My 2006 HHR is currently at the local Chevy service department. It went in with the dreaded power/no crank issue. I had done some investigating on here and tried what limited troubleshooting I was able to perform. Mainly verifying that the battery was charged and that the fuses were all in working order. This was followed by getting it towed to Chevy. Just received call from service rep and he informed me that the starter needs to be replaced for $700 (500 for the part 200 labor). In addition when it was up on the rack it was noticed that the flex hoses or maybe flex coils of the catalytic converter were in very bad shape and so they are advising that the catalytic converter also be replaced for $1400 (1100 for the part and 300 for the labor). $2100 seems high to me but I now little to nothing about cars. So just wondering what you all think.

I found a couple of different starters on Autozone.com in the $250 range and the catalytic converters (not sure but it looks like for $300 on up). Are these things at all straight forward to replace? I am good at following instructions/y*#tube videos. Followed one to disassemble turn signal stalk to repair it not deactivating after you made the turn. Can a relative novice do this? Are these non-OEM parts any good? Will I end up buying 12 other things along with the $300 part that would end up costing me a fortune? I'm not asking for predictions of the future as you guys are of course not looking at the car. Just asking if this price seems high (maybe I should just take it to another shop?) or if you think there is a chance I could possibly do this myself?

Any help/advice/prayers are greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

**Found a shop willing to do the catalytic converter for $275 which seems much more reasonable

 

Welcome to the site, the cat con has just five fasteners and two O2 sensors to deal with, the ones off EBay are not to expensive, same with the starter fairly straight forward .
Any MIL codes?

 

No codes. Just had the no crank issue. Service guy said I could expect to receive a engine light fairly soon due to the deterioration of the flex hose on the catalytic converter.

 

You can replace just the flex pipe, that part costs about $60 have it welded on, or there is one that clamps on. I would figure about 1.5 hours labor, find an independent shop.

$200 labor to install the starter is ridiculous. Mitchell flat rate is .8 hours.

 

The starter replacement is pretty straight forward (disconnect neg post on battery in the trunk, undo the power connectors on the starter, undo two bolts that hold the starter in place, and reverse the order to install) - quite an easy job.

And the flex pipe replacement is an easy fix as well for pretty much any muffler shop as noted above by our guru donbrew.
https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/how-...ex-pipe-31536/

 

I have had the opposite experience from oldblue, the aftermarket one I got was no good and the vendor was bad. YMMV

"They" recommend only OEM, however, they have the same flex pipe that will break at some point. Cheaper and better fix is new flex pipe.

Many times the reason for the crack is a worn out motor or trans mount, they should be inspected.

 

My replacement cat con , was $168.00 and a 1/2 hour under the car! 2 years later, no issues!

 

Thank you all for the quick and obviously knowledgeable help. The videos and links to instructions were just what i was looking for. I had a strong feeling that the $2100 was too high, and also that when I was looking under the hood the engine didn't appear nearly as complicated as others I've looked at so my confidence level was raised slightly by that. As well as the fact that via this informative site I was able to diagnose and fix the turn signal issue I mentioned.
Now I just need to get it towed back home, which is no sweat as I have AAA and go to work this weekend on the starter.
Any good sources on a catalytic converter as I am more comfortable getting a warranty and a little leery of Ebay for a purchase such as this.

Thanks again everyone for answering so quickly and so well.

 

Some dealerships will cover the flex pipe under the Federal Emission Warranty with no problem others need legal threats. IF you are still in that warranty time & mileage, they changed over the years. I think it was 8/80,000, but don't quote me.
https://www3.epa.gov/otaq/about/faq.htm

The $275 estimate sounds like a repair not a replacement. Repair would work fine if the cat con itself is still good (P0420 code).

 

Here is a pic of my stock and aftermarket cat assembly. Cost was under $150 delivered and had a 5 year warranty. Replaced using only ramps and maybe a hr of time. Too easy.



You at your stock cat and see if your upstream O2 is in the manifold or in the downstream pipe. You want to make sure the new one is a straight replacement.