What to check before buying a Chinese car in Australia

A five-star safety rating on a Chinese car doesn’t always apply to the one in front of you. ANCAP ties its ratings to build dates, and the MG ZS only earned its fifth star for cars built from 4 December 2025, according to ANCAP. Four things are worth checking.

Does that five-star ANCAP rating apply to the car you’re buying?

Not always, because ANCAP attaches a rating to a vehicle’s build date rather than to the model name. Two examples of the same car sitting on the same lot can carry different star ratings depending on when each was built.

The MG ZS is the clearest case. ANCAP lifted it from four stars to five after MG added a centre airbag, which raised its adult occupant protection score, the measure of how well the car shields people in the cabin during crash tests, to 81 per cent. That result covers only cars built on or after 4 December 2025. An earlier build is still a four-star car.

The GWM Haval H7 shows a second wrinkle. ANCAP published a five-star rating for it on 19 December 2025, but testing found a head restraint could dislodge in the full-width frontal crash, and GWM responded with a voluntary recall, ANCAP reported. For cars built before 15 October 2025, the rating stands only after that recall work is finished. Ask the dealer to confirm it is done and get it in writing.

Plenty of recent results are genuinely strong. The BYD Seal 6 built from May 2026 scored 92 per cent for adult occupant protection, the strongest result in that ANCAP round, and the MG4 EV Urban took five stars across every variant, with autonomous emergency braking, which applies the brakes for you when a collision looks imminent, working well against pedestrians and cyclists. The MG 7 liftback built from December 2025 also rated five stars, adding motorcyclist detection, lane keep assist and intelligent speed assistance.

“ANCAP star ratings provide independent, rigorous assessments of how well vehicles prevent crashes and protect occupants”, says Carla Hoorweg, chief executive officer of ANCAP Safety. On the ZS upgrade she added that “MG should be commended for proactively making improvements to the ZS.”

What does a six or seven-year warranty actually cover?

Less than the years alone suggest, because the distance cap and the written exclusions decide most claims. BYD’s Australian terms are a useful example of how to read one.

Under BYD Australia’s published terms, a new car is covered for six years, or 150,000km if you get there sooner, while the traction battery is warranted for eight years or 160,000km. Note that the car itself runs out of cover 10,000km before the battery does. If you drive 30,000km a year, the six years is irrelevant. You’ll hit the distance cap in year five.

Roadside assistance is the other line that gets skimmed. On BYD’s own service page, the free cover lasts a year from the day you take delivery, nowhere near the length of the warranty. Budget for your own cover after that first year, or accept the risk.

The exclusions are not published alongside the headline figures. BYD keeps the detailed conditions in a separate warranty booklet, so ask for it before you pay a deposit and read what voids cover. Servicing outside the network, aftermarket accessories and towing above the rated limit are the usual candidates, and you want to know which apply while you can still walk away.

Where will the car be serviced, and how often?

At the brand’s own dealers in almost every case, and how often depends heavily on which drivetrain you pick. Independent mechanics can handle plenty of routine work, but battery and high-voltage checks plus software updates form part of the scheduled service, so the dealer network is where most of these cars will go.

The intervals are not the same across a single brand’s range. BYD’s Australian schedule puts its electric models on a 12-month or 20,000km cycle from the first visit, running out to 72 months or 120,000km. Its Dual Mode plug-in hybrids start with an engine oil service, then sit on a 10,000km cycle for HEV versions and 20,000km for the rest, finishing at the same point.

That difference matters more than it looks. A plug-in hybrid on BYD’s 10,000km cycle books in twice as often as the electric version over the same distance, so the running cost gap between the two is wider than the fuel bill alone suggests.

Before you commit, find out where your nearest franchised dealer for that brand is. A newer marque may have a thinner network than Toyota or Mazda in your area, and a service that means a two-hour round trip is a cost you’ll pay in time for as long as you own the car.

What has the used market paid for these cars so far?

Considerably less than the established brands, and this is the single biggest cost of ownership most buyers overlook. A 2024 BYD Atto 3 was down 35.84 per cent, the biggest fall among the Chinese-built cars Savvy compared, while a 2023 Chery Tiggo 7 Pro had shed 42.01 per cent after just over a year on the road.

The contrast with the mainstream favourites is stark. Savvy put a 2024 Toyota RAV4 Edge eFour down only 4.3 per cent, with a 2024 Corolla Ascent Sport Hybrid hatch and the 2024 HiLux SR5 auto each around 10 per cent. A 2024 BYD Atto 3 has lost roughly eight times as much of its value as an equivalent-age RAV4 hybrid.

Some of that is a market effect rather than a judgement on the cars. Savvy put part of the gap down to aggressive discounting on newer models arriving in Australia, which drags down what a near-new used example is worth. It also isn’t a Chinese-only problem. The same list has a 2022 Tesla Model Y RWD down 48.93 per cent, a steeper drop than any Chinese-built car on it.

So should you buy one?

Yes, if you plan to keep it long enough that the resale figure stops mattering. The safety case has largely been answered: recent ANCAP results for the Seal 6, the MG4 EV Urban and the MG 7 all landed at five stars, so the argument against these cars now rests on money rather than crash performance.

The money argument is a timing one. You pay less at the start and lose more in the middle, which suits a long hold and punishes a short one.

Best for buyers who keep a car for seven years or more, cover under about 20,000km a year, and live within reasonable reach of a dealer for that brand. Not for anyone who trades every three years, since you’d be handing back a third of the purchase price, or for high-distance drivers who will run past BYD’s 150,000km warranty cap well before the years expire.

Do four things before you sign. Check the build date on the compliance plate against the ANCAP rating for that model, ask for the warranty booklet and read the exclusions, work out the service intervals for the exact drivetrain you’re buying, and look up what the same car sold new for 12 months ago. The price on the windscreen is the easy part.