2008 HHR LS, after having the car 1 week and 800 mile I started getting pulsating when braking. Took it in for service at 1400 miles. After they turned the rotors the service manager laughed and said he was sure he would be seeing me again for this problem. Says that Cobalts and HHR's are known for this and the problem is from the pads that Chevy uses. He also told me to Torque the bolts to 100 ft. lbs. when rotating the tires. I don't know what to expect out of there durability now!

 

Sounds more like you are unlucky. If you drive 95% freeway, your brakes should last a long time. I have other delta platform GM's in our fleet and we haven't had to swap or turn the rotors on any that I have heard of (at least none in my state). Plus the thousands of others and those they have had brake issues were law enforcement type or other similiar jobs.

 

Well ours have the same rotors. But then again there are so many that also don't understand why I get so much better mileage than they so.

You would be suprised how your driving affects what happens to your car. People these days drive right up to a light and then hit the brakes. And then sit there with that fire hot pad baking on the rotor. Quick lane chanes, last minute braking, general aggressive driving to get to a light a just have to wait longer for those they had to pass to cruise up behind them for a shorter wait at the light. My 06 was built in 05 so it is one of the earlier models (granted a lot built a lot earlier). There are a lot more that have not had brake issues than have (there is a poll here on that). So either you got the worst of the bunch (unlikely) or maybe it's how you drive. I don't baby mine, but I don't abuse it either. My brakes are fine, no shimmey, no pulsating, no noise.

But you want to blame it on the equipment that most don'e have the problems with. thats your choice.

 

Mine rotors needed turned right after delivery mainly due to lot rot (6 months on lot) should have been done before delivery but weren't. Now, at a few hundred shy of 10,000 miles I'm feeling an ever so faint pulsation. I make an extra effort not to heat up the brakes, too. After stopping I let it roll forward a little bit at a time while stopped in traffic to prevent hot spotting the rotors.

I know people are putting EBC rotors and pads on but I have a huge problem with having to put on an aftermarket brake just to permanently fix an OE weakness. If I was modding the car for advanced street or autoX then yeah, no problem, but just to prevent recurring warpage under normal driving, that is just wrong.

 

I'm getting ready to swap my rotors and pads for an EBC setup. My rotors have been resurfaced once @ 20k and feel like they need it again @ 40k. My parents HHR is having the same issue right around the same time frame. The biggest culprit for it at least here in my area is the terrain. To get anywhere from here you have to drive up into the mountains where your constantly working the brakes on way or another. My feeling is the brakes are adequate for freeway use. Throw rural highways, mountains and towing into the mix and its another story.

 

I have a 06 hhr and about every 20k miles have needed to get rotors done to get rid of the pulsing. I actually bought another set to make the swap easier. I have about 72k and am getting them done again next week. I drive just about all highway aprox 52 miles one way to work. Not very happy with the breaks.

 

Mine did the same thing at about 19k, and I took it back to the dealer and the rotors were trued up at no charge - pads were fine. Problem solved for now.

 

Found a TSB for pulsating brakes for the HHR it is #08-05-23-003.

 

Yea my brakes had been resurfaced 3 times before i put my EBC pads and rotors on. Now they work flawlessly.

 

Just put EBC rotors on it and save yourself the headache. I know and do all of the things to keep from warping rotors. Never had a vehicle with warped rotors and my HHR had them warp twice. No more problems with the EBC's.