OK, I thought some of you might be interested in my thoughts and impressions after driving an HHR for a week, mostly in the rain! The weather is just starting to get nice here, 60 today, 67 tommorow!

Overall fit and finish is pretty nice, especially for a car thats on the lower end of the totem pole. A nice touch is that the hood doesn't need a rod to hold it up. The doors feel solid and they close with a nice satisfying sound. Most controls are laid out fine, except the window switchs. The interior is comfortable enough, but I can't help feeling like I'm in a cheaper car than it is. It didn't help that the driver side visor mirror fell out the second day, and again on the weekend. When I wiped some spilled coffee off of the console, the "chrome" trim ring around the gear selector popped off just by touching it. This thing is ripe for an interior upgrade of some sort. Lots of kits on the market that I'm already looking at. I'm having a little trouble finding the "sweet spot" for the seat. My lower back hurts a little after a 30 minute drive, and the lumbar is too high for me to help. I get a little closer to comfort every time I drive it though. I went through this same process in my Trailblazer too.

The engine is smooth and powerful enough for daily driving. Its no sport sedan, but I have no trouble getting it up to 80 in a reasonable time. Passing is actually a lot better than I expected it to be. So far, after about 300 miles, we are averaging about 25 mpg, mixed city/freeway driving. So I'm VERY happy about that. She deals with rain like its not there, and we had 2 inches of it between Friday and Saturday! Steering is OK, fairly tight at 60 mph and below. Above that it wallows a bit and doesn't feel "sure". Lane changes at 70 mph are a bit of an adventure. Again, I'm not expecting sport sedan performance, but I don't think it should feel that loose either. I'm hoping that there are some cheap/easy suspension mods to improve this. Ride is very nice though, something I wasn't expecting.

Sound systems are important to me, and I listen to music about 3 hours or more a day. I'm not an audiophile by any means, but I do like good sound systems. I was excited to see that we have the premium 260 watt Pioneer system. Overall, I find it better than most factory systems. Bass doesn't resonate like it should, nor do highs sound "live". I never thought I'd say this, but I'm going to miss the Bose unit in my old Caddy, but its not likely I'll change the head unit or speakers. At least not this year. I wish the Pioneer had a setting for "spacious" like the Bose in my Trailblazer. At least that might give the sound a less clauterphobic feeling. I'm hoping its better with the windows and sunroof open.

You can't beat the looks of this car. People either love it or hate it. Of course we love it. We have one friend who's already making comments about our milk truck. Then again they own an Acura and a Toyota. Other friends think its really cool. One thing's for sure, no one can accuse the HHR of being boring. So your wondering if we love the car? I think so. My wife certainly does. I'll get more used to it, I'm accostomed to driving a Cadillac, so it may take a little time.

 

Great write up... and I second it all!

 

You'll get used to the location of the window switches. It just takes some adjustment. After almost two years, my biggest pet peeve is the location of the cup holders. My minivan had a pull-out tray for cups which was great. It could be pushed in to get it out of the way. Why couldn't Chevy think of that?