plastic piece on rear wheel flare
 

I am in hot pursuit of an HHR! At my local Dealer I noticed that the only HHR with running boards does not have the plastic protector on the front of the rear wheel flare. The other 5 do not have running boards, but do have the plastic protector glued in place. Is this a coincidence, or does the dealer remove it when the running boards are installed. Or, was this an addition the GM made along the way, in which case I am looking at old new stock?


Joe

If it does not have the pad it should have the r/b's, it is possible that they have'nt yet even put the cover plate or had time to install the r/b's. When my local dealer gets them in they come in usually after 3 so the salesmen just park them in the front row for the night.

The protector pads can be removed when running boards are installed. I elected to leave mine on since they weren't damaged too badly. I think it's a dealer preference (or customer upon purchase of running boards) whether to leave them on or not. The protector pads should be on all the HHR's when they arrive at the dealer as the factory doesn't install the running boards...the dealer does that when it arrives if they have ordered them.

So, if I go with one of the cars and have the running boards installed, the protectors can be removed easily?

Joe

Curious, since I just got mine - are the protectors something new since HHR first came out, or have they been added on newer versions from "lessons learned"?

Nope they were there from the begining. ;)

I think GM knew there was an issue if running boards were not installed but thought the plastic fender protector would prevent damage on the HHRs that were ordered sans boards.

The HHR ordered with runningboards will not have the plastic piece installed or the plastic rocker panel installed. The dealer installs the runningboards when they arrive.
The HHR's ordered without runningboards have the plastic guard and the rocker panels installed at the factory.

If you see a HHR with the plastic guards and runningboards like mine is now, most likely they have repaired the damage, added runningboards and reinstalled the plastic guards per the owner request. They asked if I wanted them left on, I also had them install the mud flaps.

Triple the protection.

An HHR without running boards have the fender protectors installed from the factory to protect against rock chips on the rear fender's leading edge, if you get one with running boards you will not get the protectors. Mine does have the protectors and running boards because the running boards were dealer installed because of my afterthought.

The problem is the fender protectors get discolored and damaged as badly as the rear quarter would it they were not installed. Potentially a good idea but not effective.