Comments on: 2005 Holden XC Barina Hatchback Warranty Complaint

By: MAL

MAL — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:17:05 +0000

Have just bought 2001 Barina. Private sale. Drove well when inspected.
Picked up car 1 week later, got half way home & engine light comes on & there is a miss in the engine. On mechanics advice, bought new coil unit & spark plugs. Car runs well now but engine light still on. On the drive to the mechanics, noticed that the engine would hold revs (for a second or so) while changing gears. Mechanic reset the engine light & said maybe oxgen or other sensor could be problem. Oh and timing belt is now noisy. Anyway, drove away from mechanic, engine did not hold revs & all seemed fine. Got half way home again & noticed engine starting to hold revs & engine light back on. Wish I had read this forum before buying this dud.

By: Car Fanatic

Car Fanatic — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:57:08 +0000

I rented out loads of Vauxhall Corsa’s ( Holden Barina) in the UK when I worked as manager for Enterprise and had the airbag light come on in approx 30% of Corsa’s on fleet. The local Vauxhall dealer said it was just a loose wire. All he did was removed the airbag from the steering wheel and push the yellow connector back in place and most of the time it rectified the problem.

Another reason could be the wiring under the seat has been loosened by having stored stuff under the driver seat or while cleaning under the seat. Don’t let a mechanic charge you the earth to fix it though, it really isn’t that expensive, though some will try to rip you off.

By: Craig

Craig — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:11:33 +0000

Hi, just a quick question about these fantastic cars (sarcasm). I have fixed a few electrical faults on this car myself over the past year, & now I seem to have a new one to keep me entertained. The problem I am having is that the air bag light would sometimes come on while driving, this did not happen all the time. Now the light is on all the time. Has anyone else had this problem? If so what did you do to fix it? If you went to the dealer to get it fixed, what was the reason they gave you for the light coming on. Any help you may be able to give would be great. So until the next problem (probably only a few hours away) thanks.

By: A little peeved

A little peeved — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:28:15 +0000

Bit of an update on my 05 XC Barina that had the blown up starter motor – barely 8 weeks later I was driving home from a staff meeting at night, went to overtake a car (barely going 110km/h to get around him – didn’t drop a gear to do so) and the little beep beep shuddered violently and started to lose acceleration; to me it felt like it had dropped a cylinder or something like that.. (the little bit of knowledge I have from religiously watching the V8s for years :P).

Luckily I was only about 5kms away from home so I managed to limp it home, my dad had a look at it for me and he thought that a hydraulic lifter might have broken in the engine (everytime you pressed the accelerator it would shudder violently and have a ticking noise), the local mechanic came over the next morning to have a look at it and on first inspection he thought the same thing.

They managed to limp it over to his workshop which was about 12kms away – he opened her up…

SNAPPED A CAMSHAFT CLEAN IN HALF!!!!

All of the tappets that hold BOTH camshafts were loose and I was pretty damn lucky that they both didn’t go…

Holden didn’t really care that much and it wasn’t worth the fight with them and paying to get the car (which had it’s guts laying over the mechanic’s workshop floor) to their service centre for them to turn around and say they may or may not be able to do anything…

Got a quick and dirty fix done on it and nearly $3000 later I decided it was time to buy a new car…

Had my gorgeous Mazda 3 for 3 months now…

By: Feasible

Feasible — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 01:14:39 +0000

i’m having a similar prob as most of you, my 02 barina was great little car, no problems, started leaking water, took to holden dealer service and spent $110 to tighten up a nut. Was told 60,000 service was going to be $900 at least due to timing belt. Due for soon. Week later the warning ECU light has been on and off and it is stalling at lights. Took to another mechanic and they have been testing for problem. Thought it was electrical but auto elec couldn’t find anything so now they think they have narrowed it down to ECU which has possibly been heated and now has fault. After reading comments by tank and fab going to suggest on Monday the *head *melted catalytic converter *coil pack and *fuel injectors. Sounds to me like the catalytic converter. Anyone else had to replace the ECU???? Gen part is to $1400. Don’t want to do unless sure.

By: megamale

megamale — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:33:54 +0000

Good on you Carol Brownlie for bringing this to our attention.Holden is not as good as the much older Holdens use to be.Its good to be able to read things like this before going buying a new car that you think you may want and like so thanks guys.I’m sticking with Ford or something else.

By: Mumble Duck

Mumble Duck — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 06:20:24 +0000

I’m glad I could help Aleesha.

By: SPARTAN

SPARTAN — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:00:54 +0000

FERODO YOU BIG KEYBOARD WARRIOR PEOPLE COME HERE FOR ADVICE NOT TO READ YOUR BABBLE, WELL DONE….. ALEESHA THERE ARE A FEW HOLDEN/OPEL FORUMS THAT MAY BE OF ASSISTANCE I THINK THERE IS A CORSA ONE AS THAT IS WHAT YOUR CAR IS IN EUROPE DO A SEARCH ON GOOGLE HOPEFULLY THEY CAN CLARIFY WHAT IS WHAT.

By: aleesha

aleesha — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:40:22 +0000

ferodo.. completely useless info but whatever makes you feel important…!!!!

Thank you for your advice mumble duck but it was my mechanic who advised me that for half of the year that the 2005 barina was in production, holden’s switched to the daewoo motor as it was cheaper. I was told that my motor was one of the daewoo engines.

By: Ferodo

Ferodo — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:28:20 +0000

See Duck, that’s what happens when you teach Holden fans to read – they then think that they’re smart enough to advise their girlfriends on what car to buy: “Buy the XC Barina, she’s a beaut Daewoo ya know.”

By: Mumble Duck

Mumble Duck — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 09:13:45 +0000

I’m sorry Aleesha. It would have not been a Daewoo XC Barina. Maybe that’s why youre search results are wrong. The XC Barina’s were made by Opel. And the Daewoo you would be talking about is a TK Barina. Two different cars, made in two different countries.

By: aleesha

aleesha — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 08:52:57 +0000

I have a 2005 xc barina (daewoo one) i have been searching the internet for days now as my mechanic has just let me know i will have to replace my whole engine.
My car too sounded like a tractor/diesel motor. I took it to Holden’s twice & they couldn’t fault it. I then took it to another mechanic and he changed the timing chain, tensioners and oil pump as these were all apparently knackered. Since changing this my oil pressure has dropped. The mechanic advised me that he removed some bearings from the engine that were also knackered, but he is still unsure as to what is causing the oil pressure issue. If anyone has any ideas on what the issue would be, it would be great to hear unless my next step is to replace the whole motor.
Thanks

By: Evelyne

Evelyne — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:40:14 +0000

I have a brand new TK Barina Hatch automatic
1350kms on the clock and I have already some problems: stuck in Park: the dealer said faulty solenoid????
The sale of Barina is a crime, as it can cause accident. However those big companies get away with it

By: Evelyne

Evelyne — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:32:32 +0000

By: Bavarian Missile (.)(.)

Bavarian Missile (.)(.) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:31:45 +0000

Hey Katrina…………..who is looking after your car ?

By: Katrina

Katrina — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:24:00 +0000

Hi there,
I have a 2001 XC Barina and it has a slight miss in 2nd and 4th gear. I have replaced spark plugs, and given it a full service and even changed fuel to the dearer one. Still happens at start of acceleration in these gears.
Can anyone shed some light as to how to fix this problem.
Thanks
Katrina

By: David

David — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:36:22 +0000

The outcome of the above. Insurance company spent $240 getting 3 opinions on what was actually wrong with this car – one Holden dealer, a Honda dealer (don’t ask why) and an independent. All three claimed it was a coil pack, although the Holden dealer claimed it was stale fuel and a coil pack. All three of these places claimed to have run a “full diagnostic test” on the car. Took car to my regular mechanic who cleaned the fuel injectors – and now everything is running just fine. Lesson here – stay away from RACQ and, if you can’t do it yourself, find a mechanic you can trust.

By: David

David — Tue, 19 May 2009 04:42:57 +0000

Have a 02 Barina. Timing chain, coil pack fixed under warranty pre 20000k. Has run perfectly since. Accident a few weeks ago with a hit at the front. Well known Queensland insurance company currently refusing to complete repair (ie: get it back to a driveable state because the coil pack has gone) because “this is a common fault of this car”. Trying to find this in my policy – but if it is the case need to let Barina owners know of this situation and check their insurance policies.

By: Mav

Mav — Fri, 08 May 2009 09:45:42 +0000

Got a 2001 XC Barina. Trans problem like all of you out there, picked up revised trans linkage kit for $290 and installed myself. Much better now.

Had the emissons problem too, holden replaced the spark plugs and igntion module and finally replaced the head
(I don’t believe Holden). Problem went away, but then problem came back (shock – horror!!!).

I replaced the timing belt myself @ 60,000km but made an error and killed the head (valve clearnace are so small). Cost me nearly $2800 to fix head but the positive is that the emission light issue and shuddering went away – go figure.

By: Crin

Crin — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:10:09 +0000

I have a BARINA 2008 and its giving me so many problems. The abs light comes on and stays on sometimes for days, within the first 3 weeks of this brand new car the spedomoter stoped working. And the topping on the cake is my warning lights coming on and off when everthey please. They stay on while the car in on and starts when i start the car. please if anyone has this problem or has had please contact me. I have taking my car in four times and keeps getting the respone “we dont know why” or “can’t see a problem”