Martin2

It’s a 992.1 GTS 4 Convertible. You should do it, both great options!

Lovely car and interesting to hear more about it. The service costs look very reasonable to me, I recently paid over £1800 for the 4 year service on my Panamera. I do miss having a V8, don’t really want to change my daily this year but keep looking at a nearly new Panamera GTS and on the configurator speccing a Cayenne GTS…. I’m in France with the 911, does 34mpg at Autoroute speeds with the roof down, which makes c10-15% difference (did 38.7mpg on an early run to Folkestone with it up). Seriously impressive for the level of performance and includes a few toll drags races, but not had any serious competition yet!

I had a 2018 750i from new (pre reg car), so can help with some questions you might have. The engine is great, completely effortless performance and surprisingly efficient although the 7 series weighs less than the 5 series thanks to the carbon core. Mine would easily do 40mpg on the motorway if you didn’t go over 80mph. Mine had the M Sport exhaust and was pre OPF so sounded much bettter than you’d expect a bug saloon to, especially when it looked like a 730d. Stating the obvious but they are a lot bigger and heavier than a Golf, mine had ‘Executive Drive Pro’ which made a big difference to the way it drove, much less roll and did some super smart stuff like spot speed bumps and soften off / slightly raise the front to make it more comfortable around town. I did 50k miles in 2.5 years in mine and had some problems with oil leaks from the lines that fed the turbos and a slight coolant leak. All of which are common issues in that engine, but may well have been sorted on the later builds Back to the 5 series…..I’d try and get one with comfort seats are they aren’t just more comfortable, they are massively more adjustable and supportive than the Sports seats. You can even set them to tighten up the base and backrest side bolsters when you go into sport mode, how much is configurable. I’d definitely avoid the Dakota leather, that really has no place in a 5 series, it looks and feels worse than the stuff they put in a 3 series. Nappa leather makes a big difference, even if it’s just the seats, but so much better with a full leather dash although that’s going to be pretty much impossible to find on a 5 series (std on 7).

I’m not sure they are all that expensive when you take inflation (and discounts maybe) into account. A base Golf cost just over £18k in 2015 which is £25k today, go back 20 years and it was £12k which is about £22k now. DTD will sell you a 1.5tsi Life with 150hp and more standard & safety equipment for £22,128. It’s not just the Golf, it’s the same you look at more expensive cars as well. I’ve read people moaning that the base 911 is now over £100k and so much more expensive than it’s ever been. A 2005 997 was £68,805 which is £122,750 in 2025, so 20% more than a new 992 Carrera which has much more std kit and performance.

Yes. It was a £3,500 (I think) deposit contribution from VW Finance. The settlement figure was the same a the amount financed (discounted price less contribution).

You can take out the finance, benefit from the incentive and then cancel it so you don’t pay interest. I did that when we bought my wife’s 7.5 R in 2018.

The smoother step off and low down torque is really noticeable. I drove mine back to back with a Macan GTS, so same engine / total power and it felt like a bigger engine thanks to the low down torque and way the electric motor kicks in when you pull away. I didn’t go looking for a hybrid, but am glad I ended up in one for my daily. Sounds like you’ve got a good deal and nice car coming 👍

I didn’t know they had a slightly higher powered hybrid. Already down to around £30k for a lightly used one, which is a lot of car for the money these days. The reason for the reduction in total power vs just adding the two together is the engine and motor don’t produce their peak power at the same time. It’s the torque at step off / very low revs that you’ll notice the most based on my experience. I’m two years into hybrid life and it works really well for me. The battery isn’t that big (14kwh) but it will easily do 30 miles in the summer (25 winter), costs less than £1 to charge at home and I can get 700-1000 miles between having to visit a petrol station, partly because it has an 80 litre tank to be fair. Not bad for a big car with a decent amount of performance.

Thanks Rebecca. You're right about the discs, 408mm front / 380mm rear! Thanks to Instagram I know for sure everything is on track....

After a lot of deliberation and indecision, I've bought 'something for the weekend', a 992.1 GTS Convertible. It's an addition rather than a replacement, so will sit alongside the Panamera and Tesla...a 3 car garage I'm really happy with. I just don't know how I've ended up with a car with black wheels....maybe I'll change the colour, but as you can see so much bright disc (not so clear on pics) they aren't so bad. We'll see. It's a fantastic machine, collecting on Tuesday after a detailer local to the OPC has polished and ceramic coated it.

HUD is great, had it on my last 4 cars and it’s one of my ‘non negotiables’ when it comes to speccing or choosing a daily.

It’s a surprise they don’t fit the Potenza Sport, as that’s the right tyre to compare with the others favoured, it’s a decent tyre. https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre-Tests/2025-ADAC-Summer-Tyre-Test.htm

I’m keeping the Panamera. The plan is to add ‘something for the weekend’…quite possibly a 911 (6-12 month old 992 GTS or order a 992.2) but I do want to look at a (2022-23) Roma.

I know, it’s bloomin infectious! 😀 I’ve promised myself not to buy another car until May at the earliest for a couple of reasons, but it’s hard not starting the process right now with all this excitement…..

Congratulations! Thats the best wheel and colour combo / best looking 8.5R by some margin in my opinion. So nice to be able to see that it has wheels 😂