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.
While driving the 2009 Chevy HHR back from work, without warning, the electric power steering stopped and a warning message came up on the dic. Once ignition was shut off the problem cleared temporarily. Over the past 24 hours the power steering has continued to exhibit the same erratic behavior.
While driving at 35 mph power steering cut out on vehicle.after pulling over & restarting engine P/steering returns for short period and cuts out again.where is govt. Recall? same components used on Chevy cobalt and they were recalled. No recall om HHR. Oh wait, nobody died yet!!!! eventually somebody will. Don't wait till it's too late.
Started the car up and the power steering light came on. No steering. Drove home carefully and shut motor off. Started car up again and the power steering worked. Went to dealer and shut car off. They said warranty was off. Started car back up and power steering light came back on and no steering. I went back home. I can shut off the car and the light doesn't come on for about 30 seconds. Now I will be forced to have it fixed at my expense even though I have discovered through the internet that this is a common problem with HHR's and General Motors will not recall the vehicles.
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet HHR. The contact stated that the power steering failed and the steering wheel became hard to turn. The failure recurred numerous times while driving at any speed. The power steering warning light was illuminated when the failure occurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 54,000 and the current 57,500.
Most recently almost every time I turn on my car, I will drive for maybe 5 minutes and my steering wheel becomes locked. I will pull off to the side shut off & turn back on the car leave it sit on for another minute or so pull off and the power steering will become engaged again locking the steering wheel. This has happened to me more and more frequently, especially since the days have become hotter. I have called my dealership and made appointments to get it diagnosed by every time I will go in for the appointment at that moment they will look at it and say or nothing is wrong. There are no display warnings on your dash board, you will have to bring it back to us when it is on. This issue is becoming very alarming to me since it is happening more frequently. I can't keep taking off every time I believe that there is an issue especially if when I go to the dealership and no work gets done.
- Philadelphia, PA, USA
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While driving at various speeds the power steering goes out making the difficult to control. I did research only to find that many other HHR owners experienced the same issue and several other Chevy models were recalled for the same issue. This has happened at various speeds. Restarting the car temporarily fixes it. Has happened between 0 and 2 miles of starting the car. (7 times yesterday) it could be very dangerous while trying to make turns.
I was driving home from work and as I was making a right turn the power steering went out. This has happened previously but luckily I was at a stop sign. I thought the car had stalled so I cut it off and restarted and it was fine. I drove to work the next morning and still no problem until I was making the right turn and then had difficulty controlling the car. Once I managed to get it in my drive, shut it off and then restarted- the power steering message went away and once again the car was fine. Same thing next morning car fine- I work about 5-7 miles from home. Again on the way home with no warning in rush hour traffic- power steering goes out as I am changing lanes. I manage once again to get home. My car has the same part that the Chevy cobalt has and Chevy had recalled the cobalt to make repairs but not the HHR. I have seen numerous complaints filed about this and fear that they do not take our safety seriously whom own the HHR- I have contacted Chevy and ask who to lodge complaint with since they were not helpful. They did not give me the information. I had to find on google. I did tell them that the internet is full of this same complaint regarding the power steering on the HHR and the response was I cannot look and unapproved GM sites(whatever that means). Thank you for you concern and hope you can help someone from having a serious injury due to this malfunction.
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet HHR. The contact stated that while driving approximately 25 mph, the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver as the power steering warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 66,686.
While driving down a steep grade at aprox. 50mph the steering power assist failed and power steering warning message on the dash light up. I drove home slowly aprox 8 miles with no steering. When I started the car later, the steering was fine again. Since that day the same thing has happened daily and happens within seconds of turning on the car.
My power steering went out on my Chevrolet HHR. It started anytime I parallel parked and eventually would happen driving 65 mph on the interstate. I could hardly turn the wheel, and it was very unsafe to drive. I was notified by my dealership that the power steering motor was the problem. It was fixed, and the problem no longer occurs. It has come to my attention this same power steering motor was recalled in other cars, but not the HHR. Make this happen.
On 6-23-2013 driving on the highway and while attempting to may a right hand turn my power steering on my 09 Chevy HHR failed without warning, this failure almost cause me to hit another car that was stopped and waiting to merge on the highway, I pulled to the shoulder of the road to check because the power steering warning light was on in the dash lights, finding nothing wrong under hood I restarted the car without any problems or warning lights on and drive home. The next day while returning from work on the interstate the power steering warning light returned on the dash with a loss of steering only by forcing the steering wheel to the right or left to make a turn or lane change, after I arrived home I got on the internet to see where my fill tank was for my power steering and learned that my HHR has electronic assist steering but I also learned that my car has been reported by numerous people across the country with the same problem with power steering units on the HHR, some with near death accidents, "wow". I know my wife or daughter could not handle this car when the power steering goes out without warning so this vehicle is being parked until I can get a full test on the unit.
Called the Chevy dealer, told me that it was Friday and to call first thing Monday morning. As I continued on freeway I realized that the ride was rougher, something was very wrong. To steer was harder, trip odometer both were not working, cruise control would not engage, speedometer was not working, transmission not shifting easily, pulled into Chevy dealer, found the service manager. Asked him to check the car, hours on sign stated that someone would available until 5:30. It was currently 4:50 pm. He assured me that is was safe to drive care: Pulled out of dealership, transmission would not shift at all. Engine light came on turned around, went back. He was just leaving to go home it was 5:10 at this time. When he saw me he got out of his car, came over, I told him the increased changes and why I turned around:I had my 80 year old aunt with me I live 14 miles outside of town it was Friday afternoon I did not want to make matters worse by driving this car say an accident or doing more damage to the repairs needed. He put it on the analysis scope he said he had mixed messages. One was it said power steering but with the wrong code. After that there was nothing that showed up. He again assured me that we would be fine! I pulled out of the dealership, drove 2 miles, then was coasting! had no transmission. Pulled over to side of road, turned off the engine sat for a few minutes, restarted continued down the highway with my flashers on. It would not shift higher than second gear.we limped to a friends house parked the car, they gave us a ride home. What would have happened if I had continued down that road. Please help.
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet HHR. The contact stated while driving 30 mph, the power steering failed. The contact stated it became difficult to turn the steering wheel and was forced to increase the effort in order to drive the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection where they stated the steering column needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 12,000.
I was driving my HHR on a state road at 50mph when the power steering message came on and the power steering quit. If I would have been in a curve, I would have wrecked. I found the nearest safe spot to pull off the road and turned my car off and restarted it and it came back on. Since this episode I have had multiple episodes with this problem. I only drive about 500 miles per month and that is too may times for the steering to go out.
While driving at various speeds the power steering goes out making the difficult to control. I did research only to find that many other HHR owners experienced the same issue and several other Chevy models were recalled for the same issue. The Chevy dealer verified that the issue I was having (failure of the power steering motor) was the same issue seen in many other Chevy models. Chevy would not fix it and washed their hands of it. This has happened at various speeds. Restarting the car temporarily fixes it.
I bought my HHR in September of 2012. The first issue I had with it has left me very concerned about future issues. The electric power steering failed while I had both of my small children with me in the middle of rush hour. Most frustrating is to research this matter just to find that GM is aware of the issue and has recalled the exact same part in their cobalt but has failed to carry it through their product line.
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet HHR. The contact stated that the power steering assist failed intermittently. The power steering assist warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 57,325. The current mileage was 57,350.
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet HHR. The contact stated that the power steering assist failed several times. The failure recurred randomly and without warning. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The current mileage was 121,965. The failure mileage was not available.
This is my 2nd HHR first was great this is horrible. First problem was my locking mechanism on drivers side would not work. After the third time in the dealership they changed out the lock mechanism. Then I started having problems with my window not rolling down and my dash light going out for a period of 2-3 seconds. They fixed the window but could never find out what was going on with the dash. Then my airbag service light started coming on I had to take in twice for this incident. My steering problem started when I took my son in to do his driving test and all of a sudden it became very difficult to turn. We parked the car gave it a few minutes and started driving again, did the test and on the way home it happened again. We have just had to many problems with this vehicle.
Electrical power steering assist motor failed and is now in operable. It happened right in the middle of driving down the freeway. The car can barely be turned, and is extremely dangerous to drive.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Fredericksburg, VA, USA