Hey, everyone, it sounds like my wife and I will soon be joining the family here. My wife wants a new car, and we've pretty much settled on the HHR due its great gas mileage and awesome cargo space. She wants one with a moon roof, but those seem to be harder to find in Victory Red around here.

It's pretty easy to find newer used HHRs at local and nearby car dealerships, and one particular dealership has several LTs in their rental fleet which they say they're going to sell off soon because they're getting high in mileage (that's 35,000+ miles on their 2011 HHRs). These ones are priced around $14.5k, which is close to what Edmunds quotes. That's a bit higher than we wanted to spend, and I know title, tax, and tags will cost about another $1000. However, as-is, it's still the cheapest price we've found. The one we looked at seemed to be in decent shape, although it had some chipped paint around the rear wheel wells.

Then there's the issue of a 2010 with only 15k miles. We haven't seen that one yet, but that dealer is asking $16k, which is way above our budget.

So my question is this: how much room is there to haggle on the 2011s at $14,500, and how much room is there to haggle on the 2010 at $16,000?

 

Welcome to the site.

Personally I would go with the 2011, they have gotten all of the bugs out as well. It all depends were the milage is sitting at when you decide and the options. I would think 12,500 to 13,000 if it's a LT model.

 

Always room to haggle. Those prices seem to be the normal "inflated" dealer pricing.
Question is. What type HHR are you looking at? LS, LT, LT2 or SS? Also, what options are these equipped with?
From a base LS to a fully loaded LT2 could be anywhere from 1-5 grand difference..

 

Thanks for the quick replies! They're all pretty basic LTs. The 2010 looks like it has the chrome package and it's being sold as certified pre-owned, but otherwise they seem to be about identical in terms of features.

What are some of the bugs that were fixed from 2010-2011? Is there anything serious/expensive?

When you say $13k, would that be your starting offer or your limit? Do you think you'd offer the same amount for the 2011 with 35k miles and the 2010 with 15k miles?

 

I bought my 09 two years ago for 11k. And as far as bugs i have 70,000 on mine and no problems to date other the the dreaded stuck key. Other than that just tires and oil changes. Still on original brakes as well.

 

Either way I would highly suggest getting a certified preowned
I bought one a couple months back and it's been great to have a true bumper to bumper warranty on a used car.
Also with certified pre owned you get 2 years of oil changes free and they will look over the car first free during oil changes.

 

How much do you think the CPO warranty is worth? I bought an extended warranty on my first used Pontiac but never had any need for it. In hindsight I thought it was a little silly because a newer car should be less likely to break, anyway. The free check-ups and oil changes would be nice, but I know they don't really cost the dealer that much money.

If I offer $12,500 and leave a little room for negotiation will they take me seriously?

 

I think the later ones have more issues than the first..... Plus any issues with an older one will probably have already been fixed. 35K miles on a 1 year old rental is a lot of possible abuse.

Also, get one with running boards, it will prevent those chips you are seeing in front of the rear wheels.

 

I recently bought a 2011 LT with 35k miles that came from a rental fleet. I looked for a couple of months to find the right one and during that time about 8 very similar HHRs hit the local dealerships and the local Hertz sales place. I was negotiating on a deal for an LS for just under $13k and it sold to someone else. One dealer had three 2011 LTs priced at $15k, non-negotiable. Another had four of them priced at $18k, but presumably would deal. My sales guy at the first place (who I've bought a couple of cars from and I trust) got me the one I bought for just under $14k. He told me he tried to get the price reduced because I lost the first one I wanted, but the dealership wouldn't budge and said they were losing money on the deal. (I was trading my MINI and they gave me the best offer). I doubt they were losing money, but watching several other 2011 LTs get snapped up in my area at the $15k non-negotiable price, I felt satisfied with my deal. Since 2011 is the last year and there are no new ones, I think the 2011 prices for really nice ones will be pretty solid.

 

solman98, thanks for the tip on running boards. I was a little worried about the potential abuse too but I've also seen people say that the rentals at least get maintained okay.

2ndHalfCor, it looks like a lot of the HHRs around here have been on the market for quite a while. The one that they're asking $13k for was recently reduced from $16k, and as far as the fleet vehicles, I figure they've already made a decent amount of money off of those.

To everyone else: I also had another thought--it still common for the dealer to let you call the previous owner, if it came from a private owner? I was thinking about asking to talk to the previous owner after making an offer. That way, I'll know if there are any problems with the car, or if the dealer is really losing money or not. I don't have anything against them making money, but I don't want to get suckered into going way over my budget just so they can get an even bigger commission.