The first day I purchased the Car it happened when I stopped on my way home from the garage the day I purchased it. I called the garage and they could not tell me what to do. I had to stay in the car while my wife had to go into the shop. It cleared on its own when I arrived home. Over the next couple of years I had it to the dealer a couple of times with no luck as it would not happen in the garage. My son found the note in the manual telling you what to do if this happened. You had to take off a panel and put your finger inside the steering shaft to release the key.

Up to this day this still happens and I have been hoping if the recall on the HHR comes to Canada from the USA. It will be included in the fix.

The key will turn off but cannot be removed from the slot. I have this problem since I got the car in november 2006. I have had it to the dealer several time and they say they cannot get it to happen. Finally I just gave up on them and kept fiddling with it till it eventually came out. Recently it would not come out and my son found a way to get it out by taking a plate off on the steering column. But then I took it to another garage and they worked on it but I still don't think it has been fixed for good. I really like this little van and wanted to hang on to it but I can see that I will have to break down and get another vehicle.

Sunday evening I was unable to turn the ignition key completely off to remove it, therefore, depleting the battery of all power by the next morning. I failed at getting the car to start with a jump, and after finding out that the battery had only 9.4v, I removed the battery and had it tested at a local parts store and since it was the original battery produced in August of 2005, I bought a new one. The new battery did not fix the problem. This was not the first time I had the problem removing the key, but it was the first time I was unsuccessful after playing around with the steering wheel and/or the gear shifter before it could be removed. I then had the car towed to my machanic who removed the key successfully with the release under the steering column, however, after reinserting the key, the ignition would not turn. Next, at the request of my mechanic I had the car towed to the local GM dealership to have it repaired. Now it is 4pm on Tuesday. It is now 11am on Wednesday and I have yet to hear from the dealership about the car. This morning I have read over 200 cases of this problem with the Chevy HHR on-line and although most have been under warranty, the cost for the new ignition is $185 with labor and someone else said the repair was over $600. I agree with one owner that HHR should stand for "How 'bout Having a Recall"! This is an ongoing problem and although not considered a safety problem because the car is stopped before removing the key, it certainly is a design flaw. Own up GM!

I had to read the manual to figure out what to do. You have to remove a piece under the steering column and find a little button up in there and hold it in while you turn the key to the off position and pull it out with the other hand. The dealership said something about a pin and it not going into park they kept it overnight to fix it. No one believes you when you say your car ate your keys and won't give them back. Of course once it happened to my husband he believed me. At least they put the temporary fix in the owners manual. That was nice of them.

Key gets stuck / can not turn to off position and remove the key. There is an actuating rod in the shifter that switches a micro switch that completes a circuit to pull a solenoid in the steering column to allow the ignition switch to be tuned to the off position (and remove the key) when in park. The plastic part in the shifter assembly breaks and allows the actuating rod to fall out. The fix for this is to replace the shifter assembly. $185 not including labor. The quick fix for this is there is a plastic plug on the under side of the steering column. Inside you have to feel for the end of that solenoid and depress it to release the key.

GM TSB #06-07-30-004F acknowledges the common occurrence of this failure from 2006 to 2010 HHR, Colbalt, and Pontiac G5 . Although, if you are out of warranty, your dealer may be reluctant to fix this problem without cost.

Tires, ball joints, brakes, what have you, fail and are, no doubt, a common occurrence. If fact that is to be expected. But the shifter in an automatic? I would think that the shifter in an automatic should last the lifetime of the car. IMO, they installed a poorly made part. To me, this is obvious since they are stating in that TSB, 2006 - 2010 shifter are expected to fall apart as mine did. I have a 1965 Plymouth Belvedere, the oldest car in my possession, that the shifter never needed to be repaired. In fact I've never had an automatic shifter problem with any car.

It was stated in a forum that GM should have considered a metal collar or ring around the plastic bit that holds that pin to reinforce it and this problem would have never become a nuisance.

Also, when that pin falls out, the shift lever is free to move without pressing the shift button on the front of the shift lever, so it could accidentally be moved to another gear while driving, even reverse!! I guess that is not enough of a safety issue for GM to worry about.