SS fan

It's a crap shoot alright, pay them now or pay them later. Bah humbug

Astanax

The first thing everyone at the dealerships asked me was, "Is it under 36,000 miles?" No. I bought the car when it had 22,000 miles on it, I've had the car for two years, and I now have 50,000 miles on it. It has been my only real mode of transportation with my living out in the boondocks needing to go to the city for any and all things.

Charlie D

My 06 just did this to me Friday morning so I left work early and went to the dealer.

I got the freaking run around like always and the just pay us to find the problem.

I have an extended warranty to 100,000 miles with a 100 deductible and they said it may not pay for it but we can turn it and see after the repair.

F U and I came home and did the research, took all of 10 minutes to find the problem.

Pulled everything apart got out my zip tie 5 cents and zip tied the micro switch.

it got cold and started snowing so I have 2 more covers to put back in place but the key now comes out again and I can drive it and not worry.

This is going to be the last Chevy I ever buy.

alshhr

extended warranty................advantage dealer vs no advantage buyer

db/sb

An extended warranty that has a deductible is obviously not a factory warranty. How can you blame the dealer?

Astanax

I was at the dealership all day today. The stuck ignition key falls under the 36,000 mile 5 year bumper to bumper warranty. I happened to hear the woman at the dealership say that this one guy's Chevy truck fell under the 100,000 mile powertrain warranty with his diesel engine, but he had to pay a $100 deductible.

Back to my problem, I told them that it was the ignition lock cylinder. So they were going to charge $320. Then the housing which has the passlock, solenoids, and other circuitry had to be replaced. So the total cost went to $575. They had to break the key off to get the housing off. Well then they said the anti theft system was throwing back errors and not accepting the new key that I had to have cut. Turns out I had to have a second original key to program the passlock system with. Well I never received two keys. I just received one key and one key fob from Enterprise Car Sales (Those rental car guys). So before labor costs, I had to pay $160 for a new anti theft Passlock system.

So after taxes, it was almost $800. I got a second key cut which only cost $37 compared to Wal Mart's chip key costing $50, and the dealership programmed it to my car. They were telling me the Wal Mart chip key wouldn't work on a Chevy HHR. They could have been telling a lie, but with the key being cheaper than at Wal Mart which I was headed to after this ordeal, I decided to go ahead and get it.

I made sure that I talked to the mechanic about HHR problems, to make sure it wasn't just a lemon. He said beyond the ignition cylinder and the shifter problem, the only thing that the HHRs nearby come in for is when people didn't change the oil every 5,000 miles with synthetic oil/3,000 miles for natural oil and the sludge in the engine clogs up these tiny pins inside underneath the air filter box. Then he said if one lives down a dirt road, then the dirt can get in between the brakes and cause premature brake wear. He also said that mud can get caked in the wheels and cause problems.

The woman who was doing the service desk said that she hasn't seen anyone with the exception of one, come back to have the ignition lock cylinder and housing replaced a second time after it got fixed. She said one had a bad housing, but with a 12 month 12,000 mile parts warranty, it was covered. I don't know if people got rid of their HHRs soon after, or if they kept them after this trouble.

I then ran into a woman earlier today at a pawn shop who talked about her HHR. I showed her the video I made of what the button looks like in the HHR if her key ever got stuck, and told her about the problems that I had with the HHR. She didn't even know there was a button for such a thing. She thanked me and told me her mom handed down the HHR to her. So now she knows what could happen down the road and be prepared for it.

db/sb

I've never see a deductible associated with either a original factory warranty or an extended warranty written by GM. Deductibles are associated with third party warranties like US Fidelis, Direct Buy, Warranty Direct, etc.

rkwear

Have 2006 HHR and yes the key now stays stuck in iginition. You have to release it manually through column slot. Went around and around with dealer and GM and they have bulletin on it but no recall. The only fix is to replace the center shifter. There is a plastic pin that breaks or bends and then the auto release does not make contact. The new HHR's have a metal sleeve over the pin so it doesnot break. GM fixed the problem but will not stand good to replace it. And as I mentioned you have to replace the whole shift mechanism and not just the pin, another Gm fine feature. We should all call into GM with complaint and maybe, just maybe they would come clean and send out recall. The new shifter costs around $200 plus 1 hour labor for little better then $325. Not bad to replace a $ 99 cent pin.

db/sb

We had ours fixed under warranty in August 2008. The 'better' shifter became standard on the later 2006's. You don't really see them issuing a recall on a 7 year old vehicle that is now out of production, do you?

11BlueJ

Why Not?

They just this year extended the warranty on my '05 Malibu power steering motor. To 150K, If they made a problematic part and know it - fix it.