For HHR owners beware

[No cars on mars]

I found out 2 things about my Chevy HHR this week.
1 Do not jumpstart another car with your HHR. It blows the power steering fuse.
2 If the inside door handle breaks it will cost you $300 for the replacement part. Only $30 for labor. They have to replace the whole door panel. The door handle is inside the 2 part panel. There is no door handle part in the catalog.
I had to call customer service to see if there is something to do about it. They will get back to me in a few days. The hard part is trying to open the electric window if it is below freezing and snow on the window so that I can use the outside door handle. I think it cost $20 if I broke the outside door handle.

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

man that's a bummer. And I've been thinking lately how cool it would be to have an HHR Panel Van.

 

[sensor]

well....you can pull the door panel of and open the door from the inside with(im not sure which that would have..i havent worked on the door on one of those yet)the rod or cable that runs to the latch.also you should be able to pull the window switch and lock switch out and zip tie them to the door shell so you can keep them plugged in and functioning

 

[No cars on mars]

well....you can pull the door panel of and open the door from the inside with(im not sure which that would have..i havent worked on the door on one of those yet)the rod or cable that runs to the latch.also you should be able to pull the window switch and lock switch out and zip tie them to the door shell so you can keep them plugged in and functioning

I would like to have a complete car. It is less than 2 years old. I guest it is off to the boneyard for a panel then figure out how to remove the handle and fix it myself.

 

[sensor]

sorry......i wasnt suggesting that as permanent.....just until you got the new parts...
good luck at the junk yards(that might be hard to come by there as those are still fairly new and probably not to many have been totaled yet).............
do you have pictures of whats broken?

the reason i asked if you have pics of whats broken is because it sounds like the retaining clip is probably broken(either on the latch or the handle) or a rod came out or if its a cable it may have broken......the handles are generally not the problem(not saying never though)

 

[No cars on mars]

It is the latch/handle that crack in very cold weather.

 

[tr1ke]

Hey! I worked on those doors and the assembly machines before the job got shipped to Mexico. If the handle's hinge pin fails, you can just replace the pin with a similar sized bolt/nylock nut. This pin is usually a Nylon (white) or Acetal (black) part that can be replaces with a metal bit of similar size. The problem is when working on door panels in the cold, you'll be bound to break attachments that usually aren't serviced in the cold. If you can get me a pick of the part that broke, I might me able to help you out...its a long shot, but worth a try. Its not just HHR's, this product was copied from a Japanese benchmark...

 

[No cars on mars]

I can get a used door panel for $100 from a bone yard. My local mechanic asked for an exploded drawing of the door. The door handle fits inside another piece that is shaped like a bowl. This piece has plastic pins that connects it to the panel. Pulling off the bowl shaped piece might break those pins or put nasty holes in the panel.

 

[CCR]

... My local mechanic asked for an exploded drawing of the door...

heres the exploded views, may not do any good to you without knowing what the numbers are and sometimes you need to know which part (the handle or the handle surround) comes with the parts you need. off hand i dont either and would have to call the dealer. if its a frequent problem for HHRs, the parts guys at the dealerships will know from dealing with it repeatedly.

 

[No cars on mars]

It is part #5 and it clips into the larger piece beneath it with plastic snaps that will break. If it had screws it could be sold separately and easy to replace just part #5. From GM you can not get part #5 by itself
When I go to get it replaced I will take photos.

 

[CCR]

yup, my parts description says serviced with door trim assembly ... part # 1 $300ish :shock:

stuff like that happens on a lot more cars than just the HHR too... :roll:

 

[sking1973]

I just bought a 2007 HHR last Monday. Hopefully I won't have to deal with this. Although I have my bumper to bumper for 20 about 20000 more miles.

 

[No cars on mars]

West Virginia should be warm enough that plastics do not freeze and snap.

 

[sking1973]

Well, we had -5 last week and snow snow snow. This weekend it was sunny and 50 today. It's kind of all over the place.