New SS Owner with some questions
02-04-2014, 08:13 PM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 02-04-2014
Location: Garrison, KY
Posts: 48
New SS Owner with some questions
I've been looking for a grocery getter/winter car for a while. I also own a 2010 Camaro SS, 2001 Z71 Silverado, 1987 IROC-Z 350 TPI, and a 1969 Camaro SS. The Silverado should be the obvious choice for a winter driver, but mine is a 40,000 mile Georgia truck, that had never been driven in the rain until I bought it a little over a year ago. It literally looks like a brand new truck inside and out and I don't have the heart to get salt on it.
My prerequisites were GM/Chevy, 4-doors, and front wheel drive. I looked at several Impalas, but they are so bland, unless you get a 2014 and if I had a 2014 Impala, I'd park it next to the Silverado and Camaros and I'd still be looking for something to drive. I finally settled on a HHR as the correct blend of style, practicality, and fuel economy. I did several internet searches and found them as cheap as $3500, but the cheap ones were high mileage plain Janes. I quickly figured out that I was going have to spend about $6500 for a low mile dolled up one. Then I did a search for stick shifts. I figured a stick would be more fun to drive, have better performance, fuel economy and be cheaper to purchase.
Once I searched on stick shifts, SSs started showing up as cheap as $7000. Now I was really interested! The 2 $7000 SSs that showed up were ultra high mileage, so I did a nationwide search for red, 5-Speed SSs. The 3rd one that showed up was priced at $8850, had 100k on it and was only 58 miles away. I though about it for a few days and decided to drive up and take a look at it. When I got to the dealership, I couldn't find it. When I asked a salesman about it, he told me that they'd taken it to the auction. I started to leave, but then I got an idea and went back to the salesman. I asked him when they took it to the auction and he said "Yesterday". I asked him if he knew when it was going to sell and he said "Tomorrow". I thought "Perfect" to myself, thanked him and left.
As soon as I got back in my van, I called a buddy of mine who owns a used car lot and asked him if he was planning on going to tomorrow's auction. He said he was and again I thought "Perfect". I described the HHR to him and asked him to try to buy it for me. He said "No problem". He called me about 9:00 the next morning, told me that he'd located it and driven it. I asked him what he thought and he told me that it was just like new, inside and out and he said it had lots of power. He told me that he thought he could buy it for $6500 and asked me if I wanted to go as much as $7000 on it. I told him to go $7500 on it. He called me back about 2 hours later and told me that I was the proud owner of a 2008 HHR SS! I said "Really? How much did I pay?" He said "$7200" I picked it up at his lot that evening.
It is in really nice condition and runs really nice. It only came with one key and no key fobs. I have a friend who is the service manager at a local Chevy dealership. He's ordered me a key and 2 key fobs. It has a tire pressure light on and I think I'm going to have to replace the LH rear tire pressure sensor. It has a rattle in the LH front suspension on sharp bumps. I haven't had a chance to look under it yet, but I'm thinking sway bar bushings or links. It's really quick, but it seems to have a lot of torque steer. It has Michelin tires on it and they seem to be wearing well. I'm wondering if the torque steer will go away when the rattle does or is there deeper problems?
I've checked the sticker in the glove compartment and G85 is on there, so I'm assuming that it has the Limited Slip Differential. Does the LSD make torque steer better or worse? It appears to me to have the standard stereo. The RPO on the sticker is US8. Where is the sub-woofer if you have the Pioneer stereo? And I think I read somewhere about a factory installed CD changer. Where is that if you have it?
Overall I'm really happy with it. It's exterior and interior condition tell me that it's been really well taken care of and it appears to be completely unmolested, no mods. It came with a Carfax report and it is clean, one owner, no accidents and no major repairs. Just yearly registrations and regular maintenance. It books for 12k after the deductions for 100k and manual trans, so I figure that I bought it cheap enough that if I spend a few hundred on it, it's no big deal.
My prerequisites were GM/Chevy, 4-doors, and front wheel drive. I looked at several Impalas, but they are so bland, unless you get a 2014 and if I had a 2014 Impala, I'd park it next to the Silverado and Camaros and I'd still be looking for something to drive. I finally settled on a HHR as the correct blend of style, practicality, and fuel economy. I did several internet searches and found them as cheap as $3500, but the cheap ones were high mileage plain Janes. I quickly figured out that I was going have to spend about $6500 for a low mile dolled up one. Then I did a search for stick shifts. I figured a stick would be more fun to drive, have better performance, fuel economy and be cheaper to purchase.
Once I searched on stick shifts, SSs started showing up as cheap as $7000. Now I was really interested! The 2 $7000 SSs that showed up were ultra high mileage, so I did a nationwide search for red, 5-Speed SSs. The 3rd one that showed up was priced at $8850, had 100k on it and was only 58 miles away. I though about it for a few days and decided to drive up and take a look at it. When I got to the dealership, I couldn't find it. When I asked a salesman about it, he told me that they'd taken it to the auction. I started to leave, but then I got an idea and went back to the salesman. I asked him when they took it to the auction and he said "Yesterday". I asked him if he knew when it was going to sell and he said "Tomorrow". I thought "Perfect" to myself, thanked him and left.
As soon as I got back in my van, I called a buddy of mine who owns a used car lot and asked him if he was planning on going to tomorrow's auction. He said he was and again I thought "Perfect". I described the HHR to him and asked him to try to buy it for me. He said "No problem". He called me about 9:00 the next morning, told me that he'd located it and driven it. I asked him what he thought and he told me that it was just like new, inside and out and he said it had lots of power. He told me that he thought he could buy it for $6500 and asked me if I wanted to go as much as $7000 on it. I told him to go $7500 on it. He called me back about 2 hours later and told me that I was the proud owner of a 2008 HHR SS! I said "Really? How much did I pay?" He said "$7200" I picked it up at his lot that evening.
It is in really nice condition and runs really nice. It only came with one key and no key fobs. I have a friend who is the service manager at a local Chevy dealership. He's ordered me a key and 2 key fobs. It has a tire pressure light on and I think I'm going to have to replace the LH rear tire pressure sensor. It has a rattle in the LH front suspension on sharp bumps. I haven't had a chance to look under it yet, but I'm thinking sway bar bushings or links. It's really quick, but it seems to have a lot of torque steer. It has Michelin tires on it and they seem to be wearing well. I'm wondering if the torque steer will go away when the rattle does or is there deeper problems?
I've checked the sticker in the glove compartment and G85 is on there, so I'm assuming that it has the Limited Slip Differential. Does the LSD make torque steer better or worse? It appears to me to have the standard stereo. The RPO on the sticker is US8. Where is the sub-woofer if you have the Pioneer stereo? And I think I read somewhere about a factory installed CD changer. Where is that if you have it?
Overall I'm really happy with it. It's exterior and interior condition tell me that it's been really well taken care of and it appears to be completely unmolested, no mods. It came with a Carfax report and it is clean, one owner, no accidents and no major repairs. Just yearly registrations and regular maintenance. It books for 12k after the deductions for 100k and manual trans, so I figure that I bought it cheap enough that if I spend a few hundred on it, it's no big deal.
Last edited by Rocky1974; 02-05-2014 at 09:02 AM.
02-04-2014, 08:19 PM
#2
Premium Member
Join Date: 10-09-2010
Location: Tacoma
Posts: 14,420
Congrats, thats a good price. You will need to resize them.
https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/show...=post+pictures
https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/show....php?t=3033%27
https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/show...=post+pictures
https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/show....php?t=3033%27
02-04-2014, 08:35 PM
#3
Senior Member
Join Date: 02-19-2010
Location: Buffalo ny
Posts: 1,529
I've been looking for a grocery getter/winter car for a while. I also own a 2010 Camaro SS, 2001 Z71 Silverado, 1987 IROC-Z 350 TPI, and a 1969 Camaro SS. The Silverado should be the obvious choice for a winter driver, but mine is a 40,000 mile Georgia truck, that had never been driven in the rain until I bought it a little over a year ago. It literally looks like a brand new truck inside and out and I don't have the heart to get salt on it.
My prerequisites were GM/Chevy, 4-doors, and front wheel drive. I looked at several Impalas, but they are so bland, unless you get a 2014 and if I had a 2014 Impala, I'd park it next to the Silverado and Camaros and I'd still be looking for something to drive. I finally settled on a HHR as the correct blend of style, practicality, and fuel economy. I did several internet searches and found them as cheap as $3500, but the cheap ones were high mileage plain Janes. I quickly figured out that I was going have to spend about $6500 for a low mile dolled up one. Then I did a search for stick shifts. I figured a stick would be more fun to drive, have better performance, fuel economy and be cheaper to purchase.
Once I searched on stick shifts, SSs started showing up as cheap as $7000. Now I was really interested! The 2 $7000 SSs that showed up were ultra high mileage, so I did a nationwide search for red, 5-Speed SSs. The 3rd one that showed up was priced at $8850, had 100k on it and was only 58 miles away. I though about it for a few days and decided to drive up and take a look at it. When I got to the dealership, I couldn't find it. When I asked a salesman about it, he told me that they'd taken it to the auction. I started to leave, but then I got an idea and went back to the salesman. I asked him when they took it to the auction and he said "Yesterday". I asked him if he knew when it was going to sell and he said "Tomorrow". I thought "perfect" to myself, thanked him and left.
As soon as I got back in my van, I called a buddy of mine who owns a used car lot and asked him if he was planning on going to tomorrows auction. He said he was and again I thought "perfect". I described the HHR to him and asked him to try to buy it for me. He said "No problem". He called me about 9:00 the next morning, told me that he'd located it and driven it. I asked him what he thought and he told me that it was just like new, inside and out and he said it had lots of power. He told me that he thought he could buy it for $6500 and asked me if I wanted to go as much as $7000 on it. I told him to go $7500 on it. He called me back about 2 hours later and told me that I was the proud owner of a 2008 HHR SS! I said "Really? How much did I pay?" He said "$7200" I picked it up at his lot that evening.
It is in really nice condition and runs really nice. It only came with one key and no key fobs. I have a friend who is the service manager at a local Chevy dealership. He's ordered me a key and 2 key fobs. It has a tire pressure light on and I think I'm going to have to replace the LH rear tire pressure sensor. It has a rattle in the LH front suspension on sharp bumps. I haven't had a chance to look under it yet, but I'm thinking sway bar bushings or links. It's really quick, but it seems to have a lot of torque steer. It has Michelin tires on it and they seem to be wearing well. I'm wondering if the torque steer will go away when the rattle does or is there deeper problems?
I've checked the sticker in the glove compartment and G85 is on there, so I'm assuming that it has the Limited Slip Differential. Does the LSD make torque steer better or worse? It appears to me to have the standard stereo. The RPO on the sticker is US8. Where is the sub-woofer if you have the Pioneer stereo. And I think I read somewhere about a factory installed CD changer. Where is that if you have it?
Overall I'm really happy with it. It's exterior and interior condition tell me that it's been really well taken care of and it appears to be completely unmolested, no mods. It came with a Carfax report and it is clean. One owner, no accidents and no major repairs. Just yearly registrations and regular maintenance. It books for 12k after the deductions for 100k and manual trans, so I figure that I bought it cheap enough that if I spend a few hundred on it, it's no big deal. I wanted to post a picture of it, but when I click on the insert image icon, it asks for a url. My pictures are on my hard drive, not on the internet. I'll post one, when I figure that out.
My prerequisites were GM/Chevy, 4-doors, and front wheel drive. I looked at several Impalas, but they are so bland, unless you get a 2014 and if I had a 2014 Impala, I'd park it next to the Silverado and Camaros and I'd still be looking for something to drive. I finally settled on a HHR as the correct blend of style, practicality, and fuel economy. I did several internet searches and found them as cheap as $3500, but the cheap ones were high mileage plain Janes. I quickly figured out that I was going have to spend about $6500 for a low mile dolled up one. Then I did a search for stick shifts. I figured a stick would be more fun to drive, have better performance, fuel economy and be cheaper to purchase.
Once I searched on stick shifts, SSs started showing up as cheap as $7000. Now I was really interested! The 2 $7000 SSs that showed up were ultra high mileage, so I did a nationwide search for red, 5-Speed SSs. The 3rd one that showed up was priced at $8850, had 100k on it and was only 58 miles away. I though about it for a few days and decided to drive up and take a look at it. When I got to the dealership, I couldn't find it. When I asked a salesman about it, he told me that they'd taken it to the auction. I started to leave, but then I got an idea and went back to the salesman. I asked him when they took it to the auction and he said "Yesterday". I asked him if he knew when it was going to sell and he said "Tomorrow". I thought "perfect" to myself, thanked him and left.
As soon as I got back in my van, I called a buddy of mine who owns a used car lot and asked him if he was planning on going to tomorrows auction. He said he was and again I thought "perfect". I described the HHR to him and asked him to try to buy it for me. He said "No problem". He called me about 9:00 the next morning, told me that he'd located it and driven it. I asked him what he thought and he told me that it was just like new, inside and out and he said it had lots of power. He told me that he thought he could buy it for $6500 and asked me if I wanted to go as much as $7000 on it. I told him to go $7500 on it. He called me back about 2 hours later and told me that I was the proud owner of a 2008 HHR SS! I said "Really? How much did I pay?" He said "$7200" I picked it up at his lot that evening.
It is in really nice condition and runs really nice. It only came with one key and no key fobs. I have a friend who is the service manager at a local Chevy dealership. He's ordered me a key and 2 key fobs. It has a tire pressure light on and I think I'm going to have to replace the LH rear tire pressure sensor. It has a rattle in the LH front suspension on sharp bumps. I haven't had a chance to look under it yet, but I'm thinking sway bar bushings or links. It's really quick, but it seems to have a lot of torque steer. It has Michelin tires on it and they seem to be wearing well. I'm wondering if the torque steer will go away when the rattle does or is there deeper problems?
I've checked the sticker in the glove compartment and G85 is on there, so I'm assuming that it has the Limited Slip Differential. Does the LSD make torque steer better or worse? It appears to me to have the standard stereo. The RPO on the sticker is US8. Where is the sub-woofer if you have the Pioneer stereo. And I think I read somewhere about a factory installed CD changer. Where is that if you have it?
Overall I'm really happy with it. It's exterior and interior condition tell me that it's been really well taken care of and it appears to be completely unmolested, no mods. It came with a Carfax report and it is clean. One owner, no accidents and no major repairs. Just yearly registrations and regular maintenance. It books for 12k after the deductions for 100k and manual trans, so I figure that I bought it cheap enough that if I spend a few hundred on it, it's no big deal. I wanted to post a picture of it, but when I click on the insert image icon, it asks for a url. My pictures are on my hard drive, not on the internet. I'll post one, when I figure that out.
Welcome! and nice find!
The suspension rattle is one of the biggest complaints on this platform...it isnt the best design, and typically is expensive to get rid of the noise...If it passes inspection at a reputable shop, and you can handle the noise, you should be fine...
The subwoofer is back by the hatch on the left wall...It will be covered with a black mesh sorta thing, with "pioneer" labeled on it.
Torque steer is all about what you are used to...I have always had FWD vehicles...so I am used to it...if you have only had RWD cars, then it might bother you, but to be honest, its better than some...
So a couple of tips...I would say change the timing chain tensioner...It it usually worth doing at about 100k..
There may be no way to know, but someone may have beat the car to death, and then traded it in...You might be able to find out if the car has been tuned...
02-04-2014, 09:30 PM
#4
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 02-04-2014
Location: Garrison, KY
Posts: 48
Congrats, thats a good price. You will need to resize them.
https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/show...=post+pictures
https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/show....php?t=3033%27
https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/show...=post+pictures
https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/show....php?t=3033%27
02-04-2014, 09:49 PM
#6
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 02-04-2014
Location: Garrison, KY
Posts: 48
Welcome! and nice find!
The suspension rattle is one of the biggest complaints on this platform...it isnt the best design, and typically is expensive to get rid of the noise...If it passes inspection at a reputable shop, and you can handle the noise, you should be fine...
The subwoofer is back by the hatch on the left wall...It will be covered with a black mesh sorta thing, with "pioneer" labeled on it.
Torque steer is all about what you are used to...I have always had FWD vehicles...so I am used to it...if you have only had RWD cars, then it might bother you, but to be honest, its better than some...
So a couple of tips...I would say change the timing chain tensioner...It it usually worth doing at about 100k..
There may be no way to know, but someone may have beat the car to death, and then traded it in...You might be able to find out if the car has been tuned...
The suspension rattle is one of the biggest complaints on this platform...it isnt the best design, and typically is expensive to get rid of the noise...If it passes inspection at a reputable shop, and you can handle the noise, you should be fine...
The subwoofer is back by the hatch on the left wall...It will be covered with a black mesh sorta thing, with "pioneer" labeled on it.
Torque steer is all about what you are used to...I have always had FWD vehicles...so I am used to it...if you have only had RWD cars, then it might bother you, but to be honest, its better than some...
So a couple of tips...I would say change the timing chain tensioner...It it usually worth doing at about 100k..
There may be no way to know, but someone may have beat the car to death, and then traded it in...You might be able to find out if the car has been tuned...
I think I know the spot you're talking about for the sub-woofer and mine has a round block-off panel there.
I've had front wheel drive cars before but never one with 260HP. I'd call the torque steer pretty severe. It's almost changed lanes a couple times in 1st and 2nd gear and I can feel it tugging at the wheel when I down shift to 3rd to pass some one, at road speed.
Thanks for the timing chain tensioner tip. I'm assuming that these are "interference engines" and will bend valves, if the timing chain fails?
The only things I have to go on about how it was treated is the exterior/interior condition and the Carfax, but I'm going to be shocked if I find out it's been tuned.
02-04-2014, 09:53 PM
#7
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 02-04-2014
Location: Garrison, KY
Posts: 48
Thanks. I like the blue also, but I settled on red and black as my favorites. The fact that I was planning on driving it year round ruled out black, so that left me with red.
