The contact owns a 2008 Chevrolet HHR. The contact stated while warming up the vehicle, the rear window exploded without warning or impact. There was smoke coming from the front of the vehicle. There was an abnormal burning odor detected. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 56,000. The VIN was not available.
Chevrolet HHR fire or smoke problems
42 of the 3,575 owner complaints about the Chevrolet HHR describe fire, smoke or burning smell, most of them for the 2006 model year.
- owner complaints
- 42
- worst model year
- 2006
- typical repair cost reported
- $420
- typical mileage
- 69,498
Is there a fix? There is 1 recall for this area of the car. See below
By model year
Often reported together
Door locks 9Won't start 4Fuel smell 4Fuel leak 3Stalling 2Battery drain 2Wipers 1Won't shift 1
What owners say
I left vehicle running on my concrete driveway while I ran in the house to get my father for an errand. When I came outside and went to get into the vehicle I noticed a fire in the front of the rear wheel on the driver's side kind of dripping flames from the vehicle on to the concrete. Luckily I reacted quickly enough to release the parking brake. [Car is a manual transmisson]. The car drifted forward [driveway has small downhill pitch]and I turned the motor off. Then I [luckily] ran over to a hose and brought it to the vehicle to extinguish the fire.
2008 HHR Chevy LS 4D. Within 10 months of purchasing this car (October, 2017) the smell of gasoline became so strong I took it to the local mechanic. The fuel line had completely rusted out. I was told it could have caught fire! Cost of replacement was $420.00. A huge financial burden for a senior citizen. I have original bill for this amount and receipt of payment.
Fuel line leaking right in front of rear driver side tire. Puddles up. Steady leak. And strong odor of gasoline in and outside of the car. Gets me woozy at times. It also gets on my tires and affects steering if I was parked on pavement for a while it puddles back to my rear tire. And makes me worry about a fire. Right in the back seat where a car seat would be. Because I was driving through my yard a while back and my family was burning some limbs and stuff. All at once I get flagged down where it has caught fire to my car. Luckily I put it out before it did any permanent damage. But it is not safe for sure.
Fuel tank assembly developed a fuel leak at or around its integrated tank vents creating a strong fuel smell inside and outside the vehicle. THIS IS NOT A RUSTED FUEL LINE PROBLEM. This poses a fire hazard if the vehicle were to come into contact with any spark or flames. This also poses a health hazard from exposure to toxic fumes inside and outside the vehicle. This condition did not trigger any warning messages from the onboard vehicle computer. The seal between the tank vents and fuel tank is made by the manufacturer and is unserviceable. I attempted to seal the leaks with adhesive but was unsuccessful. I then purchased a used replacement fuel tank from an auto recycler and discovered it also has this issue. I believe this to be a design defect that will lead to an unsafe condition in these vehicles. I can make these components available for inspection. I have not had the issue inspected by any other parties as that would involve further costs.
Around 6 months ago I started to notice a fuel smell and upon inspection at the local shop it was diagnosed that my fuel line had rusted through and they informed me there are other cases of this exact issue on the Chevrolet hhr and cobalt vehicles with this engine and fuel setup it has started to leak into the exhaust but has not caught fire.
The contact owns a 2009 Chevrolet HHR. The contact stated that after parking, a popping noise was present coming from inside the cabin of the vehicle. The contact discovered flames coming from the interior roof dome lights. The contact used water to extinguish the flames. The cause of the failure was not determined. The local dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 145,853.
Started smelling smoke and the whole vehicle shut down with the being stuck on ignition. Couldn't open the doors and smoke was billowing out and fire start coming out of lower middle console. Luckily was able to open door and exit vehicle. Fire then erupted and quickly traveled straight down the center console to the rear of the car. Within minutes the car was totally engulfed in flames and was completely burned to nothing. Suffered several burns and smoke inhalation and the car and every thing in it was destroyed
I recently heard on the news that there was a fuel line leak problem reported by the federal safety agency, on chevy cobalts and hhrs. I printed a copy of the news report, provided it to my mechanic and asked the shop to check it. They found the fuel lines ready to crumble, which they did when the lines were removed. I was lucky they had not crumbled--the car could've caught fire. The repair was costly and labor intensive. The back part of the exhaust system had to be removed and replace due to the age of the car and thinness of the exhaust pipe at the converter.. The mechanics stated that the cause of the corroded fuel lines was poor design, using steel pipes and the pipes situated such that water (and road de-icer) gets trapped above a shield promoting corrosion. I looked up this problem on the internet and found many entries for hhrs with corroded fuel lines. I'm fortunate that I heard the news item or my car could've gone up in flames. I'm surprised there has not been a recall--there should be.
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.
Related recalls
Electrical system: ignition
- What is wrong
- General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2005-2010 Chevrolet Cobalt, 2006-2011 Chevrolet HHR, 2007-2010 Pontiac G5, 2006-2010 Pontiac Solstice, 2003-2007 Saturn Ion, and 2007-2010 Saturn Sky vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the key can be removed from the ignition when the ignition is not in the "Off" position.
- Risk
- If the key can be removed from the ignition when the ignition is not in the "off" position, the vehicle could roll away: (a) for an automatic transmission, if the transmission is not in the "Park" position; or (b) for a manual transmission, if the parking brake is not engaged and the transmission is not in the "Reverse" position. This potential for rollaway increases the risk for a crash and occupant or pedestrian injuries.
- Remedy
- General Motors will notify owners, and for vehicles that were built with the defective ignition cylinder and have not previously had the ignition cylinder replaced with the redesigned part, dealers will replace the ignition cylinder and cut and, if necessary, re-learn two ignition/door keys for each vehicle. For vehicles that were built with the redesigned ignition cylinder or had the ignition cylinder replaced with the redesigned part, dealers will cut and, if necessary, re-learn two ignition/door keys for each vehicle. The recall began on April 18, 2014. Chevrolet owners may contact General Motors at 1‑800‑222‑1020, Pontiac owners at 1‑800‑762‑2737, and Saturn owners at 1‑800‑553‑6000. General Motors' number for this recall is 14113 for the ignition lock cylinder and key replacement, and 14133 for only key replacements. Note: Until a vehicle has been remedied, owners and operators are advised that when exiting, to be sure that the vehicle is in "Park," or in the case of a manual transmission, that the vehicle is in the "Reverse" position and the parking brake is engaged.
Recall number 14V171000 · Recall details
Questions about the Chevrolet HHR fire or smoke
Which Chevrolet HHR years have fire, smoke or burning smell problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2006 (10 complaints), 2008 (9 complaints) and 2007 (8 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix fire, smoke or burning smell on the Chevrolet HHR?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $420 (median of 10 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
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