Almost every accessory guide is written with a mid-size SUV in mind, and the standard advice — boot liner first — comes from that. The BYD Dolphin is a small hatch, and for a small hatch that order is wrong. Here is what actually fits, and what to buy first.

What fits the Dolphin

Two items, and the mats cover an unusually wide year range — 2021 onwards, rather than being split into two or three mouldings the way several other models in the range are. That is worth knowing if you have an early car: you are not hunting for a discontinued set.

Why the usual order is wrong here

The standard reasoning for buying a boot liner first goes: boot carpet takes the worst treatment, costs the most to repair, and is the first thing a buyer notices at resale. All of that is true of an SUV with 500-plus litres behind the seats that gets used for hauling.

A small hatch is not that car. The Dolphin's boot is used for shopping and a weekend bag. It rarely sees the loads that actually wreck boot carpet — no bagged garden soil, no camping gear that has been on the ground, no muddy dog jumping in from a beach car park.

The footwells, meanwhile, get exactly the same treatment they would in any other car. Feet do not scale down with the vehicle.

So for the Dolphin: mats first, boot liner second. That is the opposite of what you would tell a Sealion owner, and it is not because the products differ — it is because the cars are used differently.

The floor mats

The set is all-weather: a waterproof moulded tray with raised edges, covering the front footwells and the second row. It handles the thing small cars in cities actually deal with, which is wet shoes for four months of the year.

One detail that matters more in a small car than a large one: mat thickness eats footwell space, and there is less of it to give away. A moulded tray sits in the contour rather than adding a slab on top of the carpet, which is the difference between a mat you forget about and one you notice under your heel.

The boot liner

Still worth having, just not first. The case for it in a Dolphin is narrower and more specific: it is the difference between carrying something awkward and not being able to.

A liner means you can put a bag of potting mix, a cooler that might sweat, or muddy boots straight in the boot and deal with it later. Without one, those things either travel on a towel or do not travel at all. In a small car that occasionally has to be a big car, that flexibility is the actual value — not resale protection.

What the Dolphin does not have

There are no seat back protectors listed for this car. If rear passengers are a regular thing and knee scuffs are a concern, that gap is worth knowing about before you plan a full interior refresh.

Where to start

Floor mats. They protect the surface that gets used every trip, they fit a wide year range so there is no fitment puzzle, and in a car this size they make a bigger practical difference than boot protection does.

Add the boot liner when you find yourself not wanting to put something in the boot. That moment usually arrives on its own.

The range for this car is on the BYD Dolphin page. Other BYD models sit under BYD, including the Seal Family, the Sealion Family and the Atto Family.

For how the mat constructions differ, see TPE, XPE or carpet. If you want the contrast, the Sealion guide covers a car where the boot genuinely does come first.