Door bottoms suffer from the bad design felt windows seals. Water from rain and snow drips right through it and destroys the speakers and door mounted swithes, then after a few years the drains in the bottom clog and rust ensues.

 

That and no seam sealer at the bottom seam of the doors.

 

The first HHR I sat in was on an online auction. I was mostly concerned with room in the front seat and headroom. Ended up not getting that one but eventually found one on craigslist, 2006 with somewhat low miles and had been parked in a garage. the owner was moving south and didn't want to haul it with his other 3 cars. Lots of clean-up with the drain holes up front full of mouse nest material, and the regular LCA's Sway bar links, New brakes front and rear with calipers and rotors, drums, etc. But I used it for driving roughly 80-100 miles a day to work and back, and lots of trips to rescue the wife and kids when they had car problems. Plenty of room in back for jacks and tools,You won't get a 4x8 sheet of plywood back there but I do haul 6 foot 2x4's with no problem and with the hatch closed. It's not a full size truck, but the MPG's are great and it is fun to drive, easy to park, etc. When the snow gets deep around here (and it does) I drive something with 4wd. (we are talking a foot or ore of snow) 3 years and I have put on over 100,000 miles. not trading for anything else.

P.S. Thinking it may be time for new springs front and rear, the roads are rough around here....

 

And so it begins...



121,400 miles. Runs like a top, shifts like a dream. The interior is in good shape.

This was owned by the same family from day one and turned into the automotive "hand me down" from Grandma to father, to kid 1 then kid 2 and now it is part of my family/

The tires are ok at best. The clunking in the front end if from the control arms and the headlight lenses have gotten cloudy.

So while I have some stuff to do, it won't be that bad. The tires are going to be the biggest ouch in the wallet.

Thanks in advance for answering all my (potentially) dumb questions about this vehicle....

 

A 2007 special edition! Nice. No dumb questions here, just the ones you don’t ask.

 

Super looking HHR! The tu-tone seats I always though were pretty cool.

I thought the mirror covers came in black chrome like all the rest of the brightwork. Wonder if someone painted them body color.

 

That’s the special edition, the mirrors were painted body coloured. And you can just see the rear spoiler , later standard on all SS models

 

Huh. I had it in my head they were blach chrome like the other parts but I looked at some of my 2007 Premier Edition pics and sure enough, you're right, they're all body color.

Now I wonder if the black chrome cover ever existed. I don't know why they would.

 

I’ve never seen black chrome mirror covers.
I’ve been looking at a special edition in a town near me for years, the last time I saw it the rear quarter panels and the lower doors were corroded pretty bad. It’s not salvageable for me .