This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The power steering doesnt work anymore, both of the front inside door handles broke off, water leaking in passenger front coming from the moter area somewhere I called the dealership but no recalls and I have read on numorus forums of other people having the same problem but GM still hasn't issued a recall.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet HHR. The contact stated that while parked, the interior drivers side door handle detached from the vehicle. After opening the window, the contact was able to open the door from the exterior. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for a diagnostic test and the technician stated that the door panel would have to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 35,000. Updated 10/4/11 updated 10/26/11 in December 2013, the driver's side seat belt fastener jammed and would not release. The consumer had the defect repaired. In March 2014, suddenly, without warning, the vehicle lost power steering. The consumer paid to have the defect corrected. Updated 04/14/14
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet HHR. The contact stated that handle detached from the front driver side door when entering the vehicle. The same failure occurred a month prior to the recent failure on the front passenger side door. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the manufacturer was contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 74,500 and the current mileage was 74,600.
Drivers door is broken, have to roll window down to get out, also, remote is not working, I have to lock/unlock with the horn honking everytime I park. After doing a search online, I found that a lot of other people have had the same problem, and it seems to stem from the fact, that Chevy has decided not to be built like a rock, instead, built with plastic. (can you even recycle it?)
- Phx, AZ, USA
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Inside door handle on my 2006 Chevrolet HHR broke off when I opened the door. This creates a safety issue for the driver as the door cannot be opened from the inside without lowering the left front window and opening with the outside handle. If the electrical system is damaged then the window will not open. The driver would then need to crawl over the center console to the right door or the front seat to exit the cars rear door. In a collision or fire the driver may be injured, panicked or confused and not be able to exit the vehicle. The plastic handle should be replaced with a more substantial metal one.
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet HHR. The contact stated that the driver side door handle fractured. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who stated that the entire driver side door panel needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The current and failure mileage was approximately 63,000.
The interior door handles on the 2006 Chevrolet HHR fell off. The only way to fix it is to replace the entire door panel just for the cheap plastic handle for approximately $500. If I was in an accident and the car would not start again, I could not get out of the car through the driver's side because I would not be able to roll down the window to open the door from the outside. Or if the car were on fire, I simply would not be able to escape. This needs to be a recall item as this is a huge safety factor. A bigger safety factor that the latch on the pop up middle console on the Chevy HHR that was recalled back in 2008 (I think). There are blogs all over the internet of people like me who are experiencing the same problem. I am a single working girl who simply cannot afford a $500 interior door panel replacement for a cheap plastic handle because this is not reasonable. I tried to get Chevy to replace it and they simply said they would give me a $40 discount. That is ridiculous!!! I bought the car be cause it was economical and not one thing about this replacement sounds economical. This is a safety hazard and could lead to a death.
I have a 2006 HHR. While trying to exit out the passenger side door the door handle broke in my hand so now anyone sitting there has to open the window an reach out and open the door (or someone has to open for them). The other problem I just encountered is that the "door open" message and dinging noise keeps coming up while I am driving. The door is not open! also, the radio won't shut off when you turn the car off and open the door. When pushing the inside lock/unlock button on the driver's side, all the doors lock except the driver's side. It goes down, but comes back up. My mechanic thinks it is a door latch problem. Also the alarm goes off by itself after locking the car with the remote. I was awoken at 3:00 am to the sound of my car going off, this has never happened before! GM needs to do some recalls on these items, as I see a lot of complaints concerning the same items.
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 updated 1/5/12
The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet HHR. The contact stated that the front driver side interior plastic door handle fractured for the second time. The door handle was previously repaired for the same failure. The vehicle was taken back to an authorized dealer but was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 59,000. Updated 4/11/2011 updated 04/25/11
While opening the left front door from the inside the plastic chrome door handle broke off in my hand making it impossible to open the door from the inside. This will impair the ability of the occupants to exit the vehicle in the event of an emergency.
I currently own a 2006 Chevrolet HHR. On 1-13-11, I had the interior door handle break off in my hand making it impossible to open the door from the inside of the car. This is a huge safety hazard while driving the car. Upon further research on car forums online, I am not the only person that has had this problem.
I own a 2006 Chevy HHR lt. Thanksgiving day I went to move my car out of the driveway and when I tried to get out of the car the interior door handle on the driver door came off in my hand. I have done my research and found this is a common problem with this vehicle. I even walked up to another HHR I saw on a parking lot and it had the same problem. My safely concern is that I cannot open the door without rolling down my window and reaching outside the car to the exterior handle. If I was in an accident and had a electrical failure I could not exit the car because I could not roll down the window. Everything I have found in my research is that Chevrolet is not recgonizing this as a real problem and from what I have seen/read they have been unwilling to correct the problem when it occurs or help the vehicle owners in any way. I have checked on the repair and found that the door handle itself can not be replaced that you have to buy an entire door panel for over $400 and that is just the part, no labor. How can this be a known problem, and Chevrolet not stand behind their product? the inability to exit my vehicle in the aftermath of an accident greatly concerns me and should concern Chevrolet especially with the multiple complaints I have read online of this issue occurring.
My key continues to get stuck in the ignition. About 4 months ago this happened and I took my car back to the dealer, they charged me $50 to get the key out they say they greased the ignition I guess. I was looking through my car manual and it tells you how to get the key out of the ignition.I don't think the dealer charging me $50 was fair. Is there some way that can be fixed? I can not afford $50 and I'm get tired of putting my finger in the hole under the steering wheel to release the key.
2006 Chevrolet HHR interior door handle failures. In my instance the plastic handle that is used to open the door on the drivers side broke off. This is a widely complained about issue on the web. If you google "HHR drivers side interior door handle broken" you get 1000's of people discussing this issue. The cost to repair is very high and people are not doing it. Chevy does not sell just the plastic part, they require you to purchase an entire assembly, the cost runs nearly $600 with labor for a plastic part. The issue is that dealerships do not stock this part, they need to order it and it takes time, this is a safety issue as the only way to exit the car is to open the door from the outside, so that requires rolling a window down and opening it from the outside. If you needed to exit the vehicle in a hurry, such as after an accident, you would not be able to do so. This is a great concern. Besides the fact that this is being reported as a problem and Chevy is not trying to rectify the situation, or to even provide the part outside of purchasing the entire assembly.
Door handles in this vehicle are plastic and break. Thisis the 2nd time the same door handle has broken. The cost to replace is appr. $300 - $400. In an accident the driver would not be able to exit the vehicle.
While opening the left front door from the inside the plastic chrome door handle broke off in my hand making it impossible to open the door from the inside. This will impair the ability of the occupants to exit the vehicle in the event of an emergency.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Ca, CA, USA