2008 Chevy HHR worth considering?

[Rmay635703]

That is an SS and totally different animal mechanically and also somewhat rare. They had both a supercharged and turbo ones depending on year - and they were very fast little cars. That price is about right for that one being a clean SS.

Maybe in 2015, rusted out ss’s sell for the same 50 cents of scrap as base. Only thing that may be better are seats.

Sort of like the guy who discovers his $1500 k car has a turbo ,thus is now $25000

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Any car in that price range is mostly about condition. It is probably worth a test drive

 

[nickaluch]

It's basically a Cobalt, they were decent cars. Should have the 4T45E which was decent. If it's clean and doesn't need much, $2,900 sounds right. I don't think you'll do better under $3k

Is this the new normal beater price?

 

[amateurbob]

Is this the new normal beater price?

I guess it depends on how you define beater. If you say a beater is a vehicle that runs then in experience at that price is 50/50.
On some sites l see cars listed for 2 to 4k listed as "tow away only".
In my mind l consider a beater to be a semi reliable point A to point B car that is very rough around the edges.

 

[AutoMechanic]

Wow I’m really surprised at the number of people here who have said that it’s a good car lol. Maybe I’ve just heard the bad but I’ve heard nothing but horror stories about these and fixed a few too. In school we had one that was donated and it had all kinds of problems so we cut it in half with the EMT class lol. I knew someone that had one of these and for a while they were calling me every weekend for something and they had all kinds of electrical issues with theirs. One day it broke down completely on our street and they didn’t want to spend anymore money on it and had it towed to the junkyard.

 

[fantastic]

To tell you the truth l was expecting more people telling me not too even think about it. Even @wings&wheels didn't say it was garbage, just uncomfortable and annoying.
I am at minimum going to test drive it.

Honestly, they are good engines.
Lotus, SAAB, & GM collaborated to devolop it from what I read online.

 

[Rmay635703]

Wow I’m really surprised at the number of people here who have said that it’s a good car lol. Maybe I’ve just heard the bad but I’ve heard nothing but horror stories about these and fixed a few too. In school we had one that was donated and it had all kinds of problems so we cut it in half with the EMT class lol. I knew someone that had one of these and for a while they were calling me every weekend for something and they had all kinds of electrical issues with theirs. One day it broke down completely on our street and they didn’t want to spend anymore money on it and had it towed to the junkyard.

There are always folks with 400-500,000 miles on one after a couple timing chains.

Generally a base 5 sp cobalt is more reliable than its boxy twin the HHR, I’m no fan of higher trims or the automatic xmsn on these cars as there is just more to break.

Same for sport and SS models, rarer more expensive parts, more maintenance , same cheap plastic interior, same rust prone fuel lines and body.

That said besides rust related my cobalt has had a rather low cost of ownership, just my recent experience with all front end components being total garbage, OEM, warranty, or not all parts are junk.

 

[addyguy]

Just retired a G5 with 391,730km on it, engine ran perfect, ac blew ice cold…yeah, they develop issues, but for $2900 you will HAVE to do some work.
Very reliable engine and trans; not great rust-resistance.

 

[The_Jeff]

The front LCAs are a nightmare in that the bolts go into nuts inside the unibody that use those stupid tin tabs to prevent rotation. So if there's any rust up in there, the tabs will bend and you'll have to sawzall your way in to cut things loose.

 

[Rmay635703]

The front LCAs are a nightmare in that the bolts go into nuts inside the unibody that use those stupid tin tabs to prevent rotation. So if there's any rust up in there, the tabs will bend and you'll have to sawzall your way in to cut things loose.

There was an “alternative “ solution found for that but to avoid the sawzall sounded like a lot of other work and contortionism / broken knuckles, now to see if I can find that thread.

 

[Huskyguy68]

Wow I’m really surprised at the number of people here who have said that it’s a good car lol. Maybe I’ve just heard the bad but I’ve heard nothing but horror stories about these and fixed a few too. In school we had one that was donated and it had all kinds of problems so we cut it in half with the EMT class lol. I knew someone that had one of these and for a while they were calling me every weekend for something and they had all kinds of electrical issues with theirs. One day it broke down completely on our street and they didn’t want to spend anymore money on it and had it towed to the junkyard.

as I commented earlier, I think it is luck of the draw plus past owner's vehicle history/maintenance ...even then, i'd trust an old Corolla/Camry for a daily commuter vehicle or to gift to a new young driver as a first car.
But to each their own !