dbfruth

You can turn the dome lights on by holding the dimmer control all the way to the right. It won't stay on but you can turn them on temporarily. or is this just a 2007 feature?

jx3

Not native to the 06 model.

krishaynes

GM is getting its act together when it comes to quality, but they do have an uphill climb. They just do not have the slack that japanese manufacturers receive. Honda can be forced to recall 165,000 cars in the US and 500,000 in China, and in May 2006 Toyota recalls 1,000,000 cars because some steering component failures could casue loss of control, but people forgive them due to their "Perceived Quality" and reputation for dealing with these situations fairly.

No car manufacturer can be perfect all the time. However, they will be judged on how they deal with the problems. By the sounds of the people that do complain about problem vehicles it usual comes down to how they were treated by the dealer and GM - not the car itself. GM then must get proactive in insuring that their customers ALWAYS receive top drawer service whenever they need it. Then, in time, people might forgive GM for the crap they (and the other members of the big three) made in the '70s and '80s.

Goose

I'm not flaming the HHR..heck I wouldn't be here if I wasn't interested in one..it was just a little bit of a letdown to see the computer messed up on a brand new car already.

Is there really any GM, Ford or Chrysler cars even made in the States anymore? I'm sure there are some but it appears that the majority of them are made in Mexico or Canada...heck afaik the 3.4 is made in China? On the other hand Toyota and Honda seems have the majority of their vehicles assembled in the US by American workers (some in Canada also, my Matrix was)

Of course this is pretty much not news to most people.


I bought the Matrix because I needed a vehicle that would last 200-300K which is almost a given...would a HHR last that long? I would like to think so but given my situation and the miles I drive I can't take that chance...

Now if I was just driving 12-15K a year I would probably get a HHR in heartbeat (no pun intended) I just love the car


Goose

marvinb

Since you want to talk about Japanese quality I will put in my .02 worth. I bought a Chevrolet Tracker in 04 new, it was the first and LAST jap car I will every own, even if I have to ride a bicycle. It had vibration problems that the dealer couldn't fix and finally GM told me to sue them if I wasn't satisfied. For anyone that doesn't know the Chevrolet Tracker is a Suzuki Vitra.

jx3

Geo Tracker was cloned from the Suzuki Sidekick originally. Prerunner to the Vitara. I had a first model year Sidekick and would do almost anything, short of giving up Dory, to have my Suzi back.

krishaynes

I still have my 1998 Sidekick 4dr 4wd. I swear whoever ordered that thing originally (I got it used) said "Give me one with NO options". No A/C, 5-speed manual, and the only power accessories were the brakes and steering

It has never let me down, gave me great fuel mileage, I could fit anything inside it, but I definitely did not look cool!

Oh, and while it and the GM versions were siblings - they weren't all built in Japan. Most were built at the CAMI plant in Ontario....

alien_sporez

Ummm, no... I don't want to get off on a rant here, but obviously you've never even looked at the quality of cars coming out of Korea. Your attitude seems to be the same as the attitude of American Auto execs today towards Korean cars... ironically it's the same attitude they had towards those Japanese pieces of "junk" that were shipped over by silly companies like Datsun, Toyopet and Honda back in the 60's and 70's. And look at the Japanese companies now, compared to the American ones. Ford, GM and Chrysler are dying, Honda, Toyota and Hyundai are expanding. Why? QUALITY! While I'm glad I'm now driving an American car, it is because it meets all my needs. I'm not going to "buy American" out of pity. But I have to be honest, having owned two 100% reliable Hyundai's (one of which was a supercharged 400 WHP Tiburon that was also my daily driver) when I started to look for a new car, my first stop was Hyundai. I wanted to give them my business, because they earned it. Not just because of price of their products, or because of the quality, but because they treated me great. They always gave me a free loaner car. They always washed my car before returning it to me. They always treated me great. But, in the end, I chose the HHR because it met all my needs for fuel economy, space, equipment, price and style.

I've owned 2 Hyundais (Hyundai owns Kia) and both of them were as reliable as the Hondas and Toyotas I've owned before. If you're going to make a statement, at least have it based on fact. GM can only wish to have the reliability that Hyundai now has. In fact, in the latest JDPower rating of new car quality, Hyundai was #3, behind only Lexus and Porsche. Hyundai beat Honda, and Toyota too. The highest ranking GM brand was Cadillac at #7.

My experiences match what JD Power is saying. Korean cars are as-good as their Japanese counterparts.

HillsdaleHHR

Well Said!!

captain howdy

Nah, don't make assumptions because you’re wrong and I'm not speaking of all Korean vehicles. My buddy Luis's wife had a Kia and the car was nothing but nightmares for them. They had to have the engine completely replaced three times within four years. All of it was under warranty but that doesn't quite say high quality vehicle to me. They traded it for a Malibu and didn't look back. When they had first purchased the vehicle Luis kept raving about the ten year warranty to my other buddy Justin and me. We kept telling him that he would need it. Sure enough he did. Kias are sub-economy cars; even the most expensive Kia is still very cheap. None the less I wouldn't purchase a Korean car either. I will go to my grave supporting nothing but our American auto manufacturers and our economy. IMO I would rather drive the worst rated American vehicle than the best rated foreign vehicle. It all boils down to pride and caring for our country. If more people felt like me maybe our economy wouldn't be in such bad shape and we wouldn't be loosing jobs here in America left and right. I don't buy American out of pity, I buy them out of care and concern for our country and I truly do think we make some of the finest vehicle in the world.