I had a '99 Mercury Sable. It was a really nice car, but not what I wanted. When I started looking, I had three criterea the the car had to meet.

-Must be a wagon/small SUV

-Must be rated at least 30 MPG hwy

-Must cost less than $13,000 (used)

Well, the HHR met two out of three of the criterea. When I found SOM with leather interier, I was sold. And I only blew my budget by $2000

 

Styling, fuel economy, cargo room....My '96 voyager was fading fast, tested a PT and it was crap, and after the voyager I won't buy another mopar.

 

On Feb. 12, 2006, my ex-wife informed me that she would be becoming my ex-wife. I had an '05 Chevy Colorado at the time. Some quick math, Kid (my first blessing in this mess) + me + "the nanny" /Colorado = -1. Hmmmm, someone is going to have to ride in the back. This will not work. I'm in Florida, it used to rain a lot down here. At the end of February, I went to my Chevy dealer and told him I needed to trade. The manager came rushing out to see what was wrong, why I didn't like the truck any more, could he fix it, what could he do to help ,etc....(he's a great guy ). I told him my life was upside down and he said "I've been there 3 times, everything's going to be fine". He told me to come walk with him. We went to the edge of the lot and looked down into a lower, overflow, section. "What do you think of those?" There were about 8 or 10 throw back looking vehicles lined up together in the back row. I didn't say anything. Well, I couldn't say anything. It was me, it was something different, it had curves not corners, it had style for days, it was small and it was big at the same time. Look at those curves! He told all about it, mileage, passenger room, cargo room, comfort, and all the toys inside to play with. Sometime during this he looked over at me and knew he was done. I hadn't noticed because my eyes never left that back row. There were 2 orange (S.O.M) ones , beautiful cars but not my color. One that was a blue color that had a purple hue to it. I love blue. I absolutely L.O.V.E. blue. But that blue didn't grab me, too much purple overtones for me. Three silver ones, one was a different shade than the other two. I think there were two that were a tan sort of color. There on the end was :twothumbs "The HHR in black":twothumbs. That one needed a home. My son said (he was 4) "I like the one on the end dad, it's cool". Test one, the car seat fit like it was made to be there from day one. I got in the front and had to bring the seat forward from the back stops. I'm 6'2" and this almost never happens. After the drive everything else seemed like a bonus. I did the paperwork and brought home my "Lady in Black".
My "X" has never been in it. That's not something planned, it just worked out that way. I've hauled around bunches and bunches of stuff. Took my son and my parents up into the Tennessee mountains last winter to play in the snow. Three full grown adults and a giggling 5 year old climbing steep winding mountain roads and never a hiccup or protest. My mom liked it so much she bought a white one, with leather and butt heaters .
41000 + miles and going strong. Somewhere between 28 and 32 MPG at every fill up. This is the best car I've ever owned.
Do I think you should buy one? YES, Yes, and yes. If the HHR fits, wear it.

 

I have a Buell XB12X if I want to carve up twisties, so yes the HHR does handle like crap Naw, it doesn't really -- it handles about like a compact station wagon ought to. Granted the stock suspension is fairly soft to obtain smooth ride for an average buyer who doesn't plant to enter it in gymkhana races. The HHR is based largely off the Cobalt platform. It's basically an economical station wagon that has enough style and flair to avoid being a boring econobox. IME so far it's very smooth, quiet and comfy for the class of car it is (think of it as getting not quite a Macanudo but at a Swisher Sweet price). And it's far and away more *useful* than most compact econoboxes too. It does have that in common with SUV's but NOT the truckishness. However, don't get one unless it's the type of car you're looking for.

 

I got it to replace my 13mpg GMC Sierra! I also needed 4 doors for my kids and didn't want a minivan as I am only 29 and not old enough! This has the space I needed. I also got a killer deal from the dealer as my dh is being deployed so they pulled out all the stops for me!!!!!

 

We bought our HHR becuase it got decent mileage; had cool looks, and had a ton of interior space for trips to Home Depot.

We were looking at nothing but CUV's for a long time but realised they dont have that much interior volume. I looked into the HHR and decided if I could get it fully loaded for a good payment that it would be the way to go.

 

Several reasons I bought it. Price, looks, color, manual tranny are only a few.

DOn't knock the Impala, we bought lots this year due to the limited availability of FlexFuel mid size cars. We got one as out new shop vehicle. I like everything but the mirrors. Nice car, rides great.

 

I think the paid auto reviewers are paid to favor imports type cars not the original US based.

Why would their names be John Smith "cho" or jerry jones "kio".... its the middle name they use...