Thoughts on living in an hhr?

[Beansmom]

Have a 2011 hhr that I'm considering using for a dwelling in the future.  Any thoughts? Thanks for any answers, Beansmom

 

[GotSmart]

1.  Since you already have it, that is one less problem.

2.  Not as much room as a mini van.

3.  Bigger than a car.

4.  Then there is this.  http://www.carcomplaints.com/Chevrolet/HHR/2011/

What you decide to dwell in is up to you.  We have people happy in a Prius.  Most want more room.  

Personally I love the retro look of the HHR.

 

[Beansmom]

1.  Since you already have it, that is one less problem.

2.  Not as much room as a mini van.

3.  Bigger than a car.

4.  Then there is this.  http://www.carcomplaints.com/Chevrolet/HHR/2011/

What you decide to dwell in is up to you.  We have people happy in a Prius.  Most want more room.  

Personally I love the retro look of the HHR.

Thanks, since I'd already bought it, was a car for retirement, thus no travel over 50 round trip, I'm stuck for awhile.  I do love the look too!!  Just so much to think about, maybe try camping with battery for cpap for awhile?

 

[GotSmart]

There are solar options that would work for a CPAP.

 

[HarmonicaBruce]

Try camping in it.  You might like it.  For me, I'd want to be able to stand up.  Also, I own too much crap tp fit in an hhr.

 

[ArtW]

I checked out the HHR when they first came out
LOVED the look
Then I got behind the wheel
low roof interfered with vision, felt cramped
I was looking them over for my boss, with an eye toward Taxi service
I though they were pretty cramped for that
If you think you can live in it though, give it a try, like GS said, some are happy in a Prius, and you already own it

 

[Gigi]

I suggest you try it out. I will be starting out in a minivan. We can always go bigger down the road!

 

[sephson]

It's bigger than my Kia Soul and I'm able to road trip in that just fine. However, I'm not a full timer, so I can't tell you how well it translates to full time living.

 

[Beansmom]

ALSO, LOL, I have a pop up 2 room changing tent with a bedside commode, (or could use a bucket) and separate room for showering, drain in the bottom, so that would help keeping clean. I'm getting in the mind set to travel!!

 

[ArtW]

Well if you do a lot of dispersed camping, the tent could be a godsend

 

[galladanb]

We had a 2006, and just loved it. The passenger seat can fold down and give up to six feet from the back door!
That is awesumm! We never had any complaints about it, UNTIL...

We were in the middle lane on a 5 lane highway doing what everyone else was doing about 75...
Then the car simply quit running. Boom, no heads up, no way to react, and no body was letting us pull over to the side of the road.
We did finally manage to get over and called a tow truck... Scary as hell!

Then we went into the local Walmart and when we came back out it would not start. Another tow...
Took it to the dealer and they wanted to replace the fuel pump, $750 bucks. We said no thanks. Another tow...
My son and I changed the fuel pump in our garage and it would not start. We are out $350 for the pump.
We take it back and get a warranty replacement, this is pump number two. No Joy.
Take the second one back and they say no more exchanges, must be something else...
Like OMG, are you kidding me????? Have you ever had such bad luck?

Anyway, a couple of days later and a whole lot of head scratching and testing, and physical searches like, bad gas, leaks, lines pinched, bad injectors, some other fuel systems major show stoppers, etc... So then, we start looking into electrical issues causes.

Under the hood, where the circuit breakers are, we pulled the cover, checked all the breakers with a meter, all good.
We noticed the breakers plug into a tray like plate, so we pull that up to check under it for whatever we could find. Nothing...
Now, we noticed that middle plate plugs into another plate where all of the wiring comes up from the car and plugs in on the bottom of this bottom plate. So we pull that one up also.

GUESS WHAT? There is the line coming from the fuel pump just laying in there, not connected!!!!! OMG!!!!
It had simply fallen out, and was just barely touching the bottom of the third plate!
No wonder the pump was intermittent and sometimes worked and sometimes did not!!!! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL!!!!

Anyway, plugged it firmly in and the pump worked just fine from then on....

BUT, our confidence in the car was shot by then and so we sold it, ASAP!

You should not have any such problem, and I totally believe our issue was random.
I do think the dealer probably knew of a similar issue and has changed many a pump simply by plugging in the wire correctly.
I mean if you can make $750 bucks for a few minutes work, why not? I would!!!

 

[Beansmom]

We had a 2006, and just loved it. The passenger seat can fold down and give up to six feet from the back door!
That is awesumm! We never had any complaints about it, UNTIL...

We were in the middle lane on a 5 lane highway doing what everyone else was doing about 75...
Then the car simply quit running. Boom, no heads up, no way to react, and no body was letting us pull over to the side of the road.
We did finally manage to get over and called a tow truck... Scary as hell!

Then we went into the local Walmart and when we came back out it would not start. Another tow...
Took it to the dealer and they wanted to replace the fuel pump, $750 bucks. We said no thanks. Another tow...
My son and I changed the fuel pump in our garage and it would not start. We are out $350 for the pump.
We take it back and get a warranty replacement, this is pump number two. No Joy.
Take the second one back and they say no more exchanges, must be something else...
Like OMG, are you kidding me????? Have you ever had such bad luck?

Anyway, a couple of days later and a whole lot of head scratching and testing, and physical searches like, bad gas, leaks, lines pinched, bad injectors, some other fuel systems major show stoppers, etc... So then, we start looking into electrical issues causes.

Under the hood, where the circuit breakers are, we pulled the cover, checked all the breakers with a meter, all good.
We noticed the breakers plug into a tray like plate, so we pull that up to check under it for whatever we could find. Nothing...
Now, we noticed that middle plate plugs into another plate where all of the wiring comes up from the car and plugs in on the bottom of this bottom plate. So we pull that one up also.

GUESS WHAT? There is the line coming from the fuel pump just laying in there, not connected!!!!! OMG!!!!
It had simply fallen out, and was just barely touching the bottom of the third plate!
No wonder the pump was intermittent and sometimes worked and sometimes did not!!!! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL!!!!

Anyway, plugged it firmly in and the pump worked just fine from then on....

BUT, our confidence in the car was shot by then and so we sold it, ASAP!

You should not have any such problem, and I totally believe our issue was random.
I do think the dealer probably knew of a similar issue and has changed many a pump simply by plugging in the wire correctly.
I mean if you can make $750 bucks for a few minutes work, why not? I would!!!

Am about dirt deep depressed LOL  I've heard a lot of the problems have been worked out, but I'm almost 65 and don't want more payments.  Guess I'll just hang onto it and hope it's in ok shape.  I'd buy something else, but I want to retire someday!

 

[rvpopeye]

The loose fuel pump wire sounds more like an isolated problem than a factory defect that all of them would have.
At least that report will give you a place to start if you do have a no start issue !

Like has been said there are people full timing in a Prius here so if the small space doesn't bother you it will probably be a fun time.

Welcome aboard the forum and feel free to ask anything .

 

[DannyB1954]

It would probably look good towing a teardrop trailer. Here is a link to a site that specializes in small light trailers. http://tnttt.com/