Getting our monies worth - 2006 HHR 2 LT review

[Dsuupr]

2006 Chevrolet HHR 2LT review

Could Lutz be right? Could the HHR be a gotta have? For our household it is. In little over 2 weeks we have already over 2300 miles our car/suv/wagon and we love it.

Exterior

The HHR is a love or hate type of design. Many find the “old” school look to be outdated, others find it a fresh redo of a great original. We find it to be a useful design with some fun old time looks that stands out among the look alike Asian products. Like it or hate it, the design does show just how far modern vehicle design can go with it’s clam shell type hood and bulging panels. The small exterior windows do take some getting used too, as it provides a short cabin feeling making some taller folks feel uncomfortable inside. We did purchase the upgraded 17 inch “shiny” wheels, roof rails, and running boards all of which are worth the extra money both from an ascetics point, and from usefulness point (the running boards reduce body side scratches).

Interior

GM has been well known for cars that have eye catching exteriors with interiors that fall short. Fortunately the HHR is from the “new” GM, were interior design is just as important as exterior design. Not only is the interior fit and finish good, it material used and the overall design is very easy on the eyes.

All the controls are logical and easy to use, though the window switches on the center console can prove to be difficult if you want to open all 4 windows at the same time. Express window opening for all 4 windows would help considerably here.

Rear seats have more than enough leg room and have great support all around, too bad the same can’t be said about the front seats. Though very comfortable, and great for a long haul interstate drive, they lack enough side bolster to help on those twisty back roads. The seats alone make this car a long haul cruiser and not a back road twister.

Cargo space is why we bought the HHR, and were the HHR shines the most. A moveable shelf system makes this the perfect family rig. The plastic shelf area on the top level makes the perfect changing table, though I don’t recommend it for those with “big” kids. The HHR seems to swallow up everything we put in it, and what you can’t fit inside, you can easily put on the roof thanks to the Running Boards and overall low height.

Features

Plug in an IPod for 14 hours plus hours of home picked music, pick one of the 6 CDs from the changer, or pick a XM radio station, and crank up the 7 speaker 260 watt stereo for great sound and your ready to head cross country. This is the first car/suv/wagon we’ve owned that we never get tired of the music. It sounds great, it’s easy to use and with so much selection it makes it the perfect “road trip” vehicle. We will never buy a new car again without so many great sounding listening options.

GM includes SO many great standard features now days, I wonder why someone would put up with less. Automatic headlights, gas mileage indicator, mileage left indicator, oil change monitoring system, delay locking, rear reading lights, battery run-down protection, scotch guard throughout, power lumbar support, air filtration system, road side assistance, automatic locks, passenger sensing airbag (no toyota kill kid problem here), compass, and much, much more.

Fit & Finish

Not only does it look solid, it feels solid. Just yesterday we were comparing our 1989 Suburban to the 2006 HHR and found some major quality improvements. The metal stampings of 1989 Suburban shows were the panels connect, the HHR looks like it was stamped out by one piece of metal with few stamping points visible. The exterior and interior of the Suburban has gaps big enough to put a Nano IPod into, unlike the HHR which you would be hard pressed to put a piece of paper through.

The interior is a major improvement over previous GM products, including our 2005 Cobalt. All knobs click with a high quality feel. The two areas they missed; the steering wheel and quality of plastic on the dash. The steering wheel has big gaps were the steering wheel controls are located and the dash has a grain of plastic that seems of lower quality than the cars overall package. It does make sense that a car starting at $16,000 have this type of material, it just doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the design.

Suspension / Handling

The HHR with the upgraded suspension package is amazingly smooth, but could use a little more aggressive cornering ability. Like the seats, the suspension would rather be on an open highway than the back twisty roads. Considering this car/suv/wagon is made for kid hauling or long distance cruising, the suspension fits right in. Don’t get me wrong, it handles MUCH better than a minivan, and as good as most midsize cars, it’s just not a Cobalt SS on the back roads. On the positive side, the tires have great grip on the corners, and it doesn’t bob and weave when getting busy on the back roads. In the end, it still has a more confident / substantial feel the PT Cruiser, matrix, xa, and other vehicles in the same class.

Powertrain

WOW, am I glad we got the 2.4 4-cyl rather than the smaller 2.2 4-cyl. With a full load, 2 kids, 3 adults, groceries, etc., we can still do 70+ mph up a 6% grade in 5th gear. This is a pretty heavy car to move for its size, but the 2.4 seems up to it. My wife smoked the tires for a couple of feet the other night with little effort.

Our big concern when purchasing the HHR was the comfort of the manual transmission with the upright style of seating. It turned out to be a very comfortable position, more so than our Cobalt due to the armrest located on the right side of the driver’s seat.

Unlike the Cobalt, the 2.4 4-cyl HHR likes to get gas when taking off which is probably part of the reason we are only getting 33 mpg on average. We had hoped for the 40+ mpg in the HHR as we got in the Cobalt, but aren’t too disappointed with getting 33 mpg as this is still above the 30 mpg rating. At $45 to fill up it seems an expensive vehicle to use, until you realize you can easily get 450+ miles out of a tank of gas.

Safety

Any parent looking for a car puts safety on the top of their list. In this area the HHR does not disappoint. With a 5 star crash rating all the way around, even without the side airbags, why would a parent consider any other small wagon or SUV.

Value

Starting at $16,000 and only going up to $24,000 and change, you would be hard pressed to find a vehicle with so much utility, style and overall great packaging of the HHR. This is what attracted us to the HHR and it’s proven to provide us our monies worth and then some.

Our Buying Experience

As typical for most people shopping at Loren Berg Chevrolet, our experience was as good as car shopping can get. In the past we’ve looked at honda and toyota for comparison sake only to have the people treat us as if we couldn’t afford their cars. Little did they realize we have the income for a $40,000 acura or lexus, we just choose not to waste our money on them. We are sold on the great service Loren Berg provides, both in the sales department and in the service department. Until we can afford a Cadillac, we’ll stick with our Chevrolets. We know they last, as we’ve owned a 390,000 mile Chevrolet, and we know GM and Loren Berg will continue to treat us with respect.

Overall

The complaints are few and minor. We didn’t buy it to be a sports car so the suspension and front seats fit in prefect for family hauling and long distance cruising, the main items this vehicle will be called upon for. With today’s high gas prices, the HHR is the perfect SUV / Minivan replacement for a family rig, or long distance cruiser. We strongly recommended it.

Pictures

Pictures of our new HHR 2LT

Edited July 16, 2006 by Dsuupr

[thegriffon]

Great review Dsuupr. I'd just take another look at the last sentence under Suspension/Handling (needs a "than" in the middle or a "lack" at the end perhaps). I'd certainly publish it.

[ocnblu]

Excellent article, dsuupr, on an excellent vehicle.