First of all, I want to say I love the HHR. I had to go to GA to visit family and was given a HHR to rent and was kind of worried about it at first, but ended up LOVING IT. It drove great and it was great on my back and just found it to be a great car. A few months later I had to go back down and got another HHR when I rented and this was just as nice and was great when hauling stuff back up to KY.
So I talked my wife into buying one but we had family problems come up that kept us from getting one until this past Feb of 08. I had been looking all over for a Premuim one with the Capacino Frost and found one as a dealer demo in Dayton OH with only 4k on it and it was going for 17k. I fell in love with it and wanted it but right next to the one I wanted was a Black HHR with the same features as the Prem one. The moon roof, the 2.4 liter engine, the seat warmers, keyless entry, all of the special features and it had only 2k on it and was selling for 16k. Wife wanted the Black one even though I told her it was going to be a pain to keep clean. That is what she wanted. So we got it. Drove great and loved it.

However, in March of 2008, 2 weeks after having it, it freaked out. The car started to ding, the anti-thieft came on, then the traction went off, the other lights started going off and on and the gages died. Car kept running but, the dash was going nuts. Then the gages came back on and I was in another town when this happened and stopped and talked to the service manager and he said they had one do that and all it took was reseting the codes in the computer. Like a reboot. As a computer tech this sounded possible but told him I would have it done at my local dealer.

Well it stopped doing it and then after a couple of weeks it started all over again. So I took it to my local GM dealer and they said it was a wire that was shorted out from the dash to the fuse box. So they fixed it. A few days later it went nuts again, took it back in and they said gives us a couple of days. Then they said it was a controller under the fuse box and they replaced it. A week later, it screwed up again, and I took it back and this time they kept it almost a week and they said it was the ignition and they replaced it with a new one. ONE DAY LATER, it went nuts again. SO this time, I decided to take it back to the dealer I bought it from.

By now it is May and have only put on 4k miles on it, some of it from the local people taking it home and using it to get it to screw up. And yes they saw it screw up and yes they got codes but, they never did anything about the codes as I later found out. So I took it back up to Dayton and on the way up there, the check engine light stayed on and nothing else screwed up.
Stopped half way up there, (which is is a 3 hour trip) and the check engine light went off and everything acted normal. They got the car and I told them about the rough shifting when the traction light came on and all the dash and gages going nuts and also when the gages dropped off, the AC died as well. Which came back on when the gages came back up. SO they took it and I was there all day long. From 9:30am till 5pm. And they said the only thing they go it to do was the engine lights and they problem pointed to a modular that works with the transmission, so they replaced that and said I think that will be the end of your problems.

I left, and was just 20 miles down the road when it went nuts again, so I called them, turned around and go there, didn't turn it off, told them to get the meter and see what codes we were getting. He said they were getting codes they never even saw before (watchdog failure?) tech said that the hell is that??????? So I made them write down all the codes and check them with the tech dept at GM. They gave me a loaner and I drove back home to KY. That was this Wed and it is now Friday and they have no idea what is going on and neither does GM. Some of these codes they said they have never seen before. (You would think they programmed the thing, they would know what it is!) So the last message I got was, we have no idea what is going on, we can get it to do it and then start to hook it up and it stops. They are keeping it for the weekend and hope to have answers for me on Monday.

First of all... has anyone ever run into this before? Or am I the only one? Also, I am about ready to tell them, ok folks what we have here is a lemon and it is time to talk about another car.

Any thoughts or comments?

 

Keep all records of your service dates and times and miles in/out then after the 5th or so attempt i would get your lemon booklet out and start calling and faxing.... sound to me like a lemon... no offense but maybe you where better off with the Premiere Edition... GOOD LUCK!!

 

Well that is what I wanted, but if you are married, you know how sometimes you kind of go along with the wife. And yes I am keeping track of all the service records and miles. My wife's uncle is the Asst DA, so we will be talking to him about the lemon laws and what we need to do and where we need to go on this. Thanks for your comments.

 

document everything and never loose your cool. When you think you have everything documented, redocument. Try to keep up with the miles they are putting on your vehicle to test it and ask for extended warranty because of the lost mileage. Hopefully they will find THE problem and fix your sick child. Keep us informed on the progress.
ps. push in the fuses in both boxes and make sure they are getting a good connection.

 

Definitely sounds like a computer or electrical problem. I dont remember anyone else having having the same issues. Could be as easy as an ECM or BCM replacement. Hope it works out for ya.

 

Some of your problems make me think you need a new electrical center, which is the part that has all the fuses and relays. But you may have more then one problem. I would have started there first though.

 

Unfortunately, the Kentucky "lemon" law does not apply to used vehicles. You need to find out where the dealership got the vehicle from and figure out whether there were any misrepresentations made about the vehicle at the time of purchase. That's really the only way you're getting out of this car short of sale or complete repair.

 

My first thought was to check the fuses. They have caused so many problems for so many people in the past.

 

I think I went to look at this car and nearly bought it. What dealership did you get it from?

By the way my name is Kevin, and Im from Ky as well. How Ironic.

 

When? There's been maybe, two reported "cases" on this forum and those that have posted have never reported any problems since. The fuse thing is a non-issue. I'd take the car to another dealer while it's still under warranty and get it fixed properly, or simply sell the car.

I gotta tell you, it's stuff like this and what I witnessed at a Ford dealership today that make me just want to stick with new cars forever. I was thinking about trading the HHR for a Mustang 'vert, so I go check out a Ford lot up north. They have a few used ones and they all look beat to hell for '06-'07 models. My HHR isn't the cleanest car inside, but these Rustangs were a freakin' joke. They offered me much more than my car booked for on wholesale value, but wouldn't come down at all from $20k for a two and a half year old Mustang with a half-shot interior!

Made like I was getting ill and walked. I knew I never should have thought about trading my trouble-free HHR. For shame!