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 contact owns a 2007 Chevrolet HHR. The contact stated that while attempting a right turn, the vehicle abnormally accelerated. The contact crashed into a retaining wall and another vehicle. The air bags failed to deploy and the seat belt failed to restrain the contact securely. Additionally, the vehicle stalled and the doors could not be unlocked. The contact became trapped in the vehicle. A police report was filed of the incident. The contact sustained injuries to the knee, chest and arm. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 42,990. Kmj
Passenger door handle broke, my car has power windows and if I were in a car accident and car lost power passenger could be trapped in car. I also drive a 2008 HHR at work and the power steering went out and the driver side door handle also broke. I have received a safety recall notice for the ignition on my 2007 HHR but I think the door handles are a big issue.
I had to replace left and right control arms on this vehicle, brakes constantly can't unlock doors from inside, have to roll down window to unlock, now having engine problems and one of the control arms going bad again.plus something is causing rain to get in my car somewhere, because when it rains at smells mildewy.
The contact owns a 2007 Chevrolet HHR. The contact stated that both front door handles failed on the interior due to defective material. The front passenger"S door handle failed first, was replaced, and failed a second time. The front driver"S door handle failed most recent. The doors could only be opened from the exterior. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 70,000 and the current mileage was 91,000. Updated 11/13/12 the consumer stated recently a driver and passenger got into the vehicle, closed the doors, then realized the driver did not have the key. The driver and passenger were stuck in the car. The door handle assembly needs to be repaired. Updated 11/29/2012
Originally the passenger interior door handle broke leaving us unable to exit the vehicle without opening the door using the outside handles. Now the driver interior door handles broke and we cannot exit the vehicle without lowering the window and opening the doors from the outside. This has to be a safety issue because we could potentially be trapped inside the car in an accident.
- Lodi, CA, USA
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The front passenger's door latch broke under normal wear and tear because it is made of plastic. You cannot open the door from the inside once it is broken, it has to be open from the outside or you have to be tall enough to reach over to the outside door handle and open the door. Lot of complaints because the only way to repair broken handle is to replace the entire door panel a cost of over $250.
The contact owns a 2007 Chevrolet HHR. The contact stated that the driver side door handle fractured from the vehicle while attempting to exit. The contact was unable to open the driver side window and had to climb to the passenger side door to exit the vehicle. The contact spoke with a dealer and was told that the entire door panel would have to be replaced and even although the vehicle was under warranty, the door handle was not and would be the liability of the contact. The failure and current mileage was 72,000.
I am an owner of 2007 HHR with 51,000 miles. I locked my car went into the store came out and the driver side door would not open. The remote button would work the lock up and down button but still the door would not open from the outside handle. I then put the key in the door and still it would not open. The lock flips up and down with the key and the remote but the door handle will not open the door. The handle is not broken. So I entered the car by the passenger side door, crawled over the seat and shift level to get behind the wheel to drive home. After arriving home I could not get out of my drivers side door. It would not open from the inside, so I had to crawl over the shift and seat to the passenger side to exit the vehicle. I have a torn muscle in my arm so it hurt to do all this. I took the car to the dealer and they replaced the latch inside the door for $397. That's outrageous. That was 7 days ago. Today, I went to town with my husband and the passenger side door would not open. Now I could not exit on the passenger side. This is crazy. Same thing on the passenger door. Will not open from the inside or outside and I had to crawl over to get out. This is a severe safety issue and for people who have disabilities it is definitely a safety issue. Also, if we were to have any accident or emergency we would not be able to get out. What if a child were in that seat. The dealership said they did not have anyone with this issue but after looking on the internet it is a very big issue and needs to be recalled to fix it before someone is killed or seriously hurt by not being able to open the door to get out in any situation. The door will not open from inside handle or outside handle so you are stuck inside or locked outside.
2007 Chevrolet HHR the shifter will not lock into gear and key is stuck in ignition. This is a major safety hazard as seeing while you are driving you can go into any gear at anytime if it is accidentally bumped which can cause a major accident. I had to unhook the battery to turn everything off since the key will not come out of ignition.
Chevrolet HHR-2007 with 57,000 miles - the inside door latch on the driver's side broke. I found out that the hinge on the latch is plastic and to repair it I have to replace the entire door panel. I am partially disabled and recovering from knee replacement. This is a severe design problem. Many people who buy this car purchase it because it is easy to get in if you have ambulatory problems. Please help me and other consumers.
2007 Chevy HHR interior door handle broke when trying to open the door. No longer can I exit the vehicle without rolling down the window and opening the door from the exterior handle. Unable to replace just the handle, the only way to fix the piece of plastic that is holding the door handle together is to replace the entire door panel. It is unacceptable that a cheap piece of plastic is controlling the opening of the door. With this piece broken, I am unable to exit in the event of an accident if the windows can't be rolled down.
When putting the car in park, the key would not remove from the ignition. Also, the car could be shifted through the gears without pressing the button on the shifter. There is a safety issue in that the gear shift can be bumped into and out of various gears. After opening the center console, I discovered that the plastic plunger that goes down through the shifter had broken, and in the process allowed the metal pin that closes the contact with the ignition to come loose. This has occurred approximately 6 - 10 times in the past 2 weeks, with increasing frequency. I called the local dealership, terry labonte Chevy in greensboro, nc only to be told that I had probably spilled some liquid.
2007 HHR ls - when trying to exit the vehicle the front driver side door handle broke. Thus making the only way to exit the vehicle is to roll down the window and access the exterior door handle. In the event of a serious crash or accident the driver would be trapped in the vehicle. GM's fix for the broken door handle is to replace the entire interior door panel at a cost of $450. The dealership does not stock this item and it has to be ordered which could take up to 2 weeks. GM's poor design of the door handle mechanism could lead to an tragic event and is also a rip off to the consumers who purchased this vehicle. This door handle mechanism needs to be redesigned and recalled by GM before someone does become trapped and killed.
2007 Chevrolet HHR ls while attempting to exit vehicle, with interior door handle in open position and foot on brake, I shifted into park and the automatic door locking/opening mechanism feature broke the handle rendering exit from interior impossible without lowering power window and reaching from through open window to access exterior door handle. In the event of a serious crash this will in effect trap the driver in the vehicle. GM refused to acknowledge this serious defect in design which has occurred many times according to public reports. The door handle is available only through GM dealers at a quoted price of $450 dollars. For a plastic door handle that broke due to poor design.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Deer Lodge, MT, USA