I Looked Into Every BYD Shark 6 RUST Report — What I Found Isn't What Aussies Expect

📕 The Aussie Car Buyer's Bible — the checks I'd do on any Chinese ute before you hand over a cent 👉 https://aussiemechanicgreg.com One sentence is doing the rounds: that the stuff BYD puts on its vehicles to stop rust is coming off, and the utes are rusting out underneath. That is a serious thing to say about a $60,000 ute, so I read every report I could find and sorted them into three piles — documented, what owners report, and what has no published source behind it at all. What I found is not what either camp wants to hear. What I cover: - The two documented corrosion cases, and the vehicle they were on — which is not the Shark - The NZ$7,000 bare-metal repaint BYD paid in full, and why I'll call that good conduct - What electro-galvanising actually is, where it protects a panel and where it doesn't, and why "the coating is falling off" isn't a thing bonded zinc does - The Shark 6 cowl-drain leak owners report — water under the driver's carpet, surface rust on hidden metal — and exactly how strong that evidence is - The missing underbody plate story, and why it is a parts shortage, not corrosion - The recall that IS open on 32,009 Shark 6s — nothing to do with rust — and the free fix to book - The best-documented ute chassis-corrosion story anywhere, and the badge it belongs to - Four questions that tell you whether any corrosion claim is worth listening to - The five-minute checks every ute owner should be doing regardless of badge: cowl drains, under-dash carpet, chassis seams, the tray lip and accessory bolt holes FACT-CHECK: The documented corrosion cases are on the BYD Atto 3, not the Shark 6 — two owners (one Australian, one New Zealand) plus one further commenter, reported by CleanTechnica (28 July 2025), MotoringNZ (29 May 2024) and Auto Expert John Cadogan: rust bubbling through paint on door panels and elsewhere, some without visible stone-chip damage. The New Zealand car had its bonnet, front wings, a door, the windscreen surround and A-pillar stripped to bare metal and repainted at approximately NZ$7,000, paid in full by BYD. BYD states its bodies use "electro-galvanising, which produces a thin, uniform layer of zinc coating that provides corrosion resistance", and its NZ country manager was quoted citing the "fully transferrable six year /150,000km bumper-to-bumper warranty". Cadogan's assessment was that the corrosion was localised at bracket and bolt points rather than structural, with no data on how widespread it is. On the Shark 6: owners in a BYD Shark group and a Brisbane pre-purchase inspection business report two sets of cowl drain holes not lining up, water entering under the dash and surface rust on hidden metal, handled case by case under warranty — that business states itself that no BYD bulletin addressing it could be found, and there is no count and no recall for it. No Australian corrosion recall, no ACCC action, no service bulletin and no independent inspection or laboratory assessment of the Shark 6's corrosion protection could be found, and no published source supports the claim that the coating is falling off or that Shark 6s are rusting out. The first Shark 6 Performance examples arrived without their off-road underbody protection because of a parts shortage, with fitment from the start of July; a BYD Australia spokesperson said it is not a safety issue and does not affect performance. BYD recalled 32,009 Shark 6s in Australia in mid-September 2026 (Premium 28,543, Performance 2,100, Dynamic Cab Chassis 1,366; builds August 2024 to June 2026), BYD's statement citing incorrect spare wheel installation, tray positioning or fastening torque causing abnormal wear of the spare wheel support cable, with cable failure able to result in wheel detachment and a hazard to other road users; owners are told to remove the spare wheel (handbook page 259) and BYD replaces the lifter assembly free in about 30 minutes. On the Nissan Navara D40 (worst reported on 2004-2008 builds), claims made by Attwood Solicitors put around 35,000 units affected in the UK and up to 193,000 sold worldwide potentially exposed, and owners requested a recall campaign; at least one HiLux chassis is reported to have failed from rust. DISCLAIMER: General information and my honest opinion — NOT purchasing, legal, engineering or insurance advice, and not advice about your vehicle. No claim is made that the BYD Shark 6 rusts, that its corrosion protection has failed, or that any vehicle discussed is unsafe or defective; where a report is an owner's account rather than a published finding it is identified as one. Nobody named or described — BYD, Nissan, Toyota, any importer, dealer, workshop, inspection business, publication, law firm or regulator — is accused of any wrongdoing. Warranty terms differ by market and by sale date, and costs are indicative and vary. Get the terms for your own vehicle in writing, and if your Shark 6 is affected by the spare wheel recall, book it with an authorised dealer.