If you got it to drive for 3 or 4 years and then trade it in, why not lease it instead of buying it?

HHR SS's are worth less than LT's. Our 2006 1LT with 29639 on the odo has a blue book value of 14K and some change.

 

Can't lease.......my commute is 50 miles each way to work daily.

 

I can get a 2010 LT w/15K miles for $13.5K locally. 2006 models go for $7-11K. There is a nice 18k mile LT on Autotrader for $10900. No way you'd get $14K for a 2006, especially in trade.

I got nearly $7k off my 2009 SS. It was under $20K. That's why trade-in sucks. If you paid anywhere near list you're going to get raped.

 

Resale of any "new" build car sucks, HHR SS is near the bottom of the pile. These cars will never be worth a penny. Even one bought new and stored for 40 years the owner will be lucky to get what he paid for it (0% return). The only investment cars now are rare 60's and pre 60's machines (specifically pre WWII cars), but you will have to pay a pretty penny to buy one too.
If you watch Pebble Beach at all, the most valuable are pre 1940's, the 50's Ferraris don't even win that show. With a pre 40's car, restored right and several trophies including Pebble Beach, one may make a buck or two on the resale,but you will need to shell out $500-1 million to even take the chance. Finish 3rd and now you have lost money for sure.

 

You never can be too sure what will happen to the resale value of the car in a the years to come. Lets face it, rare is rare and in a couple years they will be very hard to find. Also, I have noticed the Caliber SRT4s seem to have stabilized in price. In a little while even fewer SSs will remain, the tight supply may help keep the price buoyant and depreciation may level off sharply.

 

Snce the SS is still virtially unknown to the geneal public...dont bet on it..can any other SS model compare to the lack of sales like the SS?

 

How much (in dollars, not percent) do you suppose a $60,000 BMW M3 will depreciate in 2, 4, 6, and 8 years?

The HHR SS and Cobalt SS are two of the best performance_for_the_$ vehicles around, but I for one never expected mine to hold value. Use it up and enjoy it. Trading a car every 2 years is a good way to spend a fortune over your lifetime.

 

Note to self --- Get fortune .

 

The HHR in general Including the later added "SS" HHR was never a big hit for GM. Chysler beat them to the punch several years earlier with the PT Cruiser, and Chysler enjoyed the benefits and gained a larger following than the HHR was able to produce.

IF it was a Hit, they would be talking New Model Design instead of just Dropping it so soon.

The HHR has really had no Design change at all, even the SS version has only Bolt On changes.

I joined here even Before I bought my HHR Panel, a Wannabe Panel owner at the time.
I had Planned to buy a Brand New HHR Panel when a case I have pending Settled. (Still WAITING on that) Chevy Dealers around here only ever had 1 or 2 on their lots when all other Models of Chevys they would have Dozens if not a Hundred. That right there told me something, either they were SO HOT that No dealer could keep them in stock in many choices to drive off the lot with a buyer wanting to walk in buy one and drive out with one that day, OR they just weren't that hot of an item to bother keeping them in stock.

I noticed here in the Chicago area that not one Chevy dealer even had an HHR on the showroom floor, heck to find the few any of them ever had was always a drive out back to were the inventory of cars was kept, hundreds of different Chevys sitting there waiting to be sold, but only 2 maybe 3 HHR's sitting in stock.

Maybe when I was In the market things had already turned, and Earlier years enjoyed being showed off on showroom floors and they had all models colors and option packages in stock, but in early 2010 that was not the case here.

I KNEW after doing research that the HHR had Very Little resale value.

So instead of Waiting on my settlement any longer, I decided it was Best to buy a CLEAN, Low Milage, Used one.

I got a 2008 2LT Black Panel with some extra options, No leather or sunroof.

Even with Heated seats for Comfort, Leather CRACKS, even hand rubbing in saddle soap or other leather conditioners, it still ends up getting surface cracks. (bought New our 2003 Warner Bros. Edition Chevy Venture has the surface cracks of the drivers seat, and I took care to help prevent them, it only has 60,000 miles on it, wife drives it and her work is about a 5 minute drive from the house) So I wasn't really interested in getting Leather again.

And with the factory Remote Start on my HHR, I start it before walking outside and either warm her up with the Heat on or Cool her insides for me with the AC Blasting, so heated seats weren't even on my list of wanted options.

I Read ALOT of people here having sunroof Problems with pieces Breaking and some with Leaks.
I have had cars with power glass sunroofs and found I used them for a few months and once the newness wore off I would slide close the interior panel over the glass and leave it closed, hated the sun beating down on me.

Been there, Done that, before, so a sunroof on my Panel was Very Low on my list of Must Have Options.

I got EVERY Option I wanted, and have Modded in some other nice options, making it a one of a kind MY HHR Panel.

The First owner bought it New, had it for 1 year, 2 months then traded it in.

I bought it for 12,000.00, thats less than HALF of what it cost to buy it New.

I think it was a WISE choice on my part to buy a Gently used HHR, I won't be taking that HUGE Loss that I would have buying it New.

IF you bought your HHR New and plan on Loving and Caring for it for the Long Haul, Because you just LOVE the HHR, then you will have done well.

But to buy a car that does not have a huge following and really Isn't in high demand, like say a Camaro has been for Most (Not all of) it's run. You either Except that it's a fun little car with decent gas milage and has interior versatility to haul more and bigger items than say a camry, or you just Don't buy one.

Some sound Surprized like a deer caught in the headlights just before it is HIT at 70 MPH on the highway, did you or anyone else Not do any prior Research Before buying?

I always do Research Before walking into the dealer, I am ARMED with Facts to do Battle with the Sleazy sales staff.

I KNOW what the car is selling for New or Used. I KNEW what MY trade in was worth.

I Printed stuff out about the HHR and my trade in and had it with me to do Battle.

They made an offer of 2,000.00 for my trade in, I LAUGHED at him. I told him, Insult me again and I walk right out the door and go buy my HHR elsewhere.
I was armed and ready with Facts and I had Secured my own financing before I ever walked into the dealer. I had a blank check from my finance company (I had a certain limit amount) but the check was blank all I had to do was fill it in.
I got 4,000.00 from my trade in after letting them know I Meant it when I said I would just walk out the door and go buy elsewere.

(My trade in was ready to just put on the lot for sale as I cleaned and fully Detailed it myself) Saw it in an ad for them and they were asking 6995.00 for it.
I already KNEW what a Dealer would try selling it for from my research so I knew 2 G's was a joke offer, but far to many go buy a car Unarmed and listen to their song and dance routines and just take whats offered, getting Screwed right off. I only paid 4,500.00 for it 4-5 years ago with 55,000 miles on it and traded it in with 98,900 miles on it, so I drove it about 5 years at a cost of 500.00 besides Gas Oil and general maintance. Not to bad.

Fact is IF more people did some Research BEFORE buying they would know Exactly what they were buying and for how much they Should be paying.

Some think a Sticker price is set in stone and then are affraid to just walk Out of a dealer. They Know you WANT the car, hell they actually LISTEN in on you, when they sit you down in that little office and the sales scum says he will have to go ask his manager IF he will except your offer, there is a phone on the desk with several buttons one is part of the intercome type system and they can listen in on you while you are waiting while the sales guy pretends to be submitting you offer. I read about that online, so easy to do research on the web.
Now they know from listening who WANTS the car and who is hesitant and they play off that info to Their Advantage.

Then the sales guys manager or just another sales guy finally comes back with the sales guy to tell you why they can't possibly except your offer and they play numbers Games on you to Confuse you.

IF you do your research BEFORE ever buying or stepping into a dealer, your armed and ready and Know exactly what you are getting yourself into beforhand.

I LOVE my Black HHR Panel, I researched and decided buying one New, was Not a wise choice (for me) even though I will be Keeping my HHR Panel for a Long time, I thought it best Not to invest Double to get it New.

So no matter what, I will Not lose the extra 10-12 grand a new one would have cost me. Ever. I never spent it to begin with. lol

That's money Saved right off the bat, and even All the Mods I have added don't even come close to that amount, and all of mine so far can be Swapped right back to fully OEM Stock and I could E Bay them getting some of that money back even.

If you bought an HHR as an "investment", you did Not do a very good job researching them before buying it. IMO.

I only financed about $7,500.00 a little less actually and even though the loan term is 3 years, I am making Triple car payments each month to have my HHR fully bought and paid for in full within 1 year.

I have about 21,000 miles on it now (bought with 19,000) and I should have it fully paid off before I reach 25,000 miles on it. With Winter here I will try driving it as little as I can get away with (frigging Salt on the roads SUXS) by driving our Chevy Venture.

I'm KEEPING mine as a pretty Cool looking little car, with a nice set of options and personal mods added to make it a very nice, comfortable, with decent gas milage car. Did I mention it's a Black Panel and is Very Cool Looking? I think I did.

Panels Rule!

 

I don't think the HHR line as a whole was a flop because it sold in excess of half million units. The HHR was a "me to" vehicle for GM and was designed by Bryan Nesbitt,and interestingly enough Nesbitt had also designed the PT Cruiser as well. Last but not least, the PT Cruiser ended production without a replacement despite the fact that it sold fairly well.

Also, I can only guess at this but I think GM is focusing more towards a global market than just the US alone. In Mexico, the HHR did not do very well and part of the reason may be that the Mexican market did not appreciate the styling. Most likely GM is shying away from novelty retro vehicles like the HHR because they may not be that popular in foreign markets.

One last thought, despite the fact that the HHR SS was a sales flop it still may have a chance at becoming a collectible, and I guess it is in the same company as the TBird, SSR and Prowler because those cars had low sales figures as well but their owners don't seem to be giving them away. I bought my car to enjoy it (After a 20 minute test drive I was convinced!) and plan to keep it a good long while so I am not terribly worried about resale value, but I might get a pleasant surprise when I eventually sell it.

2009 HHR SS
5 Spd Manual
Brembo perfomance package