2006 Chevrolet HHR: grinding or squealing brakes

Filed May 7, 2014 · Airbags · 100,000 miles · OH · crash · 1 injury

I was driving south on a 4 lane rte with a center lane for turning. I was driving the posted speed limit and then I don't know what happened. One minute I was driving, the next I was crashing into a telephone pole. The car went left of the center lane and the two northbound lanes and into the telephone pole. It happened so fast. There were no witnesses that came forward. I don't recall hearing any horns blaring or brakes squealing. I had no sense of warning that I was going to crash. ( I have been in or seen crashes before and there is usually a sense of " oh no this is about to happen"). My airbags did not deploy. My head spiderwebbed the windshield. I had tiny cuts in my scalp and slivers of glass in my hair. My left shoulder hit something (maybe the steering wheel)? My left thigh had a bruise from the steering wheel. The bruise was 12" x 4 or 5 " throughout the length of the bruise.. There is a large hematoma above where the bruise had been. This hematoma is measures approx 7 " and round. It is painful and protrudes 3". My right knee was banged up and is still painful and there was bruising and a smaller hematoma about the size of a golfball. Both hematomas remain. The crash was on 3/28/2014. My neck started hurting immediately and still remains painful. The car has front end damage and some on the left and some on the right. I believe my injuries were directly caused by failure of airbag deployment.

Filed Apr 12, 2014 · Body, Electrical · 33,837 miles · AZ

We have had several problems with our hhr since we bought it in august of 2007. The first problem occurred just after purchasing it, when we were driving it out on a highway for a first time outing with it, when I noticed the front wheels seemed to be floating back and forth. I slowed down and immediately took it home. We contacted our local dealer, and had the car brought in to be checked out. We were told the front bushings were bad & needed replacing. The dealer replaced the bushings. (under warranty) in september of 2007, we had to replace our cars remote control, even though it was only 1 years old. Our dealer replaced it but we had to pay $81.82 out of our pocket. October 2007, I brought our car into our dealer because it had a rough ride and groaning sounds. The dealer looked at it and said the sound was coming from the steering column. They replaced our steering column under warranty. December of 2007 my wife, mother & I went to a christmas light parade in our town; when we got home I turned off the ignition & when I attempted to remove the key, it would not come out. That monday I called our local dealer & they had us bring in the car on 12/3/07. They reported that there was no power to the inter lock2 and a fuse had brown. They found that a wire harness was pinched under the column cover & repaired the harness (under warranty) january 29,2008 I brought our 2006 hhr into our dealer again complaining about squeaking and popping noise with clunking in left front. They said they heard noise from stabilizer links pivot joint at link tires miss-matched. They replaced both stabilizers links under warranty. Continued on next report

Filed Apr 6, 2011 · Brakes · 79,000 miles · MN

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to a local mechanic because of a vibration and shaking that occurred whenever the brakes were applied. The mechanic turned the rotors and replaced the brake pads. The failure recurred within six months in addition to an abnormal grinding noise exhibited by the brakes. The vehicle was not inspected of further repaired. The failure mileage was 79,000 and the current mileage was 85,000. Updated 06/17/11*lj updated 06/21/11

Filed Jan 29, 2011 · Steering · 50,000 miles · NY

Dealer states cannot duplicate problems: no power steering not fixed by replacing fuse (eps system), although gm recalled many vehicles with same problem and are aware of issue, no recall has been issued. Windows squeal up & down on sunny day, & get stuck shut. Windshield wipers came off of windshield wiper transmission. Front end sway bars replaced, continued problem, tires wearing uneven, feels like bad bearings, unable to dup. Rear windshield wiper fluid pours into interior of car. Front left turn signal went then rear turn signal. Interior was sold as scotch guarded/repellent of liquids interior is far from guarded against anything water stains fabric. Electric power mirrors no longer work. Brought car in for service, recall on front head air bags never disclosed to me never offered to repair.

Filed Jan 24, 2007 · Brakes · 5,450 miles · KY

2006 hhr 2lt with 5000+ miles had near miss when brakes failed while traveling at about 45 MPH, I attempted to gently brake for a truck turning 6-7 cars ahead of me. I heard a loud grinding noise that reminded me of plastic gear teeth turning the wrong direction. My pedal would not depress and the car would not even slow. Reflexively, I pumped the brake to see if the ABS had just locked up. The brake pedal felt like it was locked in the up position. Luckily I had been about 6-7 car lengths behind and by the time I got up in his rear, my brake pedal released a little (still with resistance) and I was able to slow enough not to hit him as he turned. I had to avoid him by veering to the left to drive around him. The brake seemed to release several seconds later after completely removing my foot from the pedal and coasting. My auto dealer said they took it for a drive and it was braking fine. I??m concerned because they have dismissed this near collision. Additional info: outdoor temp was below 30 in ky. Is possible there was ice on the road, but having lived in both oh and mi I am very familiar with ice and a car's response. Abs did sound like it attempted to engage before the grinding noise, but brake pedal response was not normal. Brakes did not lock up as with icy conditions. Car did not slide. Speed was maintained, despite attempting to depress brake pedal. Pedal didn't move (lower) as it does with normal braking.