Problems with 2008 Chevrolet HHR STEERING

I was driving on a freeway overpass at about 15 mph when the instrument panel displayed the message, "power steering." the steering wheel all but locked up and it was nearly impossible to drive the car though i found a way to go on the freeway and exit at the first chance i had. i called my mechanic first who said he wanted to see the vehicle as soon as possible. i told him i have a aaa membership and he suggested i have the car towed to avoid further damage since he did not yet know what the problem was. i had the hhr towed to the mechanic and he told me after a thorough investigation that the power steering assist was not working correctly; was doing this intermittently at this point but did it at random today. given the fact this problem cannot be predicted and the resulting safety issues, i authorized the mechanic to make the repair once he received the part. i have looked online and see this steering problem presents itself in the 2008 hhr at approximately 38k miles which is how many miles i have on it; the problem came up as if like clockwork. i don't feel i should have to pay for this repair work since there are under 40k miles on the car. is there any plan for chevrolet to call a recall on this problem so we can either have the repairs done at gm's expense or for those of us that made the repairs on our own to have a reimbursement? my repairs are going to be $400+. i am unable to drive the car unless the repairs are made. please advise what my options are for this problem. thanks. *tr

Vehicle will show ecs code in dic message center and esc will be disabled. vehicle will then lose power steering short time later and you will have no power steering. has been happening since warranty expired at 36,000 miles. it will reset after engine is turned off, however after about 20 minutes of steady driving you will lose power steering. *tr

This car has a safety defect with the steering wheel ..the steering wheel shakes out of control ..starting at 50mph very scary.. today i went online to read at lest 20 complaints online about the same steering issue..this is very serious ..please prove me wrong..1 complaint i read the man stated that he had his steering wheel changed 3 times and it did not resolve the problem.. major defect...please help me to resolve this matter.. you can use my car as an example to test ..please ! i am scared to drive it ..i have been driving since 1975...all make of car.. chevy is my favorite.. the hhr is the worst in safety performance.. it is not safe for people to keep passing this brand of car around because of the defect in the steering.. i have only had this car for 3 month it came with low miles.. and all of the complaints i read today had low mileage..people are passing these cars off because of the defective steering which is a major safety defect . how did this car passed safety inspection.. or was it tested for safety at any time prove me wrong ?????? feed back please..... *tr

Power steering go s out after you start moving. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that while driving at approximately 5 mph, the power steering failed and the power steering warning light illuminated. the dealer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 73,000.

The power steering fails. there is no warning and it happens at any speed and any driving situation. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that the power steering light illuminated on the instrument panel. the contact stated that the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 56,000. updated 5/11/12 *cn the consumer stated the power steering failed six times. updated 05/22/12

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated while driving 15 mph the steering wheel became hard to turn and the power steering light illuminated while the failure occurred. the failure was experienced numerous times. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who performed a diagnostic test that located the failure in the power steering motor which should be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and the current mileage was 63,900.

The first time the power steering failed in my 2008 hhr, i was driving on the freeway with my wife and daughter out of nowhere there was a warning sound and then the dashboard warning lit up and i had lost all power steering. luckily, i was able to keep control of the vehicle as there was heavy traffic and i was in the middle of a rather treacherous highway curve with four lanes of traffic. i eventually made way off freeway, turned off vehicle and then started it again. this seemed to do the trick, for a short time. since this first power steering loss, the same thing has happened at least 7 or 8 times, at various speeds with total power steering loss. this is the only vehicle we have and since we cannot afford another vehicle i am forced to drive this safety hazard. i am worried about losing control and crashing possibly hurting my family and/or others. this has to be fixed, there are too many people driving the same make/model/year with the same problem. it is obviously not a fluke; i am not the only person having this issue. *tr

I purchased my hhr 2008 new and only have 34400+ mileage as to this date, not hard on braking and 2013 the brakes were warped and i have it repaired. i experienced the problem with the ignition once, cannot turn off but after trying it eventually turned off after several try. this happened only once so i did no't take it to the dealer. then my power steering went out while i was driving 40mph, i stopped the car and called the dealer and advice me to bring it in . the steering assist motor was replaced in 9/1/11. then nov. 19,2012 the rear side door will not close. my daughter have to drive while i was holding the door close, dealer replaced the internal lock door. now i a'm having problem with the engine light warning on with the temperature gauge working sometimes. i took it to the dealer and they said that is was not on. so nothing was done . as i said it work sometimes and most of the time it was' not working. i will take it back to the dealer and hopefully it will stay on so they can check what's wrong with it. *tr

Power steering failed while vehicle was being operated at 25-30 mph. vehicle's onboard diagnostic system detected the problem as evidenced by warning chime and display of "power steering" message. vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who verified loss of power steering and diagnosed a failure of the electric steering motor, which was replaced. *kb

My power steering on my 2008 chevy hhr the same as the cobalt stops working while driving, and it cause me to run off the road. luckily there were no injury, but what if ??????? *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet hhr. while driving at various speeds, the contact heard a chime inside of the vehicle and the power steering warning indicator illuminated with a sudden loss of power steering. the contact was able to maneuver to the side of the road with difficulty turning the steering wheel. the engine was turned off and restarted. the power steering operated normally for a brief period of ten minutes. the failure occurred eight times. the vehicle was taken to an independent dealer for diagnostic testing. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the problem. the approximate failure mileage was 73,000.

I own a 2008 chevy hhr lt. last year i had the rotors and brakes replaced because of the shaking in steering while coming to a stop this then helped with the problem then recently the shaking came back i couldn't believe that my brakes and rotors needed to be serviced again. then recently my power steering would go out while driving i checked online and noticed that alot of hhr owners are having the same problem. this is a big safety issue and i think gmc needs to be responsible and take care of this problem. *tr

I had just bought a chevy hhr lt that had 30,000 miles on it from the ford dealership ( this was a trade in). when i got home with the car, the front end made a jiggling sound. i took it to the chevy dealership and they had to replace the steering stabilizer shaft link and steering column , thank god this was covered by warranty. *tr

Starting april 2011 my chevy hhr has been having problems with its power steering. it has turned off several times while i was driving. each time could have resulted in a major accident. i drive a lot of winding roads and do not feel safe doing so now. i do not feel safe driving my hhr. i have to pull over and turn off my car for a few minute before i can start it back up and have the power steering work. it is now starting to turn off several times in one day. i have been reading that this is happening to many people with this same vehicle. i fear this may result in accidents that could be avoided if it is recalled and fixed in the hhr. *kb

The electric steering system of my 2008 hhr failed so many times on me. it happened in cool mornings and in hot afternoons. one time the system failed while i was making an u turn and the car almost jumped onto the sidewalk because it was so hard to turn without the power assist. this is definitely a safety issue. i saw some reports that in canada there was a recall on this problem. why not in us? *tr

I began to notice that the power steering in my car would intermittenly fail about three or four months ago. the first instance was when i was turning my wheel while entering into a parking lot. the car made a dinging sound, then in the odometer are it read "pwer steering." it then became extremely difficuit to turn my wheel. i stopped the car, turned it off, then restarted it and the problem went away. then a few weeks later it happened again, but when i turned it off, started, then restarted, it went back to normal just as it did before. this continued on for several weeks, each time it would be less and less time between incidents. now, i can't even get ten feet out of my driveway before i lose the power steering function. it continues to function normally when the car is first started, and then for a short distance, but every time i drive the car now, i have no use of my power steering. *tt

2008 chevy hhr with intermittent power steering failure. chevy cobalt had a recall on the same power steering motor hhr uses, why is there no recall on hhr???!!! *tr

I have a 2008 chevy hhr, and have had to do quite a bit of research to find out what the real issue here is. there are a lot of complaints on other web sites about the intermediate steering shaft going out every few thousand miles. the problem is, that no dealership can seem to diagnose the "clunking" noise coming from the drivers side front wheel and steering column. however the few shops that have figured it out are having to re-replace the part constantly. gm has re-designed the part for other vehicles but not the hhr. mine has been replaced every 10,000 miles, 4 times now and it wears out after about 10k. gm should create a better one for the hhr and offer a recall since their part is defective. *tr

After driving for more than 10-30 min, at any speed but usually at or above 50 mph, the power steering would malfunction intermittently, steering/handling became difficult. feels like it's over-correcting or is ice-skating around the lane when keeping the wheel straight. occasionally hhr will buck while driving on the highway, would slow down to 55-65mph and still experience rough bucking & poor handling. took to dealership to fix what i thought was an alignment issue, they said there were no other problems, but still experience them almost daily. also have had troubles removing the key from ignition after shifting the car into park. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that while attempting to make either a left or right turn, the vehicle would lose all power steering intermittently without warning. both the dealer and manufacturer were not notified. the failure was not diagnosed nor was the vehicle repaired. the current mileage was 58,000 and the failure mileage was 50,000. the vin was unavailable.

Tl*the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that while driving approximately 20 mph, she noticed the power steering warning illuminated on the instrumental panel and the steering failed. the vehicle was inspected by a dealer who informed the contact that she needed to replace the power steering motor. the vehicle was repaired. the failure mileage was approximately 87,800. updated 02/03/11*lj the consumer was informed of a recall by her mechanic. however, when the consumer contacted the dealer, she was informed the recall was not for her vehicle, but for other models. updated 04/21/11

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet hhr. the contact stated that while driving approximately 30 mph, the steering power failed causing limited steering capabilities. the vehicle was taken to a local mechanic and diagnosed that the power steering motor was faulty. the manufacturer was contacted and they stated that the part was part of a recall for another model but not for her particular year vehicle. the vehicle was repaired. the failure mileage was 87,849 and current mileage was 88,000.

My 2008 hhr looses power steering while turning, then suddenly returns power causing to oversteer. this is a sever safety issue as it is a come and go type problem,i do not drive during inclement weather fearing body damage to persons and vehicles other than myself. i have taken to dealer only to be told we can not determine the problem as it is intermittent. also the tire pressure display is on even tho all tire pressure is correct, not sure if they are related to "electric" power steering. would like this as a record if any persons are injured or worse killed due to the possible short circuit in powersteering. how many people have to leave the vehicles at home after spending all their money on them for this to be a recall? *tr

The electric power steering turned itself off mid turn causing a drastic understeering leading the vehicle into oncoming traffic, upon research i found that gm recalled the exact same steering components that failed in the hhr in other gm vehicles but not the hhr. if this does not warrant serious investigation what does. the second time this happened everything was fine as we were driving straight, the problem occurred when the electric power steering turned back on mid-turn causing my wife to over turn into someone's front lawn, had anyone been in the way this would have been tragic. we've been lucky this far but as we are a low income household we don't have the means to pay some dealer to fix this as they all say it's on us the owners to take care of even though it's the same defective equipment that was in vehicles like the cobalt and pontiacs lines, why hasn't there been a recall issued, this is a sever driving impairment that can cause accidents and gm doesn't seem to care due to it's an acceptable loss! no life is an acceptable loss, please address this issue as there are many complaints into this same issue in the research i preformed, by the way, why is it gm canada issued a recall on this part for the hhr and not the us branch? our hhr is a 2008 with 66000 miles on it and the electric power steering is the issue.

I have a 2008 chevrolet hhr that has the identical power steering system as the cobalt that has been recalled, however gm has not recalled the hhr for some reason. i am now having the identical problems with my chevy hhr power steering as reported with the cobalt. in the past few days the power steering has failed 6 times, including once on a highway, traveling 55 miles an hour between semis. it was quite scary. i took the car in for an oil change and asked that they check the power steering fluid and it was there at the jiffy lube that i was informed that the car did not take power steering fluid and that there was a recall on some chevys for this problem. i have heard nothing about the hhr but i see from searching there are several other people like me posting blogs and comments about their problem. *tr

Chevrolet hhr is not listed on this site! please update your vehicle listing. my 2008 chevrolet hhr is having several problems, it contains the same power steering pump as the chevy cobalt which was recalled yet no recall has been issued for the chevy hhr. same symptoms as the cobalt. power steering failure message on the driver information display. please help. chevrolet is taking the cheap way out and putting lives at risk. *tr

Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6) hi, [xxx] , i have a hhr from chevrolet, it has all the same power steering issues than cobalt and pontiac g5, that have been recalled for this issues, me and a thousands of owners of hhrs have the same problems, power steering suddenly just went off and is very hard to steer, i have to turn off my car and then turn on to solve this problem, but suddenly after 8 to 15 minutes occurs again and it is dangerous, because the steering is very hard to steer, i think this is a safety issue, and i know the power steering is the same as a g5 and cobalt, why the hhr was not included? can you please provide me some response? [xxx] *tr

My 2008 hhr has 45000 miles and is a year and half old. the ignition locked up and i can place my key into the ignition but not turn on. i called road side assistance and since i have more miles than the warranty, i have to pay over $600 to get a problem fixed that seems to happen to a lot of people. i was a chevy guy, however i know now that since many are having this problem and have to pay for it themselves. i will never pay another chevy. poor quality and poor customer service. *tr

Brake rotors warped and the car would shake with such a severe force controlling the car was very hard. after the dealer replaced four sets, before the car had 50,000 miles on it, the dealer told me that the brake pads were worn out and that would cause this to happen again. just before the last rotors were, replaced the electric power steering would cease working and effectively hinder our ability to steer the car. the electric power steering is still a problem daily at different times. i am going to check into the repair process soon. i feel that this problem is caused by the rotors warping and shaking the front end equipment of the hhr. in closing, i replaced the pads and they were not worn out. i kept them for future reference. *tr

My power steering doesn't work and isn't on the recall list why? *tr

The power steering in my 2008 chevrolet hhr fails often. the power steering light will come on and then my power steering is gone. this happens sometimes several times a day and then will not happen sometimes for several days. there is no particular time it happens. sometimes i am just driving along and it has even happened when i am stopped at a red light. *tr

Takata recall, don't know is the airbags are in my vehicles. got a airbag recall letter. have called dealer two times wrote down dates. dealer said parts weren't in they would call us when parts are in they also told us vehicle is safe to drive. vehicle . if its a safety recall and people are getting hurt and killed how is it safe to drive? i have a number of recall letter on my hhr. how many are to many ? if you read all recalls the vehicle is a rolling death trap. you need to know i wrote chevrolet a letter 05-31-2015 to ask them if my vehicles were in the airbag recall chevrolet did not write back they called i recorded the conversation. the chevrolet person i spoke with told me there were no recalls on my vehicles .i didn't build the vehicle so why am i getting punished for there mistakes.some of the recall letter from gm recalls they want fix unless your having trouble. if they send you a recall letter why want they fix it right then. on one recall i had fixed it took then 2 years to figurer out they had not finished the repair. do you call that safe? chevrolet has made a vehicle that's loaded with problems. i feel that i am due a full refund. chevrolet (gm) mislead people on this vehicle. i have a number of recall letters i'm sending you. i also have a recorded airbag recall phone call. the airbag recall is on my 2009 chevrolet truck. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2008 chevrolet hhr. while the vehicle was traveling 55 mph with the cruise control engaged the vehicle suddenly shut off, causing the contact to coast the vehicle to a stop. also in a separate incident , while the contact was attempting to make a u-turn traveling at a speed of 8 mph he noticed that the power steering light had appeared on the dashboard. moments later the power steering no longer functioned. the vehicle was taken to the dealership for both incidents where the contact was informed that neither failure could be reproduced. the failure mileage was 52000 and the current mileage is 56000.

No crashes, 22000 miles on the car. heard this noise for about 2000 miles before i took it in. 1. front end suspension popping noise 2. they told me that intermediate steering shaft needed replaced. three weeks later, i will have to take it back again this week. the problem has come back. *tr

I also own a 2008 chevy hhr lt that is loaded. i purchased this vehicle brand new and currently have 39,000 miles on it. i have had nothing but trouble with this vehicle. i have had all of the following problems and gm replaced some of them. gm installed a new intermediate steering column, drag links,turned rotors 4 times and right side upper ball joint. after the warranty expired, the brakes once again went to hell in a hand basket. i ordered a set of racing rotors and ceramic brakes, this cured the brake problem. at 37,000 miles, the check engine light came on and i had it checked out and it was the cam sensor. i replaced the sensor and reset the light and it did not fix the problem. i really like the vehicle, but gm needs to do their homework and do more research and development. *tr