High mileage club 100,000 plus
10-12-2014, 09:37 PM
#51
Member
Join Date: 03-28-2007
Location: Mount Airy, Md.
Posts: 39
Well, I'm glad you guys are happy, but in my case, this HHR has been one of the most troublesome new cars I have ever owned.
Its an 07 LT Panel and I've got 176,000 miles on it. First of all the dash, radio and temperature control lights went out.... fixed under warranty. Then every 7000-10000 miles I need to turn down the front rotors cuz they start pulsing. Dealer refused to do anything about this. The front sway bar links and the sway bar bushings were trashed by 60000 miles. Replaced em myself. The struts were history by 100000 miles. Replaced those myself. Dealer wanted $1100 to do it... I did it for under $300. Front wheel bearing went out about the same time. Fixed that myself. Dealer wanted $780 to fix it... I did it for $42.
I've blown the front drivers side headlight bulb 4 times, the passenger side once, and have replaced both of the brake/turn signal lights in the back and one fog light and one dome light. Replaced the thermostat at around 80000 miles, the air box rubber mounts have been broken since around 40000 miles.... never fixed. The airbox duct on the passenger side has been duct taped since about 30000 miles. Of course I went thru the whole replacing of the Camshaft Position Actuator Solenoids like everyone else has. Fixed that for about $50...... can't even imagine what the dealer would have wanted.
The flex pipe on the exhaust broke around 80000 miles but they fixed it under warranty, but now its broken again and not fixed yet. The sunroof deflector screen brackets broke at about 140000 miles..... not fixed yet.... and now the sunroof isn't sealing right either.... makes a lot of noise and is leaking water also. I hit a rather large expansion joint on a bridge and the entire electrical system went dead until I drifted to a stop and restarted it. I have since had the ignition recall done and hopefully that wont happen again.
I'm on my 4th set of tires. The drivers side windshield wiper arm came apart but I fixed that myself too. Both rear hatch struts have broken at the top, the weatherstripping at the bottom of the rear hatch is disintegrating. Oh, and the starter died at about 140000..... had to have it towed to a shop for that. I've put brake pads on the front 6 or 7 times now but have only done the shoes on the back once.
The plastic caps for all three wiper arms have disappeared. The Chevy logo on the back has been messed up since the first month I got it. Chrome is peeling off the grille. The car performs really poorly in the snow..... traction is zilch with anything more than 3 inches of snow on the ground. They advertised this car getting 28-31 mpg, but the best I get these days is 24.7 mpg.
All in all, I am of the opinion that this car is a piece of crap. I've had old beat up $300 Chevys with close to 300000 miles on em that haven't given me this much trouble. I can see why General Motors got that bailout. This hunk of junk has soured me on buying anymore new cars at all. I am buying used from now on. They don't make em like they used to.
Its an 07 LT Panel and I've got 176,000 miles on it. First of all the dash, radio and temperature control lights went out.... fixed under warranty. Then every 7000-10000 miles I need to turn down the front rotors cuz they start pulsing. Dealer refused to do anything about this. The front sway bar links and the sway bar bushings were trashed by 60000 miles. Replaced em myself. The struts were history by 100000 miles. Replaced those myself. Dealer wanted $1100 to do it... I did it for under $300. Front wheel bearing went out about the same time. Fixed that myself. Dealer wanted $780 to fix it... I did it for $42.
I've blown the front drivers side headlight bulb 4 times, the passenger side once, and have replaced both of the brake/turn signal lights in the back and one fog light and one dome light. Replaced the thermostat at around 80000 miles, the air box rubber mounts have been broken since around 40000 miles.... never fixed. The airbox duct on the passenger side has been duct taped since about 30000 miles. Of course I went thru the whole replacing of the Camshaft Position Actuator Solenoids like everyone else has. Fixed that for about $50...... can't even imagine what the dealer would have wanted.
The flex pipe on the exhaust broke around 80000 miles but they fixed it under warranty, but now its broken again and not fixed yet. The sunroof deflector screen brackets broke at about 140000 miles..... not fixed yet.... and now the sunroof isn't sealing right either.... makes a lot of noise and is leaking water also. I hit a rather large expansion joint on a bridge and the entire electrical system went dead until I drifted to a stop and restarted it. I have since had the ignition recall done and hopefully that wont happen again.
I'm on my 4th set of tires. The drivers side windshield wiper arm came apart but I fixed that myself too. Both rear hatch struts have broken at the top, the weatherstripping at the bottom of the rear hatch is disintegrating. Oh, and the starter died at about 140000..... had to have it towed to a shop for that. I've put brake pads on the front 6 or 7 times now but have only done the shoes on the back once.
The plastic caps for all three wiper arms have disappeared. The Chevy logo on the back has been messed up since the first month I got it. Chrome is peeling off the grille. The car performs really poorly in the snow..... traction is zilch with anything more than 3 inches of snow on the ground. They advertised this car getting 28-31 mpg, but the best I get these days is 24.7 mpg.
All in all, I am of the opinion that this car is a piece of crap. I've had old beat up $300 Chevys with close to 300000 miles on em that haven't given me this much trouble. I can see why General Motors got that bailout. This hunk of junk has soured me on buying anymore new cars at all. I am buying used from now on. They don't make em like they used to.
Last edited by whopper; 10-17-2014 at 10:51 AM. Reason: edited to create paragraphs to make for an easier read.
10-13-2014, 04:11 AM
#52
Join Date: 09-12-2014
Location: USA
Posts: 4
just joined
I am at 150k, 2008 hhr lt, my only problems have been I needed new struts and shocks due to front end rattling. New ac compressor. Constantly warps rotors. Drivers side front caliper seized twice. No leaks and still on the original battery. Still a reliable car
10-19-2014, 03:09 PM
#55
Senior Member
Join Date: 08-29-2007
Location: CenCoast California
Posts: 256
I'm at 115,181. Still like our HHR but, after seven and half years I have been thinking about getting my Wife, who drive the little truck most of the time, a new car.
Since we've owned it, I'd say it's been pretty reliable. In no particular order, I've had to have the front end aligned shortly after we bought it do to the alignment being incorrect from the factory.
The left front stabilizer bar mount failed at about 110,000 miles. I replaced both.
It needed a drive belt at 115,181
The sunroof mechanism failed at about 106,000 miles. A lot of the linkage monkey motion is plastic parts and one of them on the driver side broke. Bad design as we've rarely used the sunroof. Have yet to fix that.
Had to replace the brake rotors at 60,000 miles due to brake shudder caused by GM's crappy cast iron parts.
Twice the heat shield over the cat convertor broke, once about 30,000 miles and again at 61,000. The second time, rather than replace it, I removed it. I decided that the shield is only need on cars with automatics.
Other than that all I've done is put gas in it, change the oil every 15,000-18,000 miles, change the oil filter about ever 4000, change the trans lube every 30,000-40,000 miles and put two sets of spark plugs in it. Also, I've changed the coolant twice and changed the brake fluid once.
It's been a great truck, that's for sure.
Since we've owned it, I'd say it's been pretty reliable. In no particular order, I've had to have the front end aligned shortly after we bought it do to the alignment being incorrect from the factory.
The left front stabilizer bar mount failed at about 110,000 miles. I replaced both.
It needed a drive belt at 115,181
The sunroof mechanism failed at about 106,000 miles. A lot of the linkage monkey motion is plastic parts and one of them on the driver side broke. Bad design as we've rarely used the sunroof. Have yet to fix that.
Had to replace the brake rotors at 60,000 miles due to brake shudder caused by GM's crappy cast iron parts.
Twice the heat shield over the cat convertor broke, once about 30,000 miles and again at 61,000. The second time, rather than replace it, I removed it. I decided that the shield is only need on cars with automatics.
Other than that all I've done is put gas in it, change the oil every 15,000-18,000 miles, change the oil filter about ever 4000, change the trans lube every 30,000-40,000 miles and put two sets of spark plugs in it. Also, I've changed the coolant twice and changed the brake fluid once.
It's been a great truck, that's for sure.
11-02-2014, 01:22 AM
#56
New Member
Join Date: 07-02-2014
Location: Florida
Posts: 13
2007 101,xxx $3,700 in repairs/replacements ball joints/struts/fuel rail flush/tranny flush/radiator flush/brakes all around/tires/synthetic oils/spark plugs/radiator/belts/ rims (grandfather sneezed and went off roading with my baby.) and more... just cannot remember at the moment BUT she runs better then there 2010 Lt with 60,000 im hoping to make it to atleast 500,000
11-02-2014, 09:17 PM
#59
Senior Member
Join Date: 12-06-2013
Location: Everett, Wa
Posts: 540
Sitting around 102k right now. Only thing's I've had go wrong is the reverse light switch went out and AC stopped blowing cold last spring. Reverse light switch was about $20 from Autozone and about 30 minutes to change. Still haven't gotten a chance to get the AC looked at.
