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| THE LOBBY A gathering place. Introductions, sports, showin' off your ride, birthday-anniversary-milestone, achievements, family oriented humor. |
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#1
07-19-2011, 01:19 PM
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My Chevy HHR Rental.......
I went to a wedding a few weeks ago and when the valet gave me my truck back it had a new dent in the passenger rear door. The valet company admitted fault and picked it up yesterday to have repairs done. At the same time they dropped off an HHR rental car. 6800 miles and it already smells like a cross between perfume, a turd and pot. Stains in both front seats. Carpet, while nicely vacuumed, is amazingly dirty looking. This is a car that I don't fit. I'm 6 feet tall and I am nearly comfortable with the seat pushed all the way back. In that position when I turn to look out the drivers window I'm greeted with the B pillar instead. The B pillar is amazingly wide and matches the amazingly thick A pillar nicely. The interior finish is great, if you like hard, rough grained plastic. Everywhere. The ride seems nice and the engine is nicely muted (unless you actually need to accelerate...). In the 100 or so miles I've been in it I've noticed a few other HHR's running around....strangely, they all had handicapped tags affixed to the back.
The A/C is world class. The cruise control is very accurate. The instant fuel economy read-out is fun and seems a great way to have a wreck. Hurry with the truck guys.......
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 frittering and wasting the hours in an off hand way.... 1969 GTO, 455ci, 230/236 Pontiac Dude's "Butcher Special" Comp hyd roller cam with Crower HIPPO solid roller lifters, Q-jet, Edelbrock P4B-QJ, Doug's headers, ported 6X-8 (97cc) heads, TKO600, 3.73 geared Eaton Tru-Trac 8.5", hydroboost, rear disc brakes......and my greatest mechanical feat....a new heater core. 
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#2
07-19-2011, 01:25 PM
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P.O.S! my brother had one a guy rearended him at a light and it crunched like it was nothing. Totaled the car!
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Jason  1968 lemans :In progress!  1970 Bonneville 455 HO convertible (survivor)sold 1969 firebird |
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#3
07-19-2011, 02:11 PM
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LOL
David, beat on it. Every chance you get. It WILL make you feel better...trust me...
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Ric |
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#4
07-19-2011, 02:13 PM
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Quote:
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#5
07-19-2011, 02:34 PM
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 Im getting claustrophobic thinking about small cars and wouldnt own any of those crash traps. LOL As far as hard plastic i know what you mean as my 2010 Ford F-150 XL is nothing but hard plastic. But then again its a Company truck and thats the way it was purchased.
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Last edited by bigunde; 07-19-2011 at 02:44 PM. |
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#6
07-19-2011, 02:46 PM
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Quote:
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Ric |
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#7
07-19-2011, 02:54 PM
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Yep, rented one in Maui. The power curve reminded me of an old YZ Yamaha.
No power at takeoff, midrange it was "on the pipe".
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 3 Generations of "Beach Boys Racing" ! Everybody knows somthin. Nobody knows everything ! 1st time on a dragstrip, 1964. Flagstart ! "Thanks for the entertainment." "Real Indians Don't Wear Bowties" |
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#8
07-19-2011, 03:15 PM
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We have an HHR as a delivery vehicle at the parts stores I work at part time, it's like driving a oversized go-kart
 I have alot of fun it it 
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74 Formula 469, 6X-4's, 72 Intake, Ramair Manifolds. 3 inch exhaust with x-pipe Custom Roller Cam, 1.52 Roller Rockers Quadrajet done by Cliff 3:42 gears 12.075 @ 112.70 12.092 @ 112.43 12.128 @ 111.71 
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#9
07-19-2011, 03:17 PM
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This HHR is missing the "on the pipe" feature.
Years ago I owned a YZ250 and it was like a light switch.....if you weren't on the pipe it just blubbered but hang on when it hit the power band.
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frittering and wasting the hours in an off hand way.... 1969 GTO, 455ci, 230/236 Pontiac Dude's "Butcher Special" Comp hyd roller cam with Crower HIPPO solid roller lifters, Q-jet, Edelbrock P4B-QJ, Doug's headers, ported 6X-8 (97cc) heads, TKO600, 3.73 geared Eaton Tru-Trac 8.5", hydroboost, rear disc brakes......and my greatest mechanical feat....a new heater core.
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#10
07-19-2011, 04:28 PM
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In the past I have made insurance companys put me in a similar car to the one I owned.
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#11
07-19-2011, 04:48 PM
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Carole (Rustie) had one for a rental one time and that thing sucked! It felt like you were driving in a flight simulator because your vision was so obstructed! the interior was cheap and cheesy and bland. Worse than a PT Cruiser!
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74 GTO Bracket/Street car and another 74 for the wifey to race with! 70 GTO 400, 4 spd, #'s matching and a little to nice for me to own. Friendship is like peeing your pants..everyone can see it but only you can feel the warmth! |
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#12
07-19-2011, 04:57 PM
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Bought my daughter one for her 16th Birthday. It's the LT model...turn the traction control off and will spin the tires! It's fun to drive and good on gas. Although I am not a huge fan of it...it's ok. The LT model with the leather is a lot nicer than the base model...it has 6 disc changer w/factory sub. The reason we bought this is it has 10 airbags and has a great safety rating...good on gas...28-30mpg...and of course it's what she wanted!
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Last edited by Tanksta; 07-19-2011 at 05:17 PM. |
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#13
07-19-2011, 05:54 PM
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With a choice, Ill take the Nissan Rouge.. The HHR isnt a bad rig though..shouldnt hurt the GM reputation any .
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"The Future Belongs to those who are STILL Willing to get their Hands Dirty" .. my Grandfather |
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#14
07-19-2011, 05:56 PM
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it uses speed wheel sensors and engages when the car goes around corners as one wheel spins more than the other. just an fyi.
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"The Future Belongs to those who are STILL Willing to get their Hands Dirty" .. my Grandfather |
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#15
07-19-2011, 06:28 PM
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I have an HHR for my company vehicle. For what I do (outside sales rep for ACD/MTC warehouse distributor) it works real well. Day in/day out it gets 30 MPG which includes 70+ MPH on the highway and driving around in towns from contacting the new car dealers, fleets and independent repair shops I work with. Straight highway driving I've hit 36 MPG frequently.
I haven't experienced the visibility problems that have been mentioned. But I'm not even close to 6' tall, so maybe that makes a difference. My next oil change will be at 100,000 miles. So far, besides gas, tires and oil the only repairs have been: 1. Replaced the driver's door handle that broke off in my hand ($55.00 repair done by myself with a kit from Dorman). 2. New front struts and alignment when we put a new set of tires on at 92,000 miles. The struts weren't really worn out, but preventative maintenance because of the new tires and alignment. Back in 2002, I had the misfortune of driving a PT Cruiser for about 2 weeks (company vehicle for a previous employer) - now that thing was a REAL POS. My 2000 AWD GMC Jimmy got better fuel economy that the PT Cruiser - and was a whole lot more comfortable. My old company was always replacing brakes on those Cruisers. They ultimately replaced the Cruisers with HHR's and were much happier with the ride/handling/performance and reliability. Still not a vehicle that I would buy for myself. If I were in the market today, I would go with either a Chevy Equinox or a GMC Terrain. Our current DD is a 2006 Pontiac Torrent that we have had great luck with. Only have 78,000 miles on it, so it'll be a few years before we consider a replacement. |
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#16
07-19-2011, 06:30 PM
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I got one for a rental as an "upgrade" from a compact. Not a bad car. Plus it only cost me $35 to rent it for a whole weekend in Portland OR.
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-Jeremy 1968 GTO 4-spd convertible, console, factory gauges, hidden headlights, 3.90:1 posi, AM/FM radio. 1962 Catalina convertible, Starlight black w maroon interior & white top. |
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#17
07-19-2011, 07:04 PM
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I've had HHR's for rentals before, I thought they were all right. The big A pillar is a pretty common thing on many new cars these days, a lot of them are that way.
I've put quite a few miles on PT Cruisers as well, both as rentals and in cars owned by family members (my brother was a Chrysler engineer and worked on that car. Styling is subjective, but as far as function goes I think they're good little cars. By the way, I'm 6'1" and I fit fine in both cars. My understanding is the same guy who was the lead stylist for the PT Cruiser was hired by Chevrolet, where he did the HHR. |
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#18
07-19-2011, 07:32 PM
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Quote:
 Seems to be that other than the overall size - the styling is pretty close to the original. 
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#19
07-19-2011, 07:53 PM
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I work for a car rental place and the HHR is a BIG improvement over the PT Loser.
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#20
07-19-2011, 08:51 PM
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[QUOTE=The Champ;4370085]Not saying that it wasn't the same designer, but the HHR (High Heritage Roof) was designed to look like the 1949 Suburban...
Seems to be that other than the overall size - the styling is pretty close to the original. [QUOTE] I'd say the styling is pretty close to the PT Cruiser...
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69 Judge, SURVIVOR, Carousel Red/Parchment, RAIII, 4-sp, 63k orig. miles, unrestored, #'s match 65 GTO, SURVIVOR, Tri-Power, 4-sp, 79k orig. miles, Capri Gold, orig. paint, top, interior, #'s match 70 GTO Conv, 400, at, A/C, Atoll Blue/Sandlewood/White top, all #'s match 2015 Challenger R/T Plus, hemi, Sublime |
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