First post, thinking about SS
 

Hi, I'm new here and I'm thinking about getting a new car. I presently drive an '06 Honda Civic. I've had several Toyotas and my wife currently drives an '08 Yaris. I've never had any electrical or engine problems with a Japanese car, incuding a pathetic little Echo I abused for 90,000 miles before I got sick of looking at it.

I am leaning towards a Toyota Matrix XRS so I can haul my bike in the back, but I stumbled on some reviews of the HHR SS and can't take my eyes off it. 100 more HP and about the same mpg and cargo capacity for the same price. Problem is, it's built in Mexico and it shows. There's posts all over the internet about bad connectors, weird brakes, clips missing and just general stopped-in-the-middle-of-road stuff. Do y'all consider this a small price to pay for such a cool car and just deal with it?

I spend a huge amount of time in my car and any time in the shop is a big deal for me. Is it true that a lot of people are having problems, or am I just being spooked because people WITHOUT problems don't post?

Don't take this as a slam against your rides. I really like this car, I'm just worried.

PS. It pisses me off I have to go to Mexico to buy American. My last Toyota was built in California!

No problem. I understand your concern and I will say one thing, all cars will have problems and some people are lucky and unlucky. Im had nothing but chevys and beat the hell out of them and never broke down unless I did it with my own 2 hands. We all want cars that last and won't break the bank. So far my SS HHR has been wonderful. It's a 5 speed so "I" had to learn it's temperment. At first the shifter was a little stiff sometimes but some of my buddies said it was normal for manual cars because the parts need to break in a tad. Now it's very smooth. take car of a car and it will take car of you. It's not the old days anymore with American cars. The HHR SS was tested harshly on proven tracks in Germany. Very well put together.

The HHR SS is very quiet compaired to my friends brand new corolla S. I get wonderful gas mileage and has a lot of power. Very roomie for 5 adults "Im talking about 5 Army and Airforce friends in it" and no complaints with them while going out for lunch.


I would suggest you go out and test drive all the cars you can before you buy. If you find an SS drive it as soon as possible because someone might scoop it up. "very rare in most places".

welcome to the board

When I first bought mine I had several electrical problems, no power windows is what it started with. The dealer found it to be a bad body control module. They put a new one in and I had even more problems. I finally lost my temper with them and they found the new module did not completely take the program. Finally got it fixed. Other than that.........I can say this is the most fun vehicle I have every had. It gets looks everywhere you go. I went to a car show and parked behind where they were showing the cars and a half dozen people had gathered around it when I got back. I use to ride my sport bike all the time for gas mileage and that power to weight ratio, but I find it sits more and more because the HHR has both as well.

Mine too was a show stopper at a Local car show. More looks than my Z28 got. LOL

I don't have one yet--ordering a 09 next month.. "but"--I noticed you are in Lake County & I just went thru Clear Lake last month on a motorcycle trip.. Those roads up there "call" for a car like the HHR SS--all those GREAT winding & smooth roads! (and I saw that "Servipro" in Clear Lake uses HHR's (not SS) for their work vehicles.. Good luck!!

SargeChris, you're right about the roads up here. Did you do the Poker Run around the lake? What kind of bike?

Firewatcher, why an LT2 instead of SS?

HHRemi: Harley Road King (FLHRI--hard bagger), 2000 with 80k miles and still going strong!! I was flying solo--went all-over the State & So. Oregon... (I take a trip in August almost every year--last year I went to N. Carolina and back--but via a "big loop" North going out and South coming back.. Thanks for your interest--do you ride also?

Not anymore, just recumbent bicycles. My last motorcycle was a Yamaha SR500 [great bike] about 20 years ago. If I could figure how to replace my $20,000.00 car with a $20,000.00 Harley, I would do it!

By the way, right after I posted my question it dawned on me, "Dude, he drives an HHR SS. Of course it's a Harley." You're right to list the specific model, though. I would have wondered. I saw a 105th Anniversary Electra Glide Ultra the other day. That gold is amazing!

First off I would like to thank you for having an open mind to give Chevy a chance.

But here are some of the fact you don't get some to tell you.

The gap between American cars and Imports has shrunk and in some cases the American cars are much better on some models.

YES some American cars have problems but so do the imports. I myself and a few of my friends have over the years made a living fixing Toyota's and Honda's with blown head gaskets and other related mechanical poblems. You should see the labor on a Lexus SUV to justy change the plugs!!

On the other hand you only read about the poor things on American cars on the web as most people who have no problems are not going to take the time to say how great things are.

Over the years my Father and I have had 27 GM cars. 20 of which were purchased new. The worst I have seen on any of ours was a bad cam on a 1978 Buick at 100,000 miles, one computer box fixed out of warrranty by the dealer, on AC compressor and a hand full of water pumps on several models. Other than that we have had little issues as must owners have had.

The wife is driving a 04 GTP and we are right at 58,000 miles and are still on the original brakes. We have not has any issues other than poor chome on the wheels that was address when it was new.

The only American car I can say was a lemon was a 1995 T bird That had issues of all sorts. heater moters, brakes, MAS, etc.

I think if you keep an open mind you will find many of the newer GM cars post Bob Lutz arrival have more than improved and are the measure of most other companies.

As for the Mexico thing. I would rather see them built here but at what cost?
Thew UAW does not have the same hold on Toyota or Honda as they do GM. They have started to give GM some breaks and we will see more built here as with the new lines going into Lordstown.

I have purchased two new GM cars this year the SS and a Malibu and both have been trouble free and a joy to own. The Mlaibu is one of the best bargins on the market right now as it is a lot of car for the money. It is also a very comfortable and well built car.

I hope you take the time to drive the SS and see it is a great bargin for the money. I think if you would ask here you will find more people have not had problems vs those who have with near 300,000 HHR's sold in the last 3 years Chevy must have done something right as it has a very good over all rep.

Enough of my rant just go drive it and it will sell itself. I never though I would own a HHR and the test drive sold me!

Havent experienced the issues others post about. I had a brief tire sensor reading issue but it resolved itself out after an additional 4k miles on the car. The most vocal are those with problems. You wont really read about those who love their cars and never had issues yet.

Im at 16k miles now and just got it in feb 08. Its as reliable as all the other chevies ive owned and currently own.

HHR SS issues sound minor when compared to the issues that plague say the VW turbo beetle and mini cooper S which gets our same mpg.

We are an American Gas-Glut family over here. Wife drives a Yukon, I a Chevy 2500 HD, we have a Jeep Rubicon for fun, a motor home...total gas consumer over here.

So when gas here on the left coast hit $4.50 a gal a couple months back I said that's it. Were buying an econo box. I ran the numbers and the car could make it's payment and still return about $300 more monthly by sharing it between the wife and I piling the miles on it. The other cars are paid for but worthless (maybe not the Jeep ;) )

Goal was it has to be something with go in order to get me to drive it.

So I set out on a mission to test drive all I could in the under $30k range.

Audi A3 and A4
Volvo V50
Volks GTI 4 door
Toyota Matrix XR
Lexis IS250 - No Nav
Mazda Speed 3
Cooper Clubman SS

Then Cole Trickle here on the boards (know each other from other boards) and I got to talking about this little HHRSS he bought. My Friend who restores classic muscle cars bought one and I went over and drove it. Cole Trickle is also a big time car enthusiast and bought one so I decided to add it to the list.

After test driving all those cars (the Lexus was very nice but you cannot find a stripped IS250 so that pushed the sticker to $35K Gone off the list) I drove the SS again.

At the time GM had zero/72 and it was between that and the Speed Three.

We chose the Chevy. Best bang for the buck IMHO. The XM has run out and I just bought a year. Onstar is pretty neat when you forget the cell phone charger, and we are at a 3,400 miles with a 20.02 mpg average. Like winning the lottery when you best a 10 mpg figure before.

No problems at all minus the hard brake pedal and by now we all here know what that is from.

Very satisfied.

Ha! Don't even get me started on "German engineering" [MINI is BMW for those who don't know]. I had a Porsche Boxster S. Beautiful, fast, handled like stink - when it wasn't in the shop. Boxster owners refer to the CEL [Check Engine Light] as Change Engine Light! Ran great when it ran. Ran not great a lot.

I appreciate everyone's comments about the HHR. It's good to get the other side of the story from people who haven't had a need to post problems. I AM aware of why the brakes are an issue and it's not a deal breaker. I would be getting a manual shift so it probably wouldn't happen to me anyway.

Hello,

I have friend at the office with a Honda truck that has been back in the shop four times for warranty work while my nephew had a leased chevy truck that he beat on for two years without any trips in for service (except oil changes). All of the auto makers have their ups and downs. The quality on the domestic cars us far better than it was and in that regard I think it is a fairly level playing field these days.

A few months my car was totaled when a large tree fell on it and crushed it. My sister had purchased a base HHR LS and I really liked it. Since I was getting a new vehicle I wanted something a little more fuel efficient since I usually drive about 50 miles (to/from work) and also had some storage in the back. I looked at the regular HHR and considered it as a daily driver but once I learned about the SS version and read the reviews decided it was the one I wanted to buy. There aren't nearly as many of the HHR SS around it wasn't as easy to get. The first one I went to test drive sold 15 minutes before I got there. When I went to another dealer they said they would try to help me get one. He had 11 listed in the area and when he followed up all were gone but one. Luckily it was pretty much matched all the options I wanted (had a couple extra) and I have been very happy with it.

So far no service issues. I'm sure the people without problems are out enjoying their HHR SS right now. When you think about how many they've built compared to how many issues are on the forums it doesn't seem too bad.

It handles VERY well and I find that I enjoy the drive to work and back every day. Keeping to a reasonable speed I have gotten close to 37mpg on the highway but with all the construction (and getting into it) the overall has been over 25mpg. Having the turbo is nice since the extra power is there when you need (or want) it to be there. The manual gives an extra 10HP plus the trans is supposed to be stronger if you "tune" the engine. If you go that route "tunes" are available for both the manual and automatics which really wakes up the turbo and engine. They have a lot more power available and it just needs the software on the existing computer tweaked to open it up. It really is nice mix. Handling, power, and economy.

The only thing I had to get used to is that the visibility out the front window isn't what i'm used to and if you pull up too close it is sometimes hard to see the color of the traffic signal. Also, if you get the SS it sits low and you need to keep that in mind when you park it. I am paranoid about the front valance and always keep back. As long as you keep that in mind you should be fine. The regular HHR isn't as much a problem. Just the SS.

As others have suggested you should try and take a test drive and see if you like it! Just make sure you are comfortable with the dealer. If not, go to another one.

Robert

I have been buying GM vehicles for quite some time. Since the mid-90's their quality has been very good. Sure there are some clunkers out there, but I have not had any major issues in the past 10 years. As you can see from my sig, I've piled up the miles on my GMs. I did consider buying a Honda Accord coupe instead of the HHR SS, but in the end it would cost me $5K more, less warranty, and I did some research on the internet about a bunch of problems with the Honda. So I bought the SS in July and have been having a blast every since. EVERYONE who sees the SS comments on it. And those comments are usually "what is this thing?", followed by "this thing is really sweet!" and "it can go 150 MPH and get 28 MPG??".

The car is what it is. (goood looks,great motor,nice interior,cheap plastic and so/so fit and finish)

It's a 24K pocket rocket that gets way better mileage than you would expect.:smile:

It has a great warranty has alot of versatility and is fun as hell to drive.

I went from a low 12 second 06 GTO that averaged 15 mpg to a car that is more exciting to drive (5speed/I don't like autos) and I averaged 26.8 mpg on my last tank with an average speed of 38 mph(traffic sucks).

No kidding.......:red:

I am shopping toy haulers and with the deals that you can score a new 6.0 2500hd I figured I would call jay and see what kind of trade in I would get for a semi loaded 07 Z71 classic(14K miles).

This was a 36K msrp truck 18 months ago and trade in is 12K......lol

looks like I am getting a superlite;):lol:

I never thought I'd buy a Chevy. We went and tested a Vibe, which is essentially a Matrix. I was luke warm and my wife thought it sucked. Then an evil HHR ad popped up on Yahoo! and I investigated.

Nearly 4 months, 7800 miles and never been back to the dealer. :thumb:
Fast as heck, Grrrrreat milage, 4 doors for a family of 4, bunch of cargo space, cool site here to talk about it. Just pleased. :smile:

At least go for a test drive. :bow:

I second this. No need for the bike anymore, I have too much fun (if that's possible) in the SS.

Just get one.
That is all.

Yeah - that pretty much summarizes it. :thumb:

Now that needs government intervention. Screw AIG. :)


I tried like hell to sell my 04 2500HD XCLB 6.0 gasser but nothing. I took it down to $10k and not even scratch. So service body is on order. Put it to work. Now I am really happy I bought the long bed. $37k sticker in late 04 not worth $10k with 34K miles. Sad.

Your Z71 will tow a superlite fine just need to get used to seeing that tach needle in the 4500 rpm range when towing. :eek:

I am also a newbie and considering the SS HHR along with several more mundane vehicles, currently driving a 1995 Plymouth Neon with 180K miles. I will probably wait until late 2009 due to finances but I test drove one and enjoyed it. Awesome looks and very practical. Nice price for what you get, $24K wit GM Employee pricing. I do not have worries about long term reliability and durability, if my Neon can make it 180K, I believe modern vehicles should have not issue, baring design/workmanship issues. The brake issue is a concern which is another reason I am waiting.

STL

I have 2000 miles on my SS and no brake issues. I think it's safe to say not all HHR SS will have problems. I havent had a problem yet so who knows.

Well.......I really don't want an SS. I've never been a hotrodder anyway. Besides, the 2LT has everything I need. Wish I bought one before.

I say do some research on different forums, and that will help you make the decision. I'm into aftermarket mods, so after seeing what the Speed3 guys were going through and test driving the SS, it was an easy decision.