calgaryhhr

Hey Y'all, another winter is coming to an end up here in the great white north and today I decided to give the HHR a nice spring cleaning. I came across two pretty nasty rust spots. These are on the front of the rear fenders of course. I do not have running boards at this point but they will be going on once the car goes in for repairs and repaint. My HHR was purchased in Sept 2005 and it was the third to be delivered in Calgary and back then the running board issue was only beginning.

For anyone debating running boards, here is what could happen. Running boards might help remedy this problem.

My HHR has 24000KM.

I already spoke with my dealers body shop in september before the winter about getting this problem taken care of. It was cleared and okayed by the powers at GM and once they start to take the gravel off the roads I'll be getting the paint fixed.

It's starting to get really ugly, and the photo is fairly poor quality, I'm sorry I used my camera on my phone because my actual camera had a dead battery.

Adios

SIHHR

I'm finding a spot of rust on top of my rear beauty bar

Black Rose

My HHR only has 10,000 kms on it, but I ordered the running boards last week to avoid what you've already been plagued with.

I'd rather pay the money now to avoid a situation like that.

Black Beauty

I couldn`t really make out the location you had pix of.
What caused the spot to form and is the lack of running boards the reason or just a convenience? I have boards, they are cosmetic at best. If something flies past them and strike the fender, there`s gonna be damage.
Salt and other corrosives are airborne, you`ll find them in the hidden areas you can`t wash/rinse.
As you can see, the boards allowed salt to strike the front of the fender.

calgaryhhr

Hey B/B, those two rust spots on mine are on the passenger side and it's on the very bottom of the fender flare just behind the plastic pad that GM stuck onto the fender. I'm assuming that these were from gravel kicked up by the front wheels this winter. It seems as though the running boards do a good job of keeping stones from being whipped up by the front wheels onto the rear flares (oh so I've heard in other messages.) Here in Calgary they actually use very little salt on the roads in the winter but they dump a lot of gravel onto the streets. When things warm up there is gravel everywhere becuase it usually takes a while for the street crews to get out and clean it up.

solman98

The majority of that is just from other cars and such on the roads. Road grime, granted, a lot of road grime The boards keep flying rocks from your own tires off the fender.

Man I do not miss living in the rockies...

454Taylor

I washed the 2007 HHR Sunday, found plenty of "blasting" on the back doors / fenders on both sides. The car has 5700 miles. I only drive on paved (blacktop and cement) roads. GM split the cost of factory HHR splash guards when the car was new that have not helped. I went to the dealer body shop Monday to find out what could be done to repair and correct the issue. The estimate to replace/repaint and add running boards(assist steps) was $1323.92. More than 10% of the dealer offered trade in value of $13,000. What should my next step be? What can mend my disappointment?

HillsdaleHHR

See my response in the other 2 places you posted this question

HillsdaleHHR

Mike, is this a rust spot or just a speck of rust (some refer to as brake dust rust). My ZX3 is yellow and you'll see little specks of rust. A little time and a clay bar will solve this problem.

solman98

I know you are having issues with your. You need to either contact GM directly or go to a different dealer. Others have already pointed out what has happened with them. It's up to you to take care of yours. I did plenty of research on mine prior to buying. I have had no issues as a result. But if you don't help you, hard for others to help too much.