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BYD has announced a streamlined warranty in Australia, with its six-year/150,000-kilometre coverage now "bumper-to-bumper" – rather than some components being singled out for a shorter warranty period.
BYD cars sold in Australia are now covered by a more streamlined six-year warranty, the brand's local distributor EVDirect has confirmed.
Applicable to all BYD models sold since the brand launched in August 2022 – when deliveries of its Atto 3 electric SUV commenced – the updated warranty now includes a "bumper-to-bumper" six-year or 150,000-kilometre coverage, whichever comes first.
While the six-year/150,000-kilometre warranty term remains unchanged, there are no longer exemptions for certain vehicle components, such as the infotainment touchscreen and shock absorbers previously only covered for three years or 60,000 kilometres.
BYD executives acknowledged customer and media feedback about its warranty earlier this year, with Asia-Pacific general manager Liu Xueliang confirming changes were under consideration.
"It's very valuable feedback, and actually that is already under consideration right now," Xueliang said via a translator in January.
These changes have now been confirmed by the brand, with all of its models – the Dolphin, Seal, Atto 3, Sealion 6, Sealion 7 and Shark 6 – sold since August 2022 covered by the latest arrangement.
"BYD affirms its global battery leadership with the announcement of an enhanced warranty policy that covers the vehicle bumper to bumper," EVDirect said in a media release.
"This latest announcement comes as the [BYD] brand recently marked over 40,000 sales in Australia and aims to give BYD owners added confidence."
Other items previously subject to a shorter warranty period included the whole vehicle lights, tyre pressure monitoring module, suspension and ball joints, which were only covered for four years or 100,000 kilometres.
A spokesperson for BYD distributor EVDirect said while the warranty coverage on certain parts of customer cars that have expired will be reinstated – if under the 150,000km limit – there "will be no recourse for any historical claims" where a customer may have been required to pay out-of-pocket.
BYD has also simplified the eight-year warranty for the traction battery and drive unit in its vehicles, with their respective 160,000 and 150,000-kilometre limits moved to 160,000km each – giving an additional 10,000km of warranty to the drive unit, while the high-voltage battery remains unchanged.
The brand's distributor announced a seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty when it opened order books for the Atto 3 in February 2022.
However, closer to when deliveries commenced six months later, it was announced BYD vehicles would instead be covered by a six-year/150,000-kilometre warranty with several limitations – while the high-voltage components would be warranted for eight years, not seven.
EVDirect executive Luke Todd said the change was due to a standardised BYD warranty across the Asia-Pacific region, which was finalised after it had made the initial seven-year/unlimited-kilometre announcement.
"When we launched in February [2022], BYD hadn't set their global warranty policy, or especially for this region, so we had to go it alone. We went with what we had agreed at the time," Todd said in August 2022.
The earlier BYD T3 and BYD e6 models are not covered by the same warranty arrangements as its newer models, as these vehicles were imported under a separate distributor, Nexport.
MG, Mitsubishi and Nissan offer 10-year warranties in Australia – though the latter two brands require each annual service to be completed at the dealer to retain the 10-year coverage – while Jaecoo has an eight-year/unlimited-kilometre coverage.
Deepal, Geely, GWM, KGM SsangYong, Kia, Leapmotor and Skoda have seven-year warranties, some with unlimited kilometres, while LDV also offers a seven-year warranty on most, but not all, of its vehicles.
Jordan is a motoring journalist based in Melbourne with a lifelong passion for cars. He has been surrounded by classic Fords and Holdens, brand-new cars, and everything in between from birth, with his parents’ owning an automotive workshop in regional Victoria. Jordan started writing about cars in 2021, and joined the Drive team in 2024.
