Chevrolet HHR grinding brakes problems

Filed Oct 18, 2019 · Brakes, Seat belts · AR

I have had my hhr 2009 for a year now and I've changed the brakes twice within two weeks..the first set was still new but it kept making grinding noises and roaring noises when I press down on brakes... My steering wheel shakes like crazy I really do love my car and I wanna get the problem resolved asap.

Filed Jan 7, 2015 · Steering · MD

2010 chevrolet hhr. Customer has received recall for car but still has problems after repair. *ta the consumer stated as she was driving, she heard a grinding noise, whenever she turned the steering wheel. When she returned to the dealer, the noise was gone. However, when the vehicle was returned to her, the noise was there. The dealer determined the air bag coil was making the noise. The consumer stated the noise was not there, when she took the vehicle to the dealer to complete the recall.

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 23, 2014 · Brakes · 65,000 miles · WA

Since we got the hhr 3 years ago we have had to replace the rotors 5 different times because they become warped. The new ones only last a month, maybe a 1,000 miles of wear before the brakes start to become warped again. Two months ago before I could get it into the shop to replace the rotors I stepped on the brake doing about 5 MPH when I heard a grinding noise. I immediately took it the shop, 50 miles away, to find out that a brake pad was completely missing!!! Apparently the warped rotor uneven surface jerked the brake pad out of its setting and that is why it was missing. The mechanic had to do a complete brake (front) job using the best rotors on the market 2 months ago and in less than 1 month, with no heavy braking, the brakes are once again showing signs that the rotors are warped---stepping on the brakes it is jerking once again, and now they are almost as bad as they were when I took them in to get repaired. It is a very dangerous situation especially realizing the possibility of another brake pad coming off when I step on the brake. I have read online so many other people complaining of this same problem with these cars. I strongly feel that there needs to be a recall on these cars before something horrible happens to the occupants riding in these cars.

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 Jul 29, 2011 · Suspension · 7,598 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 chevrolet hhr. While the contact was driving approximately between 35-65 MPH, there was a grinding noise upon engaging the brakes. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnostic testing where they were unable to detect a problem. The failure progressed and sixteen days later, the front axle detached while making a turn. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and no repairs could be performed until the vehicle was inspected by the manufacturer. The manufacturer was made aware of the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 7,598.

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 Apr 15, 2010 · Transmission · 25,000 miles · MN

Clutch pedal sticking to floor board, cannot get vehicle into reverse gear. Clutch pedal starts feeling squishy and all of a sudden pedal will stick to the floorboard and the clutch will be fully engaged. Have to manually pull pedal up when vehicle is turned off to use clutch again. Reverse gear grinds and will not go into gear around the same time the clutch pedal starts acting up.

Filed Jul 26, 2009 · Brakes, Steering · 35,440 miles · MD

Driver was leaving parking lot when passenger side (right front) cv shaft broke completely in half at 35,440 miles without warning. Cv shaft could be heard slapping around under car while motor running in gear, probably tearing up other components under the hood and suspension. The cv shaft breakage left the vehicle under no power because passenger wheel is the drive wheel....vehicle started to roll backwards into traffic. Also, the vehicle's steering wheel also had no ability to be turned to the left due to the broken cv shaft blocking it by shaft hitting the wheel/heat shield/rotor assy. Owner had to push car backwards out of traffic and into parking lot. Vehicle would still rolled while in park, had to use parking brake to make vehicle stationary. I waited 2.5hrs for gm road side assistance to get tow truck to my vehicle. 1st tow truck didn't come due to gm not checking to see how far they were from vehicle location. Vehicle was towed to jba chevrolet (glen burnie, md) on june 25th, 09 (next day). I went to dealership to check on car and get loaner. Jba offered no loaner stating that service dept not open and they must diagnose first and wait until monday and then maybe I get a loaner. Also gm cust asst 1-800 number stated I could rent and get reimburse but I don't trust gm and money at all after seeing how others treated about and how poorly they manage their own money. This cv shaft incident happened 1 week after getting car back from dealership for brake overheating/warping and heat shield grinding problem. The mechanic then stated he knew brakes were cheaply made and problem but no recall and if over 36,000 miles...they won't be free anymore.... Cv shaft looked to be made of cheap aluminum cast and I believe same heat problem that made caused rotor to warp, caused cv shaft to become brittle. Either this or components were reinstalled incorrectly by jba chevrolet when they repaired brake problem.