2007 Holden Barina Reviews

The Holden Barina is a small car that's generally tough in its build and put together to a good standard. It has a good reputation for being simple to drive and park and long lasting if driven and serviced correctly.It was the smallest car sold in Australia by Holden for many years, an even smaller model, called Barina Spark and later just plain Spark was sold from 2010, but isn't the model being surveyed here.The first Barinas were made by Japanese Suzuki and introduced here in 1989, then from 1994 they came from German car maker Opel. These are at or past their use-by date so won't be covered here.From December 2005, Barinas have been produced by the South Korean company Daewoo, now called GM-Korea, it has quite a few Australian engineers and designers on site so there's Aussie tuning in them. The car used some of the underpinnings developed by Opel and was very much a global machine.A virtually all-new model, tagged the TK series Barina was introduced in October 2011. Considerably more sophisticated than its predecessors it had electronically stability program, as well as infotainment technology that included GM’s MyLink system.Holden Barina is sold as a three-door or five-door hatch, or a four-door sedan, the latter not offered at all times.Occupant space in the front seats is fine for a car of its size. Rear seat legroom is restricted unless those in the front are prepared to give up some of their space. Most Aussie Barinas are used by single or couples, but we have seen some working as small family cars.Boot space is marginal, but the rear-seat backrests can be folded down to increase luggage room when required.All Barinas have four-cylinder engines. Though the engine is small, performance is reasonably good because of the light weight of the car. Try for yourself if you are likely to be carrying largish loads or driving in hilly conditions.Five-speed manual gearboxes are probably the best bet unless you are going to be doing a lot of heavy-duty commuting. Automatic transmissions are not too bad, particularly in six-speed format installed in the TK series. Again, test drive it yourself.Spare parts prices are generally favourable and there are Holden dealers in virtually all areas of Australia. Those in remote country areas are unlikely to stock every Barina part, so you may have to wait for parts to be shipped from a major city.Barinas are reasonably easy for the amateur mechanic to service and repair, though the underbonnet area is on the crowded side and work can be frustrating at times. Having a workshop manual on hand before you lift the bonnet makes a lot of sense.Insurance charges are generally reasonable and there doesn't seem to be a major difference in prices from company to company. As always, it's smart to shop around, making sure you're comparing apples with apples.The engine should start reasonably quickly and idle without too much movement.After the engine has been idling for a minute or so, hit the accelerator pedal and look for a puff of smoke from the exhaust. This could indicate serious engine wear.Make some fast gearchanges and listen and feel for a manual gearbox that baulks or crashes. The problem usually shows up in the critical third-to-second downchange before any others.Automatics that are rough in their changes or which change too frequently, may be due for an overhaul.Look for front tyres that are worn unevenly. This could be caused by something as simple as poor wheel alignment, but it could also mean the body has been twisted in a prang.Expect to spend from $1000 to $2500 for a 2005 Holden Barina; $2000 to $4000 for a 2005 SRi; $3000 to $6000 for a 2009 Barina; $5500 to $9000 for a 2012 Classic; $7000 to $11,000 for  a 2013 CDX; $8500 to $13,000 for a 2014 CDX; $10,000 to $15,000 for a 2014 RS or a 2016 CDX; and $12,500 to $19,000 for a 2016 RS.Look first at that left front wheel for signs of damage, it's generally the one to suffer if a driver stuffs up while parking.

NEW The Korea-built TK Barina got off to a rather rocky start when the Euro NCAP people could only give it a miserable 2-star rating. At a time when carmakers were making great strides in the area of safety the littlest Holden stood out for all the wrong reasons. But by 2008 things were looking up when it was given it

Holden Barinas come from a variety of backgrounds. From 1989 until April 1994, Barina was a Japanese Suzuki Swift with a different name, though it sold in fewer variants than did the Swift. From April 1994, Barina was built by German car maker Opel.Then from December 2005, Barina was produced by the South Korean company Daewoo. These days Daewoo, now GM-Korea, has quite a few Australian engineers and designers so there's plenty of local expertise in them.To further increase confusion, Opel Corsa entered the Australian market for the first time in September 2012 and is the ‘grandson’ of the Barina that used to be built for Holden by Opel.It’s still early days for the Corsa in Australia, but owners of the German Barinas are paying close attention to them. Not only do Corsas have sportier dynamics than the Korean Barinas, the importer is closely related to Holden in back-office operations.Holden Barina is a small car that’s generally tough in its build and put together to a good standard in any of the factories just mentioned. It has earned a good reputation for being simple to drive and park.However, some older models didn’t have power-assisted steering as standard so can be a handful at parking speeds. If you do come across one be sure to road test it at very low speeds to see what you think.The Barina is sold as a three-door or five-door hatchback, or a four-door sedan, the latter not offered at all times. Occupant space in the front seats is fine. Some drivers complain the pedals are too close together in the German versions, others don’t have a problem.Rear seat legroom is rather restricted unless the front occupants are prepared to give up some of their space. Hardly unusual in a car in this class. Boot space is marginal in the ‘Suzuki’ Barina, better in the ‘Opel’ and ‘Daewoo’ versions. Naturally the rear-seat backrest can be folded down to increase luggage room when required.In their Suzuki and Daewoo formats the Barina is mainly aimed at suburban running. The German Opel Barina isn't out of place on country roads provided they are not too rough; corrugated roads can knock them around. They are designed to cruise at 140 to 160 km/h in their home country so dawdling along at 110 km/h in Australia sees them barely raising a sweat.The current GM-Korea Barina isn’t too bad on the rough stuff, but is still better left to the suburban areas. Handling in the European-sourced Barinas is enjoyable and will appeal to the enthusiast. The Suzuki and Korean models can be on the soft side, though a decent set of tyres can make them reasonably pleasant to drive.All Barinas have four-cylinder engines. The Suzuki engine is a 1.3-litre unit (three-cylinder engines used in some Suzuki Swifts but were never installed in Barinas). Though the engine is small, performance is reasonably good because of the light weight of the car.The European-built Opel Barina comes with several different engine sizes. The 1.2-litre engine was sluggish and a poor seller, it was discontinued midway through 1997; the 1.4-litre is the most common engine and provides on-road performance that’s fine for most people.There's also a hot GSi motor in the Opel versions of the Barina. It had 1.6 litres until the 2001 model, then 1.8 litres (re-tagged as the Barina SRi) made it a genuine hot hatch at a pretty modest price.Engines in the current Barina, the South Korean one, have a capacity of 1.2 litres in the low-cost Spark model and 1.6 litres in the others. The 1.2 is on the dead side but the 1.6 provides reasonably peppy performance. These days there’s no high-performance option on Barina, but the Opel Corsa OPC, launched early in 2013 is a great little hot hatch.Five-speed manual gearboxes are probably the best bet unless you are going to be doing a lot of heavy-duty commuting. The automatic in the ‘Suzuki’ Barina is a three-speed unit, that in the German Opel and Korean models a four-speed. The automatic option isn’t offered in all versions of the Opel-based Barina.From November 1997 until late 2000 some three-door hatches were converted into two-door cabriolets by HSV in Melbourne. They are great fun to cruise in when the weather’s right, but their extra weight makes them sluggish in acceleration and handling suffered because of the removal of the roof.The cabriolet is even smaller in the back seat than the others, so is really a two-plus-two not a four-seater. Spare parts prices are generally favourable and there are Holden dealers in virtually all areas of Australia. Those in remote country areas are unlikely to stock every Barina part, so you may have to wait for parts to be shipped from a major city.Barinas are reasonably easy for the amateur mechanic to service and repair, though the underbonnet area is on the crowded side and work can be frustrating at times. Having a workshop manual on hand before you lift the bonnet makes a lot of sense. Insurance charges are generally reasonable, some companies will ask extra for the higher-performance Barina GSi and SRi.WHAT TO LOOK FORThe engine should start reasonably quickly and idle without too much movement. Listen for a rattle when it first kicks over, even if the rattle dies away after a couple of seconds it probably means the engine is badly worn.After the engine has been idling for a minute or so, hit the accelerator pedal and look for a puff of smoke from the exhaust. This could indicate serious engine wear.Make some fast gearchanges and listen and feel for a manual gearbox that baulks or crashes. The problem usually shows up in the critical third-to-second downchange before any others.Automatics that are rough in their changes or which change too frequently, may be due for an overhaul.Check that the brakes don't pull to one side under hard application. If ABS is fitted, feel for a pulsing through the pedal when you push it very hard.Look for front tyres that are worn unevenly. This could be caused by something as simple as poor wheel alignment, but it could also mean the body has been twisted in a prang.Rust is not normally a problem in Suzuki-built Barinas, but if it does get a hold it can make a real mess of the body in a relatively short time. Be wary of this because rust repairs can cost big bucks.Opel cars are significantly better for rust protection and the only problems we have seen are in cars poorly repaired after a crash. Korean cars look to be well rust proofed and are standing up well.To be on the safe side, check for rust in all lower areas of the body, doors and hatchback, as well as the surrounds of the front and rear windows and the petrol filler flap.CAR BUYING TIPSmall cars with low kilometres on the clock have probably spent most of their lives in heavy-duty traffic with their engines cold. This is not good for longevity of mechanical components.

The old adage that you get what you pay for springs to mind when thinking of the Korean-built current generation Barina. Like all Korean cars of the era there was nothing flashy about the Daewoo-built Barina, it was basic transport and little more than that. Since 2005 Holden has sourced its small car from Daewoo in Korea, which by then was owned by General Motors and run by Holden.Earlier Barinas had been sourced from Suzuki in Japan and Opel in Europe and had become popular with small car buyers. It was particularly popular during the time it was attached to the European-sourced Opel cars, but when Holden began sourcing it from Korea it lost a little of its gloss.There was always going to be some angst when Holden made the decision to source the Barina from Korea, particularly when it was realised it would be Daewoo supplying it. Daewoo had failed to get any traction in the Australian market when it was trying to sell cars locally; its cars were plain and simple, and did nothing to excite the automotive states buds at all.While importing its small cars from Korea instead of Opel made good business sense given the relative exchange rates and the cost-effectiveness of building cars in Seoul, customers were wary of the Daewoo connection.MODEL WATCHThe Daewoo badge was pretty much on the nose after a series of very ordinary cars over the decade or so it was sold here under its own banner. It didn’t help that it used a dog to promote its wares. In that context Holden faced an uphill battle in trying to convince buyers its Daewoo-sourced cars were of a quality expected of a Holden.The first challenge for Holden was to distance the Barina from the Daewoo it was based on. In that respect Holden’s designers did a decent job, the Barina makeover gave the small Korean car a much brighter and more attractive look than the Daewoo. Daewoos were mostly bland looking cars, so much so they often looked down-in-the-mouth and sad.A bright new grille, big Holden badges, some nice wheels and a new interior had the drab Korean car looking a whole lot more attractive. Underneath, Holden’s engineers retuned the suspension to make it more suitable for Australian roads and driving conditions.The front drive Barina ran a 1.6-litre four-cylinder unit with double overhead camshafts, with an output of 76 kW at 5800 revs and 145 Nm at 3600 revs. While more than man enough for the job of propelling the small car it was rather rough and noisy when revved hard.In base form it was linked to a five-speed manual gearbox, but there was a four-speed auto available as an option. The manual was a bit soggy in operation, and the auto wasn’t the smoothest unit, but they both got the job done without any fuss.Brakes were a combination of front discs and rear drums, while ABS came as part of an option with 15-inch alloy wheels.While the Holden suspension engineers came up with a better package than their Korean counterparts had and it wasn’t a soggy handler, the ride was firm and could be a little uncomfortable even on smooth roads on which it found just about every minor glitch in the road surface.It was initially available as a hatch in three and five-door variants, and from 2006 a four-door sedan as well.Inside the interior was neat and attractive, designed by Mike Simcoe, but the plastics were cold and hard, and the controls and dials cheap and cheerful. It was quite well equipped, however, with a list of standard equipment that included air-conditioning, MP3 compatible CD sound with steering wheel controls, power windows and full-sized spare.IN THE SHOPLike most modern cars the Barina doesn’t suffer from major flaws, and they are still in their infancy in automotive terms. With the oldest now four years old most will have 80,000-100,000 on the clock and coming up for a major service.Being a cheap and cheerful car many will have been used as the family’s second car and driven by drivers of varying skill and experience. Many will have been used in the daily rough and tumble of domestic duty on the school and supermarket runs, so look carefully for the bumps and scrapes that come in that world.Check for evidence of regular servicing, which can be neglected by cash-strapped owners.IN A CRASHSafety became an issue with the Barina when it was given a two-star rating by the European New Car Assessment Program, which cast doubt on its crash performance. When launched the Barina had front airbags for the driver and front seat passenger, along with seat belt pretensioners, but it wasn’t fitted with the side airbags the European models were equipped with.In standard form the Barina didn’t have ABS antilock brakes; they were optional. It’s worth looking for a car with the option fitted. Holden made many safety improvements for the MY 2009 Barina and it achieved a four-star crash rating in ANCAP testing.AT THE PUMPDriven with economy in mind the Barina will deliver the acceptable figures of 7.0-8.5 L/100 km on average around town.THE BOTTOM LINE: It’s unrefined, and no star in safety terms, but the Barina will suit those who want basic transport and have a tight budget.