Chevy HHR Network - I guess I'm the Newest from Winston Salem

Had an account for several months, just didn't take the timeto post. I'm in my late 30's, married and have 2 kids. I have been a big Oldsmobile and Pontiac fan, but that doesn't do much good anymore:lol:

My wife and I went to buy a HHR in 2005 and were told it would take 3 months for them to order one the way we wanted it. I ended up buying here a loaded Oldsmobile Alero GLS. In February someone ran into her and totaled her Olds hot rod, so we were back in the market for a new car. She again started looking at the HHR's.

None of the dealers wanted to negotiate on new ones, but we ended up finding a 2008 2LT for a decent price. We really wanted leather and didn't want a sunroof, but it only had 12,000 miles on it. My wife is short and did not like stepping over the running boards we were happy to find one without running boards. Many we found had roof racks or spoilers also so we lucked out there as well. Bummer they stopped painting them that purple color a couple years ago, so she had been looking at the orange ones instead. I don't like the orange, but whatever makes her happy.

Car is kinda sporty, I don't enjoy driving it as much as her last car but it has big rims and the 2.4L isn't as bad as I thought it would be. Everyone calls it a PT, but I think it looks bigger than a PT. Wish it felt roomier, but I already mentioned my wife is small so as long as she is happy.

We have no intentions of modding it except for some vent shades perhaps. If I find a leather interior we might swap it out. I don't think Chevrolet did any test on how stupid this thing is for wind noise. We don't even open the sunroof because of how loud and annoying it is. That is why we didn't want the sunroof, but having it doesn't mean you have to open it :thumb: When you roll the windows down it had a terrible bass flutter sounds that is ultra annoying. Have to make sure if you put the windows down you do it in the right combination to avoid the noise ;)

http://www.rubbins-racin.com/games/hhr.jpg

All in all we are pleased. She has put about 8000 miles on it since February. Her check engine light came on last week so we put it in the shop. They had to change all the fuel injectors, replace the radio and replace her sun visor. I hope the car is dependable, but I guess it remains to be seen.

Either way I'm just a new HHR poster on this forum and wanted to introduce myself. Looks like the guys have put together a good site here and good forum. I'm sure it will be provide a great resource for digging up information on this car. We have a bit over 2 years of warranty left so if this car is reliable, we will keep it for years to come. If not, I'll have a late model HHR with less than 40000 miles on if for sale in 2 years :) Minus leather seats my wife got what she wanted, and I saved quite a few dollars.