that was to funny Sindy. People here at work are looking at me funny as I laugh. I do not think so, after my blotched paint job on my ripper. I will have to have her read this. Thanks for the laugh Sindy

 

Dear Mr. Schrier,

Thank you for contacting the Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center.

I do apologize that you are dissatisfied that the running boards will not be put on your vehicle at no cost, but Chevrolet does consider this concern to be maintenance for the vehicle and maintenance is something that is the responsibility of the owner of the vehicle.

So again, I have reviewed your request 1-427610720 with the Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center and I support the decision that has been previously stated to you. I apologize that the decision was not in accordance with your wishes, however; this is the final decision of General Motors and we will no longer address additional messages on this subject. Please feel free to contact us again with any other concerns you may have outside of this issue.

If you should need to contact us in the future, simply reply to this message or call our Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center at 1-800-222-1020. Customer Relationship Specialists are available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., Eastern Time.

For more information regarding the maintenance and care of your vehicle, please visit www.mygmlink.com. This free online service offers vehicle and ownership-related information and tools tailored to your specific Chevrolet.

Again, thank you for contacting Chevrolet.

Sincerely,

The Chevrolet Consumer Support Team

 

Does anyone have pictures of the kind of damage you are experiencing when not having running boards? Did I miss a picture somewhere in these threads? The lower control arm snapped off on my HHR on the RIGHT side and the appraisers are adding in damage to the left side of the car. I want to see what this kind of damage looks like so I can compare it to my pictures. Thanks!

 

Here's a photo that TomsHHR posted that shows some of the damage. Only one I have found so far.

 

Montreal Canada.....no running boards...had installed mud-flaps..
front lower sections of both rear doors were "sandblasted"......showed condition to dealer and warranty repair was performed consisting of painting both doors, removing plastic stone shields and installing running boards at no cost
note...photo from courthousedeb shows damage condition....clear-coat finish becomes dull and mottled from abrasive grit that exists on all roadways in America

 

Thank you! If anyone else has pictures, I would appreciate it. This picture kind of looks like fading..... or there are chips?

 

All the little white spots you see on the stone shield and elsewhere are paint chips. You can also feel them if you run your hand over that area of the car. Luckily I had mine done when car had less than 1000 miles, so nothing was needed except adding the boards.

 

GM Canada provided and installed running boards and repainted my rear doors as a no cost warranty claim as of September 29, 2006. I had visited the dealer here in Montreal and encountered no problems whatsoever. My HHr is a 2006 LS dark gray.
Overall, I am very satisfied with the vehicle.

 

Wow! Sounds like the HHR's design really does require that it should have running boards. When we took our first test drive in an HHR while we were on vacation last summer, we were told by the service manager that it really should have running boards to prevent damage from stones kicking up.

Out here in Arizona, all the salesmen we spoke with said we don't need running boards, just mud flaps. From what you guys are saying it sounds like you really do need them to prevent any damage. I took a look at the design of the car, and even as a woman, I could see that with the design of the HHR, it really was going to need something or it would have damage.

With hubby in the process the past couple months of going in and out of the hospital and having to have all kinds of tests, and having to deal with so many hospital bills, we opted to wait awhile to put running boards on, but it seems as though we're going to have to bite the bullet and have some put on from what you guys are all saying.

Thanks for all the info. Even so, we sure love our little HHR!

 

I got my HHR in December. There was snow on the ground a week later and I had not known about any forums at that point.
When we got our car, we were not shown ANY options available for the car nor were we told that the car would receive damage if we didn't get running boards for it. There were four other HHRs on the lot all without running boards.
Now, had I KNOWN this was a problem...I would have told them to add the cost of the running boards to the cost of the car and put her in their shop then and there. I don't like how they look, but I hate the chipping I have as you can see below...Pics taken yesterday 10 minutes after washing the car and hadn't gone anywhere. I even scrubbed it and it would NOT come clean!
I have been getting more and more posts copied and printed stating about free boards here in the US especially. I expect my dealer to do the same.
I did take it in once and my sales rep took it and cleaned it up really well, but it still had chips...he said to take some touch-up paint to it...argh!

I love my car and I want it to be as close to perfect as possible. It is still pretty new.

Had I been offered the boards to begin with...and I chose NOT to have them...I would gladly fork the bill for them later...but I was unaware of the problem....now I want THEM to fix it.