Well I finally had the time and the weather to give my HHR its first good hand wash since the winter. During the winter I ran it through a touchless car wash a few times to get the heavy gunk off.

Report:

A couple of minor stone chips in the front bumper driver's side.

No visible stone chips in the front fenders/hood.

No sandblasting on the rear fenders. Looks like the running boards did their thing quite well.

Very minor sand blasting at the very lower part of the front of the running boards where they first curve out to create the step. I am guessing mud flaps would remedy that though I am not a fan of them.

Couple of minor scratches in the clear coat on the driver's side rear door...looks like a dog jumped up and scratched with nails.

No damage to the front grill or mirror caps.

Some small stone chips in the windshield.

A little corrosion on the chrome exhaust tip.

Chevrolet decal on the grill and ChevyHHR.net decal on the rear window in perfect shape.

All in all, I am quite pleased. This was the first winter that I drove to work using a bypass highway versus city streets so I expected much more in the way of chips since I could hear the stones hitting. The Town where I live uses a lot of sand on the roads as well. I can honestly say that there is less damage to the HHR from winter driving than I used to get on my Mazda in the way of stone chipping. Windshield damage is about the same.

So I am a happy camper. I was quite concerned, reading the chipping issues some members seem to have. Not any more.

 

I got a couple chips on the hood, but I can`t attribute it to winter.
My rear drivers side vent shade is cracked, but I don`t think the weather caused it, it was pretty mild here in Chi-town.
And I have a free replacement set in the wings, so not upset.
My wife took the 'Beautiful One' into the wrong part of town and my/her port holes were jacked, not weather related.
And my son tore up the front right tire on the first day he drove the CRUCK while his car was in the body shop, for a full make-over. Again not weather related.
So I`d have to say, I got through the winter pretty well.

 

What town are you from nfboy?

 

Just outside St. John's.

 

All in all, the HHR came through it's first winter in pretty good shape.

While washing and waxing this past weekend, I found 3 paint chips on the hood and front fender that I need to address.

Some scratches in the clearcoat around the bottom of the side windows. Likely from snowbrushes.

The windshield has several scratches in the coating on the exterior. No idea how they got there or if they can be fixed.

The rear fender protectors got sandblasted pretty bad and the very bottom of the rear doors have a bit of sandblasting. Going to have the dealer look at that. I already bought and installed running boards and mud guards myself, so I probably screwed myself out of a possible freebie set of RBs.

The inside of the rims that were on the front are absolutely filthy from brake dust and rotor rust. I'm going to have to take them off again and really give them a good cleaning.