BYD considering simpler warranties for Australia

BYD has one of the more confusing warranty offerings in Australia, but that could soon change.

The Chinese auto brand backs its products with a six-year/150,000km vehicle warranty, an eight-year/160,000km high-voltage battery warranty and an eight-year/150,000km drive unit warranty, however, other components have shorter, varied periods – some as low as six months.

When asked whether the BYD brand could move away from its current aftersales offering, BYD Asia-Pacific boss Liu Xueliang told CarExpert through a translator: “We would take that into our consideration.”

“That is already under consideration right now.”

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Here’s a breakdown of BYD Australia’s other warranty periods, which you can also view on its website:

• Lights, suspension, ball joints, tyre pressure monitoring: 4 years or 100,000km
• Infotainment, shock absorbers, charging port assembly: 3 years or 60,000km
• Lead-acid 12V battery: 1 year or 20,000km
• Air-conditioning filters, wiper blade assembly, bulbs, fuses: 6 months or 10,000km

That’s in contrast with many other EV brands, which typically outline one warranty for the battery and another for everything else.

In 2022, BYD’s local distributor EVDirect adjusted its capped-price servicing scheme after early criticism of its cost, but defended its warranty, arguing it was being transparent in outlining the differing periods.

“In some cases, some of our customers have made their opinion vocal regarding the exclusions that sit below the 6 or 8-year mark,” the company said in an email to customers in 2022.

“Given the vocality we wish to address and highlight that we intend to go forward with a very clear pathway for our customers and in simple terms we have done away with any fine print and offered total transparency which is something that has not always been the case in the automotive market.”

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