Baleno is not be blamed for backfires but its the misconception of people who every now and then loves to water wash the engines.
Never get baleno engine wash it creates a lot of trouble a 200 or 300 RS wash can just ruin your car
its really confusing. i myself want to buy it but...... my friend has 04 model and he never face any problem in it
i have kept baleno 2001 for about 4 years, Ma sha ALLAH not even a single backfire in 4 yrs,
and now i have 2005 baleno, its also awesome, no backfire at all since it is with me.
just get it properly tuned, take care of it, and NO problem
If you properly tune your car change oil/air filter on time, change spark plugs and keep it up to date it will never give patakha, patakha occurs when parts have worn, this can create a problem its coils are very expensive 18-20K for original ones and its front suspension requires work after every 3000km or 5000km. It needs extra care to be maintained nothing else.