Overview & Reviews

The Chevrolet HHR was something of a late arrival to the compact wagon scene. Its name stood for "Heritage High Roof," referring to its tall retro-wagon styling, which Chevrolet claims was inspired by the '49 Suburban. Everything else about the vehicle, however, was decidedly modern.

Though compact in size, the Chevy HHR featured clever interior packaging solutions, including a split-folding rear seat, a fold-flat front passenger seat and a cargo area floor (with built-in grocery bag hooks) that allowed it to accommodate bulky and/or long cargo items. For shoppers searching for a used versatile compact wagon that's also stylish, the HHR certainly merits consideration.

Most Recent Chevrolet HHR
The Chevrolet HHR was a compact four-door wagon produced from 2006-'11. It shared its front-wheel-drive architecture -- and thus many of its driving characteristics -- with Chevrolet's Cobalt compact sedan.

In testing, our editors commented favorably about the HHR's smooth and quiet ride, ample cargo space, attractive interior, excellent visibility and versatile sound system. The cabin boasted nicely detailed gauges, tight construction and substantial-feeling controls. There was, however, no shortage of hard plastics on hand that sullied the overall ambience. The HHR's tall ceiling provided headroom aplenty, but the narrow body limited comfort for adults riding in the backseat. Other downsides included weak brakes, underwhelming handling dynamics and a lack of refinement from the 2.4-liter engine.

Four trim levels were offered: LS, 1LT, 2LT and a high-performance SS version produced from 2008-'10. A two-seat panel van version that came in LS, LT and SS trims was available every year but 2006.

The base engine was a 2.2-liter four-cylinder that initially produced 143 horsepower, but was bumped to 149 for 2007 and to 155 for 2010. Available on the LT was a 2.4-liter four-cylinder that produced either 172 hp or 175 depending on the year (it actually went back and forth). The SS featured a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder good for 260 hp, along with stronger brakes and an enhanced suspension that together made it quite fun to drive. Front-wheel drive and a five-speed manual were standard with all, but a four-speed automatic was optional.

Besides the minor horsepower bumps, changes to the HHR were limited to standard features. Most notably, this included stability control for 2008 as well as antilock brakes and side curtain airbags the following year.

User Reviews:

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  Coast to Coast - 2007 Chevrolet HHR
  By masterx4 - February 13 - 2:34 pm

  This has been a very fun car. Its been great! Went to california from Massachusetts twice! Thats at least 16,000 miles right there! Also down to the Florida keys and back. No problems. We went to the southwest desert, over mountain passes, scorching heat like 107 in Utah, 103 in L.A. Minus temps in the Northeast. Sped across the plains at a over 100 miles an hour, stop and go traffic through washington d.c.....no problems...nothing....zero!

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  HONESTLY DONT BUY - 2006 Chevrolet HHR
  By montrealbuyer - February 13 - 11:18 am

  My own chevy 2006 HHR Leaks on the passenger side and lately on the drivers side, my windshield whippers transmission just decided that it was going to stop working, i also have had numerous issues with it constantly not starting after leaving it parked for no more 3 minutes and have had to call GM Roadside Assistances more then 15 times in the winter as well as in the summer. My stairing wheel has been shaking constantly for so long and the car only has about 72000KM and all this started way before it even hit 55000KM! And these problems are only the big visible ones there are so many more its a joke I do not suggest purchasing this vehicule! I hope they discontinue and fast!

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  Nice car, but... - 2007 Chevrolet HHR
  By cbeck3 - February 2 - 7:40 pm

  This car is attractive, but thats about it. GM made a poor engine choice with the 2.4l I4. Any attempt at acceleration will result in a whole lot of noise, and thats it. We started to have problems with the front end at around 30,000. It made a clunking noise whenever even the slightest bump was hit. The car was taken to the dealer at least five times with this, and they were never able to fix it. The seats werent the most comfortable thing in the world, and it was impossible to use the sun visors because the windshield was so small. The wind deflector on the moonroof also broke. Also, the dash felt like it was made of cheap plastic. The car was recently traded for a 2012 Chevrolet Cruze.

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  Plenty of bang fer the buck - 2011 Chevrolet HHR
  By montanamark - January 15 - 2:36 pm

  Ive owned my 2011 hhr lt for 2 months now and have absolutly NO complaints,being 602" 235 lbs I fit very comfortably in the cockpit,the high output 4 cylinder eco-tech engine is amazing gets up to 75 MPH with no hesitation or problem at all.however I dont plan on towing a yacht to Flordia or racing a Ferrari for pink slips,but for a general purpose light hauler its funtastic.The retro looks are second to none,its been called rad,cool, cute(by my dear 75 year old mom),sleek, retro etc etc.Its really sad that GM discontinued the HHR,I think its a present day classic.would like to see it make a comeback possibly in 13 or 14 LOVE MY HHR.Mine is an automatic trans form wouldnt let me enter

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  My HHR Ls - 2006 Chevrolet HHR
  By family0216 - November 29 - 4:29 pm

  I have read the other reviews, and I must disagree with a few of them. I purchased my daughters car a year ago, and so far so good. Excellent on gas, drives well, and very comfortable. She has not had one single issue with her car yet. So judging on by the perfomance and reliability of her car, I would definetly purchase another one but a higher model. I simply love this car! My daughter (Nera) is into big boy cars such as: Hummers, Chevys, etc so when I first got this car-she had 2 get use 2 it. But now I can say we both love the quality of the HHR LSs....

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  Beautiful car from the outside. - 2006 Chevrolet HHR
  By ecrosslin - November 17 - 9:41 pm

  I bought my 2006 Chevy hhr ls used with 72000 miles in early 2009. Three months in I begin to experience shaking in the front end when brakes are applied. My brakes get checked and replaced but still the problem continues. Two years and 25k mi later this issue has gotten worse and worse to now the whole steering wheel shakes. Several different dealerships were unable to find the cause of the issue. As many others have stated, the interior stains very easily. Not good for young families. The back interior light dome broke. The front ones on the review mirror flicker on and off and sometimes stay on. Everything is backwards. Headlights can almost not be replaced without going to the dealer.

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  LT 2.4 auto - 2009 Chevrolet HHR
  By monkfarm - October 30 - 10:22 am

  I bought my HHR 2.4 LT at 8100 miles. I am a spirited driver. The suspension is antiquated. Look under the rear and discover the solid axle. (I have had 3 bmws). That said, the car starts well and is dependable, and is a good solid car for hauling my wife and 4 dogs. (the back seat folds down.) There is not enough storage in the front and the front corner of the dash tends to bother my knee on long trips. The drivers seat isnt bad, but could be improved. The dimmer switch seems to make the headlights disappear for a microsecond which is irritating. The torque steer when you really stomp on it is pronounced. This car is pretty good on long trips and doesnt handle badly. I enjoy it

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  Chevy building good cars again. - 2010 Chevrolet HHR
  By teachweber - October 22 - 3:25 pm

  A solid, tight car/truckette. Handling better than my MiniCooper S except for turning radius but then that should be obvious. My fuel mileage hovers around 28/29 mpg while my little truckette is faster than most V-8s I owned nothing but Chevys until I was 35 years old. Then strayed for 20 years. Back again with this great little truck. Love retro and this vehicle is true to that while being very reliable.

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  Thank God for a good dealership - 2009 Chevrolet HHR
  By 1badstroker - August 7 - 11:29 am

  Bought my 2009 HHr in 4/10 and it has had more problems that all my cars I owned in 40 plus years. The pass. side power windows quit after about 4 weeks of ownership and the drivers side front and rear floors were wet. This water caused the wires to corrode and the ecm to go out which caused the windows to get no power. The dealer fixed this under good will. Then after that the dealer fixed another short and then after a time the key would not come out of the ignition. The dealer replaced the shifter and the ignition switch and that has corrected the problem. Since then I had to replace the battery and front brakes. All good now.

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  Great Chevy Car/SUV & Gas Saver! - 2011 Chevrolet HHR
  By chevyhhr2011 - June 23 - 5:31 pm

  This car has truly exceeded our expectations. We have owned it for almost 3,000 miles now in just under 2 months and this car has been great on gas and has a very smooth ride with good handling. We use the HHR as our business car for hauling items and shipments. Our website business, Wonder Buy Shop, has had other work cars available but we mainly use the HHR because it has the smoothness of a car with the functions of an SUV. Personally Ive had BMW, Lexus, Infiniti, Honda and other cars but the HHR has been great on gas and the features are perfect for what we need with Bluetooth, OnStar, Automatic and more. Thanks to Chevy for making a real economic and fun car/SUV to drive!