First year owner here. I have had no problems with the brakes (personally I think this is the drivers), leaks, stuck keys, or any of it.

I did have a growl in the A/C that got an upgraded line. But the A/C still worked great, just had a slight annoying noise at time.

Also please note that a few of the bigger issues on here are from rental returns. And we all know how rentals get treated.

I also have owned 4 Honda's. Most of them great cars. But did have a 2.2 Accord motor blow a crankshaft seal and caused it to burn out a bearing (spun) and had to replace the A/C evaporator. On a Civic I had to fully replace the A/C system. So they can all have issues. Mine were all manuals, so I never had to deal with they bad tranny problems.

 

This is exactly the type of replies I was looking for. Some of you have had problems, some of have not. THANK YOU one and all for your responses.

Yes, I do know that ALL cars can have problems. I have been lucky I guess that all my Honda Accords have been trouble free.

Ok...I will let you all know what I decide. I've driven the HHR now for two days. I like it...a lot. True, it doesn't handle like an Accord, BUT I didn't expect it would. The HHR is truly a different vehicle. And it is sooooooo beautiful!!

Again, THANK YOU one and all! The HHR I am considering is a 2008 2LT, Imerial Blue with the Camel Leather interior. The dealer is giving me an amazing deal (one of the largest Chevy Dealerships in the Mid Atlantic area). The only think it is missing is the side air bags. I really gotta' think about that.

 

Make sure that you get it with the running boards. If you travel on dirt/gravel roads or live somewhere where they put salt/sand on the roads during the winter, the running boards will save the paint on the front of the rear fenders from being "sandblasted" every time you drive.

The HHR is a really cool car. It sounds like you are almost completely sold on it. When you do pull the trigger, don't forget to post up some pictures. I like them in the IP too.

 

You might consider waiting another year or two. I looked at Windstars in 1994, the first year of production, but bought an Aerostar instead. In 1998, I finally bit the bullet and bought a Windstar. It has been an awesome vehicle. I've had it 9 years and put 105K on it. The Aerostar was junk. If you look at vehicle ratings now, you'll see that by 1998 they had fixed most of the problems on the 1994 model.

It takes a strong person to buy a car early in it's production. You have to chose being the first to own it vs. working through possible problems. I have to say I loved the looks I got last summer while driving my HHR. I was one of the first in town to own one. Now they're everywhere. Mine, too, has been trouble-free for 18 months and 18K miles.

 

[QUOTE=SandyBeach;
It takes a strong person to buy a car early in it's production. You have to chose being the first to own it vs. working through possible problems. [/QUOTE]

That is one reason I decided to wait a yr or so before getting a HHR. Decided this Jan or Feb will be the date for an '08. I thought maybe wait another yr for the 09's which I heard are to be completely redesigned, but then I might want to wait to see what happens the next yr. I'm not getting any younger and think I am lucky to have cheated death already and know I better not change my plans again. If you are still young, go ahead and do it now, in a yr or so you can move up to a newer model. Some day you'll look back and say to your grandkids, "that HHR I had was a great car, they don't make them like they use to."

 

Without hopefully jinxing myself I have been trouble free for 13,000 miles not one problem.