2007 Chevrolet HHR: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Aug 5, 2015 · Body · 56,000 miles · UT

In september 2013 when I went to open my door to get out of my car the door handle snapped. I was unable to open the door unless I turned the car back on, rolled the window down, reach outside, and open the door using the exterior door handle. This is on the driver's side. I had it replaced (approximately $195.00). On july 25th, 2015, I went to get out of my car and the same thing happened. The door handle broke. This poses a major safety and life threatening issue. If someone was in an accident and the car caught fire you'd die before you could get out of the car. This needs to be fixed by chevrolet at no cost to the owner. I've been driving for 35 years and have owned piece of crap cars and never had a door handle break once, let alone twice. I spoke to chevy customer service and they said it was unfortunate but I would have to pay for the repairs myself. Really?? Please make this a recall issue. Thank you for your time.

Filed Nov 29, 2014 · Airbags, Body · 139,000 miles · TX · crash · 1 injury

The front door handle broke on the passenger side of my car in 2013 we had taken the car to the dealership to inquire about this, since this is a safety issue not being able to get out of your car if something dangerous was to happen. At that time the dealership told my husband I that there was nothing they could do about it. Then again in 2014 the driver side door had broken also. So now I have two broken doors on my car that you can only get out of, if someone lets me out of the car or I roll the window down. I feel this is a major safety issue. If I were to get into a serious accident were I was unable to roll my window down and did not have someone riding in the back seat (say car caught on fire) then this could lead to major problems if not death. Also when my husband had an accident neither airbag deployed. And backseat passenger side seatbelt would not release and we had to cut my granddaughter out of seatbelt. So now I am driving a car that airbags did not deploy in, back seatbelt had to be cut and my front two doors you cannot get out of if unable to roll window down. Major safety issues. We had around 98,000. Miles when issues started with the doors. Which I believe the miles should have nothing to do with a safety issue.

Filed Apr 1, 2014 · Steering, Transmission · FL · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 chevrolet hhr. The contact stated while driving various speeds, the power steering would stop working sporadically. While driving 65 MPH, the clutch caught on fire and disintegrated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for the clutch failure. The technician diagnosed that the clutch assembly needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was unknown.

Filed Jul 9, 2012 · Body · 88,000 miles · AZ

The inside drivers door handle breaks off and cannot be replaced per chevy and gm without installing an entire front inside door panel. You cannot exit the car without lowering the window and reaching outside to open the door. With power windows you cannot lower the window if there are electrical problems. I have had to resort to climbing over the console and opening the passenger door and exiting the car that way when the battery died. In an accident, there is a good possibility you could not exit the car that way if severely injured or on fire. I am not the only one that is having this problem. What can be done to correct this problem??

Filed Sep 11, 2011 · Engine, Fuel system · 110,000 miles · CA · fire

Proceeding at normal speed on hwy 14. The check engine light illuminated followed by an illumination of the traction control light. There was a loud pop sound emanating from the front the vehicle. At this point the engine stopped running and I pulled to the side of the road. The vehicle was already on fire by the time I reached the side of the freeway. By the time I was able to exit the vehicle the engine compartment was fully involved in fire and within a matter of two or three minutes the remainder of the vehicle was engulfed in flames. I did notice other hhrs have been on fire as shown on the internet and the adjuster stated hhr fires are common. I barely made it out of the car.

Filed Aug 24, 2011 · OK

I went to get out of my car and the door handle on drivers side snapped off. Until I can get this fixed I believe this is a safety issue such as what if my car caught on fire and I was not able to open my door and many other such things could happen. I have checked and found that this is an ongoing problem with this model of car and chevy has not done any recalls and I was told by a chevy service department that I would have to replace the entire door panel to correct the problem, which is very costly, $441 for parts and labor.

Filed Jun 23, 2010 · Engine · 90,000 miles · TX · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 chevrolet hhr. The contact stated three months after purchasing the vehicle it would not start. The vehicle was towed to a local repair facility where she was advised they were unable to make repairs. The vehicle was then towed to a different repair facility where the mechanic advised the ignition would need to be reprogrammed. She would also need a new key that would also have to be reprogrammed. The repairs were completed at the contact's expense. On her drive home, the contact smelled something burning and there was a loud pop. She was able to make it to her residence and when inspecting the vehicle, she found that the engine fan had been tampered with. The dealer advised that both the fan and radiator would need to be replaced at her expense. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000. The current mileage was approximately 90,100.

Filed Jun 30, 2008 · Electrical · 13,000 miles · OH · fire

Tl*the contact owns a 2007 hhr. After being parked in the driveway for more than one day, the vehicle caught fire behind the dashboard. The vehicle was destroyed. There were no warning indicators when the vehicle was driven the previous day. A fire and police report were filed. The contact has pictures available. The VIN was unknown. The current and failure mileages were 13,000.