I just pried them a little to see if they would separate from the rim.

 

Both of them ?
Hope you read the earlier post that said you have some mismatched rims. From the pictures, the front doesn't appear to be a HHR rim or the hub cap is wrong. The rear one pictured looks like an alloy rim which have no hub cab.
I would suggest looking at all 4 rims and see what you've got.

 

That left front is an alloy rim, judging by the outside of the rim where you could attach balancing weights. So the rears are steel 17 inch five spokes, I'd PM MGM and see if he still has his set

 

Funny how we all see different things. I see how the valve stems are barely making it out, so I think both pics show hub caps.

 

Well. Thought some more on this. Aren't all the factory HHR 17 inch rims of alloy manufacture ? And thus don't even have wheel covers or hub caps on those specific rims?
I thought only the steelies got the wheel covers.
Disregard if I'm wrong here.

Still think the OP has a "mixed bag" of 17 inch rims on their car. I'm thinking some, if not all may be from a non HHR.

 

Those look a lot like Malibu wheels, the center cap makes me think "alloy", were were some steel wheels with the "mag" applique.

I think HHRnovice needs to find a car person to look at it.

To answer the original question; yes, a bent rim can cause odd tire wear. But, my guess is you would not know it was odd.

 

Yes, I was able to pry both hub caps away from the rims a little so doesn't that indicate they are not alloy? I did read about the mismatched rims. In fact, the tech at the garage told me they were not the same. The front have the hammered on weights and the rear have stick on weights.

 

I did contact MGM and he still has the rims, tires, hub caps and sensors. He prefers to sell the tires with the rims but I just bought new ones.

 

What do I win? I don't know if my trophy case will ever look like donbrew's, but gotta start somewhere.

 

The salesweasel that sold me my 2008 claimed the plastic wheel covers were "mags", thus the $600 premium. Actually, turns out $600 is the exact amount that was refunded after I complained to the BBB about "Certified Pre-Owned" used cars that had been almost totaled previously.