Honda CRZ beats prius hands down. Have a look at that.

 

If your are going to look at Hybrids, check out the Fusion. We have them in our fleet and last week at a conferance I got to really check one out and drive it. I was impressed.

GM was also there and I got to check out the Cruze up close.

 

Mine has had a number of issues in the beginning- here they go and I only have 12k miles on my car-driven fairly gently, never raced.

1) Clutch Sensor x 2- first time left me stranded en route to hospital re shoulder surgery- had to walk and get flatbed. GM added 20 mins to Onstar phone
2) Front bushing mount -driver's side, hideous clunk sound
3) TPM Sensor- front right tire X2
4) Horn was working off and on- harness not hooked up correctly
5) Key fob battery died within a year
6) Sunroof rattle as per everyone else- still not fixed
7) Rear Hatch squeaks like a shoebox full of mice- still not fixed
8) Driver's side rear door is beginning to make an awful squeak when opened and closed- not yet addressed
9) Lack of brakes- off and on (never when seen by dealer of course)- attributed to the lack of spool pressure build-up I think from reading other threads.
10) Stagnant A/C after rain and even a water penetration near front passenger door into cabin (can't pinpoint leak yet)
11) Rear bow-tie replaced due to severe water damage- from factory- no idea how it got past QC in Mexico...I don't speak Spanish but am guessing QC means take a break and have a quessadilla and a Sol.

Overall I want to like the car and enjoy the styling, but the lack of quality in both the fit and finish and plastic parts is just too cheap for a $25k new car. It is fairly quick, but to be honest, compared to my C5 ZO6 it is no bullet. It is a novelty car that draws people b/c of the styling and the "turbo" wow factor. I too find that after 2 yrs of ownership I won't buy another Mexico product of GM or anyone else. Funny thing is at work I often drive an 07 VW Jetta, also assembled in Mexico and though the plastics are better then in the HHR, the fit and finish and assembly is crap. Coincidence- i think not.

 

I've had a laundry list of things too that have been replaced under warranty. I still plan on keeping this car for YEARS at least!

Sway bar links, struts, steering column, whatever is replaced to fix the sticking key, rattling sunroof bracket tightened...and this was in the first year of owning it. Yes it seems to be made cheaply, but it's a cheap car. Remember that.

 

It is cheap, but expensive. When you can get a brand new non-Mexican assembled GMC Sierra 4x4 SL Crew Cab for the same price as an HHR SS, I wouldn't think twice and would have the Quad Cab. Unfortunately that offer wasn't on the table 2.5 years ago when I bought my SS. I am not anti-GM, I am anti-cars assembled in Mexico that use cheap parts. I don't care whether it is a piece of junk Jetta, Beetle or the HHR. You know the saying, you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

 

Now I'm all for jobs created in the US and all, but you can't really blame it on Mexican's. My mom's G6 was a piece of $hit. Fun car to drive, looked cool, but had quite a few major issues for being relatively new and less than 20k miles on it. Guess where it was made? Michigan.

 

2011 Mustang GT, hell even the new 2011 Mustang V6 with performance package is nice and get the same gas mileage the HHR SS gets.

All the new model Fords are being highly rated.

I haven't ran into a lot of issues myself but I only have 6,700 miles on my HHR SS and I've owned it for a year. So all you guys with higher miles and trouble worry me.

 

im commin up on 30k and im juss really mad right now cus i think i got some really bad gas n the car is bucking if i let go of the gas and put my foot back on it. Its getting better now since i filled up again but its still there a little. Damn gas stations and i only put 93 in. I get mad over stupid stuff like that and wanna sell the car

 

Name me a car that is made in Mexico that isn't crap.

I am also anti G6, G5, Chev Cobalt, Chev Colorado, GMC Canyon and more.....I guess I should say no car made in Mexico is any good and some made in the rest of North America are garbage too. The long standing GM brands are okay and the newest (ie G8) are decent too. Unfortunately most GM created within a few years before the bust seems to be crap.

 

My Avalanche was made in Mexico and 8.5 years later it is still going strong.