I bought a Chevrolet HHR a few years ago. I would not recommend anyone to buy one. When I got the car it had 30,000 miles on it and it looked nice. Not long afterwards the driver's side door latch broke and I could not get out of the car without rolling down the window and opening it from the outside door. I paid to get it fixed since I didn't have warranty at the time. About a year later it broke again, but I couldn't afford to fix it at the time so I put it off. Right after that the passenger side door latch broke. Now both are broken. If I were to get in an accident, I wouldn't be able to get out. This is too expensive for me to keep fixing it. I feel that If I take it to the shop and they fix it, that it will break again. This is an obvious defect. I emailed GM and asked them to help me get it fixed since it is a defect, but they refused and said it is my responsibility. I have had many problems with this car. It is made very poorly.

I purchased a 2006 HHR used in 2009. The door handles are poorly designed and defective, frequently breaking off. On 02/24/2016, I experienced electrical and battery issues with my vehicle; because the door handles for both the driver and passenger side were broken off, I was unable to open the doors. Since the windows are electric, I was unable to open them. It took me several minutes to get from the front seat into the back seat of my vehicle so that I could exit it. In the event of a serious automobile accident, I would have been trapped in my vehicle. I went online and started investigating this issue. It was in the course of this inquiry that I found out this is a chronic problem with the HHR, 2006-2010. The cost of fixing the handle at the dealer is costly because Chevrolet's fix is to replace the entire inner door panel. I contacted Chevrolet customer service, who advised there is no recall on the interior door handles. I filed a complaint with the NHTSA, requesting a recall of the 2006 Chevy HHR interior door handles. I have also filed a complaint with the Florida Attorney General's Office.

"Not being able to exit the vehicle in an emergency constitutes a public safety issue. If the car were involved in an accident and the passengers needed to exit the vehicle immediately they may not be able to if the door handle breaks off. It is my opinion that this issue represents a clear and present danger to consumers. Several scenarios come to mind: 1) the vehicle becomes disabled on railroad tracks with an oncoming train, 2) the vehicle is involved in an accident and the vehicle is on fire or 3) the vehicle drives off the road into a body of water. All of these very common scenarios could lead to an unnecessary death of one or more occupants.

It is my opinion that the Attorney General should compel Chevrolet to recall these vehicles and replace the inside door handles with devices that will not fail.

I have provided a few links here that are representative of what I found out while searching the internet:

HHR Door Handle and other quality issues Chevy HHR Interior Problems - Car Forums - Edmunds Maybe Chevy HHR should stand for How 'bout Having a Recall - LawyersAndSettlements.com | LawyersandSettlements.com Legal Blog Defected 2006 HHR Door Handle | Chevrolet Safety | PlanetFeedback Chevrolet - broken interior door handle on hhr requires new panel Chevrolet HHR interior door handle "

OH, MY GOODNESS!! It appears that I may not be the only one who has experienced this problem, although the dealer would have you believe this is probably an isolated incident. Approximately 18 months ago, the interior passenger door handle just snapped off in my wife's hand - GM suggested solution was complete replacement of the door panel assembly - Cost-CAD $470 for parts!! Needless to say, I took the high road, decided not to go ahead with the repair, and have looked like my wife's "Prince Charming" for continually opening her door for her ever since! And in reality, I was just cheap!

But this past weekend, the driver's door handle snapped off in my hand! After a prolonged session of venting and swearing, I decided to go on-line, but have now discovered some new (and much more serious) problems - I was aggravated about the fact that I was now going to have to roll down my window (rain or shine; winter or summer) in order to get out of the car , but after reading the other reviews, I must confess I had never thought about the possibility of an accident, loss of power, possible fire, etc, etc.

Now I'm almost afraid to drive the car, but have no hesitation in confirming that any loyalty I may have felt to support GM/North American manufacturing is long gone.

Goodbye GM!! We are through!!

It's my grandmother's car first off, not mine. About a year or so ago the passenger side door handle broke. It took about 6 months to find the correct door panel, because you can't just replace just the handle............ About 2 weeks ago her driver's side handle broke. It's going to cost $300+ just to replace that. Why the hell can't GM Just RECALL THE PIECE OF SH*T CAR THEY MADE.????? OK, for a retired women she has to roll her window down to let HER SELF out of her own damn car. I could see if the car was older then her, but it's not. Why does this keep happening? GM you may have been bailed out by the government but no reason to build such a sh*tty car. Every HHR needs to be recalled, doesn't matter make nor model.

Thank you and yes, that's how I really feel.

I think that Chevy should come up with a way of replacing the door handle without having to replace the entire door panel. The handle is just a piece of cheap chrome-plated plastic that cannot stand up to the constant repetition of opening and closing the drivers side door, which is most times the MOST used door on the car. At LEAST do something to reinforce THAT door handle if none of the others.

After spending almost $600 to have it fixed last time (not even a year-and-a-half ago!) you can bet I am VERY careful with how I treated that door handle, and STILL it broke, and in the SAME PLACE!! Shouldn't this be considered a safety hazard issue as you could perish if your car was on fire or you were caught in a flood and could not get out of your car. I am really surprised that such an event has not yet happened, or maybe it has and GM is keeping it a secret.

Anyway, I am also limited now to opening my driver's side door from the outside by reaching thru the window from the inside, and right now that is all I can afford to do, because all the repair shops and Chevy dealers I have spoken to tell me the same BS story, that to replace the inside door handle you have to replace the door panel, which I think is idiotic! I hope no one is injured or killed because of this stupid error, and if anyone is, I hope they sue the crap out of GM

The cheap plastic inside drivers door handle brook off. When I contacted Chevrolet, they told me it was not a defect. When I asked about repairing the problem, they told me I would have to buy the whole door panel. They told me the part was $334.00 and this did not include the labor to install it. They then informed me that the part was on backorder. Obviously, I am not the only one that has had the problem. I filed a claim with Chevrolet, but this got me nowhere. If I was in an accident and the power window quit working, I would not be able to get out of the car unless I climbed over the seat and went out the passenger door. I am very disappointed with Chevrolet and doubt I will buy another car manufactured by them.

First off, I love my little car.... I bought it from the Dealer in Rigby,Id... Brought it home and couldn't get the key to turn off. So the Dealer fixed that problem.. Then brought it home again,The next morning drove it to work..The motor wouldn't turn shut off. So back to the dealer I went ...that was the sensor it the gear shifter. Then a week later the door handle broke... got the fixed to the tune of 250.00.. on me this time.when to get it, opened the sun roof and the bug guard broke... call to get a price on that and that was going to be 300.00. so at this point I haven't fixed it yet.. This all happened before I made my first payment on my car....

I had the passenger side door handle break first. I was getting out of the car and it broke in my hand. We tried to epoxy it but it did not hold. Right now we have wire ties looped around so we can pull the door open. Then the driver door handle broke. Again, as I was getting out of the car, it broke in my hand. We have wire ties looped around this one too so we can get out. It is really embarrassing when I have people in the car and have to help them open the doors. I have also contacted Chevy and they want $400 per door panel to fix. I think this is a dangerous situation wherein if something happened and I could not get the wire ties to work, I could be trapped. So far the back handles have not broken, but I am anticipating it could happen in the future!

These door handles are flimsy pieces of plastic. How does Chevy get away with such shoddy work? I temporarily fastened a piece of rope to the cable, and I just pull it to get out, but what a joke.

The dealer quoted me $130 to buy the entire assembly, when they know darn (damn) well that all I need is a plastic handle that shouldn't cost more than $20. I didn't ask what labor would cost.

I tried to epoxy the pieces together, but that didn't work. I may switch the handle with one of my rear ones, and let the kids deal with it - at least they can slide across.

Can we bring this up to the recall level? Everyone here has pointed out just how dangerous this is. And, folks, if your door handle hasn't broken yet, it will, and likely when you need it most; in some kind of emergency when you feel you have to get out quickly and you yank on the thing.

This is my Wife's car. She was getting out of the car one day and the door handle just broke off. I found it was not covered under the warranty and was way too much to have repaired. This is a seriuos safety hazzard. If we are in an accident and loose all power there is no way to open the drivers door except from the outside. I we are alone in the car that means climbing over the passenger side to get out. It is a real pain to get out of the car normally since we have to put the window down and use the outside door handle to open the door, then put the window back up. This really sucks in bad weather. Chevy should pay to have this replaced.

This is the SECOND time a door handle has broken in this car. The first handle broke while under 'extended warranty' however GMC determined the issue to be cosmetic, and refused to cover it. REALLY GM? I can't get out of my car but that's only an appearance issue? I ended up paying $400 to fix it the first time, and I am really having a hard time justifying fixing it again. I used to be a loyal Chevy owner, but after my experience with both my local dealership and the Chevy extended warranty folks, I have changed my mind. Time to save up for a Ford. I wouldn't recommend an HHR to my worst enemy.