Byd seal - Christmas cracker car

as a 2 year owner i'd agree, it's not great when I bought it and even today i'd consider it a good price to value car and it was a huge heard turner especially with my matte ppf, but creaking, road leak, terrible suspensions But I learned to live with it going to sell it soon

I notice you are in the US. Where did you hire this car?

I've had a BYD Seal premium/long range model for nearly 2 years. Overall I've really liked it. Good value car and has all the bells and whistles. It's no performance handling car, which I think can catch some people, especially if you opt for the top spec AWD model. I see it more like a grand tourer. For long trips it's been great, comfortable and quiet with ample performance for overtaking and an easy 400km range plus at 100kmh with 20% battery left (mild weather). Suspension isn't the best over speed humps, as it is a bit floating at low speeds, but it does improve at higher speeds and sits pretty flat when taking corners. It's a 2 tonne car like most big battery cars. What exactly didn't you like about it out of interest and what do you normally drive as a comparison?

2 years with the AWD and it is a performance handling car; maybe you should have bought this model.

Probably at the insurrection rally 😂

I've driven my brother inlaws AWD performance Seal a number of times flat out. While it's fast, and for a 2.1 tonne car not bad around corners, I wouldn't call it a great handling car though that you'd take on a track day for example. Something like an Audi rs4 or i30 N are made for track days and handle well and brakes can handle a punishment. The Ioniq 5N is an EV example made for tracking - not cheap though. Not dissing the Seal, for what it is it's great, especially for the price. I've also heard the 2025 model with the adaptive suspension is an improvement. They should have just called the performance model AWD instead 😋.

In the uk.

Thanks for the response. We have an sq5 as the family car. I drive a mini r55 jcw as my daily, I have an e30 project car and a Miata for a track car. Generally had fast estates as the family car (s4 avant, c63 estate) and more interesting dailies for me (Audi a2, boxster, mx5) So this is not a car i would ever normally have, but was interested to try it to see if we are the type of prime who pay too much for a “premium brand” car. I can confirm that I am very happy with the price/quality balance if this is the alternative. There were lots of bad things about the car, ranging from annoying to “wtf were they thinking” Bad things Cheap interior Terrible gauge cluster that only wanted to show me tire pressures Suspension that crashed over to bumps, yet wallowed around corners Terrible boot space for the size of car Ac that has a mind of its own On/off brake pedal The stalls don’t light up in the dark so I had no idea what they did (may have been a fault in this car - but didn’t look like it) It takes an age to pull away - it was dangerous at how bad it was to get going from a standstill. With an electric motor in the mix, it should be v quick off the line Steering was super light at low speed and then just seemed to switch to over heavy at speed for no good reason - with zero feel at any point. The cruise control came on a couple of times without me telling it to Good things It had CarPlay I was able to give it back

Sounds like you had a faulty car. Your experience is atypical of what every other Seal owner says. I notice you said it had a cheap interior. That is a bizarre comment considering what nearly every reviewer has said about this vehicle. You also said it was slow. Was the car in Eco or Sports mode? Normally it throws you back in your seat.

Can’t comment on if it was faulty, but that’s just what it did. I tried it in both modes, didn’t really have much effect. I can’t see how anybody could say that is a good quality interior. Very cheap materials. For the price of the car, possibly acceptable. But compared to other cars, very cheap feeling. Dash layout was very “my first car” as well.

Again, reviewers have told a different story to you. I would contend that most Toyota cars have a way cheaper interior with a lot more scratchy plastics than the Seal.

I’ll take my experience over a reviewer. It is not a good quality interior. Again, it might be acceptable for the price. I would never own one. I’ve just looked up the price. 40k for a new one. That’s ridiculous. https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202511047652476 Is have this every day of the week over a seal.

Let's say that 99,99% of people who has tried the Seal and 90% of the reviewers are amazed by the car and some of them say (people who test many cars) that actually build quality is better than the new Mercedes C-class ... and here comes 1 person who says totally different. You can have your opinion by it's totally different from 99,99% other opinons, so statistically you are by your own with your opinion. And then you link to a used non-warranty diesel Audi A4 ... for a price of a new 530bhp electric car with ventilated seat, cooling/heating passive system, great warranty, practically free driving due to using electricity as power, etc. It cost 1,5 EUR to drive 100km with a 530bhp car. And how can you say 3,8s from 0 -100 km/h is terrible? I would say a troll. ... and here's your quality by Audi - yeah, it looks really premium :D Personally i wouldn't take it for free, electric cars offer more. https://preview.redd.it/gtcji7np05ag1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=925e457d44cf4b614da0d93ad259c87fd101b22c

Seal AWD has amazing price / value ratio but it's not a performance car (handling), it's a great everyday car. Actually the AWD handles worse (reviewers) than RWD version due to more weight (2185kg vs. 2055kg).

99.99% - interesting stat. Where did you get that from? Picking another random stat (0-100kmh) is worthless as well. This was the hybrid version. But It doesn’t matter how fast it accelerates 0-anything, it was an unpleasant car to drive. Dynamically, it was heavy, unresponsive and unpredictable. It would be a nightmare to live with. And the Audi is not best in class, but much better than the byd. As I’ve said before, _for the money_ it might be acceptable. But I’d rather spend that money on a higher spec traditional manufacturer, 2nd hand. I’m also not against electric, we thought about one instead of the sq5. But the Audi and Mercedes electric cars are pretty bad, bmw better but expensive and ugly, I would never give Tesla any of my money, the Taycan was a bit too expensive for what you got, Toyota and other Japanese cars are generally reliable but not very exciting, I’ve driven a polestar and that wasn’t very pleasant to drive either. I am sure there are other options, but we stuck with what we know. I’m not sure what the picture of the cc stalk is trying to show. What I can say is that the controls are far more intuitive and the adaptive cc is far better. This car is not for me. I was interested to see what other people thought of it. There has been a mixture of responses. Thanks for your time. Finally, you have ‘seal’ in your username. I think that means you are probably not going to give an unbiased view.

And that's the clue ... i was about to ask you if you are sure that it was a BYD Seal, because i was kinda pesimistic that a rental company would rent an electric vehicle. Dude, below is a BYD **Seal**, 530 bhp version with 3,8 seconds 0 - 100 km/h. Maybe you write about BYD **Seal U** \- which is a totally different car and has not so much to do with positive reviews of BYD Seal! https://preview.redd.it/08zfmci866ag1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=41fed6207b73dc386bbdd15831f71e7b21909e67

When is BYD Seal not a BYD Seal? When it is a BYD Seal U. Why on earth would they use that naming convention? I assumed they were all the same platform with different drivetrains and body styles. Btw you can hire electric cars, I have done out a few times.

It's a BYD Seal **U** when it has an U at the end :D - yeah, it kinda sucks with the names, also Dolphin and Dolphin Surf :/ Seal U doesn't have the best reviews and generally isn't a great car - mostly due to poor handling, it's also a FWD (218bhp) and a Seal is either RWD (313bhp) or AWD (530bhp), but those cars are totally different ones. However where i live the brand new electric **Seal U** "all features version" with 87 kWh battery cost 35 000 UK pounds and BYD has one of the best (long, no exceptions like other bastards) warranties in the world. Personally i wouldn't buy Seal **U**.

Well, we can agree on that…

Funnily enough, I’m just listening to sniff and smith on the plane in the way home - and they have been pointing out the ridiculous naming of byd cars.

In Australia BYD has renamed the Seal U as the Sealion 6 which does reduce the confusion at least. Glad it wasn't the sedan full EV you were driving, as performance at least is def not slow. I've had the Sealion 6 for a day (while Seal gets serviced) and yeah it's definitely chalk and cheese compared to even the Seal RWD from a performance and handling point of view. Personally, for an A to B SUV, I found it ok. They start at around $45 AUD on road in Oz so a lot cheaper than the UK. Seal sedan is also in the $50K's AUD and cheaper than Tesla 3 equivalent.

Totally agree, the brakes are fine but I'd be replacing for track days and adding adjustable suspension. I'd be doing the same to an M3 though, so that's where my thinking lies. I see it as a performance daily driver. I think proper track car performance only comes on a trailer if you want real performance. I haven't seen any aero kits for a Seal either 😕 which usually goes hand in hand with tracks.

Really? Proper drivers or insta-famous? I wonder if they're using the ITAC or turning off all of the aids. Any good ones you'd recommend to watch?

If you actually believe Seal interior is cheap, you clearly have no idea about it. Regardless of what you say, you own this and that.

Before i bought Seal i've seen really a lot of tests, reviews by people who test cars and some were testing both of them - RWD and AWD, the conclusion was that RWD was handling better, by handling i mean cornering / changing lines / left - right stability, nothing to do with power. The question, of course, is - how big was the difference? But it actually makes sense, AWD has extra weight on front axle and almost 2,2t weight that's something. However they are having so much fun with AWD: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tezLYZHWkK4&t=1608s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tezLYZHWkK4&t=1608s) i did that with my RWD with all season tires accelerating from roundabout, it is fun :D

The weight would surely play a part in that aspect, but I wonder how well the ITAC system assists the AWD in the real world. I wonder how the RWD would compare on the moose test, I've only seen the AWD do it.  I take reviews from internet people that test cars with a grain of salt. The reviewers of the Shark were all bagging the crap out of it because they didn't know how to drive the new systems, yet it amazed me at the drive day of just how capable it was off-road.

He was actually writting not about Seal but **Seal U** (aka Sealion 6 / Song Plus).