Is it just me or is the HHR SS a magnet for stone chips with its large front bumper and hood. Thankfully my dealer gave me a bottle of touch up paint to cover up the paint chips from he**. It doesn't help that my HHR SS is black either. I just fixed two more this morning. Anyway just felt like blowing off some steam, and I am sure everyone else in this forum could use a place to vent about these little paint detroying, glass chipping missles. I love the car. I just hate that I have to share the road with non OCD people like myself.

 

I also own a black one. Stone chips are out of control. I have so many in my hood, instead of repainting it, I am thinking about getting a custom one made.

 

What would you do for a custom hood? Air scoops or cowl induction? I have looked into getting the 3M clear bra to help keep them down but it is so expensive to have one installed.

 

I have a smoke bug deflector on my Cardinal Red LS, and it stops most of the chipping. It doesn't look too bad along with the smoke window vents. I would think it would be almost invisible on your black cars. Thin I gave around $50 for it at Autozone, and it took them 3 days to get it. Installs with no bolts, just have to remove and then reinstall the grille. Took about 15 minutes. I know this isn't a complelely 100% solution, but it helps.

 

Do you tailgate a lot? Honestly, I only have a few small chips in 2.5 years and 32k. I drive very proactive and try not to follow too close while staying clear of big rigs and gravel trucks. In my opinion, stone chips come from the vehicle in front of you flipping up debris. The stones don't just jump off the ground when you get close to them. Of course I drive a mere LT version so I may be going too slow to get chips.

 

Nope I never tail gate. I don't like it when people do it to me so I don't do it to them. In fact I try and leave ample distance in front of me to try and avoid stone chips in the first place. However, no matter how much I try and avoid them I always tend to find something once a month. Maybe it's just these Michigan roads.

 

I do think Michigan has a lot to do with it. Crappy roads = more potholes. More potholes=more stones FROM the potholes.

Don't you just love our state?

 

Most new cars are stone chip victims.

My GTP has a big front bumper and it is all chipped as is the glass. Even my moms new Malibu has plenty of chips.

Tailgating is a problems but heavy freeway traffic and truck do the most of it. My windshield chip came form the West bound lane while I was going East on I-76.

I just try to drive in gaps of traffic on the freeway and keep back.

Note the red and black are easy to touch up since they are solid colors. Paint a little light sanding and rubbing it out have fix most of my problems. Now the metalic paints are very hard to match.

Lack of large chome fronts have done this to most new cars.

 

I'm not going to argue back and forth with any members here but will state my experience with the 2 HHRs I have owned They chip extremely easy especially in comparison with other cars I've owned. You can do a search and you may find my original thread on the subject

 

I kind of agree that these cars seem to chip or scratch extremely easy. My previous car (a 1999 Z24 Cavalier, also black) did not seem to be as prone to these problems. However, I think I notice more with this car since it is my first brand new car after graduating college, and I feel like it is something to show for all my hard work through all those years of school.