BYD Seal

Is your test drive going ahead this afternoon - keep us updated !! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts

That's not what I'm seeing.

330e msport from 2020 going mid 30s up and that's approaching 4 year old for a car that was ? 55k perhaps.

530e msport, Audi A7, cls merc all making far far above 50 percent at 3 years.

Was referring to 330e but 530e is equally valid. A 2020 530e msport is currently high 30s or early 40s. Basically making in excess of 60 percent and these are some of the more fair priced cars due to being relatively easy to Import.

Stuff like current model A7 diesel appear to.be making damn close to 50 percent at 5 year old, never mind 3.

Residual values for some cars are currently skewed due to the mammoth price increases over the last 2 years.

A new 530e is now €75K for example.

A7 TDI’s are now like hen’s teeth, only 9no. 2020 - 2023 models for sale on DD currently and not viable to import anymore.

I'm the opposite, can't stand dark interiors and think the lighter one look much nicer.

Test drive done and have to say very impressed.

TLDR: We had been looking at the Model Y and 3 vs the BYD Seal and I think the Seal has sealed the deal(Sorry). Going to put the order in for an Atlantis Grey Design trim for January delivery

My findings starting with the all important ADAS system:

- Driver's assistance system was mostly okay. Lane keep assist barely alerted me on my 20 min drive and when it did it was fine, slight nudge and a low tone. When the car camera picks up a new speed limit(TSR) it makes a barely audible bong which is fine too. The speed limit warning though was quite a loud warning bing, from what I could tell if you are in a 50km/h zone as detected by the TSR and you're going between 50-55 the speed icon just flashes on the instruments panel but if you go above the 55 then it activates the warning tone. I don't mind it to be honest as long as it works as designed. I would rarely be going 5km/h above the speed limit but I would be worried that the camera hasn't picked up a speed sign properly when moving from say a 50 to 60 zone and then it would be driving you mad I think. I could be wrong(I hope) but I looked around the menu and I don't think it can even be turned off, I checked both 'Driving Assist' and 'Active Safety' sub menus. Lane assist can definitely be turned off though.

- We both agreed it was the nicest EV we've driven so far and we've driven quite a few in the last few weeks. Not just acceleration wise which you get from every EV but everything like handling, driver position, parking, default level of regen braking.

- Interior is so much more refined and has a higher quality feel/appearance than the Atto 3 which we test drove 2 weeks ago. 

- The instrument panel is often an afterthought(i.e. Skoda) or not there completely(i.e. Tesla) but it's really nice on the Seal. 

- Definitely the black interior for us with kids under 10 but neither of the test cars they had there had the light blue interior. Probably something I would go for if young children weren't involved.

- Really liked the dual wireless phone chargers, very similar to Tesla Model Y we also test drove recently. I seen some reports that if the phone moves slightly then an annoying 'Your Phone is now charging' message can frequently pop up on the main screen. I didn't find that happening at all and we had 2 phones charging during the whole test drive. Maybe something they've fixed with an update recently.

- Looks like it will take the kids seats fine and still lots of room for adults in the front which had been a concern for us. It'll be a nice change of pace from the family friendly tanks we've been driving for a long time now. In fact the rear passenger room is very impressive for the size of car it is(i.e. mid size saloon), not far off a Skoda Superb which is class leading in that regard. I think all the hype about the integrated blade battery might be actually true.

- Boot size is another concern for us but it looks fine, quite wide and long but not much height. We'll be finished with buggy within the next year so even less of a need for a huge boot than we've had in the last 10 years. Might be tight on longer trips within Ireland and all our luggage but I think we'll manage. 

- We're only interested in the Design RWD model but they only had the AWD to drive. I had read that the active dampeners on the AWD can result in an almost bouncy ride but it felt fine to me. 

- The buttons on middle console are different to the Atto but not in a good way, they are still tactile but not clearly separated so you have to look down while driving to ensure you're pressing the right one.

- I preferred the gear lever on the Atto but the "crystal selector" or whatever they call in Seal is fine.

- Would've like to have driven it on a really sunny day to see how the tinted sunroof holds up, I was in the rear seat for half of the test drive. On an autumn day like today though it's a lovely feature to have as it brightens things up inside.

- In the spec it says "Driver's seat position memory", I took this to mean that you could have different positions remembered based on driver profile like in the Tesla but it's not unfortunately. When you open the door it automatically brings the seat back a little to make it easier getting out/in and then when you start the car it brings the seat back to whatever the previous driving position was. That's definitely helpful but pity no proper multiple seat position memory.

- Parking sensors and 360 camera were a joy to use compared to awful 'Tesla Vision' we experienced on the Model Y last week.

- HUD which is only included on the AWD excellence was nice but I don't mind not having it on the Design trim we're going for.

- Navigation wasn't setup yet on the car we were driving which was disappointing. Salesman said they just haven't gotten around to it since it's been out driving non-stop since they received it yesterday.

- The BYD voice control is surprisingly good. I did try have it turn off Lane Departure Assist but she was having none of it, you have to go into the menus on screen for that kind of thing, everything else was quickly understood though.

- Atlantis Grey is a lovely colour and I'm glad it was on the car we drove so easy decision for us. My head might have been turned by the extra 1.5k Indigo Grey but I'm not going to fork out that much extra without seeing it in person first.

- Nearly forgot to mention that indicators are on the right hand stalk which was just weird and more than once I activated the wipers when trying to indicate. Something you'd get used to quickly I suppose.

EDIT: Forgot to mention as well the artificial low hum(whine almost) in low speeds is really noticeable within the car, at lot of reviews I've seen mention this as well. A bit strange why it's so loud within the car, hopefully something than can be lowered a bit with a future update

If I think of anything else I'll add it but feel free to ask any questions

Thank you for taking the time to report back in such a detailed way! Really looks a huge amount of car for the money and seems it shipped with the new assistance update. People in other markets have commented on ability to set memory profiles for seats so wonder if that's hidden somewhere in the menus.

Mad to me how reviewers have missed something as substantial as the indicator stalk being the wrong way around but maybe that's just me as I'm not a fan of the Japanese stuff 😅

P.S. how long was the test drive, and was it accompanied? Always prefer heading out with car myself without having someone interrupt.