Problems with 2009 Chevrolet HHR ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that the ignition would not shut off. the battery and fuel pump fuse had to be disconnected in order to shut the vehicle down. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who performed a diagnostic that located the failure at the ignition lock and cylinder. the ignition lock cylinder was replaced. the manufacturer advised the contact that the failure was not recalled and the warranty did not cover the ignition failure. the failure mileage was 71,426 and the current mileage was 71,726.

Tl* the contact owns 2009 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that the key would not remove from the ignition. as a result, the contact was unable to take the vehicle to an authorized dealer to have the failure diagnosed. the contact also stated that a faulty ignition switch was a common failure among this year, make, and model. the failure mileage was 76,000.

This is a complaint against the chevrolet hhr which seems to be prone to not turning off when the key is in the ignition. no matter how hard i tried or what i tried i could not turn the key to shut the car off. my neighbor had to turn the car off by disconnecting something under the hood. the car had to be towed to the dealer. during my research on the internet there seems to be a lot of people having the same problem. some of them even state that the button on the gear shift that you have to push in to change gears sticks. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet hhr. while parked, the contact attempted to remove the key from the ignition but the key would not disengage and the contact was unable to shut the vehicle off. the vehicle was towed to the dealer for diagnostics but was not repaired. the vin was not available. the approximate failure mileage was 44,250.

2009 hhr key stuck in the ignition. unable to turn off motor. had to disconnect the battery. *tt

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated the ignition key failed to turn the vehicle off and the vehicle was stuck in the on position. the contact removed a fuse in order to shut the vehicle off, and have it towed to the dealer. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer, but the manufacturer was contacted regarding the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileage was 55,000.

On may 26th of 2011, i bought a 2009 chevy hhr. actual miles was 43k. it now has 45k. i have not even made my first payment on the car when i experienced a problem. on july 7 after i arrived at work, i put the car in park and the key would not turn to shut the engine off. i had to disconnect the battery to shut the engine off so i could finish my work day. got the car home and had to disconnect the battery again. when i contacted a chevy dealership and spoke with the service personnel about my car not shutting off, he said, 'let me guess, the key is stuck in the ignition'? i said yes and he quoted the price would be 3 or 4 hundred dollars to fix it. on july 8th, we had to have the car towed to a chevy dealership. even the tow truck driver knew about the problem and said, 'that is one of the reasons we have to tow in the hhrs'. on july 7th pm, i got on the internet and discovered that i was not the only one to experience this problem with the key stuck in the ignition. there have been many complaints about this. to my understanding, chevy knows about this problem but has failed to put out a recall. i do not have a lot of money. i am on a tight budget as many people are. i had to borrow the money to get the car fixed. it is a shame the quality of making a car has gone down hill. i think that chevy should fix this problem so that it does not reoccur again. i also think that people should be reimbursed for the money that they have had to spend on getting this problem fixed. so, my question for you is, how many complaints must it take for you to address this problem and issue out a recall? chevy should 'man up' and take responsibility for this problem. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that while traveling 50 mph, the wheel wobbled. the contact also mentioned that the wipers failed to function and the vehicle stalled. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that the ignition lock and rotors needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 31,000 and the current mileage was 90,000.

I have a 2009 hhr chevrolet and lately i have been experiencing ignitions problems. on yesterday when my car was parked approimately around 7:00 p.m. i tried to shut the car down and remove key from ignition. i could not get the key out and the car would not shut down. all of the business that could help me were closed. i sat in that car from 7:00 p.m. unti 2:15 a.m. the next morning, when all of the gas ran out of the car. some may no thing this is emergency buyt when you are a women by yourself. it's quite urgent. a tow trucker drive came stayed about 3 minutes and said he could not assist me. no loss of life this time; but it can lead to that with crime running rampid. where is the accountabilit? where is the recall? is everything in america just about $ and cents these days? what about the next time? i could not leave that car running on a public street. *tr

I arrived home at 2:30am and my car would not turn off. the keys were stuck in the ignition. i had it towed to the dealership that night. the service department called me in the morning to inform me that this is not covered under warranty. i have been on the phone all morning trying to get this issue resolved. still no resolve!!! *tr

I have a 2009 chev hhr and on jun. 16, 2011 i pulled into a shopping center and tried to turn off my car and i could "not" turn it off with ignation key,it was locked into the run mode.lucky for me there was a dealer open and i drove the car to them.the only way the dealer could stop car was to disconnect battery,on a hhr the battery was in the back of car and it took them quite some time to do this operation.i made the right decision to go to the dealer,but what if i was a little old lady"the outcome might have been a different one".after the problem was fixed,both myself and the service manger at the dealership looked at the defective ignition cylinder and noticed there was a change made in the new cylinder.that leads me to believe that gm knows there is a problem.gm sent a bulletin(not a recall??)to there dealers stating that "some customers may comment that ignition key is difficult to remove or that the key sticks or binds in the ignition cylinder",that is so wrong the key locks in the run mode and will not turn off car's ignition.after all the problems toyota has had with there gas petal ect and personal injury's,you would think gm would be on top of this "saety problem" and at least send out a "recall not a service bulletin" to protect it's customers from getting hurt or worse.i would like nhtsa to step up to the plate and confront gm about a recall on this "very unsafe condition" thank you. *tt

Key stuck in the on position, couldn't shut off engine. took hhr to repair shop. *tr

Window switches don't work for passage side on drivers door. any time pushed it smells like they are burning. i was told that i would have to pay for the fix even though it was under warranty. it still isn't fixed we just don't use them. the back up lights never work and the dealer want to always say it a bad bulb. i replaced a bulb at the dealer in front them and they said it must of been a bad bulb. i've replaced at least 15 bulbs in 3 years. i also had to pay for airbag censors when they went bad and under warranty. chevy doesn't keep their warranties and make up reasons why they don't have to cover the problems. *tr

The keys are stuck in the ignition of the car. we have tried to used the release button under the steering column to no avail. the car remains running. we have to unhook the battery and take out a fuse to get the car shut off. we have two small children and this is our only car. the dealership wanted to charge us to fix this, when clearly it is the fault of chevrolet. our keys have been stuck since saturday, may 21, 2011. today is monday, may 23, 2011 and the keys are still in the car. *tr

This is my 2nd hhr first was great this is horrible. first problem was my locking mechanism on drivers side would not work. after the third time in the dealership they changed out the lock mechanism. then i started having problems with my window not rolling down and my dash light going out for a period of 2-3 seconds. they fixed the window but could never find out what was going on with the dash. then my airbag service light started coming on i had to take in twice for this incident. my steering problem started when i took my son in to do his driving test and all of a sudden it became very difficult to turn. we parked the car gave it a few minutes and started driving again, did the test and on the way home it happened again. we have just had to many problems with this vehicle. *tr

In late 2010, i decided to buy my wife a car; first i bought a chevy cobalt first week of having it i was having too many problems, so i told it back to the dealer (lucky my cousin knew the owner of the dealer), i was able to trade it in for a hhr. while driving on the highway at a speed of 50 or so mile i went to turn the corner and the steering wheel was very hard to turn, i proceeded to get the car in a parking lot to see what was going on and to see if i needed so power steering, could not find a place to put the power steering fluid. so i turned off the car and after around 5 minutes i was able to drive for another mile and it did the same thing. it was very difficult to turn the corner; it was like having manual steering. i was in new jersey and i had to drive back to maryland without power steering. when i took it to one of my shops it get my car fix at all the time he informed my the hhr's has electrical power steering pump that can only be fix by the dealer. went on the internet to see if i was the only one with this problem and come to find out that there are numerous people with the same problems with the chevy cobalt and hhr, however there are only recalls for cobalts, not the hhr these two vehicles are made by the same company. can you please respond, because im still trying to get the money together to get it fix; i know its going to cost me a arm and legs to get it fixed, because i have to go to the dealer, too bad because the makers of these cars have all the money and they keep pimping out the consumers. real sad. oh feel free to call me and to share my letter with the vehicle manufacturer. my hhr is sitting in my driveway until i get the money to fix it, hopefully soon. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

Unable to turn engine off and remove the key. the key is stuck in the running position and will not move. had to remove fuel pump fuse and disconnect battery to turn off engine and lights. this has happened twice, had to have it towed and pay for repair the first time and waiting for tow truck to come get it the second time in less than a year, which i'm sure i'll have to pay for again. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that when parking the vehicle and shifting into park, the keys would become stuck in the ignition and the engine was unable to be turned off. the contact spoke with the dealer who recommended bringing the vehicle in for diagnostic testing. the contact was able to remove the keys from the ignition with the assistance of a tow truck driver and the vehicle was towed to the dealer where the contact was awaiting repairs. the vin was unavailable. the failure and current mileage was 75,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that the key would not move when she attempted to turn the vehicle off. the contact mentioned that in order to turn the vehicle off she had to disconnected the battery and the fuse that was connected to the fuel pump. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who was currently working on a diagnosis. the manufacturer was not contacted. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and current mileage was 40,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that the ignition key would not turn to the off position after several attempts. the engine remained on until the ignition switch was disconnected. the vehicle was not repaired for the malfunction. the failure mileage was approximately 60,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that the ignition key would not release from the ignition switch. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where they repaired the vehicle. the failure mileage was 47,940.

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that the key remained stuck in the ignition and the contact was unable to shut off the vehicle. the vehicle was left with the engine running overnight. the next morning, the vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was advised that the ignition switch and the solenoid in the steering column had failed. the failed components were no longer listed under warranty and the vehicle was not repaired. the vin was unavailable. the failure and current mileage was 40,536.

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet hhr. the contact received a recall notice for nhtsa campaign number 14e021000 (ignition switch). the contact stated that the ignition switch had been replaced three times prior to receiving the recall notification. in addition, one of the doors on the vehicle was unable to be opened. the contact had to open the window in order to open the door. the approximate failure mileage was 87,000.

I had a problem with the key getting stuck in the ignition with the vehicle still running. i had to disconnect the battery and have it repaired. it cost $600.00 to repair this and this continues to be a problem on other hhr's. i am now having the same kind of symptoms that my car was having before the ignition was replaced. *kb

Tl*the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet hhr. the contact attempted to shut the vehicle off but the ignition would not respond. the contact had to disconnect the battery. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where it was being repaired at the time of the complaint. the current and failure mileages were approximately 43,000. the vin was unavailable.

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet hhr. the contact was unable to turn the key in the ignition and start the vehicle. when using the key fob, he was able to use the remote start feature. once the vehicle was started, he was unable to shut it off because the key would not turn in the ignition. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where they were unable to duplicate or diagnose the failure. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 15,254 and the current mileage was 26,000. updated 08/31/11 *bf the dealer determined the problem was due to an internal cylinder failure. updated 09/07/11

7/10 - center console lights inop. dealer replaced internally shorted relay. warranty 11/10 - engine would not crank/service airbag & power steering msg on dic. dealer towed in, replaced starter and found loss of comm w/ bcm due to internal short. dealer replaced bcm. warranty 12/10 - engine turns over wont start. dealer towed in, found power train relay open. replaced relay. warranty 4/11 - service airbag light. dealer found open circuit at passenger front airbag. reconnector connector added dielectrical grease. stabilitrack light does not come on (ever). was told system is okay, some models don't have warning lights. (go figure, will not return to that dealer) warranty 2/12 - service airbag light. comes on and goes out 3 - 4 times during first 15 minutes of driving first trip of the day. happens 90% of the time. if i can find a dealer i can trust i will have them check this and the stabilitrack problem. mileage is now 63,000. *tr

I arrived at a friends house and went to turn my car off and guess what the cart would not shut off and the key would not come out, so i called the roadside asst since my car is under warranty and they told me to make it home and give them a call back and they would send a tow truck out time went on and one never showed up, the tow truck driver told road side that the dealer did not have a drop box for service, i kind of find that hard to believe, this has ruined my whole holiday weekend, i cant go anywhere. *tr

Electrical. *tr

Saturday afternoon, 19 june 2010. parked vehicle, could not turn ignition switch off. ran through all the gears and back to park, still the same, could not turn vehicle off. had to leave vehicle running while i phoned to find a chevrolet dealer that provided sat. service - luckily one in the jacx fl area. told them of problem and was advised to bring vehicle right away so they could repair, which they did. would assume that this is a know problem with the vehicle as they had the part in stock to replace right away. my experience has been that if it is a new/unknown problem they will not have part in stock and have to order before making repairs. this is a very serious situation! had a dealer not been available on a sat. afternoon, i have no idea what i would have done. probably disconnected the battery in hopes of shutting down the engine, without hopefully damaging the computer module. any way you look at it this, it is not a good situation. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that while driving 35 mph, there was an abnormal noise coming from the bottom part of the steering column as the steering wheel seized. in addition, the contact stated that the ignition became fractured while in the on position as the esc and the check engine warning lights illuminated. the vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the ignition and the power steering motor needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred on numerous occasions. the contact was included in nhtsa campaign number: 14v153000 (steering). the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 19,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet hhr. the contact was examining the vehicle and noticed that the battery had died. after replacing the battery the contact noticed that the speedometer, odometer, and electronic traction control would no longer function. the dealer has not diagnosed the failure. the failure mileage was 25,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet hhr. the contact attempted numerous times to turn the ignition off; however the ignition key failed to turn and remained in the on position. the contact disabled the fuse and then disengaged the battery in order to shut the engine off. the key remained stuck in the ignition switch. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where an appointment was scheduled for repair. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 15,000.

Tl* the contact owned a 2009 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that while driving at 45 mph, the vehicle stalled and the steering wheel seized without warning. as a result, the contact crashed into a tree. the contact stated that the air bags failed to deploy. a police report was filed. the contact sustained injuries to the head, a fractured arm, and a fractured femur that required medical attention. the contact also stated that on several occasions, the vehicle failed to start. the contact stated that the reverse gear failed to engage when the shift selector was placed into the reverse position. the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. the vehicle was destroyed. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 54,285.

This a 2009 chevrolet hhr 2.2 liter engine 4cyl. during rush hour in the morning,in city traffic i was getting in to the freeway flow i had to step on the gas pedal on an off, when i notice the car got sluggish and would not respond to the amount of request on my foot, i was lucky and got of the freeway then i noticed the info on the instrumentation panel was warning! "engine power reduced", turned engine off and the car stared working normally, this same thing happened again a week later and then sooner until the car had no power and finally did not start any more i had e diagnostics read out and described "wrong readings on the throttle body" and "wrong gas pedal position," i replaced the throttle body a $400.00 part did not fix it then the gas pedal $90 dlls part, and that fixed it! i' am an electrician for the city,i worked in the electronics mfg 25 years, so i always want to know the source of problems so i disassembled the gas pedal, and found that the carbon on the potentiometer was warn out, so i noticed that the steel sweepers where assembled backwards and they were scraping the carbon away of the little pc board part no.807819 this is inside the gas pedal assy. part no.gm 20757615 manufactured ii 5 24/08 other info on the pedal (6pv 933 902-02) the enclosure has the hella brand logo. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet hhr. when the key was removed from the ignition switch, the door chime activated as if the contact were exiting the vehicle. in addition, the radio remained operable for a short period of time. the failure occurred intermittently. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 1,000.

Car has intermittent headlight failure, interior lights on instruments and radio dim, go completely out and then pop back on. this happens randomly. i drive to work in the dark and the lights have gone completely out and will not turn on when it rains and the law says they should be on. took to the dealer and they replaced part of the wiring. when this did not fix the problem i have taken the car back a total of 4 times and the dealer keeps telling me that they can not duplicate the problem so there is no problem other than me. general motors called about the service i have received and they continue to do nothing about the problem. *tr

Failure: "service air bag" light came on. 1st incident: "service air bag" light came on with passenger sitting in front passenger seat, dealership repaired faulty component. 2nd incident: "service air bag" light came on with passenger sitting in front passenger seat, dealership repaired different faulty component. 3rd incident: use of 12v accessory, no passenger present, as well as passenger present, "service air bag" light intermittently on/off. corrective action: dealership told me not to use 12v accessories as they may cause some rf interference. 4th incident: "service air bag" light came on with passenger sitting in front passenger seat, dealership replaced components, found faulty wiring 5th incident: "service air bag" light came on without a passenger in passenger seat on the way upto the dealership for service. contacted gm about possibility for lemon law remedy, was refused buy-back option with statement that the vehicle is fixed and in proper working order. representative pushed towards keeping vehicle. i personally do not have confidence, at this point, in the safety devices of this 2009 chevy hhr, nor do my passengers. the dealerships service technicians have repaired several components, and yet the problem persists. this last time in for service, the technician could not reproduce the issue, therefore no service was conducted other than testing. this means that the problem has not been resolved since the last occurrence of the "service air bag" message being displayed. *tr

I bought my hhr brand new. within weeks of having it, the brakes had to be replaced due to warping. this has become an every six month routine now. the brakes don't always catch and can be scary when trying to slow down. i've barely avoided wrecks several times, and usually that involves steering towards a ditch. *js

Tl*the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet hhr. two weeks after the vehicle was purchased, the dealer installed heated seats. afterwards, the passenger side air bags stopped working. the heated seats are draining the battery in the vehicle. each time the vehicle is driven, it fails to start due to the drained battery. the vehicle had to be towed to the dealer in order to be restarted. he took the vehicle to another dealer and they stated that a switch underneath the seats needed to be replaced. the contact was advised to take the vehicle back to the original dealer for them to redo the installation. the failure mileage was 620. oil leak onto the coolant reservoir. the dealer found the brake fluid cap was not sealed properly. the heated seats that were i installed were connected to the battery which was causing the battery to die. updated 03/19/09. *jb

Went to leave from friend's house, vehicle would not start.called tow truck, but by the time ( 2 hrs ) i waited car started-up.cancelled tow truck. next time while making turn, power steering stopped working. it has not worked since approx 05/21/14. called the dealer to make appointment on 06/03/14. they give me the papers services. and they told me it will probably take between 6 weeks to 7 weeks for them to get the part.i been calling, still waiting for the parts. on another note, i told them about my condition. i have one arm the is very hard for me to drive with out power steering. i had surgery on my left arm. ( a survivor of sarcoma). for them maybe is nothing. i don't want them to feel sorry for me. i just want to fallow the rules, and the promises they make to me. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr