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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
9 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
7 / 1
Average Mileage:
76,974 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2008 Chevrolet HHR steering problems

steering problem

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2008 Chevrolet HHR Owner Comments (Page 11 of 15)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #94

Jan 142014

HHR

  • 6,500 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The first time this occurred I was coming home from the store and wasn't on the freeway when my power steering went out. The next time was yesterday and I was driving in a school zone and the power steering went out, I got it into a parking lot and cut off my engine and started my car again and the power steering was working correctly. Evidently this is an issue with this vehicle after watching utube comments and I am wondering if you are an Agency that protects consumers why is this not a recall?

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #93

Oct 192012

HHR 4-cyl

  • 35,000 miles
Was driving down the highway and the power steering motor failed, causing steering to be very difficult. I have had this car just over a year now and everyday it's seems to get worse and worse and a whole lot more frequent. This is very dangerous especially when traveling on the highway. Definitely a serious safety concern.

- Deltona , FL, USA

problem #92

Jan 102014

HHR 4-cyl

  • 82,000 miles
Power steering keeps cutting off while driving or sitting still. No reason for this to happen but I'm seeing tons of these incidents happening to the 2006 thru 2010 Hhrs' dealerships are telling owners to replace the whole power steering module and motor.$500+ to repair.

- Orlando, FL, USA

problem #91

Jan 072014

HHR 4-cyl

  • 61,189 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Was driving at highway speed and all of a sudden my car got hard to steer and a chime dinged and my screen on the dash read (power steering) was coming up on a turn and it took me and the passenger to manually turn the wheel with great effort on both our parts, this was scary! if I had been alone I'm not sure if I could have negotiated the turn thus ending in a one vehicle collision.

- Vanceburg, KY, USA

problem #90

Dec 242013

HHR

  • 80,000 miles
The contact owns a 2008 Chevrolet HHR. The contact stated that while driving approximately 20 mph, the power steering warning light illuminated as the steering wheel seized. The failure recurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and diagnosed that the power steering pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000.

- Roselle, IL, USA

problem #89

Dec 202013

HHR 4-cyl

  • 65,000 miles
As I was in the middle of a turn with no warning what so ever the electrical power steering quit working almost causing a accident the only warning I had was the power steering message that came up after it quit working in a turn this is very dangerous and is a known problem on there other cars like the cobalt and ions this should be a mandatory recall very dangerous once you shut the car off and restart it the power steering will work again but will go out without warning again.

- Bloomington, IL, USA

problem #88

Nov 212013

HHR 4-cyl

  • 57,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I was stopped at an intersection making a right hand turn when the power steering stopped working with out notice thankfully I was not moving and did not have far to go (40ft) to pull into the buisness parking lot it was struggle for me to get the car in there. This is a saftey issue that needs to be corrected before someone or a family is killed. Anyone with weak muscles or artifical limbs who is traveling on a road or the highway may not be as lucky as I was and could suffer very serious injury or death. I contacted my local Chevrolet dealer kevin (service writer) and also spoke with harold (10yrs with Chevrolet in detroit) who said my VIN# does not fall under any type of recall or assitance to correct this problem. How many people will be injured or killed before Chevrolet decides to correct this issue "??"

- Worcester, MA, USA

problem #87

Nov 022013

HHR 4-cyl

  • 89,000 miles
Power steering goes out, it will be fine then all of the sudden while driving the steering tightens up and I cannot turn like I am suppose to, this happens quite often and I am worried about the safety of my children and myself. The first time it happened I had my children with me and I hit a curb which tore my tire up. It has happened numerous times which has almost caused me to wreck into other cars and a semi. I would not complain but it has happened numerous times and I have children. This is not safe at all and I cannot afford to have it fixed because I was told it would cost about $300, I got online to see if there were any recalls, but found no recall on the HHR and there was a recall on the cobalt which apparently has the same brand or type of power steering, this is ridiculous that Chevy hasn't had a recall on this issue, they should before someone gets killed and found I was not the only person with this problem it appears numerous complaints for this same defect. The power steering issue is my main issue I am scared I am going to end up having a wreck like have almost had numerous times, this is the only car I own so I am worried about my children's safety!!!!!

- Portland, IN, USA

problem #86

Nov 072013

HHR 4-cyl

  • 100,000 miles
While operating, my vehicles power steering shuts off and my "power steering" alert appears on the dash. If the car is shut off, and turned back on it works properly; and then shuts off again randomly. This happens nearly every time I drive it, sometimes several times. There is nothing consistent with driving conditions, speed, duration of driving when it occurs.

- El Segundo, CA, USA

problem #85

Nov 012013

HHR 4-cyl

  • 60,000 miles
Power steering stops working. It began about a month ago, scared me a lot. At first it would happen after I drove it a bit but now it happens after about 30 seconds. I worry about needing to steer to avoid someone at slow speeds. I live in a crowded community and people, dogs, bikes, skateboarders and children are always just walking out onto the road. Also, I drive into farmer's markets and swap meets where people are all milling about and lots of maneuvering needs to be done to avoid accidents. No power steering makes this very hard to do. I can't afford to fix as I M barely making enough money to continue with my small business. Called Chevrolet and they tell me this is not a recall issue. They will charge me $125 just to look at it. And I have to give up using the car. This is crazy that no recall has been done considering all the complaints and facts of this issue.

- San Diego, CA, USA

problem #84

Nov 072013

HHR 4-cyl

  • 80,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

My battery went out on me. Then I had it replaced and then the power steering went out. I noticed that they was a recall on it. Also that this has happen to so many other folks.

- Atlanta, GA, USA

problem #83

Oct 072013

HHR 4-cyl

  • 76,000 miles
The power steering failed in my car out of the blue while I was pulling out of the parking lot of a restaurant. It has happened approximately 6 times since then. Once I shut the car off and let it sit for awhile it goes off. The issue with the power steering randomly failing is very dangerous. If I was in mid turn the issue could have caused an accident. A recall was done on the Chevy cobalt for the same issue and both cars use the same parts.

- Durham, NC, USA

problem #82

Oct 252013

HHR

  • 55,813 miles
Power steering assist is lost and it requires greater driver effort at low vehicle speeds that increases the risk of a crash. This is the same part that was recalled in the 2008 Chevrolet cobalt under NHTSA campaign number: 10V073000 the same problem is happening to the Chevrolet HHR it all over the internet.

- Hialeah, FL, USA

problem #81

Oct 052013

HHR 4-cyl

  • 128,600 miles
I pulled out of my driveway and the power steering went out. The steering got very tight and the car dinged with the message check power steering.

- Arnold , MO, USA

problem #80

Oct 072013

HHR

  • 183,689 miles
The contact owns a 2008 Chevrolet HHR. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph the power steering light illuminated and the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 183,689.

- Galveston, TX, USA

problem #79

Sep 112013

HHR

  • 80,000 miles
The electric power steering will go out, bell rings and dash says "power steering". I can pull over and restart engine and it will work for a while. This happens a lot.

- Waxahachie, TX, USA

problem #78

Mar 232013

HHR

  • 79,248 miles
Was driving down the road and power steering went out. After I stopped the car, turned it off and back on, power steering resumed, although only for a few minutes. I had to keep turning the car off and on in order for the power steering to re-engage. After a few months of this, the power steering is now completely not working! it comes on for about 1 minute when I start the car and then turns off completely after that minute. I am afraid to drive my car this coming winter in the snow. I do not want to shell out a bunch of $$$ and then have them recall the car. I know other Chevy models with the same problem have been recalled. Why has the HHR not been included in these recalls? no power steering poses a great risk of getting in an accident. I am a very frustrated Chevy owner! please recall this car!

- Eaton Rapids, MI, USA

problem #77

Aug 302013

HHR 4-cyl

  • 93,000 miles
On mine a message lights up on the dash 'power steering". when I cut off the car it, I can steer and I start driving, hitting the speed of 7 miles mph it cuts back on and off I have a family small kids and I don't want to have anything go wrong with my car because I cant afford another one, so please look unto it because other HHR owners been having the same problems.

- Hammond , IN, USA

problem #76

Sep 092013

HHR 4-cyl

  • 63,000 miles
While driving at speeds upwards of 45 mph, the power steering light came on and I lost power steering. I almost got into a crash and was unable to safely steer the vehicle. Once the vehicle was turned off the steering was returned. And then it would go out again until the vehicle was turned off again. Upon searching the internet I saw that 1.3 million vehicles were recalled for the exact same issue but the Chevy HHR was not one of them. It seems to be a hazardous issue according to Chevy's recall, and the have received multiple complaints from HHR owners and haven't recalled this part on the HHR.

- Garden Grove, CA, USA

problem #75

Sep 022013

HHR 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 84,595 miles
The contact owns a 2008 Chevrolet HHR. The contact stated that while driving approximately 10 mph and making a turn, there was a sudden loss of power steering assist. The failure recurred intermittently. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who stated that the power steering pump module would need to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified and they informed that there was not a recall related to the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 84,595. Updated 10/17/13

- Carteret, NJ, USA

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