I everyone! I love your forums!
I have a 2007 HHR. it is the purple color.. big ole long fancy name that I can't spell and the state of Tennessee refuses to even recogonize, so they deemed it purple and I agreed
We have 17,000 miles on our car. we started noticing last fall we were getting some rock pecks in front of the rear wheels on both sides. as time has gone on, they damage has gotten more severe. we took our car in for routine service work in March of this year and spoke to the service manager who advised installing splash guards or running boards.
we installed splash guards right away.fast forward July of this year. we installed splash guards but we are still not happy with the appearance of the rocker panels in front of the rear wheels. the rest of our car looks perfect. those panels are all pecked up and now appear gray compared to the rest of the car. we took it in for an oil change at another dealership and while I was there I spoke to the body shop manager. he came out and looked at our car and said, "that looks terrible!" I had found out that problem was common for HHR's without running boards.
to make this long story a bit shorter, he got on the computer and found out that chevy had issued a memo May 2 of this year. lots of HHR owners had experienced the same problem. they will pay to have the panels refinished and painted but advised the addition of running boards at our cost.
I feel this is a design issue and that chevy should have to pay for this "fix"
the new 09's come with running boards.
has anyone else experienced this problem??? if I have to pay for the running boards, I think they should at least paint and install them for free.
any idea where I can get some good running boards? dealership says 660 bucks installed.

thanks for your time and your advise!!
also, what kind of fuel mileage are you getting? we were getting nearly 28 city but with the addition of more ethenol in our gas here, we are now lucky to get 26.

have a great day!
kathy

 

This has been going on from the start of the HHR, Some have got free boards some not. With 17K and being a 07 good luck. The 09s are out, all you can do is try

 

The running boards should have been standard from the start,

If you don't them and GM won't give them buy them yourself and save you the greater damage.

Also look into the molded splash guards as a second layer of protection.

 

There's been a couple of Canadians who've said they received free boards, but no one ever posted any pics or repair invoices to prove it.

I have a couple thoughts on the issue. My '06 has some chipping and clouding on the rock guards, but that's what they're there for. When I bought the car in October '05, before anyone even thought of this "design issue", I figured those guards were there for a reason, not just to look ugly.

I could have paid more and bought a set of running boards just like other owners did, but I've chosen not to do so. Chevrolet has offered the running boards as an option just like traction control, ABS, side impact air bags, and the premium sound system. Just because ABS could keep me out of an accident doesn't mean I should blame GM because I chose not to purchase a car without paying for that option.

At this point, I could care less. If I wanted to show the car off, I'd keep it in a garage and never drive it on a gravel road. Or I'd buy running boards. This so-called "design defect" is one of the reasons that cars went away from this sort of fat-fendered design 50 years ago. It's just part of owning a retro vehicle.

 

thanks!

 

When I first started looking for an HHR I test drove a 2006 with no running boards and noticed the sand blasting on the rear fenders. A little later I discovered this forum and found out about all the paint issues people were having so I narrowed my search to only HHR's with running boards. It took about a month but I found the perfect one for me. 26 mpg in town sounds pretty good to me. I got 26 mpg on my first take with a few highway trips.

 

I agree with you 100% on this!! Chevy should have put these running boards on "ALL" HHRs right from day one! They would have caused a lot less aggravation for themselves , their dealers, and their customers. I can't understand how they couldn't see this problem coming?

 

I had a Pontiac Grand Prix GTP and it had the fat fender effect and even closer to the ground than the HHR.

Had the same exact problem with mine. It was never ending.
(but it would have looked goofy with running boards)

Gradual sandblasting the the rear lower quarterpanel just in front of the wheels on both side. I NEVER drove on rough roads or gravel. It just slowly got worse every year with simple city road driving.

Luckily it was a black car and it was an annual right of spring for me to tape off the effected region, sand and repaint and clear myself. Ended up looking good every spring after I touched it up. Luckily a simple color like black is easy to touch up.

 

Man, I'm really pissed !!!!

My brand new Corvette has stone chips on the front paint. I'm going to sue GM for a repaint and an invisable bra. Or maybe I'll try for a buy back and get a ZR1 instead. This must be a defective design .






Sorry this just gets a little tiresome.

 

Are you serious? Did you really get a new 'vette? Pics?