2009 CHEVROLET HHR Complaints

WHILE DRIVING DOWN A STEEP GRADE AT APROX. 50MPH THE STEERING POWER ASSIST FAILED AND POWER STEERING WARNING MESSAGE ON THE DASH LIGHT UP. I DROVE HOME SLOWLY APROX 8 MILES WITH NO STEERING. WHEN I STARTED THE CAR LATER, THE STEERING WAS FINE AGAIN. SINCE THAT DAY THE SAME THING HAS HAPPENED DAILY AND HAPPENS WITHIN SECONDS OF TURNING ON THE CAR. *TR

MY POWER STEERING WENT OUT ON MY CHEVROLET HHR. IT STARTED ANYTIME I PARALLEL PARKED AND EVENTUALLY WOULD HAPPEN DRIVING 65 MPH ON THE INTERSTATE. I COULD HARDLY TURN THE WHEEL, AND IT WAS VERY UNSAFE TO DRIVE. I WAS NOTIFIED BY MY DEALERSHIP THAT THE POWER STEERING MOTOR WAS THE PROBLEM. IT WAS FIXED, AND THE PROBLEM NO LONGER OCCURS. IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION THIS SAME POWER STEERING MOTOR WAS RECALLED IN OTHER CARS, BUT NOT THE HHR. MAKE THIS HAPPEN. *TR

ON 6-23-2013 DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY AND WHILE ATTEMPTING TO MAY A RIGHT HAND TURN MY POWER STEERING ON MY 09 CHEVY HHR FAILED WITHOUT WARNING, THIS FAILURE ALMOST CAUSE ME TO HIT ANOTHER CAR THAT WAS STOPPED AND WAITING TO MERGE ON THE HIGHWAY, I PULLED TO THE SHOULDER OF THE ROAD TO CHECK BECAUSE THE POWER STEERING WARNING LIGHT WAS ON IN THE DASH LIGHTS, FINDING NOTHING WRONG UNDER HOOD I RESTARTED THE CAR WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS OR WARNING LIGHTS ON AND DRIVE HOME. THE NEXT DAY WHILE RETURNING FROM WORK ON THE INTERSTATE THE POWER STEERING WARNING LIGHT RETURNED ON THE DASH WITH A LOSS OF STEERING ONLY BY FORCING THE STEERING WHEEL TO THE RIGHT OR LEFT TO MAKE A TURN OR LANE CHANGE, AFTER I ARRIVED HOME I GOT ON THE INTERNET TO SEE WHERE MY FILL TANK WAS FOR MY POWER STEERING AND LEARNED THAT MY HHR HAS ELECTRONIC ASSIST STEERING BUT I ALSO LEARNED THAT MY CAR HAS BEEN REPORTED BY NUMEROUS PEOPLE ACROSS THE COUNTRY WITH THE SAME PROBLEM WITH POWER STEERING UNITS ON THE HHR, SOME WITH NEAR DEATH ACCIDENTS, "WOW". I KNOW MY WIFE OR DAUGHTER COULD NOT HANDLE THIS CAR WHEN THE POWER STEERING GOES OUT WITHOUT WARNING SO THIS VEHICLE IS BEING PARKED UNTIL I CAN GET A FULL TEST ON THE UNIT. *TR

CALLED THE CHEVY DEALER, TOLD ME THAT IT WAS FRIDAY AND TO CALL FIRST THING MONDAY MORNING. AS I CONTINUED ON FREEWAY I REALIZED THAT THE RIDE WAS ROUGHER, SOMETHING WAS VERY WRONG. TO STEER WAS HARDER, TRIP ODOMETER BOTH WERE NOT WORKING, CRUISE CONTROL WOULD NOT ENGAGE,SPEEDOMETER WAS NOT WORKING,TRANSMISSION NOT SHIFTING EASILY,PULLED INTO CHEVY DEALER, FOUND THE SERVICE MANAGER. ASKED HIM TO CHECK THE CAR, HOURS ON SIGN STATED THAT SOMEONE WOULD AVAILABLE UNTIL 5:30. IT WAS CURRENTLY 4:50 PM. HE ASSURED ME THAT IS WAS SAFE TO DRIVE CARE: PULLED OUT OF DEALERSHIP, TRANSMISSION WOULD NOT SHIFT AT ALL. ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON TURNED AROUND, WENT BACK. HE WAS JUST LEAVING TO GO HOME IT WAS 5:10 AT THIS TIME. WHEN HE SAW ME HE GOT OUT OF HIS CAR, CAME OVER, I TOLD HIM THE INCREASED CHANGES AND WHY I TURNED AROUND:I HAD MY 80 YEAR OLD AUNT WITH ME I LIVE 14 MILES OUTSIDE OF TOWN IT WAS FRIDAY AFTERNOON I DID NOT WANT TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE BY DRIVING THIS CAR SAY AN ACCIDENT OR DOING MORE DAMAGE TO THE REPAIRS NEEDED. HE PUT IT ON THE ANALYSIS SCOPE HE SAID HE HAD MIXED MESSAGES. ONE WAS IT SAID POWER STEERING BUT WITH THE WRONG CODE. AFTER THAT THERE WAS NOTHING THAT SHOWED UP. HE AGAIN ASSURED ME THAT WE WOULD BE FINE! I PULLED OUT OF THE DEALERSHIP, DROVE 2 MILES, THEN WAS COASTING! HAD NO TRANSMISSION. PULLED OVER TO SIDE OF ROAD, TURNED OFF THE ENGINE SAT FOR A FEW MINUTES, RESTARTED CONTINUED DOWN THE HIGHWAY WITH MY FLASHERS ON. IT WOULD NOT SHIFT HIGHER THAN SECOND GEAR.WE LIMPED TO A FRIENDS HOUSE PARKED THE CAR, THEY GAVE US A RIDE HOME. WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF I HAD CONTINUED DOWN THAT ROAD. PLEASE HELP. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 CHEVROLET HHR. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING 30 MPH, THE POWER STEERING FAILED. THE CONTACT STATED IT BECAME DIFFICULT TO TURN THE STEERING WHEEL AND WAS FORCED TO INCREASE THE EFFORT IN ORDER TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR INSPECTION WHERE THEY STATED THE STEERING COLUMN NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 12,000.

LETTER FWD FM FMCSA CONCERN THE SAFETY OF HIS 2009 CHEVROLET HHR SS, BRAKES ARE EXTREMELY HARD CAUSING DIFFICULTY IN STOPPING VEHICLE AT TIMES, INQUIRING WHY THERE WASN'T A RECALL (ENCLOSURES NOT IMAGED FWD TO NVS-200) THE CONSUMER STATED WHEN HE RECENTLY PULLED AWAY FROM A CURB BEHIND ANOTHER VEHICLE THAT STOPPED AT A CROSSWALK, HE CAME WITHIN AN INCH OF REAR-ENDING THE VEHICLE, BECAUSE THE BRAKE WAS EXTREMELY HARD, WHICH MADE IT DIFFICULT TO STOP. THE CONSUMER EXPERIENCED THE SAME SCENARIO AGAIN, BUT IT INVOLVED A PEDESTRIAN WHO WAS CROSSING THE STREET IN THE CROSSWALK. THE CONSUMER STATED A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN WAS ISSUED BY CHEVROLET, BUT NOT A RECALL. THE DEALER INFORMED THE CONSUMER THE COST TO INSTALL AN AUXILIARY VACUUM BOOSTER PUMP WAS $1200.00.

I WAS DRIVING MY HHR ON A STATE ROAD AT 50MPH WHEN THE POWER STEERING MESSAGE CAME ON AND THE POWER STEERING QUIT. IF I WOULD HAVE BEEN IN A CURVE, I WOULD HAVE WRECKED. I FOUND THE NEAREST SAFE SPOT TO PULL OFF THE ROAD AND TURNED MY CAR OFF AND RESTARTED IT AND IT CAME BACK ON. SINCE THIS EPISODE I HAVE HAD MULTIPLE EPISODES WITH THIS PROBLEM. I ONLY DRIVE ABOUT 500 MILES PER MONTH AND THAT IS TOO MAY TIMES FOR THE STEERING TO GO OUT. *TR

WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS THE POWER STEERING GOES OUT MAKING THE DIFFICULT TO CONTROL. I DID RESEARCH ONLY TO FIND THAT MANY OTHER HHR OWNERS EXPERIENCED THE SAME ISSUE AND SEVERAL OTHER CHEVY MODELS WERE RECALLED FOR THE SAME ISSUE. THE CHEVY DEALER VERIFIED THAT THE ISSUE I WAS HAVING (FAILURE OF THE POWER STEERING MOTOR) WAS THE SAME ISSUE SEEN IN MANY OTHER CHEVY MODELS. CHEVY WOULD NOT FIX IT AND WASHED THEIR HANDS OF IT. THIS HAS HAPPENED AT VARIOUS SPEEDS. RESTARTING THE CAR TEMPORARILY FIXES IT. *TR

MY AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON AND MY PASSENGER SEATBELT KEEPS LOCKING. THERE ARE NUMEROUS OTHER HHR OWNERS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. *TR

I BOUGHT MY HHR IN SEPTEMBER OF 2012. THE FIRST ISSUE I HAD WITH IT HAS LEFT ME VERY CONCERNED ABOUT FUTURE ISSUES. THE ELECTRIC POWER STEERING FAILED WHILE I HAD BOTH OF MY SMALL CHILDREN WITH ME IN THE MIDDLE OF RUSH HOUR. MOST FRUSTRATING IS TO RESEARCH THIS MATTER JUST TO FIND THAT GM IS AWARE OF THE ISSUE AND HAS RECALLED THE EXACT SAME PART IN THEIR COBALT BUT HAS FAILED TO CARRY IT THROUGH THEIR PRODUCT LINE. *TR