I know I wouldn't buy anything from that dealership. I know friends and family that had purchased 3 vehicles from them despite my warnings to stay away. They were not happy when I pointed out to each and everyone that their vehicle had been repainted in areas. Might have been in an minor accident or body rot...who knows. They are known to get some good pricing or deals.....for a reason. You get what you paid for. Caveat Emptor (let the buyer beware)

 

Re-sale on these things is absolutely garbage. I have been offered as high as $12.500 and as low as $9500 CDN as a trade for my 2010 SS. It has low KMS at only 44000 and is in good shape all round. Every dealer has told me it will go right to auction. They do not want it on the lot. I am stuck with this thing for at east another year before I can get at least what I owe on it. I can not wait for the day I trade this thing in. The car is only 3 model yrs old and had a $29000 sticker price. Amazing that it has already lost 2/3 of its value.

The best was when I was looking at other GM products they actually told me about how horrible the reviews were on the HHR's and how they are not very good quality wise which is why they would give me so little as a trade in on the SS. Great way to keep me coming back for future products lol.

This is the first and last GM product I ever buy.

 

No one buys a GM product for their resale value. LOL. Only 4wd trucks seem to hold decent value.

 

The problem is stated right in your own post. TRADE.
Of course you can't get diddle for it. Trade value on anything is always going to be a huge loss. Only way to get top dollar is to sell it outright.
The horrible reviews "they" told you about. They were just blowing smoke up your ......... Probably trying to steer you towards another model they could make more profit on. HHR's didn't have a big profit margin for dealers.
The HHR is what it is. A small retro style economy car. Quality wise it is average. There are better cars and worse ones. The HHR is pretty much in the middle.
Fwiw. I have looked at the resale market on mine. Around 17k-18k.

 

I take it you are not happy with the HHR? Did you have reliability issues?

I'm at 84K miles and almost 5 years old and haven't had any major issues with mine. It would be difficult to find a vehicle with the versatility, performance, fuel efficiency and cost of the HHR SS. Believe me, I've tried!

 

I am def ready to move on from the HHR. It was in the shop last month for a week with the top end of the motor ripped apart due to a miss fire issue. They did 3 Carbon cleanings, replaced the plugs, replaced an injector, and replaced the coil packs along with fixing a "sticking lifter issue" on the intake side. Car has started to stumble again after cold starts as of yesterday so it is going back in.

Other issues are noisy suspension when the temp gets below freezing, the car has more squeaks rattles and vibrations in the interior than a 15yr old car. Overall cheap materials used in the interior. The shifter has gotten progressively worse as far as engagement over the past 3 yrs. Sometimes have to fight to get it into first or reverse. Again more so in the cold weather.

As far as market value and trade's. I have been fortunate enough to own 4 new cars in the past decade. None have had any major issues aside from recall's and reg maintenance and all of which I have gotten fair market or better value for when trading them in. 2 were domestics and the 3rd was Japanese. I take very good care of my cars and they are in at least showroom or better condition at all times.

Like I said first and last GM product I buy.

 

I was at the Tim Horton's next to this dealer in Cayuga Ontario 01-06-2013, I saw four of these HHR's they are high milage off lease or daily rental units, some havehad minor body work to touch up minor bumper scratches or door dings, they are certified (safety inspected) at time of purchase, so I walked away thinking what has or has not been done to these, is the lower priced SS a deal or a dumped off project as the dealership did not want it, HHMMM? either way, I would have it checked out throughly before purchase

 

I have two of GM's limited production vehicles, (an SSR and the HHR SS) they both were way over priced but both bought at 3 years, low miles, and at about 60% of list.
I feel these are both good values used and am enjoying both of them.

 

I have that noise too and it has always baffled me.

 

If its the crunch noise from the suspension its bushings. The most annoying rattle/vibration comes from under the dash on the left side by the knee area, again only when cold. It drives me insane. I almost put my fist through the dash the other day in anger.