While driving to work in the snow the steering wheel jerked out of my hands. This same problem has been recalled for other chevy models but not the hhr. Does someone need to die in an accident first. I got a recall letter for the storage bin in the dash not staying closed and that is a minor inconvenience, for my wife who has always had power steering in a vehicle to have it suddenly go out scares you when you are at highway speeds. If you turn off the car and restart it within a minute or two its out again. Consumers pay for safety and it doesn't seem like all of the this regulations are helping when it really matters.
2006 Chevrolet HHR steering complaints
Page 10 of 16: complaints 251 to 280 of 458, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Driving to work and turned a corner, discover almost too late that I had no power steering. No light flashed on the dash to warn me and I almost hit another vehicle. There has been no solution to fix this problem as it keeps recurring.
As I was driving my electronic power steering shut down. I pulled over turned engine off and when started again it again steering worked. Went to a store, and drove car about half mile and steering went out again. Pulled to side of road turned engine off, restarted and worked for about eight of a mile. Pulled to side of road and repeated as before. This is now more frequent. As of today 9/4 after the engine begins to warm up the steering turns off. All fluids in car are full. This is a safety issue because the car is very difficult to steer when the steering goes out. I saw that the cobalt had a recall for this and the hhr is mechanically and electronically the same as the hhr. The hhr should be included in the same recall. Thank you.
Had power steering issue did some research turns out to be over heat.. Check coolant levels. My coolant temp. Over 200 added coolant now around 190 steering works fine.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. The contact stated that while driving 50 MPH, the electric power steering light illuminated as the steering became very difficult to maneuver. The vehicle was restarted a few minutes later and operated as designed for another mile before the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for diagnosis and the contact was informed that the electric power system motor would need to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 97,000. Updated 10/17/13*cn the vehicle was repaired at the owner's expense on august 20, 2013. Updated 10/24/13
I do not have a problem with the steering until I drive a few miles. After I drive my 2006 chevy hhr a few miles the power steering light comes on & my electric power steering completely stops..the car is very hard to steer and almost impossible to park..when I need to park I have to turn my car off & then start it back up. I have done research on this problem and have found that my hhr is not the only one having problems with the power steering and there were also other chevy makes & models.with the same problem and there was a recall on them..will you please have a recall on the electric power steering on the 2006 chevy hhr so we can be safe on the road...[xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
My power steering went out and its very hard to drive! I have to turn the car off and on to get it going! When it first happen I was going around a curve,and it totally scared me!
Power steering motor shorted out, when we took it to chevy dealer we were told that gm would not sell the motor separately as the steering column went out shortly after the power steering motor, and were also told there had been a recall on some hhr's. The price to repair is $1500. I am 71 years old, my disabled husband is 72 years old and we only have social security as income. Tried to get some compensation from gm and after almost 3 weeks they told me they would not help me because I bought the car used from a dealer other than a chevy dealer, that it was out of warranty and over mileage. If the steering goes out there most likely be an accident of some kind. We have no other transportation, I do feel this is a definite safety issue. Any help you can provide to have gm honor the recall would be appreciated.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. The contact stated while driving approximately 20 MPH the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver. The power steering warning light illuminated. The failure occurred intermittently. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 64,000.
Power steering went out. Goes out every time I drive it.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. The contact stated that her vehicle failed to start. The contact attempted to jump start the vehicle but to no avail. The contact was able to restart the vehicle hours later however, the steering wheel had become extremely difficult to maneuver. The contact stated she did not take the vehicle to a dealer because she did not trust the parts that were being used to repair the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 119,000.
I was backing out of my driveway when the vehicle lost power steering, causing me to nearly hit my mailbox. The information screen on the speedometer said power steering and my service engine light came on.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. The contact stated that while reversing from a residential driveway, the power steering assist failed and the steering wheel seized. The vehicle was neither repaired nor inspected for the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 108,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. The contact stated that the power steering assist failed and caused resistance in the steering wheel. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was 52,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. The contact stated that while driving 35 MPH, the steering wheel became very difficult to maneuver. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 85,000.
I was going about 35mph when I came upon a curve and my electric power steering malfunctioned and caused me too loose control and crash into an open field. Ive spent most of my day researching and making phone calls. My local dealer tells me that there has been many issues with this but there are currently no recalls on the 2006 hhr.
I was driving with atleast 42 MPH coming down from a bridge with a curve road when my power steering shut down. No sign, when I tried to turn my steering wheel for the curve, it wouldn't move. I panicked and almost had an accident because everybody's driving the same speed as me. I had to turn on my hazard sign to notify others I+m having problem with my car. It was difficult to turn..as soon as I reached home, I turned off the engine and after 10 mins turned it on again and it was working fine. Im too scared to drive my car. My work is 12 miles from me and this steering problem happened without a warning.
The electronic power steering motor failed and continues to fail after starting the vehicle and driving for about 100 meters.
The car sudden loss of power steering assist is lost, the vehicle can still be steered, however, with greater effort (manual steering). The slower the vehicle is moving, the higher the steering effort. Unless a driver compensates for this additional steering effort, loss of power steering assist may increase the risk of a crash. The power steering assist is lost, a chime will be heard and the message centre will display a power steering warning message. Typically the next time the vehicle is started, the power steering assist will return and the message would no longer be displayed.
Power steering assist motor failed. Reset after shutoff and restart of car. Problem intermittent, occurring sometimes not at all, other times repeatedly (ie 5 times in a three mile drive). Problem always occurred while moving during a variety of speeds (25-75mph) and while decelerating and accelerating. The only circumstance in which it did not occur was standing still or turning. Dealer said short circuit in power steering assist motor was the problem and repaired it quickly. There are not a lot of miles on my vehicle, for a part like this to break and not be related to a defect seems less than realistic. I've read about the same part on chevy cobalts (the hhr platform) being recalled and many complaints by hhr owners regarding the same issue. Note: when I told the service dept I was using my mechanical breakdown insurance (via geico), they asked what my deductible was ($250); interestingly, when I called to ask about replacing stated part, was told repair was "about $400" but actual repair billing ended up being $218.
Vehicle will stall and we will crash or be hit by some one. When the vehicle stalls you loose all power that is power steering,brakes,the ability to maintain control of my vehicle .it began with my key getting stuck in the ignition,would have to try to place in park multiple times to release the key. Found the panel in the steering column and the release button to remove key. Now the gear shift button is stuck in the pressed position, making the car vulnerable to coming out of gear. This is extremely unsafe and costly to fix. Additional personal research has indicated this is a common & known issue with the manufacturer.
Was driving vehicle (chevy hhr) at highway speed when a warning wassage displayed asyin power steering, a bell started dinging and stering the vehicle became difficult. I was in a curve on a hill. I wasw able to safely get off the highway and turned the car off, checked fuses, found no problem. Restarted the car and it started working again. Had now done this about 15 times after the car warms up or travelded about 20 miles. Has happened to my wife a few times and causes her didiculty in stering the car with her recovery from shoulder surgery. In researching on line and I see this car has been recalled in canada, and the same parts are used in the chevy covalt and has recalls for the problem in the us. Why not the chevy hhr been recalled?
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. The contact stated that while reversing from a residential driveway, the power steering assist failed as the power steering warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer for diagnosis or repairs. The manufacturer was not notified of the problem. The failure mileage was 56,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. The contact stated that while driving 35 MPH , the power steering warning lamp illuminated and the steering wheel became very stiff. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The VIN was not available. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 65,000.
The power steering goes out at random intervals. If you turn the car off and turn it back on again, it works just fine. It could be potentially dangerous if it happened in a situation where I was expecting it to work, but it didn't.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr. The contact stated that while driving 35 MPH, the power steering warning light illuminated as the power steering assist failed. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for inspection. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified and they stated that the vehicle was not included in any recalls. The failure mileage was 115,623.
Steering fails when driving. The car is not steerable. Very dangerous to drive. Chevy cobalt has a recall for this problem. Hhr is the same platform,same steering components,same manufacture of steering components. Gm is suing the manufacture of the power steering units but doesn't recognize a very serious safety issue with the chevy hhr. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
I was traveling down the highway when the dash panel warning lights all started flashing on and off. When it did this the power steering went out and when I tried to stop the engine revved up and the power brakes didn't feel right. It felt like the vehicle had the old style manual brakes. It has done this several times and when I researched it online I noticed there were several other hhr owners experiencing the same problem. The problem originally started with the traction control light to come on randomly and I would have to disconnect the battery to reset the computer.
Driving at any speed and the power steering light comes on and there is no power steering, hard to steer. Happens numerous times. Turn car off and then back on and it's fine again.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 chevrolet hhr lt. The contact stated that the power steering assist failed and the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact had to shift into neutral to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered to assist with repair costs. The failure mileage was 15,000. The current mileage was 100,017.
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