Holden Barina SB (1994-2000)

Great little car...Love them – Great drive and comfy seats. Tight little gearbox that has an ergonomically placed gears stick. Very reliable and efficient 1.4 engine. Bought one brand new in 95 and sold it 4 years later.... Always regretted it. Recently bought a 98 with more HP and 2 airbags and only 19,000km on it......Like a brand spanking new car! Love these cars and… Read more

they are so much fun to drive. No it's not an Audi or F1 but it will run forever if you look after it and service it religiously.

Perfect car! I'm still in love with it – Good handling, nice European interior, extremely reliable, comfortable little car. So easy to park. Not much grunt but I've driven it fast on freeways and had no issues. Good amount of storage. Running cost is excellent. Had it since 2005, driven 100,000 kms in that time and still love it. Thinking I should upgrade to something more prestigious but doubt I'll get a car as reliable as this ever again.  Show details

stay away from this car – Bought it cheap. I have no choice, that's all I can afford during that time. Plastic adjustment in the panel falls apart. Engine does not have power, very unpredictable, start or don't start. Makes my life interesting. Feels like a lottery everytime you go or wanted to go. I bought lots of cheap cars under my belt. Most of them makes you happy… Read more

because you are not expecting them to perform that way because of the price you payed. All of my cheap and chirpy japanese cars made me very happy, except this holden barina. I thought I wanted something different than the usual things on my menu. Yes, I got something different, I got a nightmare. Sold my nightmare to a buyer, I give him a warning, he bought it anyway. A month later, engine died. He still owe me 50 dollars. I guess I just have to forget it. I bought a toyota paseo 1993. 3 years until present, I still have it and will not change it to something else.

Best Money I Ever Spent! – Purchased my Beep brand new in Jan 2001. Replaced radiator in 2008 & water pump in 2014. Outside of general maintainence, have never had to spend a cent on this car. If you take care of your vehicles, they take of you. This car is nithing short of awesome. And foe thise of you complaining about the car performance at speed..... if you wanted… Read more

something to do 150kms on the freeway - perhaps you should t have purchased a 4cylinder. Dont expect more than what the vehicle is manufactured to achieve and you wont be so dissapointed lmao.

Holden 2000 SB Barina. Brilliant car.

1996 Barina Swing Manual 5 door – Not at a bad car. I bought a 96 model with 150,000kms on the clock in Jan 2014 for $2000 (including rego and RWC). It was pretty clean, but I decided to replace the timing belt, water pump, fuel pump, crank seals and pulleys. These parts were pretty cheap, $848 including labour. I think the car is fairly unpretentious. It's a cheap little… Read more

4 cyclinder. Hence, it will be a bit under powered on the highway, and a little cramped for the taller driver.

But it's fairly reliable, good on fuel, and zippy as a town run about. fuel efficient, zippy, cheap rego and parts. be careful when biying secind hand. these were a cheap car to buy, meaning that the demographic of owners may not have been able to afford proper servicing.

Good reliable fuel efficient car – Had a manual 1994 sb city 1.2 litre bought with 50000km on clock in 1996. I drove it hard, being in my early twenties at the time. I almost reach 340 000 by the time I hit the kangaroo and killed my little car, I drove it home after I hit the roo at about 110 km per hour. In the 7 years i had the car i only had to replace a water pump plus normal… Read more

wear and tear things. Mechanic used to be amazed how much oil was in the distributor cap, cleaned it out each time I handed it over to him for a service. Started almost every time except for flat battery.

Not alot of power which saved me speeding tickets. 80% of driving was at freeway speeds of 110-120km per hour, drove 400 km straight in one day on a country trip. I sat on 120 km/hr most of the time, with another adult passenger in the car.

Parts can be more expensive than other small cars, Tyre size can limit tyre choice. Fun to drive on tight windy hills roads, Fuel economy about 14 to 15km per litre. But remember I drove my car quite hard. Reliable, fun to drive, easy to park in the city, good sound from the factory installed 6 speaker rdio/casette player No air conditioning, struggles to over take at freeway speeds, neading to drop back a gear and thrash the engine, getting it into reverse gear is a bit strange, no engine immobilize

OK – Although this car has low power, little space and can be quite uncomfortable, I must make sure you understand what type of car this is. It’s a city car meant for ducking around to the shopping center or to ‘pop round’ to your friends place. It was never designed for comfort or for long trips, instead Holden created a fuel economical small car that… Read more

suits it’s urban environment. It’s very easy to park and feels pretty good to drive. My Barina has only had problems once, and even that was minor. I admit it’s no Commodore, but for its size and price you’ll find it will suit a first car or someone wanting a cheap city car. *Very fuel economical*Feels good to drive*Easy to park*In 5 door model, the back seats are surprisingly spacious while the seat can also fold down to fit larger objects in the boot *Not much space*Lack of power*Uncomfortable for long trips*No air-conditioning

Excellent – My dream car? A new model Holden Barina with all the accossories. Enough said. I bought a secondhand Barina five years ago and have completely neglected her, only checking the radiator when smoke started billowing out from under the hood, for example, but I have only had to put her into the shop once in all that time and that was for wear and tear… Read more

stuff. This car is super-reliable, has good/great fuel economy, and is very zoomy and easy to park. I love my little Barina! Sometimes she can be a bit moody, especially when it's cold, and there really isn't as much room inside as I might like.

OK – If you are looking for a dirt cheap car and thinking about the Barina, stop right there. Just don't. It may look cheap and cheery, but there's a reason for that. It is cheap, and you get what you pay for. In this case, not a lot. It's not hard to make a cheap car anyway. Just look at India and China. But I reckon I could make a car for under $3k… Read more

too if it was made out of jelly and put together by slave labor.

Alright, it's not that bad really, and it was driven in a cold climate, well maintained and the mileage kept low, it would be a decent town car.

It's nimble - no surprise there, it's small. It's fuel efficient, or at least is was when new, but wear and tear take there toll and by the end of its life it'll barely be better than a medium sized sedan - no kidding.

There's nothing obviously wrong with it. It's just that its not that great for what you pay new. And you do pay quite a premium over some Korean rivals for this Spanish Built (SB) Barina. That's right. It may be an Opel under the Holden badge, and Opel is German, which means precision engineering and reliability.

But it's not German; it's Spanish, and when is the last time you hear of a Spanish car manufacturer? Cheap to buy.Fuel efficient. Driving position is all wrong.Not as fuel efficient as newer cars.Repairs and parts are expensive.Air-con and plastics not suited to hot climates.