I'm at about 78,000 on my '06 LS; give or take a few hundred miles, as I don't recall the precise mileage at the moment...

I bought the car in late 2005, it was a preowned at 36,000 miles on it at the time (Car Facts reported it was previously owned by a rental company) ... and its been running great and flawless ever since...

However, every time I come to a stop at a traffic light, or stop sign, etc... the Transmission feels like its hesitating on down shifting into the proper gear, then it drops down where its supposed to be for sitting at a stop, and the car has a slight, barely noticeable lurch to it...

Its been doing this since the day I bought it in 2005, and its never gotten any worse, and is sometimes barely noticeable and sometimes it doesn't do it at all and seems to work just fine...

Every time I took it in for an oil change, for the past 4 - 5 years, they tell me that it needs this transmission fluid changed, and it would cost me an extra $90!!

Yea well, I, in no way, have an extra $90 to blow on this so I always just leave it...

Well now its near time for my next oil change and I have been pondering trying to do it myself for the first time, and that got me to thinking... what about the Transmission fluid?

Is it really something I should be concerned about at 78,000 miles after owning the car since late 2005; and would it resolve this seemingly hesitant downshifting at traffic stops?

More specifically... how difficult is it to change compared to doing an oil change?

 

Here's a "How To" thread on changing the fluid in an HHR's auto transmission, on a 1-10 scale of difficulty, give it a solid 7 if you've never serviced a transmission.

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/maintenance-upkeep-50/checking-changing-transmission-fluid-28917/

Being that your vehicle is an ex-rental, assume those first 36,000 miles were hard ones. Not many folks baby rental cars, and since its been doing this since you picked it up, the time for going back to the dealer is long past.

You may wish to have a diagnostic check done by a qualified transmission shop, or by your dealer, a quick check by them with a Tech II scan tool might show up a trouble code in the transmission's control module(TCM).

 

How did you buy an 06 HHR LS with 36,000 mile on it in late 2005?

 

I can't believe it has been acting up since 2005, and now, 8 years later you want to do something about it. 8 years!

 

I'm assuming it's a typo, or a flip of the singers, as my wife refers to a "slip of the fingers".

 

Yeah, something is NOT right, here.

His profile says he purchased the car in Feb. of 2007 (notice NOT LATE 2005) with 27,000 on it.

 

Yes, it was a mistake... I got a little confused; as I posted in a hurry before leaving my office to head home and got some numbers mixed up.

2007 is the correct date.

Yes, its been doing this since the day I bought it... but why bother with something that is still working fine, especially when you don't have the money to do anything about it? In other words, if it ain't broke, don't fix it...

The transmission works fine. Rather flawlessly I might add...

Only a slightly and barely noticeable hesitation when stopping at traffic lights and as stated it does not always do it... It is however something my mothers new off the lot 2007 HHR also seems to do on occassions... So all I am asking is if this is something that is common with the HHR, or if it is something a fluid change might help?

 

Fluid change probably won't help, but $90 is a good deal. Fluid alone will run close to $60 + filter and gasket $20.

 

The "barely noticeable lurch" is normal. Mine does it. Many other members here have complained about the same thing. I had it in under warranty. They could feel it happen, but couldn't find anything wrong. The pulled the pan and looked at it meaning they also had to replace a portion of the fluid. It didn't lurch for a while. Eventually it did again. So from my experience, a fluid change might minimize the symptom but won't cure it. I've got 95k on mine now, and aside from being annoying, the lurch hasn't really been a problem.