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I'm casually looking around at 2018 e-hybrids that are still on lots. One question: I see some cars that have flipped from "new" to "used" or "CPO" in the past few months, and carfax doesn't indicate that the vehicles have been registered or titled. These cars are being offered at steep discounts with just a few thousand miles on the odometer.
Is this a common practice - to transition to used or CPO status after so many loaner or test miles?
Also, in those cases, will the US federal tax credit still apply? My understanding is that the Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin needs to be handed over in order for the tax credit to be valid, as only the first titled owner to take possession can claim the credit.
common practice. The car must be untitled to get the federal tax credit. A CPO car may still be untitled.
Unlike in EU or USA, PHEVs are still picking up the trend in Asia. I'm among the first owners of a 971 Panamera hybrids in Taiwan. I placed my order for a Panamera 4eHST in late August 2018, and waited for 10 months to pick up in June 2019. The car has a certificate of birth on Mar 31, 2019.
I'm still convinced on making the right decision opting this Panny over Tesla Model S and Panny 4S. The only price I have to pay is very limited knowledge from the dealer. Luckly I've experienced very minor issues in the first few months.
Thanks to your input here, so I can learn a lot to love my car even more!
Alex
Last edited by alexlinathome; 11-11-2019 at 06:16 AM.
Just got word from my dealer that my ST e-hybrid has arrived in Davisville RI however It is on hold until end of January due to delayed EPA certification. I was also told that Porsche is giving me (and others so effected) the second year of free service which is nice, but frankly I’d rather have the car already!
I've been predicting that PHEV sales will surpass BEV sales for much/most of the next decade, due to issues with range anxiety in BEVs, speed of charging, and relative sparsity of public charging stations now -- not to mention that batteries are in short supply these days. The demand for Teslas is dropping off, now that the main initial passion for the Model 3 has been largely satisfied.
The odd thing to me is that "light hybrid" sales way exceed PHEV's (26,000/7000 from that German report). The light hybrid seems a rather pointless exercise to me, lugging around all that extra weight for little benefit. The only significant advantage being smoother start/stop, which if you have to have that, may be worthwhile if you live in a city. I had a non-PHEV Cayenne on loan during my last service of the Panamera and thought its start/stop was appalling. My wife had an extended demo of a light hybrid non-plug-in Lexus CT200 and we both thought it was a horrible thing, with the CVT making the engine whine loudly all the time when accelerating, which it did painfully slowly. It rarely seemed to run on electric other than the first few yards of step off.
I've been daily driving the car for 5 months (only occasionally on trip to idle the car for a few days). The current mileage is around 3,900km, and among them 2,600km was emission-free. My daily trip is mostly in the city; highway driving is very rare case. The only visit to the dealer was triggered by a tire pressure warning (-4 psi on front right wheel) after two months. It turned out to be a false alarm. A squeezing sound was found around the front dash of passenger seat, but it was solved after I re-aligned the dash-cam wiring. So far so good.
Yesterday in the morning when I was going out from garage, I heard a clunky sound underneath the car. I stopped and gently accelerated again, the sound was gone. I was sure there were no obstacles on the ground. Temperature was about 22C, everything as usual. This morning it happened again. I quickly stopped and re-accelerate to solve the problem. There was not any problem along the journey afterwards. My guess is, when I backed out from the lot and switched gear to go forward, I might have stepped the fuel peddle too soon before the gear fully reacted.
Appreciate any similar experience or any advice from you.
) to find it sounds different from what I heard from my car. The sound I heard was very low-pitched clunky noise. It's a bit like you have a piece of wood stuck under, and rolled away while driving. Also, 22C is mild temperature I believe.
Typically a CV joint (which is basically a universal joint so it can still rotate while it bends) is covered with a rubber boot to protect from dirt and water damage. When the joint itself (i.e., the mechanical joint not the rubber covering) fails you will get the clicking noise.
With the Panamera it may just be the case of the rubber boot being especially thick and you might just hear it flex when the steering wheel is turned sharply to the left or right.
What do you suppose "tasteful Cargraphic rear muffler" is? Exhaust, or just tips? Surely a full exhaust if they bothered to mention it in the listing.
I've all but given up on trying to find an untitled 2018 on a lot. Dealers have all taken the tax credit for themselves to recoup some investment if they've had the inventory sitting on the lot 1.5+ years.
I have to commend Vodafone UK, who run the vehicle anti-theft monitoring system for Porsche in the UK. I phoned them up to ask them what they recommended, when I am having my Panamera parked by the valet parking operator at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 over Christmas, when I am going to stay with my daughter in Baltimore, MD. They have said to take my driver security card with me but they have noted that on the 23rd December and 1st January, there will be a "vehicle moved without the presence of the security card" alert on each of those days, as the valet operator moves the vehicle to and from their secure parking area. Any movements other than those days during that 12/23 to 1/1 period, will raise an anti theft alert message. To have had this system all set up, shows that someone really had their "thinking cap" on at Vodafone UK. I was expecting the usual "don't know and don't care" response and was very pleasantly surprised by how helpful and on the ball they were.
What's the "real world" highway fuel mileage on a 2018+ e-hybrid? I have a mostly highway commute and I can't seem to find these numbers (or even estimates) anywhere. EPA estimates being what they are, I'm looking for practical feedback on fuel efficiency.
I usually drive my 2018 E-Hybrid on a combination of freeway and surface roads. When I'm on the freeway I'm traveling between 75-80 mph and my mileage when at a constant speed in eight gear is right around 28-30 mpg (US). I have about 10,000 miles on the car and the cumulative miles per gallon is right at 42. I usually drive in Hybrid mode so when on the surface streets I'm almost entirely in electric mode and on the freeway the car is mainly in gas mode but does switch to electric mode when I'm coasting or going downhill. I've also driven the car very aggressively a number of times in sport plus mode on the local windy coast roads and still my overall mileage is at 42 mpg. I am thrilled with this car!! It is my fourth Porsche (356B; 911SC; Boxster S) and overall my all time favorite.
11-10-2019, 04:19 PM
