Holden Barina XC (2001-2005)

I love it – If You service You're vehicle You will have more positive reviews ,it is obvious , it really is that simple ,everyone knows they are a great little car . Can't wait to service it as I got it today . Very Very happy

Reliable car no problems at all – We bought this 3 doors Barina 4 years ago second hand (it s from 2005 so it s now almost 14 years old) and we have never never had any trouble with it. It was probably well looked after before we bought it and we did the same since then. Great car and consumption extremely cheap. Absolutely worth it !  Show details

Easy to drive, awful to work on – We got the XC Barina as a cheap run around to replace a N15 Nissan Pulsar. First impressions were the car was much quieter and more zippy than the pulsar. Steering is ridiculously light as it is electronic power steering. It's fairly comfortable too. Paint like the pulsar has started to delaminate the clear coat. It is a little more frugal on fuel… Read more

than the pulsar too.

Now, maintenance. Simple filters and plugs are easy, but design flaws can make it a headache.

Initially we got the barina as a non-runner. Previous owners had spent thousands getting the head refurbished. Initially mechanics had diagnosed a faulty ECU (computer). Turns out it was a collapsed catalytic converter but demonstrated similar symptoms.

So once the car was running we got a week out of it before the clutch failed (no pedal pressure). Initially I could here air being sucked in at the slave so I changed that. The XC runs a concentric slave in the gearbox. This requires the gearbox to be removed which required the sub frame to be disconnected...interesting without a hoist. After replacement, still no pedal so the master was replaced also. Without removing the steering column, this requires a bit of flexing and lot of patience. The reservoir for the clutch is the brake reservoir and this has to be topped up to the brim to enable a bleed. The bleeding process is also painful. I think this stresses the importance of changing fluids.

Other design flaws the barina has is the catalytic converter is too close to the head. Great for efficiency but means the thing will fail earlier cause or the heat. The ECU is also too bolted to the engine which is probably why this has a high failure rate too (these also have to be changed as a matched set with the BCM and ignition module - a place on ebay repairs them with a 5 year warranty). They also have an EGR (exhaust gas recirculation valve) these can coat your throttle body and inlet in carbon so you might want to use a foaming intake cleaner every 30,000k or so.

But they offer great value for money, especially if your handy. Also sold as Opel Corsa overseas and can pay to wait for parts

Can't Fault it – The only thing that failed on this car was the gear knob that fell apart (Replaced with genuine), and the alternator regulator failed a few years ago - Had plenty of warning so didn't cause a break down. Replaced it myself for $60. (The problem Bosch Voltage reg is used on many car manufactures vehicles and was known for its early demise). … Read more

Everything else has been faultless (245k on the clock). Serviced with high quality synthetic oil, and serviced on time every time, nothing has gone wrong. (hot tip - with any almost any of the european cars, change the disc brake pads to a good bendix pad asap (~$60), many European OEM pads are aggressive on the rotors wearing them early and cause heaps of dust)

Its a shame people are only motivated to come here when theres a negative. Our experience is a massive POSITIVE. The car is really fun to drive, handles very well, gets insanely good fuel economy, is FAR nicer to drive then our similar age Toyota Echo. The engine has plenty of torque throughout the entire rev range, you don't have to rev its ring out to get any power out of it (Like the echo). For a small run about, the European touch makes it feel like a much nicer car. The best part about this engine... IT DOESN'T HAVE A TIMING BELT TO CHANGE!!! That will save you $2+k every 60-80,000 kilometres. Look If you have looked after your Barina, you likely won't have any major issues!

Its comfortable, the stereo cranks, its actually a lot of fun to drive, its CHEAP to run, has heaps of power. Find one with low k's and hasn't been abused by someone too cheap to service it on time with good quality oils. Run it on 95 Octane fuel (High compression modern engines don't like Australians poor quality 91 Octant fuel), service it on time, and you won't look back.

Good – Mine is a 2002 model and has been 100% reliable to date (50000km). It is very comfortable and the cruise control makes highway work a breeze, the ride also improves at highway speeds. Althopugh it is reasonably well built, I previously had a 96 Nissan Pulsar and it was certainly finished a little better. The level of after sales service from… Read more

Holden Dealers is also not up to the standard of Nissan dealers that I have experienced. If you have one and it is due to be serviced make sure you shop around for the best price and also ensure that you know exactly what they are going to do. The scheduled service and the recommended service do not necessarily coincide. Also Holden parts can be very expensive, however there are some very reasonable and good quality after-market substitutes that are just as good and much cheaper.

Good luck! Great performance, reliable, reasonably economical, plenty of interior room in the front seat (I am 182cm tall), very comfortable front seats, good brakes, fun to drive. the ride is a bit harsh on Sydney roads, the front spoiler is very low to the ground and susceptible to damage on kerbs.

Happy red fellow Barina – My wife own a Holden Barina XC 2002 model, is so great than my wife refuse to up date the car. Of course is no much drive for the age, 2002, manual with 93.000k on the clock, never fail, always ready, very economical, very sipy in traffic and in extremely beautiful condition. Paint is like new, engine very responsive for the cc capacity, in side… Read more

is very easy with the controls and confortable seat. We do the service every 7000K, using good quality oil and filter, we driving it as a roundabout and every day commuting, I feel a bit of pleasure in maintaining it.

Out of our experience, the Holden Barina XC is brillante little fellow. Highly recommended if is in good condition.

Love this car I understand the mostly auto from what I believe learn to drive stick and you will be – I use mine a s a rally car/ daly driver third owner at 80000 km love a good rev 6000 rpm all the time no worry drive it hard in the bush jumped it a few time still nothing broken love the car so much will continue to use it for this strongest little car around  Show details

Little ripper – Mine in 2002 hatch manual have done 111000 on her now not had a single problem up till @110000 at between 2500rpm to 3000rpm when i back off it seems to chug a bit till i back off then its fine been like it for 11000ks so ignore it ill just drive it apart from that have not spent a dollar on it its zippy good seats, the car was recalled a fair… Read more

wile back to have the gear linkage replace as they were plastic to a steel unit but if it was not taken back to holden they are only 50 bucks on ebay mine was done in the recall its just about due for a timing belt which i will do shortly then ill fix the chugging issue which i think is the egr valve 70 bucks and she be sweet great little car

the paint sucks on the roof easy fix but 1 of them things but doesnt stop the car just looks rubbish

Problem with the XC Barina – From all the complaints with the XC Barina's from a electrican point of view ,I would get the computer (ECU) taken out and get all solder joints resoldered. Over in europe they,re not too well assemble . The ECU receives signals from all those sensors to tell it what's working and what's not, and if there is a bad solder joint then it will think… Read more

something is wrong or is misfiring so it cuts into either limp mode or not at all, depending on where the bad joint is. Also it would be a good idea to put in another (larger size) cable from the negative post to body (and motor).This may help before going to mechanic and pay big dollars people????? Only a suggestion??

This is a great product – This is perfect, I cant live without it! The fuel is really cheap to fill up. I think it cost me $30 a week to fill up and I was always driving. Service wise, well you really have to service it. Performance was great. handling was almost perfect. It didnt make too much noise.  Show details

This is not good , spent alot of money to keep it running,wrong choice – - make a lot of noise and most of them are body noises, AC broke quick - good things are it is power steering and cheap to buy . interior is OK for this type f car - it is not stable on fuel usage,burn a lot of fuel on low kilometres even though having small engine.  Show details

Don't bother – These are a mechanical nightmare with paint that peels off. To change the battery - remove the dashboard. To fix the air conditioning - replacement parts are as unreliable as the original and will not remain fixed. Blatantly unsuitable for the Australian climate. If a sensor goes the car won't run. Too much money to keep on the road.  Show details

help!! – Was driving along in my 05 barina, then i lost evrything, dash lights all came on and had no throttle at all but it still reved as normal goin back gears. I turned my car off n on to see if that done anything to help but my car wont start! Whats the go here?  Show details

Problem with starting motor when left overnight etc! – When car is parked overnight and you start it in the morning it fires and cuts out completely. In order to get the engine to fire and run, I have to firstly reset computer by disconnecting the battery and reconnecting again and then it will fire and run. Otherwise the car runs and drives beautifully.  Show details

ABSOLUTE PIECE OF CRAP – if i could rate no stars i would i am second owner my car has just currently done 200000km i have had nothing but problems in the last 18 months i have changed the following alternator fuel pump water pump timing belt computer coil wheel bearing angle crank sensor in last 2 weeks my car has broken down 3 times my mechanic thought… Read more

angle crank sensor so that got changed

it is now currently back at the mechanic as my engine keeps cutting out yesterday i got stuck in the middle of the freeway. my mechanic is struggling to diagnose the problem as the car restarts 15 minutes after the engine cuts out he is waiting for it to break down in the shop so he can diagnose the problem

i would not recommend anyone to purchase these cars as they are terrible and has given me nothing but problems let alone stress overload have spent over $2500 in the last 18 months if your even thinking about purchasing one don't they are horrible.

Motor dies for no reason – Purchased new in 2005, only 36,000 kms (second owner). Has dangerous habit of motor stopping for no reason, whether stationary or moving. Multiple faults found in computer, and Holden dealer unable to pinpoint problem. Waiting for motor to cut out again to take back to Holden. Reasonably cheap to drive and maintain.  Show details

Piece of rubbish – Never buy one it runs [word censored] problems all the time stops always i regret buying this car bad.its not even worth 1 star but I had to give sum thing.dnt buy  Show details

Cheap to buy & run expensive to keep running – I'm sorry to say I encouraged my son to buy this car. It has let him down twice, once the computer failed ($1200) another time the mystery fault where the car stops for no reason and then restarts the same way. My son in law has the same model and has had the same and additional faults. It has cost him several thousand dollars to keep it on the road. Do not buy this car unless you have money to burn.  Show details

The car was good at first but faded badly – After 2 years or so but inside the extended warranty the BCM failed ( RH indicators not working). Replaced under warranty. After 5-6 years & approximately 170,000 kms a spark plug disintegrated in No. 2 cylinder and some bits worked their way into No. 1 and wreaked equal havoc. Bores scratched, rings and pistons damaged, as was the cylinder head.… Read more

Holden rebuilt the engine even though the car was outside warranty, as it was a genuine GM (Bosch ) plug that failed, and it had been fitted by a Holden dealer. Shortly after, I noticed the engine consuming oil, which it had not done before, and the oil changed colour to a dirty black soon after a change, much like a diesel. The engine was also not running well, which was traced to the EGR valve. Once a new one was fitted, no more problems. The oil consumption was slowed by changing to a 20W60 grade oil,and as the car is always run hot, there were not any issues. Recently, within the last few weeks with 240,000 on the clock, the engine failed coming up our south eastern freeway, with engine lights coming on. Result: cylinders 3 & 4 low compression with burnt exhaust valves, damaged pistons and rings.Cost of rebuild prohibitive at $4000-$5000, so am searching for a second hand engine. I am disappointed as I would have thought that the car would have given me another few years of service. Original deal, looks, reputation, fuel efficiency ( once achieved 840km from 44 litres) expensive genuine parts ( thank you E-bay) expensive and unjustified servicing costs

More trouble than they are worth! – Awful, awful piece of.....car. My little Barina XC SRi has been given much love and TLC, regular servicing etc. etc. but quite frankly is not a mechanically sound car. I have replaced the gear selector, timing belts (before due), air con compressor, air con condenser, countless coil packs, brake booster. Had an engine rebuild, recently the… Read more

ECU died and I have been quoted $780 for an unprogrammed ECU, to have the new ECU programmed (incl. part) it will cost upwards of $1500.

The airconditioning struggles in summer, which is also when I start blowing coil packs regularly. The airconditioning is cold on full blast after maybe 20 mins but in summer it struggles to cool the tiny car.

I have taken note that a select few have had no problems with their Barinas which is great, I however am with the majority and have a lemon.

I don't mind the overall appearance of the Barina SRI version and the manual gearbox is very smooth, that is about it really. The 1 star ANCAP rating is very disturbing. Smooth manual gearbox, okay on fuel Unreliable, blows coil packs like there is no tomorrow. Airconditioning is poor at best. Terrible engine

Avoid this car!!! – I will choose no Star if I can. Bought used car, had spanner light flash for Relay Fan error, and cannot be repaired even after I replaced the relay fan and the fan. got overheat twice in a month by the end of autumn. got clutch pedal broken and had to pay $600 to fix it. I thought I could have a cheap student car, but in fact I have to spend more… Read more

than $1000 to keep it on the road! No more holden! No more barina! Small, cheap on petrol, easy to drive Expensive maintenance, poor quality car

OK – I would like to hear if anyone else has experienced this problem. Thank you very much Jenny. I can be contacted at [email address removed] I have a 2005 Holden Barina XC 1.4 and I was very happy with it up until 18 months. The Engine Management Light kept coming on. To cut a long story short I took it to my mechanic two weeks ago and he told me… Read more

the computer had gone in the car. As you can appreciate I am pretty upset about this considering the car only just has 65,000 kilometers on it.

Terrible – The car is rubbish. Check some other motoring forums online and you will see how many other owners are having similar problems without finding a way to have them resolved. I would avoid these cars like the plague....IMHO. Looks quite good and drives ok when it is running The engine is a disgrace! My wife's 2002 XC Barina has cost a small fortune… Read more

in the past few months. It started running terribly and no one seemed to know exactly what the problem was. New coil pack, spark plugs, EGR valve, ECU and two weeks at the mechanic and it hasn't been fixed. THey don't know where to go next but are going to try a few things to fix it (at our expense). Apparently there are many common engine faults with the Barina but nobody seems to know how to rectify it. So frustrating.

Good – 2002 Auto-trans/ It was all good unit the 7 years regular service. Holden guy replaced lots of things, and overall i paid AUD 2000+. (it was well serviced and well driven all along). The car battery died, and cost me AUD200+ to get a replacement. Holden service guy, after done the job told me to buy a toyota in whisper. More parts are expected to… Read more

be faulty after 10 years time. Pretty much reliable. Easy to control. Steering can be quite powerful. When come to service after 7 years, things getting very expensive. this is indeed an european car, with many German parts. Engine cannot ignite when switch it on and off within short interval.

Good – I love my little Barina. Even though it is almost 7 years old, and was bought second hand, it is awesome. It has a cute shape that still looks modern after 7 years, it has all the mod-cons and the interior is nicely finished. I have never had an issue with it at all. I drive interstate in it and feel very safe. It is very fuel efficient. The only… Read more

minor issue is....in hot weather, with the air-con on full blast, it is a little sluggish taking off at the lights. Other than that, it's a really good car. They are cheaper than some other hatch backs, but I think you get a car that is just as good! I have no intentions of selling it any time soon. Only reason I might upgrade is if I have children one day and need more room! Pretty much everything! Can't think of anything!

a great little car – Ive had ours from new, had the annual servicing done professionally and in 125,000km not had a significant problem. Except for some stone chips ion the bonnet the car looks almost new. The interior has been very hard wearing and still looks very good. The car is reliable, nippy, low cost to run, good boot for size The drivers window winder became loose but was readily fixed with asmall philips head screw in the back. Show details ·  1

Terrible – Looks good on paper. Runs great..until it doesn't. I paid $9,500 for mine (SXI model) and whilst it's presently enjoying a 3 week stay at the mechanics - to date I've spent over $10,000 in just keeping it on the road. For the love of god - NO. Great on petrol. Lovely interior - gadgets, storage and space are great. Mechanically, everything that… Read more

could possibly go wrong - has. For a car with under 50,000kms - I've had to replace the water pump, ball-bearing enclosures for the rear wheels AND the timing chain.

Excellent – I would buy another barina again just because the one I have now is fantastic, althought I have really looked after it. Cute looking car 2004 XC manual model =) Fuel efficient I can travel around 600-650 km (the highest is 705km) putting in about 38 litres of fuel. So it is pretty cheap to run on a weekly basis. It is extremely zippy easy to… Read more

park and get around the tight city corners.

Radio controls are on the steering wheel which makes it easy to control whilst driving.

Easy to get parts to like at the mechanics.

Electric windows which even today some new cars do not have. The clip to pull the seats forward to let somebody sit in the back are not like normal two door cars which confuses people.

Services at Holden are expensive!

Terrible – Would never buy again Had a 05 model manual with 5000kms brought new but it was a demo nothing lasted it was Embrassing that my 98 model excel (with450000kms) was faster and more reliable and it was 8 years older, I sold the barina for parts in 2007 didn't even last 2 years and the money I spent on it I could of brought 2 Barinas Nice look… Read more

Timing belts go very early and caused expensive repairs ($2500) didn't last constant relay problems, NO PoWER

Good – I purchased my 2003, 5 door, manual XC Barina in 2004. It was close to new having only 13,000kms on it. I had only driven 6 and 8 cylinder cars prior to owning this, so took a while to get used to not having as much power as a bigger car. Being a European design the indicator is on the left hand side so that also took a bit of getting used to. … Read more

It is serviced regularly and well looked after, so I intend on keeping it for a while yet. It's been perfect for us as a second car for running around town in and would be a great first car for a young person. Even though it has caused me a bit of trouble in the past year or so, I love my zippy little "beep, beep" Barina Very economical to run - I get 550-600km from a full tank of fuel driving around town, so would expect you would get even more kms doing highway trips. Easy to drive and park, obviously because it's so small. Love the split rear seats and the sunglasses holder. Plenty of room for my two young children - picking them up from school etc. My 2003 Barina has just done 100,000km and in the 6-12 months I've had to replace the gear changer leaver, which is apparently a design fault, as well as the coil pack, left hand front wheel bearing and radiator. The inside fabric door trims have also just started to sag. If you stop at an intersection etc. and go to take off with the air conditioner on you have very noticeably poor acceleration power. I'm only short so have no problem with leg room, however my 6ft husband struggles.

Excellent – In the 5 years we had this car. i spent nothing on itother than the services. it was a little machine that ran off such little fuel and kept going and going. It was great to drive, just wasnt big enough for a growing family. but when i need another small car i will be looking into the barina again. Has really great fuel effeciency. Is easy to… Read more

drive. Small so easy to park (especially parrallel reverse parking) I loved everything about this car. the radio adjustment on the steering wheel. it has a suprisingly roomy boot that fit heaps into. ALl the bits you are meant to touch under the bonnet are marked a different colour. Nothing really. i really enjoyed driving it. we had no problems in the 5 years we had it

Terrible – model 2001 hatch. replaced timing belt age 50000. warranty period 60000. destroyed pistons. gear linkages replaced at 80000. major repairs at a major cost good fuel effiency gear linkages, replaced timing belt twice Show details

OK – I do like my Barina-drives like it is a bigger car and so easy to park [especially reversing ]. Great on fuel and quite zippy. Comfy seats and plenty of room in the hatch for shopping,holidays etc. The only bit I hate is the way the front seats are so hard to put forward as it is a 3 door hatchback. Very economical -great to park- ... The way the front seats are a pest to put forward.... Show details

great offroad – Have ran my barina 2002 five door over rough forest roads every week driven it like an offroader and still running good at163000  Show details