My car was taking longer to start and I noticed a strong fuel smell while driving. I stopped the car and discovered a small but rapidly expanding spot of fuel on the ground in front of the driver side rear wheel well. There was a near constant dripping of gasoline and by the next day there was a spot the size of a dinner plate on the driveway stained with gasoline. My mechanic examined the car and said that the fuel line had rusted through and that the vapor line also showed signs of serious rust. He also said that due to the design of the guard around the fuel line, rainwater would pool and keep the fuel line submerged which greatly accelerated the rusting process. Due to the amount of fuel leaking this could have very easily have turned into a fire, particularly on the fourth of July with so many people shooting fireworks. My car is still at the mechanic, he tells me the dealer told him these fuel lines are in high demand and it may be a while before they get them in. With as widespread as this problem appears to be, I suspect an investigation and recall may be in order.

- Louisville, KY, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet HHR. After driving 25 mph and parking the vehicle, the contact smelled fuel around the vehicle and noticed that the driver side near wheel was leaking fuel. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 175,000. Updated 08/30/16

- Alexandria, IN, USA

Car stated smelling of gas inside and out for days and kept getting stronger, noticed pool of gas near drivers side rear tire, after extensive search noticed gas lines completely rusted out and small whole near exhaust system, within 2 inches of the exhaust pipe spraying gas on exhaust pipe. After internet search found a ton of the exact same complaints from other HHR owners. Someone is going to get burned or killed by these faulty designed fuel lines.

- St. Charles, MO, USA

Fuel lines are rusting to the point of needing replacing and the evap line is leaking fumes at the moment. I was told by best Chevy dealership in hingham, that the cause of this rusting is because fuel lines are so close to exhaust system a leak in the exhaust has accelerated rate of rusting for the fuel lines and evap lines. The dealership quote for replacing just the lines (not exhaust repair) at $1,600. Car has around 150K miles but was told the amount of rust is beyond what it should be for a car at this age/stage. I don't know if Chevy can make a better heat shield to keep fuel lines from deteriorating from heat from exhaust system or what can be done... but I have read that many, many other people with same car have the same issue about rusted fuel lines. I am afraid to drive car at this stage for fear if the rusted line fails then I will have gas leaking directly near a hot exhaust which could ignite the car and I have little babies that I usually have with me and it would put their lives in danger. This needs to be fixed somehow. GM needs to admit it's a bad design flaw and come up with a fix or something. Should not be on the consumer's hands for that kind of a repair... thank you.

- Hingham, MA, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet HHR. The contact noticed that the rear of the vehicle was leaking fuel. In addition, a fuel odor entered the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the main fuel line needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 131,000.

- Columbus, GA, USA

Fuel lines are rusted out. Vehicle smells like fuel after being parked for just a short while, so I checked and sure enough the fuel/evap lines are rusted and need replacement. After a little research I see that not only is this is a widespread problem on these vehicles, but the replacement parts are very hard to come by as well. This is hazardous and should be recalled.

- Gardendale, AL, USA

Raw gas leading under the rear of the car in front of left rear wheel. Took it to a mechanic. He immediately took pictures and said although the car was older (just turned 10 with 93,000 miles), it was far too young for such severe rusting. The rust goes all the way back to the gas tank. He gave me the pictures and said to contact GM. Which I did. After a week of bantering back and forth with customer care, my case was sent to the executive office customer care following an email I sent to mary barra, CEO of GM. They offered a %15 discount on the $1000 estimate of repair. I refused that offer. The dealership will not let me drive the car off their lot because of the severe leak. I recently found that all the area dealerships carry a full supply of the expensive fuel lines for the HHR.. I'm told that they when they carry so many, it means that there is a high demand for replacement. My certified mechanic told me that design location of the fuel lines is responsible for the collection of water and salt. The fuel lines are up against the exhaust system. This seems to be a dangerous fire hazard when the rusting leads to gas leaks. Please help! the car was parked at the time of the gas leak with a puddle of gas collection about the size of a frisbee.

- Lisle, IL, USA

While on vacation, the car had not been started in 2 weeks. The weather had turned from warm and rainy to very cold. After getting back and starting the car, noticed a heavy fuel smell and thought the exhaust was burning extra rich due to the cold temperature. Getting out of the car to walk around to inspect the exhaust noticed a steady drip forming a circle on the asphalt just in front of the rear passenger tire on the driver's side. The location of the leak seems to be where the fuel line bends up and into the body channel. The car was taken to a dealer repair shop the next morning where it has been waiting on parts to replace the rusted steel fuel lines because the car is not safe to drive. Was advised the heat shield to protect the fuel line from the nearby exhaust system retains moisture and leads to the lines rusting and perforating. I did not take pictures, but I don't believe this an isolated issue with this vehicle's fuel lines after checking online for similar complaints.

- Herndon, VA, USA

Fuel lines rusted out to the point of leaking. Leaking gas is on the left side in front of left rear wheel by the rocker panel.the straps that hold up the fuel tank are also rusted. My research on this shows that that this is a prevalent problem with this car. I've owned cars for more than 40 years and have never had this type of rust in the undercarriage. My car is a 2006 and has 93,000 miles on it. I had noticed a gas smell after I parked my car. After several days, I noticed a wet spot under the leak. Upon further inspection and pictures, it was clear that the gas was leaking from the fuel lines on the left rear of the car (driver side) in front of the left rear tire. I've provided pictures.

- Lisle, IL, USA

The steering wants to lock up and don't return to the straight position when turning on to a street as if it is sticking clicking and popping noise also in the steering column. Also both fuel lines over the left rear wheel rusted out and leaked gas all over the garage floor. Costing two hundred and fifty dollars.

- Saint Paris, OH, USA

Fuel line has rusted out in under 10 years of use. Gas leaking out that can cause an explosion if ignited. Entire fuel line is subject to rust and condensation problems. It totally needs to be replaced.

- Raytown, MO, USA

Car is less than 10 years old and both of the metal fuel lines that run from the engine to the fuel tank have rusted and is leaking fuel near the drivers side rear wheel. This is also near the exhaust and could potentially catch fire. Found that this problem was common with this car as the fuel lines were rusting at the bend points. Fortunately I discovered the leak while it was parked and the car was off. This is a safety hazard and needs to be addressed by GM. The fuel lines should never rust out like this. A recall of these cars to fix this problem is in order to resolve this issue as it appears to be happening to many Hhrs of this model year.

- Bloomington, IN, USA

We noticed a gasoline smell when you shut the engine down, but since we were having a very frigid winter we just though it was from the temperatures. As it got warmer weather the odor was getting worse.we seen gas dripping from around the gas tank. Our son took it today to see what was making it do this and found that the upper gas line is rusted and has several pin holes in that is making it leak. After doing a search on this I seen that this is a common problem with this vehicle. We have already had the ignition recall, power steering recall and 2 more that I can't remember what they were. Another problem we've had is the clear coat paint that GM wouldn't even listen about. The issue is that my husband and I are both in poor health and have to have the car to get to dr. Appointments but we live on fixed income. The gas leak is a very volatile problem that could start a fire while we are driving down the road. I feel that GM should do a recall and fix this problem before people start burning in their vehicles. A car that has less than 50,000 miles on it should not be having these kind of problems. This is the reason people are turning away from american made and that is sad.

- Georgetown, KY, USA

Car is less than 10 years old and both of the metal fuel lines that run from the engine to the fuel tank have rusted and is leaking fuel near the drivers side rear wheel. This is also near the exhaust and could potentially catch fire. Fortunately I discovered the leak while it was parked and the car was off. This is a safety hazard and needs to be addressed by GM. The fuel lines should never rust out like this. A recall of these cars would probably be in order to resolve this issue as it appears to be happening to many other Hhrs of this model year.

- Troy, IL, USA

Gas lines leaking.

- Sicklerville, NJ, USA

Gas line is very rusted and has a gas leak at the first retainer clip by the fuel tank. Leaks a lot of gas. This line should not rust the way it did, very rusty at every bend in fuel line.

- Port Huron, MI, USA

Fuel leak in front of drivers side rear wheel. This is completely unacceptable in an 8 year old vehicle. The fuel line corroded and leaked heavily, cost me $254.22 to replace this faulty gas line. I am obviously not the only person this has happened to. I have also had all the other typical problems such as the key will not release from ignition, bad rotors, loose front end bushings and excessive front end vibration over typical street cracks. Broken drivers side interior door handle, cracked windshield...... updated 10/22/2014

- Woonsocket, RI, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet HHR. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, there was a sudden smell of gasoline without warning. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that there was a fuel line leak that needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure and current mileage was approximately 113,277.

- Ocean City , MD, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Chevrolet HHR. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 mph, the engine stalled without warning. The engine failed to restart and the vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where the rear fuse box and fuel pump were replaced. The failure persisted after the repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 106,000.

- Sallisaw, OK, USA

I was traveling down the highway when the dash panel warning lights all started flashing on and off. When it did this the power steering went out and when I tried to stop the engine revved up and the power brakes didn't feel right. It felt like the vehicle had the old style manual brakes. It has done this several times and when I researched it online I noticed there were several other HHR owners experiencing the same problem. The problem originally started with the traction control light to come on randomly and I would have to disconnect the battery to reset the computer.

- Monticello, AR, USA