The way you describe it, sounds like that one has had a tough life and probably lacking in it's care and maintenance from the previous owners.
Me personally, I'd pass and keep looking.

 

A nice, well maintained hhr is very affordable relatively speaking. If you can possible add $1-2k to your budget, that would put you in some very nice hhrs. The way I always look at it, pay now or pay later. If you dont have any service history, who knows what will blow up, fall off, or leave you stranded somewhere at the most inconvenient time. Good luck, go with your gut instinct. The one you just test drove...run away from that one, it's a beater.

 

Good advice. I've been stranded by my old Ford Ranger and it sux. Will look for examples that are around $4K. My old notebook shows several I jotted down previously. I also drove an '04 Saturn VUE just before this HHR that will cost me $4000. I was impressed by the 250hp Honda-sourced V6, leather, moonroof, etc. It only had 67K miles! Might be hard to find an HHR that beats it.