2015 Porsche Panamera

VEHICLE HIGHLIGHTS

Porsche Panamera

Porsche’s Panamera is almost a unicorn on our roads, carving out its own little world in the luxury fastback space, circling the Mercedes-Benz CLS and Maserati Ghibli without fighting for the spotlight. You’ll only spot two of them on the classifieds — both 2012s, both sitting in that R480k to R500k bracket. This tells you everything: owners just don’t let these go easily, and most Panameras change hands behind closed doors or through trusted dealers. You get petrol and diesel power, no manuals in sight, but you’d never expect to see a clutch pedal here anyway — it's all semi-auto or dual-clutch. For a 2012, 78,417 km is par for the course, so you’re not buying a garage queen, but it’s no taxi either. The diesel asks R499,900 while the Panamera 4 is R20k less, and that price difference isn’t just bookkeeping — the diesel’s got the torque you want for those big, lazy stretches between Joburg and Cape Town. If you’re thinking about the CLS, the Panamera just feels tighter, more focused, less floaty — on paper at least, it’s what the Panamera should have been from the start. The real story here is that used is your only route; new stock doesn’t even crack a mention at this price. For South Africans who want something rare but usable, these two listings are about as good as it gets.