This car will show a power steering fail warning, then buck and jerk loosing power and steering ability, which happened several times on the freeway. It's very scary and dangerous. I was able to pull over and shut it off. Most times it restarted again. The dealership replaced the power steering motor THREE TIMES. Hello! It's not the power steering. I was advised by them to simply pull over if it happened again and disconnect the battery cables for ten minutes and the put them back on. This did fix the problem and it restarted.

This sounds very much like unplugging your computer when its messed up. The only problem with the rebooting your car computer this way is that the battery is in the rear of the car and if you have luggage in the back you have to stack all your s*** on the side of the road while you take out your spare the two covers in the back and the rug. A big pain in the ass.

The dealership refused to do anything more... I am not impressed with them. I installed a kill switch from my battery to the front of my car so that if I need I can easily kill the power from the battery. I shut it off every evening for a few weeks when I parked and have not had to shut it off in over a year. I don't know why it's working well now, but it is. My conclusion is that the problem is not the power steering but the actual computer in the car that needs fixing. You must wonder why I am still driving this car after all the trouble I've had, First I really like my HHR, and secondly I could not possibly sell it to someone for fear of them having an accident due to its messed up computer - at least I know what's happening when it goes berserk.

I am extremely disappointed in his car. I have had nothing but problems and recalls and I looked up this complaint to see if anyone else is having the same issue and of course everyone is. They also have different models and years that they recalled for the exact same thing but they haven't recalled this one which I think is ridiculous. Are they waiting for a death or someone to get extremely injured where they have a lawsuit? There are so many complaints about this issue it should have already been recalled. Just by looking at all the complaints you have lost several customers because you waited on the issue instead of fixing the issue. If first started to wear the light would come on and I lose all power steering I could turn it off and turn it back on and it would work for quite a while now it's to the point where if it goes out I turn off the car and turn it back on and within a minute it goes out again I have arthritis in my hands and arms to where it makes it hard for me to drive especially now that there's no power steering. This is my only means of transportation and I'm on disability and can't afford to get it fixed and I shouldn't have to cuz it's not my problem, it's a default in the way y'all built this crappy car. Please do the right thing and recall them and fix the problem before someone gets seriously injured.

My 2006 HHR has been sitting for awhile due to a fuel line leak (another manufacturing defect for this car!) so I had to start it and move it when I noticed I had NO Power Steering! I come to find out that this vehicle has electronic steering with a module and a steering electric motor in the steering column! I have no idea what this will cost to fix but at this point I would like to drive this car off a bridge! Ignition recall. Bad Brake Rotors due to cheap steel. Leaking Fuel line due to design and manufacturing problem (should be recalled!) and now the Power Steering issue! I come to find out that the 2009-2011 HHR's have been recalled with this problem!! Why not the 2006??? You can be driving and turning and the power steering will go out! Terrible design and all should be recalled!!

I was driving today 11/25/2015 when all of a sudden my power steering went out. Scared the Chit out of me..Pulled over turned off car started it back up with no problems. Driving to make a turn went out again. 20-30 mph. Called Chevy headquarters, told me there is a special warranty for this problem. WOW !....Called dealership told me it will be a $99 charge to let me know if this falls under warranty. LOL ! We shall see! I just replaced struts! Only 67,000 miles. I can name more things that went wrong, need 3 more sheets. I will return with a verdict next week.

When your driving 70 MPH down a freeway and all of a sudden your power steering fails; first reaction is panic (specially when you have your family on deck), you attempt to steer and you feel as if you have to struggle just to get to the side of the freeway. This is bad, you're hundreds of miles away from your destination yet; restart the car and now your power steering works, only to go off 5-6 more time between distances. Come home and your first instinct is to check your manual and there's no trouble shoot direction except for a message to take your car to your dealer ("CATCH ALL," now your face with a $100 to $500 repair cost), only to find out that other owners are having the same like-problem....RECALL?

Peter, CA (Marine Corp Base)

Twice this has happened while driving straight on a freeway, power steering goes out while driving. It causes you to panic at first and is very hard to steer. After you get somewhere that you can stop and turn the engine off, when restarting the steering works.

Update from Aug 17, 2014: There is a GM website that shows a recall for the power steering for the 2009 and 2010 but does mention the 2006 and in paragraph 4 says they are guaranteed for life. The site is http://media/us/en/news.detail.html/content/pages/news/en/2014/mar/0331-power-steering.html

Today driving my 5 year old home from preschool on a very busy street right off the freeway my power steering light went on and it stopped working. Oh my god, I started praying I did not get into an accident. I could not turn my wheel. I was so thankful we came to a red light so I could turn the car off then back on to get the power steering working again. It happened one more time on our way home and I am so thankful I was only 2 miles from home and not on the freeway.

I am almost in tears after calling a Chevrolet dealer and having them first tell me it's a recall and then saying no it's not in the computer so it's your problem. This needs to be a recall. This is how recalls begin. When people die in accidents. Why should we have to wait for a loved one to die to have a company fix something they should. My last car I had for 13 years with not one problem. These things should never happen. I am going to fix car then sell it and never ever buy Chevy again.

As I was going to back out of my drive this morning I noticed that there was no power steering. We checked the belt and the fluid and all were ok. When I called someone to bring me to work I noticed on this site the numerous complaints on the HHR 2006 power steering. With so many problems it makes no sense for Chevrolet to not find a fix for this. Driving without power steering is dangerous. If nothing can be done and I have to get a new car I will definitly think twice about buying from this manufactor again.

I was riding down the street and turned the corner and I could barely turn and almost hit a car. Thinking that I had a regular power steering problem I soon discovered that the power steering was electrical and was told that it would cost $400.00 to fix but that the problem might not be fixed. It is dangerous and I cannot afford to pay for something that may not be fixed. Warranty has just ended and I am still making payments on the vehicle. I have read the numerous complaints about this issue, why is there nothing being done?

I haven't had any problems with this car, until November of 2012, after having the car for a little over one year I began having steering problems. Out of the blue the instrument panel would display "power steering" and it became very hard to steer the vehicle. I've spoken to GM which they tell me this is just a issue with my car and have no reports from other HHR owners, which I know it untrue because you can simply type in "hhr steering problems" and pages upon pages come up about the issue, yet there is NO recall. It's ridiculous because it's a safety hazard. I cannot drive my car which I still make monthly payments on because I'm to afraid I will get into an accident. Gm is a horrible car company and I don't ever plan on buying another Gm car. They have no interest in helping to resolve the problem unless I'm willing to pay them to duplicate the problem, and if they cannot duplicate the issue, well there goes $95 dollars for them to do nothing. It's horrible and I've never experienced a more irresponsible company than general motors! The Chevy cobalts had the same issue and there was a recall. The hhr and Chevy have the same internal parts with just a different outside body. As I was reading on a site the president of GM said "we are aware of the issue with the HHR's steering but it's not problem and the vehicle is still drivable". Really try going 80+ mph on the highway and tell me the vehicle is still drive able. I wouldn't risk mine or my families life off what he thinks he knows. But the again why would he care it's not his family that could be killed because GM doesn't make reliable vehicles.

My power steering already went out on my car with with less than 60,000 miles on it. They can't even tell me why it is not working, what caused it, nothing. After complaining the dealer offered to pay half of the 823.00 it would cost to fix it. I called GM to make a formal complaint. They said that the offer the dealer gave is the only thing they could do that it was no longer under warranty and I was responsible for it. They also only made that deal good for 90 days only. I have never had a car have the power steering go out with less than 60,000 miles on it......that is insane. They use a computerized power steering sys now and to even get it serviced cost almost 300. Do not buy this car and for that matter anything GM! The sun roof broke at 37,000 miles along with the in dash console. This car was made extremely cheap.......it is terrible!