I serviced my BYD Han at an official dealer, on schedule, for years. A dealer in Lisbon confirmed to me before I moved to Portugal that my warranty would carry over. Then a structural defect appeared in a headlight, and after more than six months of waiting the answer was that BYD would not cover it, because the car was originally sold in China.
A car with 40,000 km on the odometer, maintained by the book at an official service centre, ended up with no warranty support. In over twenty years of driving I have not seen this before.
Written in November 2024, updated with what has happened since.
What was actually wrong with the car
A front headlight. That is it.
The dealer could not fix it for around six months. The fault looks structural rather than accidental, which points at a manufacturing defect rather than anything I did.
I want to be clear that the fault itself is minor. It did not stop me driving, and on its own it would not be worth a blog post. What is worth writing about is what happened when I asked for it to be repaired.
Three visits, no repair
Over the course of a year I went to the local Caetano dealer in Porto several times.
- First visit: to document the problem.
- Second visit: so their representatives could take additional photographs of the headlight.
- Third visit: to get an explanation in person. I was told they could not help because my car was not purchased in Europe.
That last point is true. I bought it in China.
While the car was there I also asked for a software update and a SIM card replacement. Their representatives promised to sort it out in the coming days and to contact me. Nobody ever did.
The part that makes it worse
Before moving to Portugal I contacted the BYD Caetano dealer in Lisbon specifically to confirm whether my warranty would be valid. They assured me it would.
So the sequence is this. I asked in advance and was told yes. I then serviced the car at that dealer group, on schedule, and everyone was content with the arrangement. The moment I arrived with an actual problem, the answer changed.
They also kept me waiting for a response from the manufacturer for over six months.
The result: a car with 40,000 km, regularly maintained at an official service centre, with no warranty.
Effectively the manufacturer, knowing about a defect in their own product, declined to take responsibility for it. Think about that.
How this compares to European brands
In over twenty years of driving, this is the first time I have run into a situation like this.
I am critical of some German brands, mainly because their prices are not always justified by the quality, and I have said so elsewhere. But even they provide support in situations like this. There are documented cases of manufacturers helping with repairs and replacing faulty components on cars that were already out of warranty, because a known defect is a known defect.
That is the comparison that stayed with me. Not the price of the repair. The difference in what a manufacturer considers its own problem.
What has happened since
I first published this in late 2024. Nothing since has improved my view.
My warranty has now ended anyway. In the meantime a routine service returned the car with the cabin filter fitted backwards and its housing broken, and an unnecessary repair to a working door handle left me with a flat 12V battery that nobody at the service centre could work out how to charge. Owners in a group solved that one in a minute.
If you want the shorter version of my overall verdict on the car, it is here.
Why I am writing this at all
Last year I drove all over Europe in this car and talked to a lot of owners, and I recommended the brand to them. A year before that there was not a single BYD in the city where I live. Now there are dozens. I am fairly sure my enthusiasm influenced some of those decisions.
That is why I feel a responsibility to give the other half of the picture. Not to talk anyone out of the car. To make sure the decision is made on more information than I had.
So: try not to let sales staff or advertising cloud your judgement, and ask the awkward questions before you sign.
The questions I would ask before buying
Ask these of the dealer, and ask for the answers in writing.
- What happens if the electric motor fails? Not in principle. In practice, in this country, with this dealer.
- What is the returns policy, how long does the process take, and is it regulated?
- For what reasons can I lose the warranty? Ask them to be specific, and ask whether where the car was originally sold is one of them.
- If the manufacturer declines responsibility, for instance because of sanctions, who fulfils the warranty obligations?
That fourth one is not paranoia. In the current political and economic climate it is hard to predict six months ahead, let alone six years. When the manufacturer is a European company, a lot of this is clearer and more transparent. With a company from China, as I have learned, it can be unpredictable.
Good luck to you all.
A note on reliability rankings
One more thing worth doing before you buy, and it takes five minutes.
Go and look for BYD in the published rankings of the most reliable cars. Narrow it down to electric vehicles if you like. Check iSeeCars, check J.D. Power, check Autocar. Then try the same exercise for the Chinese market.
The result may surprise you.
It also puts warranty length in perspective. Toyota builds some of the most reliable cars on the market by those same rankings, and offers a three year warranty. They offer three years because they intend to honour it.
As for BYD, why stop at six? Go bigger. Make it a hundred years. If you are not planning to fulfil the obligation or look after the customer, there is no reason to hold back. It is not as though anyone is counting 🙂
FAQ
Is a BYD warranty valid in Europe if the car was bought in China?
In my case, no. I was told before moving that the warranty would carry over, and a dealer in Lisbon confirmed it. When a defect appeared, BYD declined to cover it because the car was originally sold in China. Get the answer to this in writing before you buy an imported car.
Can you lose a BYD warranty by servicing at an official dealer?
Servicing at the official dealer was not the problem in my case, and I did it on schedule. The refusal was based on where the car was originally sold. The point is that a maintained service history did not protect me, so ask specifically what does void cover.
How long did BYD take to answer a warranty claim?
Over six months, for a headlight, and the answer at the end of it was no.
What was the defect?
A front headlight, with a fault that appears structural rather than accidental, which suggests a manufacturing defect. Minor in itself. The handling of it is the story.
Which dealer was this?
The Caetano dealer in Porto, with the earlier warranty confirmation coming from Caetano in Lisbon. My car has since been serviced elsewhere.
What should I ask a dealer before buying a BYD?
What happens if the motor fails, what the returns process is and whether it is regulated, exactly what voids the warranty, and who honours the warranty if the manufacturer declines. Ask for answers in writing.
Is BYD in the reliability rankings?
Look it up yourself, including for the Chinese market, and draw your own conclusion. I would rather you checked than took my word for it.
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