Problems with 2006 Chevrolet HHR POWER TRAIN

I own a 2006 chevy hhr, and within the past two weeks have experienced a problem (which apparently, after looking online, several other owners have experienced). when i put my car in park, and go to turn off the ignition, it won't let me take out my key, and my steering wheel won't lock. this happens everythime that i try to turn off my car now, which is at least about ten times daily. i have to "slam" it into park to get the key out. i am not sure though that when this is done if my car is truly in park. i went to my car repairman, who said that this definitely needs to be looked at because if i continue to "slam" it in park, i could eventually break the shifter- which in my mind could definitely cause an accident/ or property damage. i am taking my car in on wednesday for this purpose, not sure yet what the cost will be, but i strongly believe that this problem should be looked at by dot. *dt

Shifter refuses to go fully into park resulting in inability to remove key from steering column. shifter does not lock into gear and can move freely between gears without brake pedal depressed. *tr

2006 chevy hhr ls permanent failure. gear shift stopped locking. gear shift moves freely into any position while driving or stopped. car may roll. will not release key from ignition. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that the gear shift selector would shift independently while driving at any speed, causing the key to remain stuck in the ignition. the dealer was contacted who offered no assistance. the manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact to repair the vehicle at her own risk. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was approximately 7,800 and the current mileage was approximately 9,100.

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

2006 chevy hhr - automatic transmission does not lock into position, can freely slip transmission shifter from park, reverse, neutral, drive and lower gears with little pressure and without depressing the shifter locking latch. gm has recalled 2010 models with similar issues but none of the previous year model hhrs dealership wants $150.00 to try new battery to see if it will fix the problem. if this solution does not work then they want another $160.00 for new shifter unit... labor for both these items are not included, just cost of parts. i believe gm recognizes issue: gm tsb #06-07-30-004f. *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

Left front drive shaft failed while parked in my garage. car would not move,had to be towed to dealer for warranty repair. this is the first of two drive shaft failures on this hhr. *tr attention !!! please pay attention to this very dangerous issue !!!

I pulled my car into the driveway at home and shifted into park and when i attempted to remove the key it would not turn all the way to the removal position. so i moved the shift lever again and noted that the shift button didn't pop out when i put it into park. i knew then that the key would not come out until the vehicle was put into park which the shift lever was not allowing. i took the vehicle straight to my gm dealer service manager who stated that i was the sixth or seventh customer who had had this problem in the last 12 months. the manager called me back and told me that my car was out of warranty and the cost would be $215.04. i was concerned that this was not a recall item since he had done so many in a town of 4500 people and that in my opinion it would put someone in an emergency situation at risk of having their car stolen if the couldn't take their keys out in a large city. i contacted customer service at gm but was told that they couldn't do anything for me, even thought a service bulletin on how to do the repair had been sent to all gm service departments. to me, that sounds like a recall should have been issued. yes, i paid to have the part replaced, but i still thank it is the manufactures fault and not mine. the recall would have been made before my warranty expired. also the service manager reported that the chevrolet cobalt also has this problem. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. while driving 45 mph, the top section of the knob on the gear shifter suddenly detached. the contact continued to drive the vehicle by grabbing the middle part of the shifter. he noticed that the knob was injection molder plastic, which was shielded off. the vehicle has not been inspected, but the contact believed a recall should be issued for this defect. the current and failure mileages were 52,900. updated 8/10/09 *cn the consumer stated the incident happened when he shifted from 3rd to 4th gear while accelerating. updated 08/13/09.*jb

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that the vehicle would not shift from first to second gear or from third to fourth gear. the vehicle appeared to remain in second gear no matter how fast the vehicle was traveling. she took the vehicle to the dealer and they stated that the hub assembly needed to be repaired. the assembly was repaired. the contact filed a complaint with the manufacturer and was issued a case number. the current mileage was 59,196 and failure mileage was approximately 59,000.

Auto dimmer does not work on rearview mirror. unable to remove key from chevy hhr 2006 model. it is a shift lever issue. the car is out of warranty so neither of these items are still covered. these are items that should last longer than three years. chevy is ignoring the issue. *tr

Key in the ignition is sometimes getting stuck, one has to position the automatic gear selector out of park and back into park to get the key to release properly. possible its the interlock feature of the automatic gear selector position being affected. *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

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. while driving approximately 75 mph on normal road conditions, the traction control switch activated. suddenly, the traction control disengaged without assistance. there was no response when the accelerator pedal was depressed. the vehicle began to idle excessively and surged unexpectedly. immediately, the vehicle was driven to an authorized dealer for inspection, but they could not duplicate the failure. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer on three separate occasions for identical failures. the repairs consisted of installing a data recorder and replacing the bcm. in addition, the steering column and gear shifter were replaced. the vehicle was not being driven due to the safety risk involved. the failure mileage was 13,456 and current mileage was 15,500.

Put vehicle in park, key would not come out of ignition after turning vehicle off. still would re-start so found a dealer and dropped off vehicle. per dealer sheet at pick-up - 19373 shifter rod fell off verified ignition key doesn't come out of ignition cylinder. noticed shifter button stuck in/depressed. remove power window switch panel, shifter cover panel. disconnect shifter cable, remove shifter, found shifter rod fell off. shifter b/o. ****** r&r shifter, install shifter cable, shifter cover panel, power window switch panel, road test vehicle, check shifter operation, shifter working normally. turn vehicle off, easily able to remove key out of ignition. *tr

Transmission would not lock when put in park and could not get key out of ignition. left car in garage overnight and next morning battery was dead. had to jump start car and drove it to gm dealer. service tech said shifter needed to be replaced and that he had seen this happen before. tech said gm had redesigned the shifter because of this problem. a few hours and $241 later, car was repaired and back on the road. *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

Placed vehicle in park and the key would not turn all the way off and you could not remove the key. it happened twice and i took it to the dealer and they replaced the shifter. they stated that they have had several complaints from other owners of hhrs and colbalts with the same problem. *tr

While driving my 2006 chevrolet hhr ls traveling at between 25-30 mph the driver information center display flashed "reduced engine power" for about five seconds and then changed to "engine disabled" and immediately shut the car down while i was driving in the middle of the road. i tried to restart the engine and it would not initially start. after several minutes the car did start and the check engine light was on. i proceeded immediately to my service station where they were able to find the check engine code as "pcm memory error" they said the code was something they had never seen before and decided that it was best to clear the code and see if the problem repeated itself. i then took the car for short drive and again the car flashed the same two messages on the dic and then stalled but this time in the middle of a rotary. i was able to push the car off to the side and waited several minutes again before the car would restart. this time at the service station they decided it would be best if i took it to an actual chevrolet garage since they had never seen such an obd-ii error code. this time however after clearing the code it would not drive more than a few yards before stalling out. so, the decision was made to have the car towed after have the car for a few days they decided that it was best to replace the pcm since that seemed to be what was causing the error. the way the car behaved with this pcm error i felt was very dangerous so i contacted chevrolet customer support on july 21, 2008. the case number is 71-646640348 with chevrolet. the initial contact person was unable to answer my concerns. later that afternoon i was called by another individual about the issue and the opinion that i got from her was that "i should have nothing to complain about, gm was repairing the car for free under the epa mandated warranty" she did not understand that my concern was not that the car did have a part fail but how it behaved when such a minor piece of equipment did fail. *tr

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.

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.****

Tl*the contact's spouse owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that the gear shift would occasionally stick or shift into any gear while driving at any speed. the vehicle was taken to the dealer and the new part has been ordered. the current mileage was 11,400 and failure mileage was 11,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that the gear shifter could not be engaged into any gear. the vehicle was taken to the dealer, who replaced the gear shifter. additionally, the contact stated that the front tires were wearing prematurely. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the front end was rebuilt. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 32,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. while driving 20 mph over a hole or dip in the road, the entire vehicle stalled and shut off. the weather was not a factor. the stalling occurred at least three times within one week. the vehicle cannot be restarted once it shut off. there were no warning indicators prior to the failure. the dealer does not know the cause of the failure or the remedy. the failure mileage was 53,000. the consumer stated the vehicle was having several issues with the cam sensor, wheels, a broken hub bearing, bent rotors and an issue with removing the key from the ignition, due to the shift cable not staying secured. the check engine light illuminated, the inside driver door handle would not open the door, the passenger side back would not stay secured. updated 06/25/08

I have a 2006 chevy hhr, i love it but, it has issues 1st i bought it used 15,000 miles. since then i have had 1. the rear logo replaced 4 times, then, 2.the key get stuck when i turn off the car so i used the plunger and 3. the gear shift moves when the car is off or on. now, 4. the key won't turn to start the car i have to jiggle it till it works. 5. my power steering goes out randomly, while driving it so i can't turn the 6.-,7.-, and 8.3 recalls, then, 9. the wheels shakes at 60 mph, i have 10. and 11. replaced both front door handles with in 2 weeks 12. i hear a loud crackling or static sound from my speakers and the radio is off. oh and 13. my check engine light won't go off plus 14. every time i have to change the battery i have to get my remote reprogrammed for the auto start... it came with the car. what is going on? there are 14 issues some safety and some cosmetic but, clearly an issue i am only making my voice heard because i just started researching my car. i am a single mother i can't afford to fix the major ignition or gear shift, transmission and electrical car shaking these have been reported in a lot of hhrs. please help. *tr

Good day. i'll keep this brief. to be clear, i went to the dealer (autonation usa) with the recall issue shortly after it occurred the first time, and a couple of other times after that. i was told that i was too short, fat, and my knee was knocking the key out of the ignition. my key never fell out of the ignition, but the car did shut off, losing control of all electrical systems while at 70+ mph. secondly, i have gone in to the dealer for my transmission as well. the car began to slightly jerk at around 60k miles. i was told they didn't notice anything, however, they never checked the transmission, and i was told they could do nothing. when the matter got really bad, the mileage was over 100k, and out of warranty. i have brought it to their attention that i attempted to clear this up prior, and was told they would have to treat it as a new issue. i'll make it easy. when i have had the ignition issues nearly kill my family and myself on more than 30 occurrences, the dealer fixing a small, inexpensive item, because they have been exposed, does little to quell the anger i have regarding the various other issues i have regarding warranty maintenance they could have completed while under warranty, and instead chose to belittle me and now wish to charge me obscene amounts of money to repair. gm should offer to complete the maintenance at no cost considering i have gone to them prior to the close of the warranty and was ridiculed and further, made to have my family's life in danger 30-40 times so they could save some money. further, i understand it is not legally required for them to do anything, however, doing the right thing goes a long way. i have spoken to gm about the issues a couple of times now only just simply be told they were sorry and i should have the situation diagnosed (needlessly). this is the first i've heard of this website so i'm trying now. thanks. *tr

2006 chevy hhr, key would not turn off in ignition switch. read owners book found little doorway to open with button to bypass parking switch. book said low voltage, checked voltage was fine, but could wiggle gear shift and key would turn off. now button on gearshift stays in and even with key out of ignition if you bump the gearshift it falls out of park. not a real safe feature with remote starting. have contacted chevrolet and they say they are not aware of this safety problem. but is rampant on the internet, and my personal dealer said they have had to fix a lot of hhr's and cobalt gearshifts. so many in fact that they have made a new and improved part because of the original failing multiple times. that is fine for the vehicles in warranty, but the other thousands upon thousands of ones they wont fix because they said there is no recall as of now. this is about like the fords of the seventies. i am afraid someone will be injured before it is resolved. *tr

At 5,00 miles the seal on the transmission blew. car taken to dealership for repair. since that time there has been a noise when accelerating. dealer tried replacing catalytic converter, was not the problem. manufacturer notified of on going problem, they sent a rep who said the noise was a usual noise. service manager requested a second opinion from manufacture. car now has 14,500 miles on it and has been back to the dealer for this same problem numerous times. as of this date we are still waiting for another rep to look at it. *jb