Yeah the cupholder location is a little of a nusciance.... but you learn to live with it. I dont know what kind of person you are, but when i buy a car, The question of "Where will i put my drink?" Comes Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down on the list. Call me a purist but "Creature Comforts" are incidental. a car's Main function is Point A to Point B.... and an Occasionl Point C. Style and comfort are extra bonuses.

 

Some of the gripes people with HHR's cracks me up.
They buy a 20 something thousand car, and expect it to have and drive like a 40-80 thousand dollar car.
Hello! A 20 thousand dollar car is fairly cheap car[some a cheaper], and you have to live with what you paid for.
If the things that you don't like or you"re having problems, you can't correct, then sell it and get something that suits you better[read: you'll have to pay more-sometimes a lot more].
The HHR, does have it's faults, but it's tons better than a lot of cars, in the same price range.
You want a Lexus ride-buy a Lexus. "Moon"

 

My wife's Honda Fit has 10 cupholders and it only seats a maximum of 5 (or 4 adults)

 

I fit 1/2 a barn in mine. Ive hauled anything in that car. Granted I dont have kids to haul around, just me most of the time, at most a second person. But I have also moved my whole room in that car in 1 trip, minus my bed/dresser with a passenger. It can be done, you just cant be scared of getting some interior dings. It's just an HHR, not a collectors item, so I will do what I need to to get stuff moved around.

 

Don't judge something by the amount of cupholders it has, it's the size of the cupholder that counts. And our HHRs have a real BIG one

Besides for 10 bucks at Pep Boys I picked up a medium size console style storage thingy that has 2 nice size cup holders that straps into the middle rear seat belt. I already heavy duty sprayed the seats with scotch guard so I am not worried about the kids spilling anything. Plus it keeps the kids separated so they can't get each others cooties... Any minor annoyance can be worked around in the HHR.

 

I gave up maps a long time ago, so I don't put anything in the map holders. They could go away completely, and I would never notice. As for room to store stuff. I've hauled an amazing amount of stuff in the back of mine, so I have to disagree with the lack of storage space. I have no problem at all shifting with the arm rests down, or with my soda bottles "extracating" themselves from the cupholders, or even accessing them with the arm rests down for that matter.

If it were me, I would only change two things. I'd make the "B" pillar shallower, so it wouldn't intrude on shoulder room, and I'd swap the rear wiper/washer switch with the traction control switch. The latter is something that would not have cost GM anything to take an extra five seconds to notice the idiocy of putting the seldom used switch up high, and the one used regularly way down at the bottom of the center stack where it must be groped for.

All that said, I find little to fault with my HHR, and got the Costco employee who was helping me load a memory foam mattress in the back of it asking what kind of vehicle it was. I love this vehicle.

 

(why am I laughing, I love maps!)

 

Thought that was what the glove box was for. Didn't know the door compartments were called map pockets. Only time we ever use "maps" is a state atlas for offroading on the ATV's.

 

Outside the usual complaints, they could have used a bit more floor insulation for road noise. But other than not having any arm rests (SS 5spd) I don't have any real issues. I agree with the rear wiper and TC being swapped but I can deal with it. A telescopic steering wheel would have been nice for us tall folks.

I am going to add a glove box light and two more accessory outlets.

 

See now, your confusing things... The glovebox is for gloves.... Hey gloves won't fit in there if you have the owners manual in.... But maps will..... And gloves will fit in the map pockets....
Hmmmmmm