I am considering several vehicles to use as a second/work vehicle. Primarily food and package delivery and carrying assorted tools (power and hand) for my primary and side job. Gas mileage is a concern but so is cargo space. I am wondering how well the HHR line holds up in stop and go driving. I will use Doordash as an example.

Is there any particular things I should look out for when looking for a HHR? For myself, I want to stick with 2009 - 2011 simply for the window controls being on each door rather than the cluster on the lower front dash that the 2006 - 2008 uses. Granted when it's just me, it doesn't matter but it would be nice for passengers.

Is the SS the only model that has disc brakes on the rear? Is it possible to swap in rear discs?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

You can swap the disc brakes to replace the drum brakes, there are lots of threads about that , you just need to find a rear axle beam from an SS
as for size the HHR was a very popular model for ride share back in the day, Lyft and Uber and pizza delivery trucklets were everywhere.
these are easy to work on , parts are still plentiful

 

It's been a while since I had my 2006 HHR, but my recollection is passengers had control of their window at each location. Members correct me if I'm wrong!!

 

2006 to 2008 window switches in the console LS/LT
2009 to 2011 LS/LT and 2008 thru 2010 SS models had window switches in the front doors

 

So the early years, the people in the back seat couldn't control their window? Doesn't seem right.

 

There were switches on the rear doors.

 

For stop and go driving, the HHR LS/LT automatic transmission is great. It's overkill for the car and is used on some GM V6's. Brake are more than adequate for city driving, even with rear drums, and are easy and cheap to repair when worn out. You will find several write-ups and discussions about the rear disk upgrade, but finding a good disc-brake rear axle beam within pickup distance isn't as easy as it sounds. I don't see how it's worth it for a city work car. For competition or a driving enthusiast car, absolutely.

I don't understand your comment about the window controls. The old style center console switches gave the co-pilot control of all windows, and I liked that. Nothing changed for the rear passenger. I think GM mostly just wanted to harmonize the controls and make them consistent across the entire line.

HHR has awesome cargo capacity for a light gas-saver. But do not assume you will easily find a good specimen at a good price. The last one was made about 12 years ago. Best advice I ever got for shopping for used cars is to not fall in love with a particular model. Have a longish list of acceptable cars or no list at all and take the best one available. Truth is, I was NOT looking for an HHR when I found my first one.

 

Thank you all for the education. When I started looking at the HHR as a potential candidate it looked like (and mistakenly I might add) that the window controls were only on the lower center console and the switches by the door handle(s) were there to actuate the door locks.

As I finish my crow, I wish to thank you all for the info. Never fun realizing how dumb I can be.

Anyway...

Looking over the first candidate I noted that while the car looked VERY clean on the outside, the inside lower door panels looked like they had some rust repair (generous amounts of filler that were not smoothed out to well and painted over) done to them which the owner mumbled something about some bodywork being done and then changed the subject.

Is this a common problem in the rust belt that I will find difficult to avoid? To be clear I realize all cars can suffer from this but want to know if this is an EXTREME problem with HHR.

Do they make replacement door skins for HHRs?

Thanks again everybody!

 

I wasn't a fan of the switches on the center console when I purchased my HHR but have come to kind of like it.There is no moisture in the center console.

 

Extreme problem? No. The HHR seems to be better slightly protected against rust that the average buggy. The door bottoms seem to usually be the first place to show as far as I can tell. There are various approaches to arresting the this. Better to do so before it starts. Pretty sure any "rustproofing" shop could help. Also probably well within the reach of your average do-it-yerselfer. Even if it got bad it's not a difficult repair, based on easy access alone. My 2011 is showing less of this than my 2008 did, so I'm wondering if they made a change.