperwork, and were shown to our seats. Whenever I visit a Porsche dealership, I always order a hot café latte. (Just thought you should know. LOL)

The paperwork got underway right away, with our sales representative, Mr. H, expertly stamping the documents.

He was so good at stamping the documents. I’m hopeless with my hands and have never managed to get a stamp to come out neatly, so I really admire people who can. Next, my husband filled in the required details on the contract. The thing is, his handwriting is absolutely terrible.

“Terrible” doesn’t even begin to describe it—his handwriting gives me chills. (How does anyone manage to write this badly? And apparently, he’s trying his best. LOL) Still, handwriting has nothing to do with signing a contract, so everything went smoothly. After that, it was time to negotiate the trade-in value of our current 970 Panamera Edition.

I wanted to see how the negotiations and bargaining would play out at this crucial moment, but our daughter, who was getting restless, started happily running around the showroom. So I had to step away to keep up with her. The showroom had a variety of models on display.

The 911 really is beautiful.

By the time I got back, the discussion was already over. Here’s a summary of our new Panamera Turbo purchase.

New Panamera Turbo: The Details

① How Long from Order to Delivery?

We ordered our new Panamera Turbo on March 5 this year. At the time, we were told delivery would be as early as October, and probably around November. But production started sooner than expected, and the car is due to arrive at our dealership at the end of September. (Although it will be a 2018 model year, not the 2017 model year it was when we placed the order.)

We’ll probably take delivery in early October, which means the wait from order to delivery will be about seven months. Our Panamera Turbo is currently on a ship bound for Japan, so it should be enjoying a cruise somewhere out at sea. (Please, please don’t let that ship sink.)

② What the Panamera Turbo Actually Costs

The base price of the new Panamera Turbo, without any options, is ¥23,770,000. (…You could buy a house for that.) Then we added Sport Chrono, the Sport Exhaust, and various other options, bringing the options bill alone to around ¥3 million. (In the end, our Panamera Turbo came to around ¥27 million.)

I’ll share the full details of the options and our car’s specification in another post once it’s delivered.

③ Trade-In Value of Our Panamera Edition

We bought our Panamera Edition for around ¥12 million in February 2016, and the dealership agreed to take it in for about ¥7 million. (It has 13,000 km on the odometer.) Apparently, that’s about what you can expect for a one-owner, 2016 model with 13,000 km.

Panameras tend to hold their value well, and it’s rare to see one on the market for less than ¥5 million.

A while ago, one of the sales staff showed me a graph comparing depreciation across different manufacturers. Porsche held its value by far better than the other brands. If this were a BMW 7 Series, I was told, it could be worth less than half its purchase price by now.

So, in about a month, our new Panamera Turbo should be arriving at our home. I’m not sure I’ll be able to handle all that power—but for now, I want to enjoy as many drives as I can in our current Panamera while we still have it, then give it a proper wash myself before we say goodbye.