Re-painting 2006 HHR LT
 

Hi All. I have a 2006 HHR LT that is in dire need of some body work and a new paint job. We have had our HHR for almost 10 years now. It was in an accident prior to us purchasing it in 2006. It was fixed up and re-painted. It is currently an amethyst color. Right now it has rust on the bottom of the doors inside and out. The paint is peeling as well and is very faded. A previous maroon color is also popping through around the door area. Lets just say the people that fixed it up didn't put a whole lot of love in the paint job and body work. We were trying to decide if we should bother keeping it for a few more years or buy new. Since we bought it in 2006 we have only doubled the miles on it, it was round 43,000 miles when we bought it and it just recently turned to 90,000. It has been a good little car for us. We don't really travel much with it as you can tell with the low mileage. So as opposed to buying new and having a car payment we have decided to keep it and re-paint and do the needed body work for it. So here is my question for you all, do we keep the HHR the amethyst color or can we re-paint it white even though it has rust? I see a few HHR's around in white and they look awesome. Luv the white but I don't know if it will work on mine or not with the rust that is on it. We do plan on getting all of the body work and rust taken care of before it gets painted but will it make a difference? If we don't go with white or amethyst, then we may go with black. I'm going to try to replace the satin nickel trim work with all chrome if I can find everything that I need and to also add running boards as mine don't have any. Does anyone have any advice for me with regards to what color to go with?
Thanks all.

Tanya, after the rust and body repairs are done, you can paint it any colour you want!
I like the idea of white maybe with a little pearl added in for some sparkle!
As for running boards I drive by this yard today and spotted an HHR there, I don't know if the car can be parted out or is on hold but call or email them they might have a usable set of running boards

Cars & Parts | Used Auto Parts & Supplies | Fenwick | Overview

I'm not associated with this company just saw the HHR and remembered somebody here in Canada was looking for a set, so if you don't buy them , I take not offence.

Thanks a lot for your comment and thanks for the link, definitely will check it out as I'm still searching for running boards.

A complete color change can be kind of pricey. I went from white to black with a rust free perfect body '08 panel and it was well over 2 grand. However, the car was completely disassembled, all glass, doors, engine, everything was removed to paint.

I'll second laseter's comments, a complete color change is a pricy affair, you'd be amazed at how many parts and pieces need to be removed to gain access to every square inch of an HHR.

But, it's your ride, and it's a free country...so make it uniquely yours. Then when it's done, enter it in the Featured HHR of The Month Contest...hint, hint.;)

Thanks all for your comments. I'm going to check with the painter in October to see what the difference in price will be for the paint color change. I don't think it's necessary at this point in the game to do the engine bay as it won't be a show car. I use this car as my everyday driver.

You can always paint most of the engine bay with a rattle can of spray paint, but it's not really required for a DD

On the west coast of Canada and the USA there are a lot of rust free cars that can be purchased very reasonable. I would see what your will have to budget for rust repair and paint and then what it would cost buying a car from the west coast. vancouver, BC cars & trucks "hhr" - craigslist

In my opinion you'd be far better off selling the one you have for what you can get for it and buying another from a salt free state...a good paint job, not counting rust repair would be about the same cost as a decent used vehicle...and once a car gets visible rust as it seems yours has, repairs are costly and seldom permanent.

Repainting isn't that hard. Getting the around the doors and hatch takes a little effort. You can leave the engine bay the primary color. I went two tone. It took four weeks with a lot of sanding.