Chevrolet HHR - 2006 Review

We were in the market a couple years ago for a new SUV for my wife.  She was eyeing many models that were well into the $40,000 range, so we were trying to figure out what we could afford and what we couldn't.  I was at a local Chevy dealer getting an oil change for my truck when I saw the HHR sitting in the showroom.  The look of the vehicle just mesmerized me instantly.  I called my wife and asked her to come with me that afternoon to see what she thought.  She fell in love instantly.  And since the price was almost 1/2 what we were looking at for her initially in a new vehicle I was ready to buy.  Turns out we bought the first HHR in our city that day.  An LT model with littlerally everything they offered at the time.  We actually had to wait to get the running boards, and drove it for 2 weeks without them.

It was amazing how many people would stop us and ask questions about this wagon.  It was an obvious attention getter.  From thumbs up while driving along the streets, to elongated stops at any gas station.  The HHR was an obvious hit with everyone we met.  Features like the automatic remote starter, sun roof, XM radio, heated seats and the flexibility of the hugh interior space make this wagon a perfect addition to any family in need of utility, good milage and style all rolled into a welcome addition to your garage space.

Other plusses we've found are the power of the engine is perfect for it's size.  While not top of the chart in 0 to 60, it is very capabile in city traffic due to its size and manuverability.  And it merges into highway traffic with no problems at all.  All this while still getting excellent gas milage, which has seemed to actually increase somewhat as the wagon ages.  My wife drives it kind of hard, but still averages just under 25 MPG overall, according to the on-board computer, which I feel is a tad lower than actual milage.  The flexibilily of the cargo area is not to be missed.  With the seats folded, there is no other vehicle in it's class that can hold as much as this wagon can.  We loaded it down for the family gathering last Christmas, and still had room for more stuff on the trip back.  We love the steering in the HHR, and were suprized to find it was 100% electrically assist, rather than the old style on all other cars.  Overall this wagon is so much fun to drive, it's hard to have to stop when you get home at night.

Minuses are few, but easily overlooked due to all it's pluses.  I'm a very  tall person with a long torso, so my head does "tickle" the roof line when I'm in the drivers seat.  And, I also dislike the thin tires on the 17" wheels as they cause too much road to feed back into the cabin.  But tires like that are popular right now, and do look very good.  I'd also like to have seen a few more options than were available, and still are missing from the newer models.  Like the home-link buttons for garage doors, and memory positions on the driver seat.  And the cockpit's layout could use some tweaks here and there, as that is the only time you'll notice that you are in a small car.  My wife loves the window controls in the center console, but I think I'd still prefer them in the door like most other vehicles.

We now have about 30K miles on our HHR, and love it more and more each day.