VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1990-Current Unplanned Purchase of 2007 HHR

Just found an older lady selling a 2007 HHR because she could no longer physically drive.
I couldn't pass it up as it has 42,000km (24,000 miles) for about $2800USD. Came with full service history and she is the original owner. Still smells new.

Wasn't really looking for a car but kids are going to need wheels at some point so had to grab it. Other than the electric power steering having had a mandatory recall, these cars seem to have a really solid reliability record.

Appears I need to get the car up on the lift to check trans fluid which is annoying since my 38 has taken over my lift, garage, yard and basement lol. Anyone ever do any transmission maintenance on these beasts? I can't drive it until I know all fluids are 100% fresh...

The HHR was the same as a Chevrolet Cobalt. Weak spots were the brakes/rotors and front suspension. Would also check for other recalls.
I don't recall anyting special with the trans. fluid other that to use the full synthetic Dexron fluid.

Thanks. There are a fair amount of details and forums online it appears.

I read about the brakes and suspension being weak and those areas don't bother me as they are still DIY and at the least solid faults when they act up.

The sad thing is my kids are whining about the car looking ugly lol. It's purplish grey. When did I become my father??? He always liked to find the super low mileage cars that were fecal brown that no one wanted.

A nice red pin stripe would liven it up.

A pin stripe might work. I already threatened the kids with air brushing some flames. I still have some 1/8 sealed 3M masking tape from doing flames for friends in the 80's lol.

The solution is very simple, no need for pin stripes or flames or such.

If the kids believe it is ugly, they can walk to their destinations.

I'm betting the car will not look as ugly. :-)

Amen bro.

Many moons ago, when my then teenage son college student balked about the but ugly 87 Ciera I bought him (doors were in primer, rest of car was maroon), I told him the same. Amazing how quickly that changed.

With his changed attitude, I took him down to the parts store, bought a couple of Duplicolor spray cans in factory color, and turned him loose. One afternoon he had matching doors after learning how to prep and mask, and was tickled pink and appreciative.

Oh to be young again!

About 10 years ago one of my clients was going to buy his son a first car. They went to a local dealership he trusted and had a budget of $5000. They wandered around and found what he thought would be a good reliable model. It was priced at $5000. The son said he "would not be caught dead in a piece of s..t like that". Okay, guess were done here. Saved him $5000, at that time that amount of money bought a pretty darn good car. Hopefully the kid learned something. I think Will Rogers said it best "never pass up a good opportunity to keep your mouth shut".

Yep these responses are pretty well what my kids heard when they complained about the look. My kids have friends and coworkers who use bicycles to get to their jobs as their parents won't insure them so harsh contrast.

My entire life changed because I bought an ugly, battered, low mileage car from my dad. My life could have been very different if he bought me a newer car. Not a bolt was left untouched. He still jokes about body parts hanging from our apple trees as I primed them. I learned a ton - mainly how much cheaper and satisfying it was to maintain and treat a car well than to buy new.

The unique style of the HHR has grown on all of us the last couple weeks. Showing the kids pictures of the 1948/49 Suburban that the HHR was modeled after greatly helped as did the factory 250watt Pioneer sound system and butt warmers. Finally went through original owners paperwork and they were very anal with annual alignments and used synthetic oil ($160 oil changes at dealer). It had at least 8 oil changes over 24,000miles.

I bought my first car with my own money working various dirty jobs at a local restaurant. My single mom did not have lots of disposable income, but did help me with the insurance, as long as I maintained and earned the money to purchase the car. That was the deal.

Like you said, a lot of personal satisfaction comes from doing for yourself. We now have multiple generations of young people who feel entitled and are unable or unwilling to deal with life's problems. The only thing they know how to do is call their parents. Hence, the "helicopter parent" phenomena.There are many books written now about young folks' inability to live independently. The fault lies with the parents.
Personally, I am proud that my adult children live independent lives and clean up their own messes.

my first car was a 61 Comet 4 door. baby moons, Camaro nose stripe and head rests completed the custom look.

That's identical to our HHR except for the side pipes lol. I actually really like the car after owning it for while now. Gets a lot of looks when we are driving being that purple colour with the tint. Few quirks and the notorious front end noises even at 30,000 miles are well documented and at least easy enough to correct.