What was GM thinking?
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: 11-09-2008
Posts: 196
From: Kentucky
What was GM thinking?
I love my HHR but its getting more and more obvious that GM screwed up royal on the suspension..... weak shocks, pathetic sway bar bushings and links, weak wheel bearings, big rims with rock hard rubber band tires....this car was made to vibrate itself into pieces.
I am getting so tired of the clunks, vibration and road noise....
I am getting so tired of the clunks, vibration and road noise....
Senior Member
Joined: 03-22-2010
Posts: 2,108
From: Russia Ekaterinburg
Just a little more care of your hippo. He deserves it. Small (and inexpensive) repair of suspension, the replacement of hubs and rotors - and again, hundreds and hundreds of miles of fun.
Friend! We live in an era of globalization. It is unlikely that you buy a perpetual car.
Even premium cars are not distinguished by their reliability.
Do you know why the owners of "Rang Rovers" not greet each other when they meet? In the morning they already had greet each other at the repair shop.
Friend! We live in an era of globalization. It is unlikely that you buy a perpetual car.
Even premium cars are not distinguished by their reliability.
Do you know why the owners of "Rang Rovers" not greet each other when they meet? In the morning they already had greet each other at the repair shop.
Senior Member
Joined: 01-24-2008
Posts: 725
From: USA
I've had a couple of bad wheel bearings and the usual disk brake shake, but other than that, I've been very happy.
And yes, they put 17" rims on my car, but that's one of the things that sets it off. Believe it or not, when I'm looking at a car, the rims are like a set of human's teeth to me. First thing I see and tells me if I'm going to ever get one or not. Size matters! - I know you pay a price for that in tire cost and ride comfort, but small tires look stupid to me.
And yes, they put 17" rims on my car, but that's one of the things that sets it off. Believe it or not, when I'm looking at a car, the rims are like a set of human's teeth to me. First thing I see and tells me if I'm going to ever get one or not. Size matters! - I know you pay a price for that in tire cost and ride comfort, but small tires look stupid to me.
Senior Member
Joined: 09-05-2009
Posts: 452
From: New England
What were they thinking?
They were just thinking that they could make a dependable econony vehicle, that is attractive to a larger demographic, with good gas mileage, so more people could afford them. The harder tires are why they are getting the good MPG and treadlife and with that advantage, you have to sacrifice something and that ends up being the ride comfort
they didn't design this car to compete with a luxury comfortable car. When you start designing cars with certain "higher quality" attributes (stiffer suspension, expensive interior components, luxury options, etc), you limit your buying public. At only $20K you aren't going to get the best of anything with a vehicle. What you are going to get though, is a lot of compromise
If GM changed a lot of the things everyone on here complains about, a base model HHR would probably have been around $26k. If they did that, I bet 75% of the people that are doing the complaining wouldn't have even bought it, because it would have been to expensive for them.
They were just thinking that they could make a dependable econony vehicle, that is attractive to a larger demographic, with good gas mileage, so more people could afford them. The harder tires are why they are getting the good MPG and treadlife and with that advantage, you have to sacrifice something and that ends up being the ride comfort
they didn't design this car to compete with a luxury comfortable car. When you start designing cars with certain "higher quality" attributes (stiffer suspension, expensive interior components, luxury options, etc), you limit your buying public. At only $20K you aren't going to get the best of anything with a vehicle. What you are going to get though, is a lot of compromise
If GM changed a lot of the things everyone on here complains about, a base model HHR would probably have been around $26k. If they did that, I bet 75% of the people that are doing the complaining wouldn't have even bought it, because it would have been to expensive for them.
