The leather cabin is in an equally good condition being completely free of any significant wear much less anything that would fall under the areas of either damage or neglect.
The electrically adjustable seats, which are perforated and heated, are in a fine condition. Supportive and yet all-day comfortable, they cosset in a way Jeeves would have envied.
The high-backed rear seats are divided by a fixed centre console, a barrier you might find even more valuable than a third seat if your two kids are prone to squabbling on a journey. As well-designed as the seats in front of them, the Panamera also offers huge rear legroom: Few cars would transport a family of four as comfortably, quickly, and reliably as this.
Not that it’s a dull car, far from it: The Sport Chrono pack brings with it a dash-mounted stopwatch so you can check you are indeed shaving a few tenths off your commute, and the dashboard itself is leather-trimmed with a double row of contrast stitching.
The fat-rimmed steering wheel is as good in the hand as it is easy on the eye. Multi-function, the buttons for the epic seven-speed PDK gearbox offer complete control and we suspect even diehard fans of a manual ‘box will appreciate this one’s virtually undetectable gearshifts; it’s clever engineering, brilliantly executed.
Other sporting elements include a 200mph speedometer, a rev counter with a 6,500rpm red line, and ‘Sport’ and ‘Sport Plus’ driving modes as part of the Sport Chrono pack.
Other goodies include an electrically operated sunroof, dual-zone climate control, cruise control, central locking, front and rear parking sensors, and electric windows and mirrors.
As for its cosmetic condition, the black trim is both shiny and free of chips and cracks, the carpets are free of damage, and the door cards are untroubled by the passage of time. All the door lights work too, and the offside front door aperture still features its factory tyre sticker.
Oh, and the headlining is new.
The boot contains the original tool kit, tyre inflator, and spare wheel, none of which appears to have been used. There’s a Bose subwoofer in there too, but it’s under the false floor alongside everything else, leaving the huge luggage space free.
The condition of the boot is also excellent with an undamaged and working roller blind, beautifully maintained carpets, and firm and resilient elasticated netting pockets on either side.
In fact, the only real wear is to the outer edge of the driver’s seat but even that is less than you’d expect to see on a car of this age. The leather on the back of the same seat has bubbled up in a few small places too, and there are small stains on the nearside rear and offside front carpets on the transmission tunnel.
That’s it for cosmetic flaws and, better still, we prodded and poked everything in sight and discovered that it all works. Obviously.
The Clarion PCM media and navigation system plays through Bose speakers. The seller hasn’t updated it, leaving it to the new owner to source either a UK-spec Porsche item or retrofit a modern one with conveniences such as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
A windscreen-mounted aftermarket camera is also fitted, and it’s even got a Japanese road flare in the passenger footwell.
