Thanks everyone for getting back to me. It sounds like a foot pressure problem, or the safety neutral switch. I've only remote started it a couple of times, and have always inserted the key, so I know that's not it. It also appears to be happening on a couple of other HHR's as well. Next time I take it in for service. I'll have them check it out. I've had the vehicle about a month, with 1,200 miles on it, and just had the dealer change the oil at 1,000 to Mobil-1. I can't say enough good things about the HHR. I think it's a great vehicle!

 

I'd agree with SoCal and take that **** into the dealer and let the warranty work for its money.

Slightly related question of my own, maybe I play with the buttons too much but when you depress the button on the shifter what the hell is it activating in the steering wheel? I thought maybe the steering wheel locked when in park but I have full range over it depressed or not but I can feel and hear something releasing...

 

Yup it's happened to me a few times too. I'm not quite sure what if anything I'm doing wrong but I'm going to have the dealer check the interlock when I take it in for a checkup though. I only have about 1500 miles on it though.

 

It happens to mine as well ,I think it is a safety feature ,sometimes it needs quite a bit of pressure to release from park.

 

sometimes if you depress the brake pedal after you apply pressure to the shifter it will not release. try pushing the brake then try shifting. m2c

 

just hit the shifter button again real quickly. it has become routione to me when I go to engage the vehicle. there is a note in the owner's manual about this. Somewhere............maybe I was under the influence when I read it.......

 

I noticed the same thing when I first got the HHR. It was a brake pressure thing. I now push hard on the brake and then shift with no problem.

 

I think BIG JIM right. I've noticed that when not being able to shift from park that I've not pressed the brake first.

 

The new vehicles are designed to NOT shift into gear unless the brake is pressed in first. Some vehicles are a bit more sensitive. As SoCal said, you might want to get the brake interlock checked. At our dealership we have not seen any HHR's come through with a problem like that. Just make sure the pedal if pushed in first. Sometimes if you brake and try to shift at the same time, it will not shift into gear. Give it a second once you apply brake.

 

Yea:
Same problem here, seems to hang when trying to shift out of Park... I always push it forward release the button then try again slowly all while pushing on the brake pedal again, then try again to shift it, works ok, like maybe jamming by trying to pull it out of park too fast for the unlock to work and it catches,,,,try slowing down when shifting out of Park....no problem once out of Park.



Traded 99 Astro
Hers 03 Impala
The daughter's 96 Monte Carlo