Comments on: 2009 Holden Barina Review

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:42:57 +0000

I have driven only less than 15km straight from Booran Holden Dangdenong and this crap car need to get service and change a new computer.The problems is the engine idling is high about 2000rpm. Still happen on and off,I think it need a nation wide recall .

By: austman69

austman69 — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:11:48 +0000

it is a sad day that i purchased a new 2009 holden barina but what a relief to get rid it
after many countless battles with holden and the dealer i have given up in disgust and sold the thing
problems at 1000km replaced throttle control sensor 2500km replaced complete rear axle assembly then never ending battle with the dealer to fix the steering as it was a real country car wanted to go bush all the time finally fault was mm sort of corrected at least i could drive in a straight line .hey i dont drink
all front steering bushes need to be checked
when reporting a knock in the motor the answer was oh holden are aware of this problem and are working on a fix for it but just keep driving
gearbox syncros well enough said
fuel economy forget it 8.5li per 100 from a 1.6li thats not ok
the barina is a poorly built car with very little quality control and
holden should have put a bit more thought into the handling, noise control and economy

By: Byron

Byron — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:32:28 +0000

Holden Barina is attractive from the outside. Better than old model. Interior not too bad. Epica takes 1st in that. Overall not a bad car. Next one hear within a year. Go Holden!

By: Opel Corsa

Opel Corsa — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 01:54:42 +0000

I have Chevy Aveo Limited Edition 1.2 SE 4 Airbag ABS 90 HP in Turkey, but here, they are from Germany and also have the exact quality of Opel technology. The price you wander is 25.000 Turkish Liras that equals to $24.000 .Comparing to Volvo, Merc, BMW, yes, its a piece of crap I agree with that but to people who have limited budgets, quite ideal car, where all cars take you where you wanna go. I also agreee to what Marie is saying driving sensibly saves you. I pay $ 5.00 dollars for per gallon, the worlds most expensive fuel. Aveo is the ideal small car you could get.

By: marie

marie — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:10:22 +0000

i just bought a barina and loving it. the safety features of every car now a days is an advantage. I been driving for 14 years with my old car that doesn’t have all those features now and never had an accident. I’d say no safety features can replace a safe and sensible drivers. And I say wherever the car is made if you dont take care of it youll have lots mechanical problem with it. So my suggestions, have it service regularly and dont pust it over the limit, youll enjoy it for a long time. By the way my old car wes a korean made so i got no problem getting a barina.

By: franz chong

franz chong — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:33:58 +0000

one only has to read European Motoring Magazines or Check Out Pictures of the Opel Corsa in the Car Rental Parts of Travel Brochures to Britain and Europe to see where Holden went wrong going Daewoo to replace the XC series Barina even before it’s replacement came out in Germany.

By: Merc Lover

Merc Lover — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:52:54 +0000

I Had a ford KA pice of crap all $18,000 had it for 5 year and it fell apart around me traded it in on a wonderful 1985 merc 190e with 159,000 ks on the clock.
and what wrong with it after having it 18 mths now a Big Fat 0 and all it cost me wast $5000 and yes the parts are cheep for it to.
there is not one thing wrong with after 24 years of being on the road. i have alway had new cars, but i would have this is by far the best car i have ever had.
i know one thing that most of the cars that cost 4 or five time thats will not be as good as in 25 years time.

By: Bret

Bret — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 21:52:24 +0000

Noel,
Told ya so!

Daewoo designed 4 cyl to be built at GMH Elizabeth.

Only minor cosmetics and “localization” changed for Aus.

By: Bret

Bret — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:00:37 +0000

Nic, are you really that gullable, or think that others are?

The next barina IS another Daewoo.

Holden had nothing to do with improving the Barina from 2 to 4 stars – it was Deawoo.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:39:12 +0000

For what it is, it seems pretty reasonable ecconomically, although I don`t know the specific details of it all. Seriously though, check how badly crammed the poor sod`s gonna be who has to climb into the back seats…Hope he`s not anywhere above 5 foot cause if he is, time for a leg amputation.

By: bencong

bencong — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 14:28:45 +0000

igot a sv6 and at the same time got a $13990 barina for my wife as i didnt want her to drive my sv6.guess witch car had all the warrenty problems and was an absoloute pig to drive and had a cheap and nasty interior?why the sv6 of course i have never owned such a peice of crap as this car.i now own a mazda 6 very nice.and the barina well it just gets on and does the job it was designed for to and from work and shopping.not 1 warrenty claim and a build quality not much below the $40.000 sv6.not great to drive but at $13990 its never going to be a drivers car.has holden lost the plot?after 7 months of owning that sv6 i would say yes.

By: Nic

Nic — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:47:36 +0000

You people need to stop complaining…This is the modern world. The next barina/aveo/corsa/gentra will be designed by holden and opel mainly and be built in Korea. Korea now makes good cars and as you can see with the captiva its a well built car. Holden has done a good job at imrpoving the Barina. With upgrading the saftey to 4 stars and infact this car appeals to young people very well because it is affordabel and stylish. And now it will appeal even more including their parents. This current Barina is really only a tempoary car and expect to see the next generation late next year. Plus may I aware you what would you rather have your child go out and get for their first car, a beaten up old Toyota with a 1 star saftey rating or a brand new Holden Barina with a 4 star saftey rating and is just as relibel. I think we should be great full that car companys are trying to make affordabel cars for every one.

By: Devil's Advocate

Devil's Advocate — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:05:32 +0000

I’m happy with the bite I got!! ;-) I thought the name would give it away! I am just giving another perspective which some blinker wearers on this site are too naive to accept. The Corolla, even after taking away fleet sales was still the biggest seller in the last survey I saw. It is just there are more fleet Commodores. I think including non-fleet sales as well as total sales is a valid tool that should be made more public. It can assist you in choosing which car you may want to buy as cars used in fleets generally have poorer resale values. Just look at the resale of a Commodore Omega!

By: Bret

Bret — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 00:15:53 +0000

Noel,
Please read the following quote from GM-H:

Mr Reuss was confident the GM GLOBAL platforms could be used by Holden in an economically viable way to produce a competitive vehicle. “It could be done in Australia in a cost-competitive way,” he said.

Don’t expect an Australian designed small car to be built here. What you can expect is a locally facelifted, probably Korean designed (engineered), small car built here.

By: Wheelnut

Wheelnut — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 09:25:35 +0000

Exactly Golfie car companies and dealerships are prepared to do almost anything to get a sale…and if that means offering extra [optional] features at no estr cost or massive discounts so be it..

I mean a mate of BMs Brother recently bought a Voodoo VE SS Ute [having been for a ride in BMs brothers SS Ute].
When he was in the dealership placing his order; the Salesman said “what do I have to do to close the deal?” the guy said “18 cases of Pure Blonde in the back”. The salesman asked his manager came back and said Okay….deal”

By: Golfschwein

Golfschwein — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 09:16:30 +0000

Why should you not take fleet sales into account, Devil’s Advocate? It’s like saying your favourite footy team was beaten on the weekend just because the other mob kicked more goals.

So unfair.

If it’s soccered through, it’s still a goal.

By: Wheelnut

Wheelnut — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 08:49:37 +0000

Devils Advocate: WTF? the only real reason the Corolla is currently in second place just behind the VE Commodore is because of fleet sales.. the majority of which to rental car companies – some of which turnover their fleets more often than government departments.

If you want to talk private sales… I would say that going by sales figures over the past coule of months that more and more private buyers who are looking for a hatchback are buying either Mazda 2/3s Ford Focus or VW Golfs as they look better; offer more features; better performance and are just as sanfe and reliable as the Corolla which is supposedly the benchmark for the Hatchback sector.

The Corolla used to be Toyotas “bread and butter car” but they have lost focus and in that time its rivals have closed the gap and in some areas they have overtaken it

By: Devil's Advocate

Devil's Advocate — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 08:29:50 +0000

Take away fleet sales and you have the Corolla in front with the Mazda 3 just behind. So when people spend their OWN hard earned money, the Commodore isn’t Australia’s favorite car.
WRT Ford building the Fiesta in Thailand. Don’t forget the Honda Accord (non Euro) and the majority of our commercial utilities are made in Thailand and not all of them are of dodgy quality. The quality of the finished product will be dependent on how ‘fussy’ the parent company is on what comes out the other end, not due to where it is made. With the Barina I guess GM are happy to let a car of that quality being shipped to the dealers…
The Commodore and Falcon, while not world beaters in quality etc, are good, solid cars considering the size of our market and represent outstanding value for money and are something we should be proud of. However I would never buy either of them because they do not suit my current situation. :-)

By: Shane

Shane — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 02:48:20 +0000

Just for the record, Holden faired better in sales last month than Ford.
Holden sold 4400 Commodores and Ford only sold 2600 Falcons.
Holden is also reporting good business this month with their price reductions, with some models hard to get.
Barina sales have also increased which reflects the improved safer model being released at $13,990 driveaway

By: o

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 06:02:38 +0000

why get this hunk of junk whne a mzda 2 or getz are years ahead.the barina is the commodores grnada and if i had a choice i would go and buy a second hand XC barina instead of this.MY major concern is wtf holden is doing. when daewoo left chevrolet shoul shave been introduced for this rubbish then holden could keep the euro modelds and seel them for a premium and become more of a honda company.But as they didnt do that in the next 5 years holden will have 3 deisng languages.. Korea [chevy in USA and europe]…Europe[opel/vauxhall in europe.Saturn in the USA] an then commodore [holden in oz pontiac in USa] so holden will be selling beatuiful insignias and caprices alongside barinas and vivas.