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Adding Sirius/XM and Bluetooth and retain factory look?
Greetings HHR community! Complete car nut here, cars are my professional and personal life. Just picked up a silver 2009 HHR last week. It's actually my 2nd HHR. I had a 2008 LS 5spd several years back. Kept that car for a few years and put 70k miles on it, then regretted it the day I sold it. This one I bought is an auto, but I'm still quite happy to have an HHR again. It fits my needs perfectly...I need a fuel efficient, roomy and inexpensive car I can pile miles on. Between work and my kids activities, I drive 35K+ per year. In fact, just did a 500+ mile road trip this weekend with the car. It only has 41k miles on it and was one owner (after its first 8 months as a rental car), so it's still a baby. Has the front end clunk that all HHRs do, doubt I'll mess with that. Need to add some Techron to the tank, as the fuel gauge went dead for a little bit during our road trip. I know that's a common issue with older GM cars, the unit gets gunky.
So here's my question. As I mentioned above, the car was born a rental. Its got several trim packages, as it has alloy rims, heated leather seats, sunroof and steering wheel audio controls. However, no satellite, no Bluetooth functionality (and therefore no OnStar of course) and the remote start button on the key fob does nothing. With as much as I drive, I am a heavy user of SiriusXM, and am a notorious station flipper. Therefore, I'd like to have the controls on the steering wheel still function. Plus, I absolutely despise the look of aftermarket radios. Just not my thing, I insist on keeping it looking stock. I've read that I can add Sirius to the factory radio, as there's a kit from GM. Could I also install factory bluetooth functionality? Not that I care much, but I presume there's no easy way to make remote start functional?
Thanks, and looking forward to mile after mile in my HHR. Plan to find a roof rack in a salvage yard, buy a factory rear spoiler and touch up the rims as they are looking a bit shabby.
Welcome to the site, have a look in the glove box and snap a picture, of the RPO codes.
I just bought my 2011 in August, it was a Hertz rental, it has Bluetooth, OnStar and the upscale Pioneer stereo.
Thanks! I'll grab a picture. It definitely doesn't have Bluetooth, as when you hit the button, it just mutes the radio. The rear view mirror is a basic mirror with no buttons. I'll grab the codes for sure, but think this was a satellite delete car. Was Bluetooth/Onstar part of that same satellite stereo upgrade?
Thanks for the remote start link. Nope, no shark fin, just the antenna up front. When I first checked this forum, there was an old thread about a GM kit to add satellite and it even had the part number. I Google searched it and that part is discontinued, so I'm hoping there's still a way to add it using a factory head unit. My car is an '09, and it's got the steering wheel buttons for BT.
As for the fuel gauge, before my wife and I had kids who ate all of our money with sports , we had some Corvettes that had this issue. I learned then that this was common on many GM cars and the easy fix was to add a bottle of Techron every 6 months or so. Once I did that, I never had an issue. I'll give it a shot with the HHR, only costs about $5 to try. The gauge only did it once so far...I've only had the car for a few days. Was on a 4+ hour trip and the gauge suddenly dropped to empty and the warning light said "low fuel". However, the fuel range still read properly. After I shut the car off and restarted it some time later, the gauge was fine and has been fine ever since. This is exactly what happened with my 'Vettes.
Here is the glove box sticker. I believe it's code U2J that signals satellite delete, based on what I read so far.... I know I can just use my phone, as I have Sirius/XM on that, or use one of their radios like the Onyx (I have an extra one laying around). I'll do that if needed, but as I mentioned I flip stations quite a bit, so I like having the steering wheel controls and/or being able to use the factory radio buttons.
10-28-2019 | 07:42 AM
, we had some Corvettes that had this issue. I learned then that this was common on many GM cars and the easy fix was to add a bottle of Techron every 6 months or so. Once I did that, I never had an issue. I'll give it a shot with the HHR, only costs about $5 to try. The gauge only did it once so far...I've only had the car for a few days. Was on a 4+ hour trip and the gauge suddenly dropped to empty and the warning light said "low fuel". However, the fuel range still read properly. After I shut the car off and restarted it some time later, the gauge was fine and has been fine ever since. This is exactly what happened with my 'Vettes.
