2006 Chevrolet HHR: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Jul 8, 2020 · Fuel system · 31,541 miles · MI · fire

On 11-01-2015, while driving the car, a fuel line began to spray gasoline. The leak appeared toward the rear tire on the driver's side. The leak was noticed because the fuel caught fire. The fuel must have been sprayed onto a hot part. The on-fire fuel landed on the pavement where it continued to burn until manually extinguished with a fire extinguisher. Turning off the engine stopped the spraying, but fuel continued to drip from the area for some time. The repairing mechanic told me that the line was rusted and had a hole. He said that part of the line sits in a pocket where it stays wet and dirt/salt accumulate. He found a fuel vapor line also was heavily rusted. The lines were replaced at a cost of 588.31. I'm reporting this now because of the recent announcement of an investigation of some model years for this problem. My year was not on the list, but the lines rusted. Thank you for taking time to read this report. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like additional details or if I may clarify any item.

Filed May 14, 2017 · Fuel system · 120,000 miles · MA

Fuel lines on drivers side next to rear wheel are rusting and leaking fuel over a exhaust pipe,when hot would surely cause a fire. From what I've read a few have caught fire.

Filed Apr 4, 2016 · Electrical, Engine · 24,400 miles · HI · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. The contact stated that the vehicle caught fire while the contact and her sister were in the vehicle. The contact stated that the fire affected the engine compartment and was extinguished by pedestrians. A fire report was not filed and there were no injuries. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the failure was not determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was approximately 24,400.

Filed Feb 23, 2016 · Electrical · 24,400 miles · HI · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. While driving 40 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The fuse box caught fire and caused the battery to drain completely. Bystanders helped to extinguish the fire. On another occasion, the vehicle lost all power and functionality and the ignition key remained stuck in the ignition. The vehicle was towed to a dealer and repaired, but the failure recurred numerous times. The manufacturer was made aware of the failures. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 24,400.

Filed Dec 27, 2015 · Electrical, Visibility · 135,000 miles · TN

I was driving to my family's home on christmas, when my car suddenly began to smell like burnt rubber inside of the car. It was raining on that day. Suddenly the cars AC, or h vac did not work anymore. Upon googling things of what it could be, I found out that the resistor and blower motor had been burnt do to be allowing water to enter the blower motor panel from the outside of the car. Upon looking at my blower motor and resistor I found evident burn marks on them. Gm should investigate how rainwater can enter the cars blower motor causing a burning smell in a inhalation of fumes of burning plastic. Not to mention my ability not to see out of the window due to the defrost not working. This is a safety concern!!

Filed Feb 4, 2015 · Electrical, Seats · 126,894 miles · AZ

I have had numerous problems first off my dash lights will flicker while driving sometimes the radio and dash won't work at all, backs of my driver and passenger seats have fallen off, both driver and passenger door handles are broke the drivers handle is completely broke off, also when it rains my passenger floor board fills up with water, my seats are so dirty looking cause something keeps bleeding through upholstery, ignition and shift lever had to be replaced today cause car wouldn't go into park and key wouldn't come out!! Also the car used to slide when on a corner or rough road!! This is ridiculous!! The door handles is a safety hazard god for bid if I'm in a wreck or my car starts on fire I won't be able to get out of my car and I can't afford to have them fixed right now because I recently lost my job!!

Filed Aug 19, 2014 · Electrical · 69,000 miles · OK

To whom it may concern, the key got stuck in the ignition in april (with no other problems) drained the battery and was picked up and taken to smicklas chevrolet dealership in okc, and remained there on the lot until we picked up on 8/8/14 was told we needed a new battery they could do for around $200 but it was not payday yet and we asked for a jump when we got there. I feel with it sitting there so long maybe they should have try to charge the battery at the very least. We got a few miles down the expressway and had to pull over so we didn't get in a wreck or cause one due to a ton of smoke coming out the vents and a terrible electrical smell like it was on fire! Turned off the A/C and pulled over to check under the hood to make sure there wasn't a fire, not one we could see but it sure smelled like it!! Called ray at smicklas right there on the side of the road, only to be told it sounded like the blower motor on the air conditioner and that happens sometimes when cars sit for that long. Feeling helpless, we finally get home to check things out and find the passenger floor board full of water, unable to set the time on the radio and some buttons won't work or the cd player and the new remote start will not work. We get it to our mechanic that replaces the battery and told us that the old one was very hot!! And that the blower motor was not the problem, it didn't even have power to it, it was an electrical problem to do with the ignition switch that there was a recall on....I laughed and told him we just had that done! He said that they may have wired something wrong, or the switch was bad. And to the end the day, when stopping for dinner on the way home the key stuck in the new ignition switch and I had to shift from park and drive a couple times to get the key out. What do I need to do to get this resolved??? Thank you for your time,

Filed Jun 7, 2011 · Body, Steering · FL

The car has several safety issues. The main concern is that both of the front doors had the handles break off. You cannot open the doors from the inside. You must roll down the window and open from the outside. If the vehicle were involved in an accident or caught on fire and there was no power to the vehicle you are literally trapped inside. I have brought this to the attention of chevrolet but they have failed to do anything.I feel like the vehicle is a rolling death trap. The other concern is that the power steering went out on the vehicle. Chevrolet does not make it a recall yet you can be driving along and all of a sudden your power steering goes out. The part is the same as the chevrolet cobalt and chevrolet did a recall on that vehicle for the very same power steering part.

Filed Apr 14, 2011 · Body, Locks · 56,663 miles · TX

The interior door handles on the 2006 chevrolet hhr fell off. The only way to fix it is to replace the entire door panel just for the cheap plastic handle for approximately $500.00. If I was in an accident and the car would not start again, I could not get out of the car through the driver's side because I would not be able to roll down the window to open the door from the outside. Or if the car were on fire, I simply would not be able to escape. This needs to be a recall item as this is a huge safety factor. A bigger safety factor that the latch on the pop up middle console on the chevy hhr that was recalled back in 2008 (I think). There are blogs all over the internet of people like me who are experiencing the same problem. I am a single working girl who simply cannot afford a $500 interior door panel replacement for a cheap plastic handle because this is not reasonable. I tried to get chevy to replace it and they simply said they would give me a $40 discount. That is ridiculous!!! I bought the car be cause it was economical and not one thing about this replacement sounds economical. This is a safety hazard and could lead to a death.

Filed Sep 26, 2008 · Fuel system · OR · fire · 1 injury

On or about 30aug08 al line to the fuel pump on my 2006 chevy hhr leaked causing the car to catch on fire. Prior to this incident, the vehicle had been taken to the dealer for warranty work 7 times. To correct other issues. I am writing because I was charged for the repair. It took 30 days to get the part, and general motors sent a representative to the dealership who took over 300 pictures of the car.