Problems with 2006 Chevrolet HHR ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Power steering went out turning. made it hard to steer, almost hit another car. you can cut car off to restart the ps. *ln

Turned on the ignition and the dashboard gauges all went out. pulled the fuse and reinserted it - problem corrected. t/c indicator on instrument panel came on and the transmission was upshifting hard. again, i removed and reinstalled the fuses and the problem went away. power steering warning was displayed on the dash and the power steering was disabled. i removed and reinstalled the fuse associated with the power steering and the problem went away. i did notice that most of the fuses were mildly oxidized on one leg of each fuse. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated when the vehicle was placed in park, the key would not release from the ignition. the contact was concerned that the vehicle could possibly roll away when the vehicle was parked because the computer would not register that the vehicle was in the park position. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing or repairs. the manufacturer was not contacted. the failure and current mileage was 73,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated the gear shift would not move from gear to gear while the vehicle was in operation. in addition, the contact stated that the key would come out of the ignition without the vehicle being locked in the park position. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing or repairs. the failure and current mileages were 43,000. updated 10/27/10. *lj

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. while driving approximately 45 mph the vehicle stalled several times and would not restart. the vehicle was towed to the dealer. the dealer stated that the failure was electrical, but was not able to locate the exact area were the electrical failure originated. the manufacturer will be contacted. the failure and current mileages were 50,000.

Key does not come out ignition, have to push safety button under steering wheel to release keys

2006 chevrolet hhr: cannot remove key from ignition in park. has happened at least 5 times in last week. finally yesterday i had to leave key in ignition at work. came back later to remove - battery was dead. jumping battery stump under hood was of no use - could not open rear hatch to get to battery. had it towed for repair. analysis, battery and labor cost me $200 as the gm protection plan i pay for every month would not cover the problem. also asked service rep to look into why shifter moves while driving, thinking this might have something to do with ignition and battery problems. he could not find anything wrong. this seems like it could be a potential problem while driving. gm protection plan rep and tow truck driver both said this happens a lot on this type of vehicle. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that while driving approximately 55 mph, the engine stalled without warning. the engine failed to restart and the vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where the rear fuse box and fuel pump were replaced. the failure persisted after the repair. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the problem. the approximate failure mileage was 106,000.

2006 hhr with automatic transmission. repair light lit with codes indicating internal transmission problems and bad connections in electrical system. several trips to mechanic localized problem to connector plug on transmission. harness wire is too short and drivetrain flex causes strain on plug resulting in failure of connector pins in plug. *tr

Ignition will not turn to lock and key cannot be removed.

Key is unable to be removed from the ignition when car is in park. during the last two months i have had to use the release switch under the steering wheel every time i turn the vehicle off. i have taken the vehicle into the dealership, but because i am now out of warranty they would not offer any repair solutions without a costly inspection. *tr

Ignition key does not come out of the steering column it is stuck in the ignition ,car starts and shuts off but the key cannot be removed. *tr

Key gets stuck / can not turn to off position and remove the key. if you can not remove the key within an hour, your battery will be depleted. there is an actuating rod in the shifter that pushes a micro switch that completes a circuit to pull a solenoid in the steering column to allow the ignition switch to be tuned to the off position (and remove the key) when in park. the plastic part in the shifter assembly breaks and allows the actuating rod to fall out. the fix for this is to replace the shifter assembly. $185 not including labor. the quick fix for this is there is a plastic plug on the under side of the steering column. inside you have to feel for the end of that solenoid and depress it to release the key. gm tsb #06-07-30-004f acknowledges the common occurrence of this failure from 2006 to 2010 hhr, cobalt, and pontiac g5 . although, if you are out of warranty, your dealer may be reluctant to fix this problem without cost. tires, ball joints, brakes, what have you, fail and are, no doubt, a common occurrence. if fact that is to be expected. but the shifter in an automatic? i would think that the shifter in an automatic should last the lifetime of the car. imo, they installed a poorly made part. to me, this is obvious since they are stating in that tsb, 2006 - 2010 shifter are expected to fall apart as mine did. i have a 1965 plymouth belvedere, the oldest car in my possession, that the shifter never needed to be repaired. in fact i've never had an automatic shifter problem with any car. it was stated in a forum that gm should have considered a metal collar or ring around the plastic bit that holds that pin to reinforce it and this problem would have never become a nuisance. also, when that pin falls out, the shift lever is free to move without pressing the shift button on the front of the shift lever, so it could accidentally be moved to another gear while driving, even reverse!! i guess that is not enough of a safety issue for gm to worry about. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated while attempting to exit the vehicle, from the drivers side, the interior door handle fractured. the contact was unable to access the exterior door handle and fifteen minutes later, he was assisted in exiting the vehicle. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for the failure where he was advised that the entire door would need replacing in order to correct the failure. the vehicle was not repaired and the door handle remained fractured. in addition, the keys would sporadically become stuck in the ignition and the contact would have to engage the emergency release button in order to disengage the keys. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where he was advised that the ignition lock cylinder and remote would need replacing. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 21,000 and the current mileage was 27,920. updated 05/25/11 *bf updated 1/5/12 *cn

To whom it may concern, i recently had repair work done on my wife's 2006 hhr lt2. the problem we were having was that she would randomly lose power steering with a warning chime and a notification on the instrument panel. this would be temporarily resolved by restarting the vehicle. i wasted little time and had it tested at classic chevrolet in sugar land,tx. they soon discovered that the power steering motor was faulty. i had them replace it. now i've been a lifelong gm customer and i was very disappointed with this expense, not only was it a failure unassociated to neglect but it was also a very dangerous problem. this problem is also highly documented on the web by many other hhr owners. after gm announced the recall of 1.3mil vehicles with this problem. the hhr was not listed yet but the chevy cobalt and pontiac g5 were. the hhr shares the same power steering motor as the cobalt and g5. gm part # 20763801. jtekt north america is the producer of this motor. from what i discovered on the internet, gm has filed a lawsuit against jtekt in response to this issue. it is still unclear to me how gm has not included this model in there recall. i have recently been denied reimbursement by chevrolet for my expenses. *tr

I bought my car brand new and sometimes without warning the engine light comes on and you only have a few seconds to pull over before it shuts down. sometimes the light comes on when i'm stopped at a red light and the whole car starts shaking as if you popped the clutch too fast, except this car is an automatic. i have found through trail and error if i start messing with the computer buttons on the steering wheel that changes the information that is displayed on the dash board it will sometimes reset itself and act okay. other times i have to let it sit for over 20 minutes before it will start up again. there is no set time this occurs, sometimes it happens a few times a day and other times it will go a month without happening. it shuts down at various speeds. sometimes i'm going 65 miles and hour and other times i'm going 20 mph. i have brought the car back to the dealer but they told me they can't fix it until they reenact the problem. each time they have had the car they could not reenact the problem, yet they said they can see there is a problem when they read the computer. i paid $20,000 for this car and am scared to drive it. i can't drive on the highway for fear it will shut down again. i have to take the back roads to get around. *tr

The key to my 2006 hhr would not come out of the ignition. as a result the automatic headlights would not go out and the vehicle could not be locked. this happened while i was traveling, which put my personal safety at risk and if i left my vehicle for any reason it could have easily been stolen. i have been online and found that several other owners have experienced this problem. *tr

2006 chevrolet hhr. consumer writes in regards to air bag malfunction. *smd consumer sent additional correspondence. *smd the consumer was involved in an accident in 2010, and the air bag did not deploy. also, the vehicle stalled and was recalled for ignition and steering problems. *jb updated 04/15/14

Could not remove key from ignition with gear selector in park. this condition was remedied by pushing the gear selector hard into park for a while. then total failure came when no amount of pushing the gear selector hard into park would allow the key to be removed. i removed the gear shift cover and reached in and found a micro switch that when tripped allowed me to remove key. i called local dealer and chevrolet factory toll free line and they did not say this was a known defect. i purchased replacement part # 25864102. i personally installed this and it fixed the problem. there is a steel pin in the gear selector plastic shift rod. the plastic is week and allowed the pin to drift approx 1/2" to left which would not allow the key removal micro switch to be tripped as it should be to allow the key to be removed from the ignition lock cylinder. i called chevrolet back (tel # 1-866-790-5600) and they set up case # 71-781779261. they told me to take defective part to the dealer and they would contact the dealer to analyze the part for reason of failure. i took the part to the dealer service manager12/4/09. i called chevrolet several weeks later and they said the dealer threw the part away since chevrolet did not contact them promptly. i had ask for chevrolet to refund the cost of the part only (no labor) but chevrolet says they can't help since the part is now gone. i later searched on the internet http://www.mycarstats.com/ and found many cases like mine (apparently chevy cobalt shares gear shift mechanism basic internal design style). i called chevrolet back, they still deny this is a recurring problem. this is a safety problem because you have to leave your car with the key in it when the failure occurs. apparently this may also drain the battery because all circuits are not shutoff when you cannot rotate the key far enough to remove the key. i fear that my replacement part may not last either. the car was ~ 48 mo old and ~ 47,000 miles when total failure occurred. *tr

Parked 2005 chevy hhr and key would not disengage from ignition. this is permanent until an new shift assembly is installed as the solenoid holding the key is locked. this happened in the parking lot at the local community college. having the key locked in the ignition makes the vehicle theft prone. this malfunction is not a driving hazard but creates a theft hazard if it happens where the vehicle cannot be secured, like my home garage. *tr

2006 new vehicle purchase serviced 8 times for multiple failures related to either electrical/braking/abs/ wheels/emissions/ traction control/computer/power steering and or computer issues/all repaired/and resolved at gm dealer/vehicle can not be driven safely when issue occurs the failed system in question overrides driver last incident failure occurred in heavy traffic resulting in removal from service which took 3 weeks to repair/had the conditions been different this may have resulted in a crash. *tr

I couldn't remove the ignition keys from my 2006 chevy hhr. the dealer advised that this was a common complaint with hhr's and cobalt's and that the entire shifter assembly needed to be replaced, at my cost since the warranty had expired. i investigated the issue on on-line forums and found the issue was as follows: " a small actuator rod that goes through the shifter stalk falls out due to the stalk cracking where the rod goes through it. the key release then never gets activated so you have to use the manual release button on the bottom of the steering column. this shifter unit is completely unserviceable and the entire shifter block has to be replaced.note that with no actuator rod the shift lever is free to move without pressing the shift button on the front of the shift lever, so it could accidentally be moved to another gear while driving, even reverse. ... chevy is wrong for putting such a cheap and flimsy device on the car." this is point that i made to the gm customer complaints department but they stuck to their guns that warranty had expired. to my way of thinking even the replacement shifter is at risk in the future with having the same problem. reading other on-line complaint logs, i note that because of the cost of replacement, it was being advocated that simply using the manual release button on the steering column was an acceptable solution to the problem. obviously this leaves driver's in a potentially dangerous position if the shifter is accidentally moved while the car is moving. as such i feel that there is reason to have gm recall these vehicles to replace these "cheap" shifters and to reimburse owners such as myself that have incurred steep replacement costs. *tr

The key will not come out of the ignition at times. i take the vehicle out of drive and put it in park several times and do the same with the brakes before the key will come out. my mechanic has said that it is a brake issue and not the transmission. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. while driving approximately 35 mph, his vehicle would shut off completely and he had have no power in the vehicle. he shut the engine off for approximately an hour or more and the failure would correct itself. the failure occurred intermittently. he also stated that at times when he tried to start the vehicle, he had a difficult time removing the key from the ignition. the dealer and the manufacturer were not notified about the failure. the vehicle had not been repaired at the time of the complaint. the current mileage was approximately 45,000. the failure mileage was approximately 8,000. updated 3/4/2010 *cn updated 05/20/10.*jb

Ignition switch will not turn to full off position and key cannot be removed. first occurrence, after shifting from park to drive and back and restarting car the switch turned to full off position and key could be removed. second occurrence -switch would not disengage, could not remove keys. i removed the small cover from the bottom of the steering wheel to gain access to the internal switch assembly. i used my finger to push the mechanism inside the steering wheel so the key could be turned off and removed from the ignition. *tr

Had to jump battery and lost power steering after the jump. car was 2.5 years old. i replaced fuse under the hood and in the center console. nothing helps. *tr

2006 chevy hhr continues to have power steering go out during operation. this could be very dangerous under certain conditions. after reading several blogs, it appears that the cause is a defect in the eps (electrical power steering). it employs the body control module (bcm), power steering control module (pscm), torque module and various other systems. the system becomes corrupted and causes intermittent power steering failure. as stated above, if the system fails during certain driving conditions, (i.e. driving in curving, mountainous terrain) and system fails, this could cause very difficult steering and a traffic crash. *tr

Few issues that several people also have discussed on the web: **transmission hard shifting. still an issue, garages and dealer have not been able to resolve **key not coming out of ignition. recent issue not fixed yet. may be transmission interlock issue based on internet discussions **leak and water gets in car. gets my heat blower wet and blows out a part and i only have off and high fan settings. ongoing issue as well. *tr

First the gear shift would not come out of park without having to basically yank the handle with all of my strength. then about two days later the keys would not come out of the ignition. in looking into this issue on other sites it has been stated that this is a common issue when any moisture (ex from a spill of cleaning) gets into the gear shifter. for this reason the dealership has installed a "temporary fix" being a quick release switch located under the steering wheel. i have looked for this switch since reading about it online and have not yet been able to locate it. *tr

Fan stopped working and will not blow out heat. i took it to the dealer and they said it was an electrical problem with the blower motor. the car is 2 years old and i don't understand why an electrical problem would not be a manufacturing problem. the dealer will fix it for $527.00. i don't have that kind of money and i don't think this is a problem i should have to pay for. why would a 2 year old car have an electrical problem. for sure it is a safety hazard. besides that i live in illinois and cannot drive in the winter without a heater. i would like for this problem to be covered by the manufacturer. *tr

Unable to remove key from ignition switch. dealer replaced solenoid in shifter. very dangerous, please investigate. *tr

I need your help, 1st,computer broke,then 2nd gear shift, then 3rd sunroof, then 4th back door won't open-son can't get out, then 5th power steering, tried to replace power steering with a used one that we could afford,, now car is locked and won't crank, did what mechanic said to reprogram and it still doesn't work, gm replaced 1st computer, i paid for gears , tried to get gm to fix electric steering, said they would buy parts but not labor >1000, right before we tried to replace the power steering the crank started hanging, 06 chevrolet hhr-no car, help, its so broke, hurt myself trying to drive it, and have been trying to get fixed for over 2 months, its a bomb, now i have no car to drive. gm states its over mileage, thought i bought all warranties, dealer went out of business, palm bay chevrolet, fl, i need some help, multiple times have all but crashed related to can't hardly steer it, turn it, i think i've broke my shoulder with this thing. now i catch a ride with 4 years to pay left on this car, help! its a hazard, i don't have goliaths strength any more! *tr

Turn signals do not cancel. dealer found broken clock spring in drivers air bag. replaced on warranty. hello, anyone listening? *tr

I own an 2006 chevrolet hhr-- the instrument panel lights up when you start up but soon it goes out. i can not see the speed at which i am going. my dealer tells me many owners complain about this and there is nothing they know to fix it. this is really a safety concern. find out why this happens. *tr

2006 chevrolet hhr. consumer requests vehicle recall information updates. *smd the consumer stated his son, along with three of his friends were killed in an accident. the cause was not identified, since the accident happened on july 27, 2008. *jb

Heat/a/c switch only works on high. brought to dealer in july or aug of 2008. it was making a screeching noise on settings 3 &4, then it got very quiet and only worked on the highest setting. was told it was a problem with the resistor for the fan switch. was told they had the part and it would be replaced under warranty. in september of 2008 it happened again. as the weather in sc has been tolerable, i did not immediately take it back in for re-service, but did mention it the 2 times i has stopped into dealer for oil changes and 6000 mile service. finally got a day off during the week, and did go to see about this again about the first week in may. was told that it would cost me 300.00. i stated it was recurring and that it should have been fixed correctly the first time when they had to replace the resistor. was told they only took it apart and blew out the system, what ever that means. my parents bought the same car, but a 2007 - same thing, they have not bothered to bring it in yet but i am sure they will get wailed with replacement cost as well. has this happened to alot of other people out there? i am sort of thinking this is more than just a coincidence. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. on may 14, 2008, after driving for 30 minutes, the contact was unable to remove the key from the ignition when she arrived home. approximately two hours later, she left home and when she returned, she slammed on the brakes and placed the vehicle into park. she was then able to remove the key at that time. later that night, she drove to work and could not remove the key from the ignition again once she arrived. since that time, she is still unable to remove the key and can shift gears without starting the vehicle. the dealer has not yet been notified. the current mileage was 48,764 and failure mileage was 48,761.

Received safety recall notice in mail 04-05-08. tried to call dealer on saturday, but get through. talked to a rep in the service dept at londoff chevrolet. per rep they did not have the parts to fix the problem. he advised me to call back in a week. called 04-11-08 and got an appointment to have the roof-rail air bag installed in order to conform to motor vehicle safety standard 201 for my hhr. i was given an appointment for friday, 04-18-08 at 10:00am to find out that supposedly they just installed the last one and didn't have the parts available for my vehicle. i spoke to another csr in the service dept. he didn't know how this happened but stated that enterprise had brought some hhr 's in and they had fixed them. i am upset that they would install the air bag in enterprise cars and not at least keep the one for my scheduled appointment. how dangerous is this safety recall? *tr the consumer stated the vehicle broke down within the first six months of ownership. the consumer stated the vehicle has lost power steering on two occasions. the speedometer was erratic and the vehicle would suddenly lunge forward while driving.. when the consumer took the vehicle to the dealer, they stated it was a wiring problem. updated ivoq 08/12/10 updated ivoq 08/31/10*jb

2006 chevy hhr broken inside drivers door handle. consumer states that she must roll down the window and use the outside handle to exit the vehicle. *kb the consumer also stated the power steering failed and a fuse burned out. *jb

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. the contact started the engine to warm up the vehicle. approximately five minutes later, she attempted to place the vehicle in reverse, but the shifter would not move from park. she waited approximately ten minutes and the failure continued. approximately 15 minutes later, the gear was able to shift out of park. the contact drove to work and was unable to shut off the vehicle. after several attempts, she was able to remove the key from the ignition; however, the radio was still on and the chime noises remained engaged. the gears were also able to be moved without the key in the ignition. the vehicle has not been repaired and remains in her possession. the vin, engine size, number of cylinders, and transmission type were unknown. the current and failure mileages were 36,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. the contact could not remove the key from the ignition. she stated that the vehicle did not seem to properly shift into park. the vehicle has not been to the dealer or repaired. the vin and engine size were unknown. the current mileage was 32,000 and failure mileage was 31,000.

The car has stalled as a result of the key moving from the run to the accessory position when driving over a large bump. no damage occurred from the bump, but the ignition is loose enough that the key moved and the car stalled. *tr

we have had several problems with our hhr since we bought it in august of 2007. the first problem occurred just after purchasing it, when we were driving it out on a highway for a first time outing with it, when i noticed the front wheels seemed to be floating back and forth. i slowed down and immediately took it home. we contacted our local dealer, and had the car brought in to be checked out. we were told the front bushings were bad & needed replacing. the dealer replaced the bushings. (under warranty) in september of 2007, we had to replace our cars remote control, even though it was only 1 years old. our dealer replaced it but we had to pay $81.82 out of our pocket. october 2007, i brought our car into our dealer because it had a rough ride and groaning sounds. the dealer looked at it and said the sound was coming from the steering column. they replaced our steering column under warranty. december of 2007 my wife, mother & i went to a christmas light parade in our town; when we got home i turned off the ignition & when i attempted to remove the key, it would not come out. that monday i called our local dealer & they had us bring in the car on 12/3/07. they reported that there was no power to the inter lock2 and a fuse had brown. they found that a wire harness was pinched under the column cover & repaired the harness (under warranty) january 29,2008 i brought our 2006 hhr into our dealer again complaining about squeaking and popping noise with clunking in left front. they said they heard noise from stabilizer links pivot joint at link tires miss-matched. they replaced both stabilizers links under warranty. continued on next report *js

Three times previously and again in the past week for the 4th time my 2006 chevrolet hhr has been taken in to the dealers service department for the same problem-- which i believe is a very dangerous problem and which the service department can not identify. my 2006 hhr has the propensity to "turn itself off" while being driven on roads or highways. this tends to occur when crossing over small potholes, bumps or joints in the road. the first 2 times that the auto was taken in to service department they said no problem could be identified. the third time, in december 2006, they stated that there was a problem with a "ground" wire and they said that they had fixed the problem. however in the past months intermittently the car has again had episodes of "turning itself off" and these episodes have been increasing in frequency and have become extremely scary. on 11/22/07 while being driven on divided superhighways at speeds 55-65 mph, approximately 10 times after crossing over joints in the roadway or small potholes or bumps in the road the car totally turned itself off. the electrical system seemed to fail with headlights and dashboard lights going off, radio going off, and engine turning off completely). luckily no one crashed into the car while it had turned itself off on the busy superhighway-- even though the car was still gliding forward on the highway without power. the car was taken 11/23/07 again (for the 4 the time in the past 2 years) to fitzgerald auto mall in frederick, maryland to try to have them fix the problem. today the service manager reported no problem with the car could be identified. i believe that this vehicle unsafe to drive since it unpredictably turns itself off. i believe there is some as yet unidentified electrical system problem that is very dangerous in this vehicle, and it is just a miracle that no one has been killed yet. *tr

I am leasing a 2006 chevy hhr. my husband was driving on the expressway when we hit a pot hole and my car died at 70mph! my husband steve put the car into neutral and it started without hesitation and we carried on. very scary as you lose your power in steering, etc... i called the dealership that day and took it for a look over. they could not duplicate the problem and said the car seemed fine so there was no more they could do? on a recent trip to ky we again hit a pot hole on the expressway and again my car died. we were able to restart it and carried on. i belong to a website that is for hhr owners and i soon discovered i was not the only one having this problem. some people have this problem without hitting a pot hole or bump of any kind!! a man who had this happen said when he hit the pot hole and his car died he noticed when he went to restart the car that his key has slipped to the "acc" position. he suggested we test our keys by putting them in the ignition and playing around with them. i was interested in trying this as this is a very dangerous issue! i started my car and to my horror discovered that with no pressure i can turn my car off. i only have 4 keys and my remote on my key ring so it is not due to weight of my keyring. i can grab my hanging remote, and other keys (i only held one key) and with no pressure i can turn my car off. i am calling my dealership first thing tomorrow morning b/c i want a key cylinder in place that does not allow for my key to turn with bumps in the road. this is an extremely dangerous problem and since i am not the only one dealing with this issue i am wondering why no letters are being sent. this is most certainly a failure on design and or faulty parts which is a liability if and when it causes death and or serious injury. i look forward to hearing from you so that this matter for all owners with this issue can be resolved. sincerely, stephanie rogers ...

The outside temperature gauge consistently "sticky" or reads inaccurate outside temperature. only after driving an average of 45mph for at least 3 or 4 minutes will the gauge update. typical city driving never allows for the 45mph average and thus gauge continually sticks at the morning colder temperature. only after 2 hours will the gauge update properly so if running errands less than 2 hours and not driving freeway the gauge never updates and sticks at the low morning temperature. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that the front driver side air bag deployed without warning while his spouse was driving. she sustained minor injuries. the dealer stated that the wiring short circuited in the steering harness and caused the failure. the vin, engine size, and speed were unknown. the current and failure mileages were 27,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that the ignition module failed, causing the vehicle to stall sporadically and without warning. additionally, the key could not turnover in the ignition to start the vehicle. the vehicle was included in a manufacturer's recall for the ignition however, the parts were not available to service the vehicle. the manufacturer was notified of the failure the vehicle was not inspected or diagnosed. the vin was not available. the approximate failure mileage was 10000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. while driving through a car wash, the engine and traction control light illuminated and allowed the contact to remove the key from the ignition. as a result, the vehicle lost total power. he notified general motors and aaa to jump start the vehicle. the owner's manual stated that this may occur if one were to drive through a puddle of water. it also stated that the engine may stall and cause the electrical system to collect water and moisture. general motors stated that the failure was a manufacturer defect, but they did not know how to correct the failure. the dealer and manufacturer advised him to drive around in order to dry off the electrical system. the vehicle has not been repaired. the failure mileage was 15,000 and current mileage was 20,000. updated 02-06-08. *kb

I bought the 2006 hhr in march 2007, in july i had the stabilizer links replaced, then in december i had to have the steering column replaced, in october 2008 i needed to have the struts replaced & now a week later i have to have the strut mounts replaced. not only that, i had a leak from the heater case that leaked into my passenger side, i had the radio replaced & also my front & back bumper is loose which the dealer told me on the phone that is probably clips that have broken off. i was told because i live in michigan, that the struts went bad sooner than anticipated. also, although i had a car fax report on this car, this car has been in an accident that no one knew about. i am not very pleased with this car & its a shame to make a car payment on a car that i don't even like anymore due to the problems. i was told they would give me $9000.0 as trade in, but i had 13000 on it, so how do you get out of a car that you think should be recalled? i have been checking into the lemon law & i understand as long as you purchase the used car with the factory warranty still active, it's covered under the lemon law. but since the dealer wont do anything about it, i doubt gm will. i was told to wait till after the election, for the economy to get better, that doesn't mean they will reasonably get me out from under this junk of a car! *tr