Best Used Luxury Car for 2023

The Porsche Panamera Turbo S from 2016 is the surprise winner of the luxury car category in carsales Best Used Cars for 2023, proudly presented by Bingle.

It’s not like the Panamera isn’t worthy, but the driving-focused Porsche sedan seems an unlikely rival to the Mercedes-Benz S-Class – a car that won the category last year and is a byword in luxury.

After choosing to preclude SUVs from this category in 2022 – even SUVs as prestigious as the Range Rover TDV6 that won in 2020 – the field was narrowed to conventional passenger cars that redefine sophistication, comfort and safety.

What buyers want from a luxury car is acres of rear-seat legroom and quiet, refined touring ability with all the high-tech gadgets money can buy – but in a package that has four doors and ground clearance of less than 200mm.

Properly speaking, a true luxury car should be a sedan, but the Porsche Panamera comes with a liftback tailgate.

That’s not the only way the Panamera deviates from the norm for luxury cars – it’s something of a muscle car as well, in flagship form at least.

The turbocharged 4.8-litre petrol V8 in the Panamera Turbo S produces 419kW and 750Nm – which is actually less than either the Mercedes-AMG S 63 or S 65 – and can knock over the 0-100km/h time in under four seconds. The Panamera can out-scorch the two AMGs in part due to its lower weight (although it’s no flyweight at around two tonnes).

Just to be clear, 2016 was the last year of production for the Panamera in first-generation (‘970’) guise, so if you’re not smitten with the looks – and many Porsche aficionados aren’t – you might like to consider the second-generation 971 type that followed a year later.

RedBook’s analysis of the Porsche Panamera Turbo S arrived at a score of 34.3 points, with the judges’ scores of 47 bringing the total to 81.3 out of 100 points.

In 2016, the Panamera Turbo S was priced at $444,200 plus on-road costs. According to RedBook, its value as a used car in 2023 is $223,200.

Opportunities to get behind the wheel of a Panamera Turbo S are few and far between. Michael Taylor drove one in Europe for carsales back in 2011 and praised the car for its interior and its performance – but not its looks: “If you could have an airport-style retractable airbridge in your garage that you could walk through to get into your Panamera (without seeing it!), nobody would criticise the car at all…”

Taylor also questioned whether the flagship variant was actually worth two Panamera diesels. With performance upgrades since then, the Panamera Turbo S is even more “stupidly fast”.

As a used-car purchase in 2023, all that tax going to the Australian government when the car was new is of little consequence now.

You can read more about the Porsche Panamera Turbo S in the launch review here.

“So much power, so much poise and (apparently) can climb sand dunes,” says carsales used-car buying expert, Cliff Chambers.

“Rear doors and prodigious V8 performance make this the closest you’ll get to a 911 sedan,” adds carsales managing editor, Marton Pettendy.

In some quarters the Porsche Panamera Turbo S has been criticised for lacking the fine dynamic balance of lower-priced variants in the Panamera range. But ask yourself this? When will you be taking a Panamera around the Nordschleife circuit at Germany’s Nurburgring?

And everything is relative. The Panamera Turbo S is unlikely to be embarrassed by many other cars with four doors at your local racetrack.

In short, a car of the Panamera’s performance potential, driving dynamics and interior comfort – at around half its cost when new – is a deserving winner in the luxury car category of carsales Best Used Cars for 2023, proudly presented by Bingle.

Honourable mentions:

The hybrid Mercedes-Benz S 500e scored 36.7 points from RedBook and 44 points from the judges for a total of 80.7
RedBook value: $119,650

“Electrified V6 meets top-shelf interior tech and luxury in the market’s best limo” – Marton Pettendy, carsales managing editor

“If you’ve got the money, go for it. So much technology it’s getting scary” – Cliff Chambers, carsales used-car buying expert

The hybrid Lexus LS 600h F Sport scored 36.1 points from RedBook and 38 points from the judges for a total of 74.1
RedBook value: $70,400

“Unimpeachable build quality and reliability; a better drive than many realise” – Ken Gratton, former carsales technical editor

“If I’m buying a used luxury limo then this it. Lexus build quality is brilliant” – Bruce Newton, carsales senior journalist

What makes a car eligible for carsales Best Used Cars?
• Less than six years old
• Standard side curtain airbags
• Standard Bluetooth
• Standard electronic stability control (mandated for 2014)
• Standard reversing camera for SUVs

How did RedBook weight the categories for scoring?
• 10 per cent for resale value
• 10 per cent for ANCAP rating
• 20 per cent for cost of ownership
• 5 per cent for service intervals
• 5 per cent for number of days for vehicle to sell