2006 Chevrolet HHR owner complaints

Power steering comes up in messsge center over 10 MPH. Steering is very hard. When you turn the motor off and restart it resets. Over 10 MPH power steering comes up again. Brought it to local dealership and diagnostic test done but test comes up with no problems. Gm recalled only the 2010 hhr for this problem, not the other year models. I purchased my 2006 hhr new in december 2005.

As I was driving down the interstate at about 65 MPH the power steering went out and I got a notification on my dash panel. I had to turn the vehicle off to reset it, and now its been going out at least once a day everyday since then. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet hhr. The contact stated that while driving 10 MPH, the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver. The failure occurred constantly. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown. The VIN was not available.

while driving the car after a few miles, the door locks start going up and down, the power steering light comes on and is hard to steer, the check engine light comes on, the speedometer stops working and the tach malfunctions. the car surges while moving foward. if you shut the car off it will reset itself. once you start the car again it starts to malfunction again. one gararge owner did some tests but didn't fix the problem

Driving with cruise control on, weather very nice and road dry around 7-7:30pm on familiar road. Car had been pulling to the right for about a week. Had son check tires before leaving newark oh and heading home. All of a sudden the vehicle went off road totaled car and I was in hospital for 2 1/2days. Had been knocked out, seat belt rubbed neck to almost bleeding, air bag burned hole in sleeve of coat. No broken bones but very shaken up. I want to know if this was caused by the steering problem that has been been on recall. Have pictures of the car and the road to show how the tire marks abruptly turn to the right.

The first incident happened when I was pulling my vehicle out of my drive way, I was in reverse and put the car in park and began driving, afew seconds later, I heard a warning chime and a message came up on my dash saying "power steering". The car was very hard to maneuver, I stopped the car and turned it off. I needed to get it back into my drive way so I turned the car on to go back home, once I turned the car back on the steering had gone back to normal. I assumed it had only been a glitch but didn't drive my car that day once I got it back home. I drove my car for about a week when the same thing happened again, I heard a chime and my dash displayed power steering, I was on a busy road and had no choice but to pull over, once I did I turned the car off then back on, the steering once

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet hhr. The contact stated that the steering wheel seized upon shifting into drive. The power steering light also illuminated on the instrument panel during the failure. The failure recurred on an intermittent basis. The vehicle was not taken to have the failure diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 40,000.

Bought 2006 hhr lt new for my company. Purchased it from my company for personal use in early 2011. While my daughter was practicing parallel parking at the dmv (for license test), the power steering quit working. This was the first time it happened. The failure occurred when she was fully stopped and turned the wheel all the way to the right to begin the parking maneuver. It happened on the third practice for the day. Turned the hhr off, let it set 30 sec, and turned it back on. Steering reset. Worked for a couple of practices, and then the power assist quit again. This happened three times, with the 3rd time not resetting. Left and drove off with no power steering. A couple of miles down the road, turned off the hhr at a stoplight. It reset when I turned the hhr back on. W

While driving, the "power steering" warning light came on across the dashboard impeding steering maneuvers. After a complete stop and disengaging the engine, the warning light a power steering seems to resume normal performance. However, the warning light and impeded steering returns within 20-25 miles of travel. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet hhr. While driving approximately 20 MPH, the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver. The contact stopped the vehicle on the shoulder of the road and shut the engine off. After restarting the vehicle it regained power steering capabilities. The failure recurred intermittently. Additionally, the contact stated that when driving over any uneven road surface, there was a loud pop heard from the front end of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing where the technician advised that the power steering pump and sway bar would have to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 73,000. *tr

I was driving down an interstate highway at about 55mph when the power steering light came on and lost all of my power steering almost causing an accident. Luckily I got the car over to the shoulder. I turned the car off and restarted it to see if that would remedy the issue and 10 minutes down the road again, it did the same thing. I tried to change out the fuse under the hood and to no avail, the power steering went out within 5 minutes this time. This is a very serious issue and gm should fix this issue. I've had alot of cars and never had a power steering issue with this esp. I may never buy another gm product again. *tr

Car suddenly loses power steering. Shutting off the car allows the power steering to reset and work again but it loses the power steering again at random times. Most of the time it only works for 30 seconds, sometimes the entire trip in the car, and other times it cuts off in the middle of a trip. Especially dangerous when it shuts off in the middle of a turn. Cobalts and Pontiac g5 have had similar problems resulting in a recall. Same steering components? *tr

I was driving to my family's home on christmas, when my car suddenly began to smell like burnt rubber inside of the car. It was raining on that day. Suddenly the cars ac, or h vac did not work anymore. Upon googling things of what it could be, I found out that the resistor and blower motor had been burnt do to be allowing water to enter the blower motor panel from the outside of the car. Upon looking at my blower motor and resistor I found evident burn marks on them. Gm should investigate how rainwater can enter the cars blower motor causing a burning smell in a inhalation of fumes of burning plastic. Not to mention my ability not to see out of the window due to the defrost not working. This is a safety concern!!

Contact reported that door locks would not operate with key fob nor when activating the door lock switches on the door. Took vehicle to two different dealers trying to get the ignition recall fixed which took a total of four visits. While car was in for recall, addressed an unrelated electrical solenoid problem and asked the dealer to look at the door lock issue. Dealer notified owner that passenger door and rear seat left and right door lock actuators had failed (3 of 4 total). Asked dealer if they had seen this unusual condition on any other hhr's and they said no. Showed them the 30+ issues logged on this site and they only commented that the hhr was not the best gm product ever built but there was no dealer fix for this issue. Contact was advised that it would be $340 per door to

Key locks in the ignition and will not release, it took repeated attemps at first of cycling the key off and on to get it to release after a week or two the proplem became worse to the point of the the shifter had to be cycled from park to low and back several times before the key would lock and release from the steering collum, after a few days this didn't work,the problem then was mentioned to the dealer and they said it was "common" with this modey of hhr. Had I not been a mechanic the vehicle would be stuck were ever the problem occured, I temperally fixed the problem by going under the steering collum and pulling a cover off about a inch down from the steering wheel and pushing the rod to the left about a quarter of an inch to get the key to lock and release the key where the vehicle

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet hhr. The contact stated that the battery died without warning. The battery was replaced, but the vehicle could not be started. The engine shut down warning light was also illuminated. The contact spoke with the manufacturer in regards to the failure and the manufacturer advised that the engine would need to be reset. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 55,000.

Driving at 70mph on the freeway, between two semi trucks, my car dinged at me and the display said, "engine power reduced." I did not know what this meant so I immediately started to try and maneuver between the two trucks and pull over. Seconds later, the warning bells happened again and the error message was "engine disengaged." the car turned itself off! I coasted over to the berm. To be honest, I was so scared, I really don't know if the power steering and brakes were disabled too but with no engine running, I can't imagine how they could be. The yellow check engine light was now on and I tried several times to restart the car with no success, it just acted dead. The electrical systems seemed operative. With cars and trucks zipping by at high speeds, I decided to wait in my car,

Drivers side door handle broke off when getting out of vehicle. Dealer will not repair unless I pay for the repair. This is a safety hazard because you cannot exit the vehicle unless you let the window down. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet hhr. The gear mechanism failed. He has attempted to place the gear position indicator in the park position and the engine will not shut off. This failure can cause the vehicle to shift out of gear on its on with or without the driver present. The dealer stated that it was a common problem. The current and failure mileages were 39000.****

While riding in the passenger seat of a 2006 Chevrolet her for a period of about 2 hours I received 2nd degree burns to posterior. Check of the seat by Chevy dealer the next week reported no problem with the seat heater. It has been a month and I am still recovering from the burns and have had medical treatment twice weekly . I have ridding over 25,000 miles (mostly in the drivers seat) and the seat heaters have been on the biggest part of the time over the past year. But this two hour stint caused me severe burns. *nm