Skip advert
Advertisement

BYD Dolphin - Reliability & safety

It’s too soon to make a call on reliability, but a six-year warranty shows BYD is confident about its cars

Reliability & safety rating

4.3

How we review cars
RRP
£26,195 £31,695
Avg. savings
£2,406 off RRP*
Find your BYD Dolphin
Compare deals from trusted partners on this car and previous models.
Or are you looking to sell your car?
Value my car
Fast, no-nonsense car selling
Value my car

The BYD Dolphin and the BYD brand are too new to have appeared in the latest Driver Power customer satisfaction survey. We’ll have to wait to hear more from owners about what it's like to run a Dolphin, so if you buy one after reading our review, please submit your experiences to our survey to help future owners out.

Advertisement - Article continues below

Safety is good because all versions of the Dolphin come with plenty of safety kit; you don’t need to upgrade to a high-spec model to get all the latest tech. A 360-degree camera with parking sensors is standard, along with lane assist, blind spot monitoring and autonomous emergency braking (AEB). You also get traffic sign recognition and speed limit assist technology on all models.

Euro NCAP gave the car a five-star rating in 2023, scoring 89 for adult protection and 87 for child protection. Safety assist was rated at 79, which is a little behind the Smart #3 tested at the same time.

Key standard safety features

Euro NCAP safety ratings

  • 360 camera
  • Parking sensors
  • Lane keep assist
  • Blind spot assist
  • Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB)
  • Euro NCAP safety rating - 5 stars
  • Adult occupant protection - 89%
  • Child occupant protection - 87%
  • Vulnerable road user protection - 85% 
  • Safety assist - 79%

Warranty

BYD offers an excellent six-year warranty for the whole car, which covers all the normal things for up to 93,750 miles. That sounds like an odd figure, but it’s just the converted 150,000km figure used for Europe.

There’s also an eight-year warranty for the drive unit and the same for the battery, although the battery cover gets an even longer mileage limit of 125,000 miles. The body is covered for 12 years against rust, plus four years’ worth of breakdown cover included.

Servicing

Servicing is required every 24 months or 20,000 miles, whichever comes first. That’s typical of an electric car, although the Volkswagen ID.3 has a two-year, unlimited mileage service interval, which might be worthwhile to high-mileage drivers.

BYD offers a service plan for initial owners to manage the cost of maintenance.

Skip advert
Advertisement

New & used car deals

BYD Dolphin

BYD Dolphin

RRP £26,195Avg. savings £2,406 off RRP*Used from £24,250
Omoda 5

Omoda 5

RRP £25,235Avg. savings £1,824 off RRP*Used from £24,000
Audi A3

Audi A3

RRP £26,075Avg. savings £1,664 off RRP*Used from £14,990
Dacia Spring

Dacia Spring

RRP £14,995Avg. savings £1,676 off RRP*
* Average savings are calculated daily based on the best dealer prices on Auto Express vs manufacturer RRP
Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

Car Deal of the Day: High-spec Nissan Qashqai for £191 a month is a steal
Nissan Qashqai - front cornering right

Car Deal of the Day: High-spec Nissan Qashqai for £191 a month is a steal

The Nissan Qashqai is a family favourite, with plenty of style and kerb appeal. It’s our Deal of the Day for 13 February
News
13 Feb 2025
New Volkswagen Transporter Shuttle 2025 review: makes 7-seater SUVs feel cramped
Volkswagen Transporter e-Shuttle - front

New Volkswagen Transporter Shuttle 2025 review: makes 7-seater SUVs feel cramped

The Ford-based Volkswagen Transporter Shuttle is refined, good to drive and has plenty of space in all three rows
Road tests
14 Feb 2025
New Renault Clio to shun electric power and stick with petrol and hybrid options
Renault Clio design render - front

New Renault Clio to shun electric power and stick with petrol and hybrid options

Renault’s sixth-generation Clio hatchback will get a clean look and hi-tech kit, and our exclusive images show what it could look like
News
12 Feb 2025