i bought my hhr used and when i bought it there was this ugly looking plate looking thing on the rear fender flares forward of the wheel(look for it in my pictures). i thought it was stock until i noticed i never see it on any hhr's. is this a factory option or was it an aftermarket part put there by the previous owner? either way its coming off. another question for people without the factory side steps... do you get alot of chips on the bottom forward part of the rear fender?thanks

 

yea thats supposed to be there that area is prone to rock chips so GM put them there on the HHRs without side steps.

 

I wondered about that too when I got mine. Then I noticed lik you that it isn't on any of the other that have the running boards, until lately. I see them on all the HHR's now even the 08 at the dealer. Seems GM decided they needed to be added.

 

Not on my 08 LS with boards.

 

The stone guards are there to protect the rear flares from paint chipping and rust. Unfortunately, some have experienced a great deal of paint chipping on the stone guards themselves and they start to look bad after a while. Not much you can do about it except either get running boards or come up with some kind of coating to "protect the protection" as it were.

 

Couldn't you get a sleeve of clear vinyl, and put that over the top of it to make it look better longer? Kinda like the invisible bra they came out with for the front of the car.

 

i noticed on the 08s without running boards they now have the clear vinyl instead of the plastic guard.

 

I know on the 06 models that the dealer installed the running boards so it was the dealers responsibility to take off the rock guards when they installed them. Thats why some with running boards still have them. Dealers left them on.