Aussie Motoring

Convertibles are making a comeback in Australia

Despite the fact that we’re supposed to be taking more care of our skin and our summers are becoming hotter the Australian motoring public is showing a heck of a lot more interest in convertibles and this summer there are some hot ones hitting the streets.

Over the coming days Aussie Motoring will be showing you some of the best but right now let’s start off with a blast from the past.

This is a 2000 Holden Barina Cabriolet 5 speed 1.4 litre fuel injected. Average kilometres are anything between 90,000 and 110,000 and and according to Carsguide.com.au it’s worth somewhere between $9,700 and $12,400

For fun in the sun at a very cheap price this has got to be a great start.

The new Holden Barina is here but is it worth looking at?

Five Good Reasons

1. At $12,990 it’s cheaper than this time last year

2. It comes with a 1.6 litre motor as standard

3. It handles well in tight spaces

4. Standard equipment includes airconditioning, power windows, adjustable steering wheel, driver and passenger airbags and adjustable driver’s seat

5. It has excellent fuel economy 6.9 litres per 100km for the manual and 7.8 litres per 100km for the automatic

Five Bad Reasons

1. It’s not the same car as this time last year. Last year’s Barina was built by Opel - this year it’s built by Daewoo - enough said

2. The manual gearbox could be better

3. At least one motoring writer has described cabin as filled with “low rent plastics”

4. The quality does not compare well with others in its class

5. It only comes with a 3 year or 100,000km warranty

You can find a full road text of the new Holden Barina here

If you’re thinking of buying a small car and price is the only consideration then here are a few baseline prices that might interest you.

Ford Fiesta $13,990

Holden Barina (a rebadged Daewoo Kalos) $12,990

Hyunda Getz $13,990

Kia Rio $14990

Toyota Yaris $14,990

So obviously the Holden Barina is definitely going to interest you but remember, you get what you pay for and it seems that many small car buyers are opting for the Yaris. Reportedly the Yaris sold in bigger numbers in December than the new Mitsubishi 380.

Motoring journalists do not have an easy job. You might think that there would better job than driving around in new cars all the time. But it must be so difficult to remain objective about each individual car when you do that all the time.

I mean how can you remain objective about a Kia Sorento as you drive it this week when the car you drove last week was a Lancer Evolution?

Despite those problems most motoring writers in Australia do manage to remain objective and that’s why it’s interesting to see what some motoring journos consider to be the worst cars of 2005.

Kia Sorento - Stephen Scorby considered that calling the Sorento a lemon was an insult to citrus fruit and suggested that the car was made out of egg cartons and pipe cleaners

Kia Sportage - Paul Pottinger found that both he and Stephen Scorby became highly agitated when they tackled their first roundabout in a Sportage.

Nissan Pathfinder - Samantha Stevens found that driving the Pathfinder reminded her of driving a tractor with a flat tyre. (Now having actually done that makes me wonder whether any vehicle certified safe to use on our roads could really be that bad)

Holden Barina - Isaac Bober decided that the Daewoo sourced Barina was a huge disappointment and a “pathetic imitation” of what the market once loved back in the beep beep Barina days.

I don’t know about those vehicles, I haven’t driven any of them yet, but I began to find that my Hyundai Grandeur XG started to suck majorly as soon as it ran out of warranty in March this year. It was then that I realised that the Grandeur wasn’t really a car but more a collection of very expensive spare parts that moved along the road in very close proximity to each other.