Why the Chevy HHR is a POS
Yes, the Chevy HHR is an utter POS. Then why do we even have one you ask? It's a rental. We are currently without a truck or a car. The GTi has about 160k miles on it and is having some random issues dying while we are driving. After doing a quick online search, we found a few other people with the same issue who have spent a few thousand dollars at dealerships trying to diagnose the issue and never posted the outcome. Since we're not exactly able to cough up a few thousand dollars at the moment, we figured we would give it a go to troubleshoot it ourselves. So we're renting a vehicle at the moment.
Monte brought this thing home on Friday while I was working. I happened to be telecommuting that week, so I had the privilege of getting to ride in it on the way to lunch that day. I can say this much, it's red. If you know me, you know how much I like red.
On to initial impressions: I promise, I didn't have any preconceived notions of this ride in the least. I had never ridden in one before, and other than not really being fond of Chevrolet due to their lack of a quality interior, I've had no real issues with their vehicles. They build a rock solid drive train, that's for certain. I opened the door to this thing and the first thought I had was that Chevrolet must have stock in Rubbermaid. The entire front section of the car is the same texture. It all looks like the lid to a Rubbermaid container, possibly even a trash can lid.
The way the dash is put together is just offensive. To think that American's are actually ok with this tells me that we've stooped to an all time low. We really are oblivious to quality now.
The dash has this little cubby for you to stash things in. It doesn't even fit right. While driving down the road, it wobbles from side to side. You can push on one side ever so slightly and the other side will pop up some.
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When you press open the lid, it pops up just like the lid to a trash can at home. Coincidence?
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Don't even get me started on the air vents in the dash. They are like children's toys. I suppose that they were designed this way to keep you entertained on longer road trips. However, I find myself playing with them even around town to try and keep my attention away from all of the other horrid things about this vehicle.
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Like possibly the fact that the A-pillar on the passenger side door was popping off from the factory? Really? Could it be things like this that would cause people to start to look elsewhere for quality vehicles?
How about the insert in the door handle to cover up the screws that hold the door panel on or perhaps the fact that when you press against the door panel its self, the entire thing flexes? That's true quality there. I'm not talking about a slight give here either. No, the plastic trim line creeks like it's going to pop out, then the entire panel flexes. This is a $25,000 car? A $15,000 Volkswagen Rabbit doesn't believe that its customers are this blind to quality.
On the topic of the door, I wonder how cheap the door handle is to replace when you reach to open the door. The thing is made from plastic so thin you would think it's a child's toy. No wait, children's toys have to be made stouter than this, otherwise they would break. Err...you're supposed to use this to open up a car door? Did I miss something here? From the factory it sounds like it's going to pop off of the spring even.
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Let's talk about the seats. Monte took a completely average city turn to merge onto another street. We had our own lane even, so this wasn't something that required a sharp turn or even a lot of acceleration. The bottom and back of the seat is so flat and un-supportive, that I had to grab onto the door (because there's no Oh-Shit handles in the car mind you), in order to prevent myself from sliding across the seat. If he were to hit the brakes, I found myself sliding forward a good deal as well due to the poor quality 'leather', or should I say vinyl, that was used. It doesn't hold you, plain and simple. There's no support in the seat, it's like sitting on a piece of plywood. I sure hope I don't ever have to make a trip longer than about an hour in one of these things. Who knows, perhaps the cloth version would be better?
The arm rest folds down like you would find on the captains chair on a boat. You know the ones that I'm talking about, right? The vinyl chairs that have a wee little arm rest that you feel like the stop could break on it and then the arm rest would just swing freely in 180 degrees? Yeah, that's this thing. Not to mention it had to be covered by someone in their first year of upholstery school.
Oh, and if you have the passenger seat all the way back, you had better hope that you don't try and place your right arm on the arm rest on the driver’s side door. You will find yourself all contorted and twisted to try and make that happen due to the fact that everything is misaligned. You should also hope that you aren't one of those folks, like me, that like to ride with your arm resting on the top of the door. Why you ask? The door lock pin is in the way. Should I even mention how tinker-toy it looks? When we got the car, it still had shavings on it from where they had drilled out the hole for the pin.
Want to carry luggage in the back? Better lay down some carpet or else everything will slide around in the back. Monte had ended up with one of these on a business trip. He had to put his Pelican case in the back. Upon taking his first turn all he heard in the back was a sliding then a bang as the Pelican case slid across the Rubbermaid surface then slammed into the side of the hatch. The next turn, he decided to take considerably slower. Not because he was worried about his Pelican case, but because he was worried about the damage to the rental. No better according to him. Why on earth would you create a trunk with the entire surface covered like this? That's absolutely beyond me!
Shall we delve into the motor on this thing? I think I can sum it up in one word: lethargic. Next topic: handling. Pitiful covers that pretty well I think. Going down the road, it becomes immediately apparent that it's too narrow and it's too long. The next time I see one of these I'm stay as absolutely far away from it as possible. Why? It can't stay straight to save its life. It wants to wander all over the place. I have to wonder what tire life is like on one of these. The back end is constantly trying to come around the front, and it's a front wheel drive vehicle! This isn't in a corner mind you; this is in a straight line! When going down the road, all I can think about is how I had better be extra vigilant because I damn sure don't want to have to make an evasive maneuver in this thing!
Last but not least is the gauge cluster. I think it actually suites this vehicle quite well. It's tiny, like a toy. It's something that I think would catch the attention of any child. It's trimmed in plastic chrome, much like the rest of the vehicle. It barely gives you the information you want, and it's difficult to read. Much like the dash in the early '90s Ford pick-ups that were missing the tachs. Pointless.
In short, how is this thing still being produced? With vehicles like this, it's no wonder Chevy was in trouble. With vehicles like this still being produced, it's a wonder how long it will be until they are in trouble again...
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