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Wagons Chevrolet HHR Chevy HHR Test Drive - What Did You Think?
39 messages, Last post on Sep 20, 2008 at 1:42 PM
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Replying to: allfiredup (Nov 20, 2005 9:46 pm) |
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test drove the HHR today, it was LS with automatic, everything else was standard LS trim, sticker price was $17K salesperson didn't know much about, in fact he told me it had abs but that isn't even available on LS , only LT. but the drive what about what i expected. poor acceleration with the 2.2 L, it was myself, wife, and salesperson riding along. brakes felt mussy especially during hard braking before taking some cornering. vehicle feels much bigger than it is. it reminded me of my mom's old 92 ford tempo, cabin fever sets in real quick behind the wheel, you feel like your looking out at the road through a port hole, and looking through the sides and rear view mirrors is the same, parascope anyone, needless to say the view is extremely unconvention, basically the same as the 1949 suburban though, they certainly got the look and all the ergonomics to go with. surprising my biggest gripe and complaint is with the seats! I have sat in alot of chevy cars, the greatest by far is the tahoe which i have 2 mounted to a bench in my garage for relaxing, the worst by far is the HHR. i am not kidding when i say the seat fabric is the quality of your local walmart fabric store. i mean everything about it is terrible, the fabric is so smooth your rear slides around in the seat, the thread count looks so low you swear you can see the foam cushion. guys, it is not the least bit durable. seat adjustability is very good, but support is very bad, i am 6 4" and my wife is 5 4", neither of us could get a truly comfortable seating position and we don't suffer from any back problems. anyways, back to the drive, i played with the accessories while my wife drove, okay standard stereo, most everything was located on the center control stack, easy to use, but usuall cheap plastic knobs and buttons. noticed considerable power loss when engaging A/C on and off. typical of a 4 cylinder but i can imagine much worse with another person and a load of cargo in the rear. suspension handling was comfortable, soft, but not the least bit sporty. i didn't jerk the wheel, but i made some moves around traffic and it felt much more dramatic than it actually was. the cargo area is the best part of the show, drop the rear seats down, and you'll have all the midside suv owners envy every square inch. you get a rear carpeted mat to cover the really cheap plastic floor which is nice. dont get me wrong, i like the easy cleanup of the hard floor, but it is so cheap looking anything with a sharp edge will tear right into it. I gotta give a big thumbs down to the HHR. the styling is ultra cool looking to me, but that's simply not enough to overcome being down on power, downright uncomfortable to drive, and it's poor handling and cheap materials. Maybe the LT2 will offer more promise, but at 20K , what doesn't?  p.s. i forgot to mention the gimick cargo cover under the rear hatch, supposedly it slides out and fuctions as a table for tailgating, however it's only rearward support is a single thin plastic leg which the salesman could never get to work right. ie. it folded up when i laid my arm on it. basically an engineering joke if you ask me.
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Replying to: weatherman3 (Jul 23, 2005 8:56 pm) Thought it was just me, but when I posted on another board, I said driving felt a bit claustrophobic. I thought it was because of the plastic covering everything, but it truly was because of the windshield. It's so small. Also noticed that the front door windows are small, too, probably because of moulding near the dash that is so large. The acceleration on the 2LT was pretty good, but I wanted the 2.2 engine because the 2.4 takes premiums fuel. That's a big issue with me the way gasoline prices are going. If you say the 2.2 is sluggish, I'll take your word for it. There was a little noise on acceleration, but that didn't last long. After you got going it was quiet. I had leather seats, so the fabric quality was not an issue. Another thing, I know they put rear and side view mirrors on cars so you don't have to turn your head to see beside and behind you, but no mirror is perfect and you are always going to have blind spots. Trying to see what may be next to or directly behind you on the passenger side was nearly impossible. You have to TRY to find a point of visibility in back opening yourself up to crashing into something in front of you. I've been on such a quest for this vehicle for so long, and have let all the current offers pass me by because I had to have an HHR, but after reading your comments and a couple of others on other sites who've posted honest assessments of the car, and with a salesman telling me if I didn't act now I'd probably have to pay a premium over the MSRP, I think I will have to pass on the HHR in its current form. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE looking at this vehicle. For the past week, I've still been trying to find one with the options I wanted to purchase. After reading other views on the drive, have to admit I've been in denial. What I've thought were personal perceptions are realities. I just feel very sad actually driving it and seeing its limitations... from my perspective, anyway. |
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Replying to: weatherman3 (Jul 23, 2005 8:56 pm) I was considering the HHR, but I couldn't wait for it to come out. I ended up compromising on the exterior styling and getting a Mazda5 instead (for about $18k, a huge cargo area if the 3rd row of seats is folded flat). From your review, it sounds like I would have been disappointed with the HHR...makes me feel better about not being able to wait for it.
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Replying to: smaria (Jul 25, 2005 10:26 am) |
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We (wife and I) like the exterior and the 2.2 engine seemed to have enough power for everyday driving. We did not get a chance to drive it on the highway. Salesman said it was low on gas and did not want to drive very far, but when I got behind the wheel the gauge showed half full! He was not a very good salesman and new little about the car. The engine, transmission, brakes, road feel were all very good. My wife and I were both disappointed in the HHR LS interior. I am only 5'10", but the room up front seemed very limited, pedals took up all of the floorboard, no place to rest my left foot comfortably. As noted elsewhere, poor visibility, hard to see stoplights through the windshield, and rear visibility was downright unsafe. Also noted the hard, cheap, plastic throughout. I will say the cargo area was impressive. If they ever fix the ergonomics/visibility issues, I would consider buying this car, but as it is now would not buy it at any price due to unsafe visibility issues. I don't understand how a car company can release a vehicle with these kinds of design flaws. How could these obvious flaws go unnoticed during prototype testing? We really wanted to like this car, as it has the utility we are looking for. Our search continues....
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Replying to: pepjrp (Dec 01, 2006 2:23 pm) |
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A reporter from a national publication is looking to talk to anyone who has considered buying a Chevrolet HHR in the last several weeks but ultimately decided against it. The reporter is especially interested in anyone who decided that there were so many HHRs now on the road that it’s lost some of its novelty. Please contact ctalati edmunds.com by December 25 and provide a daytime number that the reporter can contact you back at.
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| Last summer I rented a HHR 2.4 auto and was supremely impressed with the entire package. With that memory in mind, I tested a 2.2 auto today and was underwhelmed. It just seemed buzzy and noisy. Is there that much difference between the two? | |
Currently looking to replace my Ranger pick-up, coming off-lease in a few months. HHR exterior styling piqued my interest, so I test drove an LT 2.4A at a local dealer. Initial impressions: The "tunnel" effect of small glass didn't bother me. I'm used to the fairly short, more vertical windshield from the Ranger. Overall, the glass had the feeling of riding a "chop job". Not necessarily bad, just different. I liked the level of equipment on the unit (it was pretty tricked out). Best feature, the cargo area with rear seat folded: loved the large flat plastic floored expanse. Worst feature: engine noise in the cab. I'm a forty-something driver, and the two most important factors in my purchase will be comfort and perceived value. The engine sounded like a typical low tech 4 cylinder: wheezy and overworked. It only bothered me because I could hear it (  ), pretty much at any speed. The HHR literature emphasizes the use of "quiet steel" and noise suppression, but if this is the result, they need to go back to the drawing board. I'm afraid I would come to hate those sounds (and the car) over time. Too bad, because otherwise the HHR seems like a contender.
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