We bought our 2006 HHR's when our son was 5 months, still have both cars, and our son too who is now almost eight.

We have never had an issue with room regardless of how we had the car-seat placed.

 

6'2" 250lbs here with a 5 y\o and a 6 month old. I brought my 6 month old home from the hospital in my HHR and it works great for the 4 of us on minor trips. Lotsa room for car seats, diaper bags, and still have room to haul home $300 of supplies from Sam's Club. ( BTW, Babies = a car payment in terms of diapers, formula, wipes, etc... on a monthly basis). The front seats have no (leg room) issues with two car seats in the back, but the back seat can be cramped (side to side).

I ended up trading in my Altima for the CX9 after driving with 2 kids for few months. ( It is the ultimate for hauling lotsa people and stuff and still being able to have fun driving.) For longer trips the HHR is a bit cramped, so the big CUV wins every time. But the HHR get close to double the MPG so it gets the most use around town.

It depends on what you need it for. If you are primarily looking to run around town the HHR will serve you well. If you need to haul adults + kids over longer distances, you may want to look at a larger vehicle.

 

So I pulled the trigger. They had a flash blue metallic and this blueish green one. The flash was cheaper but i couldn't get over the purplish color.

So I ended up with a 2009 with dic and only 23000 miles.

So i picked it up Friday and already put 500 miles on it.

First impressions:

1. Road noise is incredibly loud on roads that are not perfectly smooth. I assume the Michelin pilots have something to do with that.
2. Head room on someone 6'1" is def a little tight. Its my chicks car so I am not to worried about it.
3. Handles great for a SUV type car.
4. Knocked down 26.5 MPG fill up confirmed. This was heavy mountain driving so I assume flat roads and it will get way better.

I have some questions but I will put them in the SS forum.

Thanks for all the feedback everyone.



Thanks

Eric

 

Gorgeous! I know what you mean about headroom. The positioning of the sunroofs on these cars subtracts extra inches for some reason. In my case, I wanted a 2LT (2.4L, leather, 17's) and it was difficult to find a 2LT w/o a sunroof, but I did. Mine still has the stock tires and I didn't notice road noise being louder than either of our other two cars ('08 Trailblazer SS and '09 Impala SS). Welcome to the forum!

 

I am 5'10" and have lots of headroom. The electric driver's seat is also adjustable vertically. I run mine all the way down, and have a lot of clearance overhead. You will fit just fine.

No baby seat experience, though.

 

My wife and I had twins 6 months ago. We are able to put both carseats in the back seats when needed but I have to ride with my legs wrapped around the steering wheel in order to make them fit.

We have the Chicco KeyFit30 carseats. They may sit further forward than other carseats for all I know.

We ended up getting a minivan for a second vehicle to carry the babies on trips. I still use the SS for my daily driver and I still carry the babies in it from time to time when the van isn't available.

 

The sunroof makes all the difference in headroom. I am 6'3" with no sunroof and plenty of headroom, my father-in-law is 5'10" with a sunroof and not enough headroom. I told him he was crazy when he said he didn't have enough headroom, then I drove his car, I would not want an HHR with a sunroof.

 

I'm 6'2" and have a 2007 2LT with Sunroof. It has the power drivers seat which you can move up and down vertically as well as front to back which gives me MORE than enough headroom when lowered all the way. As for kids seats, my wife and I have been more than pleased. We have a 2 year old and brought her home from the hospital when she was born in the HHR. Plenty of room for the carseat and a passenger or two in the backseat PLUS all the gear in the cargo area.