(UPDATED) CPO 4S - sedan or CT & must have options?

[jbdan]

Been reading this forum for several months, but this is my first post. Starting my search for a CPO Taycan (my first Porsche, fulfilling a life-long dream!) and have a pretty good idea of my bare minimum requirements though would like to get some opinions from actual owners.

Been searching the CPO inventory on the Porsche website (US market) with the following minimum criteria.
- 4S trim level (though I’ll jump on a GTS if I find one at the right price)
- MY22 or newer
- under 20K miles
- performance plus battery
- premium package
- adaptive cruise control

On the fence regarding sport chrono package. Would definitely prefer it, but not sure it’s a must have option when I look at the price differences in the cars I’m finding with it vs those without. Seems to be more common with heavily optioned cars which naturally have higher prices.

Are there any options I’m not considering that experienced owners consider a must have?

Sedan or CT? Love the looks of the sedan but the practicality of the CT. Though I’m also buying the car for the Porsche driving experience and I wont know the difference when driving it, only when I’m walking up to it. Would love to know why people here picked one style over the other.

Lastly, my search radius is set to nationwide and I’m sure the car of my dreams will pop up on the other side of the country. Would you buy a CPO car sight unseen and have it shipped to you or better to narrow the search radius even if it means waiting longer for the right car to come along?

Thanks in advance. Look forward to reading your opinions.

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[ShiftyWolf]

Welcome and good luck in your search. The chase is half the fun!

I like setting individual options to my liking so the Sport Chrono was a must for me although I didn't care about the clock. If that is important to you, you will definitely want that option with the steering wheel dial.

I wouldn't have an issue buying a CPO sight unseen. A 2022 will also have a few years of factory warranty remaining so any issues can be addressed and fixed after you take delivery.

 

[Caraholic]

I wouldn’t personally care about the year. All the earlier ones have had all the updates to make them current. As far as must have options that is so person dependent. For me its

CPO
mission E
Performance battery plus
Adaptive cruise
Anything other then black interior (really hides the luxury feel of the interior)
Exterior color
Sports chrono
Rear wheel steer
Performance sound
Bose (at a minimum)
Surround view
Cooled seats
Sound and thermal insulated glass

I have spent allot of time and miles in differently optioned cars and these are my minimums now. I also wouldn’t personally write off one with steel suspension. I think the steel suspension cars feel allot more natural than the air PDCC cars. (I own a full performance spec car). The perfect car for me (which doesn’t exist) is a 600hp RWD steel suspension taycan.

Enjoy the hunt you really can’t go wrong anyway you choose. The Taycan in any flavor is a marvelous car.

 

[SergeyIndy]

This is about the best time to look for a used Taycan from the value and choice perspective.
These are my opinions on the options with highlights of particular benefit of each in addition to your search criteria:

Performance
- RAS (rear axle steering) makes a big difference for a car that is long and wide with benefit at low and highway speeds
- A/S (air suspension) is adjustable and makes the car look better in low vs. steel and has a lift function with memory. I think steel suspension does not belong in a car of this weight and class.
- Sports Chrono adds mode switch, clock, and most importantly to me a GT steering wheel that feels much better vs. standard very thin and hard standard wheel.

Interior:
- GT steering wheel would be a must for me
- Leather interior as Base interior has too much vinyl and looked way worn out on used examples
- Two tone interiors are really good

Premium Package that is your minimum already includes many essential options that I would recommend:
- Surround View is a must for me given that Rear only camera is really bad and you need to see around you when parking or going close to curbs
- Glass Roof is quieter than Solid Roof as others mentioned that rain can be very loud and metal roof amplifies external noise into the cabin
- Thermal Glass is thicker and essential on no frame doors


I would say if you find your contenders, then please post here for feedback.

 

[PhilAZandON]

To build upon the previous comments:

The most obvious feature with Porsche's Sports Chrono package is the dash mounted clock (over time, across the Porsche lineup, the package has included a number of additional performance upgrades, particularly on the 911). Sports Chrono pays homage to the marque's history in building track-focused sports cars. I believe it was first introduced with the 911 997's release in the early 2000's. A stopwatch to time laps. It could even swivel towards the passenger seat where an instructor could gauge your performance.

Over time, the dash clock itself has become a Porsche homage feature to remind drivers they're in a vehicle with celebrated racing history - it is an option on the Porsche Cayenne, for example. Which is a bit ridiculous. At 2500kg / 5500lb, the Cayenne weighs a ton (~1,000kgs) more than a 911. Good for taking kids to soccer and runs to Costco, but hardly a track car.

My Taycan is a Turbo and it is blindingly fast. And yes, there are people who track them, but it is closer in weight to an SUV than to a 911. The Taycan is a grand tourer, not a track car, so a lap timer is a admittedly superfluous.

So why would you opt for the package? Three reasons: you're a Porsche guy and the dash clock signifies you're in a true Porsche sportscar (dealers will tell you that used 911's without the dash clock are harder to sell); the upgraded sports steering wheel (it feels great); and driving mode selection, particularly individual mode, which is where you customize how you like to drive.

With a simple twist of the wheel dial, I turn on auto regenerative braking (before 2025 models, it resets to 'off' every time you turn off the car), tune the sound the motors produce (yes, it's artificially enhanced), lower and stiffen the suspension, and switch the car's throttle response to sports mode.

The thermal glass is the best sound isolation material I've seen in a car, but a warning, if you live in an area where you take rocks to your windshield, they are very expensive to replace.

I love the huge glass roof. It opens up the car and has never been a comfort issue in the bright Arizona sun.

One last, slightly controversial feature that I have grown to appreciate: Innodrive. It is Porsche's 'enhanced' adaptive cruise control feature, which uses a combination of GPS navigation data, radar and video to scan the road 3km (1.8miles) ahead and adjust speed to road conditions. It takes some knocks because it is far from Google's Waymo or Tesla's Auto-Pilot self driving.

Note: I find Innodrive works best in 'Sports' mode, as it adapts the driving style to be closer to how I would manage turns, hills, etc.

 

[f1eng]

Glass Roof is quieter than Solid Roof as others mentioned that rain can be very loud and metal roof amplifies external noise into the cabin

I haven't compared for noise but technically (I used to be a noise and vibration research engineer) this is almost certainly not correct since the metal roof is reinforced and there is a padded headlining whereas the glass roof is "nude".

I have certainly never noticed a sound of rain on my roof (which is metal) but certainly hear it hitting the windscreen at speed.

 

[SergeyIndy]

I haven't compared for noise but technically (I used to be a noise and vibration research engineer) this is almost certainly not correct since the metal roof is reinforced and there is a padded headlining whereas the glass roof is "nude".

I have certainly never noticed a sound of rain on my roof (which is metal) but certainly hear it hitting the windscreen at speed.

My opinion was not scientific, apologies for that. I am just going by what @Boss Hogg reported as he opted for metal roof on his MY2025 and stated that it is noisier.

 

[f1eng]

My opinion was not scientific, apologies for that. I am just going by what @Boss Hogg reported as he opted for metal roof on his MY2025 and stated that it is noisier.

I hadn't seen that.

Mind you it rains a lot where he is

Based on noise transmission measurements I made back in the day I would expect a metal panel reinforced and damped (by bonded on padding) with an air gap and headlining to both transmit and resonate less than a sheet of glass though.

I haven't noticed any noise coming blatantly from the direction of my roof.

 

[ptodorov0]

If you are looking for the "Porsche driving experience", get a Taycan with rear wheel steering, PTV+ and PDCC. I had all three in my previous Taycan and now I got one with RWS but without PTV+ and PDCC. The difference when driving fast in corners is HUGE. PDCC literally removes body roll and PTV+ makes the steering sharper with a pinch of oversteering but only when you want it. Other things that I personally consider essential on a Taycan are: a nice color, sport chrono, BOSE (Burmester is even better, much better), glass roof, surround view, insulated glass.

 

[Jonathan S.]

If you are looking for the "Porsche driving experience", get a Taycan with rear wheel steering, PTV+ and PDCC. I had all three in my previous Taycan and now I got one with RWS but without PTV+ and PDCC. The difference when driving fast in corners is HUGE. PDCC literally removes body roll and PTV+ makes the steering sharper with a pinch of oversteering but only when you want it. Other things that I personally consider essential on a Taycan are: a nice color, sport chrono, BOSE (Burmester is even better, much better), glass roof, surround view, insulated glass.

I have RWS in my used MY22 4CT, and although I've never driven one w/o it, that has got to be making a huge difference in making a car this big and wide seem so maneuverable at low speeds -- vastly shortly turning radius than my wife's far smaller i4!
My CT also has PTV+ but so hard to assess what difference that is making.
My CT lacks PDCC, but compared to anything else I've ever driven (including my wife's i4 M50), sure seems to handle like ... a Porsche!

Sport Chrono is definitely nice for switching drive modes.
And Surround View makes parking so much easier.

 

[jbdan]

Thought I’d provide an update on what has transpired since my original post in October of last year. About a month after my post I attended the local cars and coffee for probably the first time in at least 6 months and came across my teenage years dream car with a For Sale sign on it….a 928S4. And not just any 928, this one is cassis red (rare color for 928s), being sold by the original owner with zero deferred maintenance and 30+ years of maintenance history in a binder, all original, paint and interior in excellent condition, and everything working like it should. Long story short, a week later the car was in my garage after passing the PPI with flying colors and a significant chunk of my future Taycan S4/GTS down payment was in the previous owner’s bank account. While I thought was delaying a Taycan as my daily for a couple years, I was absolutely thrilled to be getting my dream car.

Fast-forward to June of this year and I am looking for an EV to replace my Ioniq 6 (excellent car by the way) as my lease is about to end. As I’m searching I can’t help but notice that 2021-2022 CPO Taycan RWDs can be found at a price point comparable to a top trim 2025 Ioniq 6. So I added the inventory page on the Porsche website to my searches. Who knows, maybe the perfect car will appear. And guess what? It did! The car was added to inventory by a Porsche dealer 30 miles from me at close of business on a Thursday, I was there when they opened the next morning, negotiated the out the door price to one I was happy with including an extra year of CPO warranty, and the next day it was mine. 2022 RWD, 8800 miles, cherry red, tan interior, PB+, all of my personal must have options and several nice to haves that I view as a bonus (sport chrono and tech package among them). It doesn’t have the acceleration of a 4S but it’s plenty quick enough for my needs, handles like a dream, looks amazing, and I love it!

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