CuriousC

Hello. We have a 15 year old car that is on its last leg and next year we want to replace it. We need a reliable third car for our family and right now we are considering the Saturn Astra and the Chevy HHR. Certain things about the HHR worry me though. Many people seem to complain about certain items on the car failing prematurely.

My biggest concerns are these warped rear brakes I hear so much about. My father owned an old Chevy and constantly complained that the brakes sucked, so if that is the case with the HHR than I can't consider this car. I don't want to bring in the car every 5 minutes to have the brakes fixed or be forced to spend extra money to bring the car to a repair shop to get aftermarket brakes.

The other things that worry me about the HHR are these leaks I heard about. We want to get the sunroof but we don't want to walk into a flooded car. We are probably going to buy a third vehicle a year after this one so we will have to leave the HHR outside my garage. Finally I also heard of the key getting stuck in the ignition, inside of the drivers window getting iced up then stuck, and people complaining of rattles in the car. Are these issues rare or abundant?

These are my concerns about the HHR. I don't know if these issues were only with a few HHR's or from the first model year so please enlighten me. If not is GM planning on fixing these issues in the next year? I had an Accord before this and while we put plenty of money into it keeping things running it lasted us a good 50k miles without any repairs. Other than that I really like this vehicle. So I would just like to hear from you if I should skip this vehicle and go for an Astra?

I also had a few other questions about the vehicle itself. Some people say the non SS HHR is underpowered, is this true? The car we are replacing is a 94 Accord. While for the most part a decent car it was a slug. If it was loaded down or going up a hill you would have to gun the engine to get it moving. So if I buy might it be worth upgrading to an SS? Plus does the SS come with armrest in the front and rear seat?

What does everyone think of the legroom in the front and rear seats? I know the HHR isn't a big car but I just wanted to get an idea. I have to actually sit in the HHR and judge for myself but I wanted to see what owners thought. How well will it fit 3 adults? Two of us are 6 feet tall, and the other is nearly 6 feet tall. We don't plan on using this vehicle for long trips the furthest we would probably ever go with three people is 300 miles at best.

Finally any updates confirmed for the 2009 model year? I am hoping they add the 6 speed auto with paddle shift to the HHR. Thanks for your help.

HillsdaleHHR

to the site!!! Should you buy? Good question and I won't answer but here are my thoughts.

1. Brakes and water issue. Could it be a problem. Yes. Does everyone experience it. No.
2. Other issues listed. Again- some people have had these problems but definitely not all HHR's are plagued with these issues.
3. Are you willing to take a chance with a first year run on the Astra?
4. I feel my 2.2 L is fine. Is it fast? No, and I don't expect it to be.
5. SS Auto has front center armrest. SS Manual does not. Both have arm rests on the rear door but nothing in the middle.
6. For me legroom is fine in front and back.
7. For 2009 there are some color changes and window switches have been moved from the center console to the doors.

Astra XR Interior (5 Door)
Front Head Room (inches) 38.9 Advantage HHR
Rear Head Room (inches) 38.3 Advantage HHR
Front Leg Room (inches) 42.0 Advantage Astra
Rear Leg Room (inches) 35.3 Advantage HHR
Luggage Capacity: 12.2 cu. ft. Maximum Cargo Capacity: ? Advantage HHR

HHR Interior
Front Head Room: 39.6 in.
Rear Head Room: 39 in.
Front Leg Room: 40.6 in.
Rear Leg Room: 39.5 in.
Luggage Capacity: 25.2 cu. ft. Maximum Cargo Capacity: 63 cu. ft.

Astra XR 5 door (Curb weight 2858 lb):
HP 138 @ 6300 Torque (ft lb) 125 @ 3800

HHR 2.2 (Curb weight 3155 lb)
HP 149 @ 3800 Torque (ft lb) 152 @ 4200

HHR 2.4 (Curb weight 3208 lb)
HP 172 @ 5800 Torque (ft lb) 167 @ 4500

AllEyezOnMe

I've bought my HHR in Feb. 2007. If I had to do it all over again, I would. I've had a couple problems but nothing serious. The rotors have been re-surfaced at 9000miles. I just bought aftermarket drilled/slotted rotors. I'll put them on next week. The windows do freeze up, but 5-10 minutes with the heat on, they free up.

There is plenty of leg room and I think it came with a decent amount of power. I've never had to "floor it" to get up a hill. I've had 4 adults comfortably in my car. I just got back from Florida. Me, my wife and my 2 year old daughter, 3000 miles to and from with the back fully loaded and we were all fine. No loss of power and the mpg were still in the high 20's low 30's.

All in all, I would reccommend the HHR. My family and I love it.

prod

Well no car is perfect but most of the problems you listed have been addressed. However the brakes are still a possible concern depending on how heavy you are on them. In my opinion, GM needs to beef them up a bit. The most common problems now are relatively minor, noises from trim and suspension and such.
And the base 2.2 engine is good enough to get you around, but definitely not a powerhouse. It is sufficent in the Cobalt, but the HHR is heavier. The 2.4 is a little better.
You should be asking what kind of vehicle you need. A mini-suv with room to carry stuff, or a sportier little car to zip around town. By all accounts the Astra looks to be a good one, but you need to sit in it and see if it fits. The HHR does have good legroom for 6 footers in the front and back.

oneton

I have a 06 very early build 07/04/05. No brake prob, no leaks, small rattle when 1st test drive, fixed. Good MPG, love the look, wife has a 07 LS daughter a 07 LT.
I have 46K+ wife 12K+ daughter ?? under 10K ? All good so far
Fun to drive! So Take a look at the HHR to see if it fits your needs

CuriousC

Thanks for responding everyone.

I realize no matter what car you buy it will eventually have problems, and I can see GM has made major progress in fixing quality/reliability issues. My Accord is a good example, over a period of three years we sunk $3k into it to keep the A/C working. Its not working again, but it started to happen after we put 50k miles on it and it stopped working last summer around 89k miles.

I am just concerned I will only put 10k miles on it and I will have a puddle in my front seat or brakes that don't work. Which to me is way to soon for issues to happen. I am wondering has anyone here demanded that the dealer replace the OEM brakes with reliable aftermarket brakes? I might make them do that to be safe. Does the SS have better brakes as compared to the base HHR?

Will I take a chance on a first year Astra? No. Though I won't be buying until early to mid 2009, right now I am just doing research. I am impressed with the legroom, cargo room, and that it has the arm rest on the auto. Little disappointed the rear doesn't have a armrest, but for the price thats understandable.

Some people say the plastic can easily scratch, would you recommend getting a cargo mat? Alleyez what engine do you have the 2.4L? I have a bit of a lead foot so the SS might be a better bet for me. If I go with the SS though can you run it on 87? The price difference isn't much and I might not do that but if I did is it possible? How much power will be lost and will the fuel economy drop?

The reason we are considering both the HHR and Astra is for the hatch. I personally like sedans more but the utility of a hatch is what I need, and recent hatches look much better than past hatches. We will probably use it to make short local trips to the supermarket or stores, and I might use it as a commuter vehicle when it doesn't snow.

You are right Prod, I need to sit in each vehicle and decide for myself and when the time gets closer I am going to check out each vehicle. I might even consider renting them and driving them for a few days.

CuriousC

Hi. Sounds like everything is working out well for you. What MPG are you averaging?

an08HHR

Hope you mean warped front rotors since the HHR has REAR DRUM brakes and disc on front only, except for the SS which is all disc. I went from driving full size pickups with big V-8's to the '08 HHR with the 2.4L and in doing research I kept reading how they said it lacked power. I loved the looks and wanted better gas mileage. That little 2.4 really surprised me with the get up an go it has, so I don't know what these people that reviewed it were comparing it to. The HHR also has a 16 gal gas tank compared to other cars that only have 13, I want to drive further before getting gas and I was sort of looking at a jeep product that was coming out (is now out) but as soon as I saw the 13 gal tank, I said no way and went back to plan A, which was the HHR.
When others have asked questions like you are doing on the forum, a few members have said, rent one for a week and that will help you decide.

DreamHHR

I think that the water (cowl) issue has been addressed; we don't hear that much about it anymore.
Rotors will likely be an issue on any GM (Astra included); that being said, problems are usually driver and/or dealer induced and there's a cheap & easy fix (Buy a good aftermarket set for $200). My rotors are still trouble free after 1 year, but no one but me touches them.
What I've intentionally done with my purchase (others will disagree, but still) is to stay away from the sunroof and the ABS system. My previous GM had 3 ABS sensors replaced in 3 years, so I was not willing to risk it with this one; note that the ABS sensors seem to hold up great so far on the HHR. The sunroof issue is not GM specific; all models are prone to leaks, noise and failures (at least much more than my plain roof!) and it's definitely not a "must have" item for me. Note that headroom is reduced by having one.

After your '94 Honda, anything new out there will feel like a rocket to you...

If reliability / maintenance costs are your main concerns, keep it simple. If you want fast, then look at the SS, but the fact that you're considering running regular in it tells me that it's not really what you want.

BTW, the Astra is not a first year model, it's been on sale in Europe for at least 3 years....

burbhhr

I have an '06 HHR and have experienced problems with the front rotors. It is either an issue of dealer tech incompetence (not using torque wrench), or cheap Chinese rotor quality. Had machined three times,(6,000, 9000, and 30000 miles) last time dealer charged me $135. Went to dealer today to speak to service mgr, and he assured me he'd get this covered by GM rep in two weeks. We'll see. Anyhow, replaced front rotors with ebc rotors, and green pads. They are great, and getting better as pads bed with usage. So if you get HHR, save the hassle of dealing with dealer service dept. and replace the rotors.
Engine, 2.2L is excellent. The ride of the HHR is comfortable, smooth, and pretty good handling for a car its size. I get mixed mpg around 25 and on recent trip to central California, got close to 33mpg highway.
Thank god, here in SoCal, don't have to worry about windows freezing shut. Left those days behind me in the great state of Michigan. I have sunroof, and have had no leakage.
I love my HHR, I really do... my negative postings on this site have all dealt with the rotor issue, which like I said, I came to terms with and just picked up the superior rotors and pads. Best of luck with your new vehicle.