BYD Seal

Okay kids, back to Gumbo's point though, it's an interesting one to further discuss. Everything in the world is getting more expensive, is the increase an issue here though? What is the competition for the BYD Seal at the moment? Back in 2025 when I bought mine there was the Tesla Model 3 (highland), the Hyundai Ioniq 6 and the Polestar 2. I did a test drive in all of them and ended up preferring the Seal myself (looks, comfort, options, body type & space, performance). All of this is personal sure, and I don't really mind a couple of K more or less price wise.

The Model 3's software experience was nice, pricing similar for the dual motor, but the car's too barren and comfort wise & interior wise I much prefer the Seal, plus there's the dickhead at the top (although let's not go there, who the **** knows what's going on at BYD's top ethically). The price for the Model 3 dropped since, but I would honestly still go with the Seal, especially now the refresh will have Google built-in making the experience better overall.

The Ioniq 6 was waaaay too expensive for what it was back then, I remember the top spec dual motor variant was around 65-70k? Interior wise it's no where near the finish and quality of the BYD, software is worse, performance is not on par and looks wise I prefer the Seal. The price for the full spec RWD was even a bit higher than the Seal AWD I ended up getting. This one's come down in price significantly, but only the RWD is available on the site and the top one is still 45k including grants with the same crappy software experience and interior, although the external did improve with the refresh.

The Polestar 2 was in a weird spot back then, news about only the highest spec being left on the Irish market but I see you can now still configure all of them. Price wise this wasn't a good option back then, the Seal felt a lot more spacious and more of a sports saloon as the ride in the Polestar 2 felt quite high. The interior quality was not great as well, plus it just felt cramped and depressing in there. I did like the drive of it though. Did this model come down in price recently?

What else is there? Because a year ago these were pretty much the only sport saloon type cars worth considering, are there more options on the market now in 2026 that are significantly undercutting the value proposal of the Seal? The new Mercedes CLA electric sure doesn't if you give it similar options in the configurator. It's very efficient but not that fast. I haven't driven it myself but the reviews so far are a bit of a mixed bag for taller people, CLA was always a bit cramped and I don't think putting a battery underneath makes it better.

And regarding the "I only see 241 models driving around" comment, I don't know what to tell you besides that anecdotal evidence has never been a great benchmark. I drive a 251, I see 25X's driving around Wicklow, Wexford & Dublin. But again, that's my experience, not the numbers that Gumbo and listermint are providing that are useful for this discussion.

For the Ioniq 6 you're looking at the platinum spec to compare it to the base RWD Seal, n line has cloth seats for example, no sun roof (although the Seal roof is just glass), no surround monitor for parking, couple of options missing that would be standard on the Seal. That one's nearly 45k, still 2k less than the Seal but at the point it becomes more about preference really. For the Model 3 the long range RWD is 45k, is that the spec to compare it to? It has more range than the base RWD Seal, but the base one would be less? All WLTP really but I haven't checked the EV database.

ID7 starts at 51.5k, but that's the base spec, something like a heat pump is optional apparently (1300 euro more) and with it other "packages" that are standard on the base Seal.

ID4, Enyak, Audi are all SUV type cars which are not a direct comparison, unless you're looking at the Audi e-tron GT of course, but that's a different price point. I reckon the market is flooded with electric SUV type cars, hence the price drops, hopefully everyone is getting tired of them at this point (for the sake and safety of human kind really).

I forgot about the BMW i4 but that also starts at 62k or something? I heard there's an electric 3 coming out, but again, everything is an expensive optional package with the Germans for some reason.

The Mazda is actually around €40k-€43k depending on which of the two specs you go for.The MG has been available in the UK for a year or so and isn't coming here due to the levies.

I saw that myself but it's not what the actual dealers are charging though.

I enquired with a dealer on a facelift model and he said there are none in the country yet and they expect them towards the end of the year. Hopefully there are some around August, September as that is when I will be looking for a new car.

Eject and reinsert factory SIM card ? I'm assuming that you have not swapped out the factory SIM.

didn’t touch the sim. Can’t even check usage of data. Due to get tires and fm fixed so will give BYD a call.

It happened around the time my data plan ran out so I figured at the time it was because I didn't pay the €100.00