Bought a 2009 Chevy HHR with 35,000 miles in July, 2010. In the summer of 2011 the ignition was replaced, as the key would not turn. (The engine was running at the time. It was necessary to disconnect the battery to turn off the engine.) At 55,000 miles the transmission suffered “catastrophic failure” and the entire transmission assembly was replaced. (The engine light never came on, although the transmission was slipping frequently.) After driving the car with the new transmission between 100 and 200 miles, the engine light came on. The error code indicated a faulty transmission fluid pressure switch. The transmission changed gears harshly at times and the automatic door locks stopped working properly. Sometimes they would lock when the car was taken out of “park” and sometimes not. Likewise, they would not always unlock when the transmission was put in “park.” After replacing the switch, the technician said that for no reason the security light came on briefly as did the passenger airbag “on” indicator light. Once again, after having driven between 100 and 200 miles, the engine light is on again, and gears are sometimes changing harshly. No diagnosis yet. Do I need an exorcist?
Possibly a new computer. There are times when the dealer can diagnose these types of problem. Sometimes they can reflash the computer and problems just go away. Then there are times when the thing has to be replaced. Look up “gateway” in the dictionary. It’s about 2,000 words after faulty.
Welcome to GM “quality.” Some people have perfectly great experiences with GM cars. Some are a disaster. (Maybe it was one of those that came off the line in a Monday morning).
I’d try to get things stabilized and dump it. Or if you can, just trade it in right now as is.
I am going to go out on a limb and say the car was an ex rental car… Am I right??
I wonder if the car was in a flood before you bought it.
With rental cars, you could luck-out, or your could be stuck with a piece of damaged goods.
I know that many will disagree with me, but, here are my reasons for avoiding rental cars:
They receive “regular” maintenance, but this is the minimum maintenance specified by the car manufacturer. Since most cars are actually driven in situations that mandate using the Severe Service maintenance schedule, it is likely that this “regular” maintenance is not actually sufficient. Just because the regular maintenance schedule states that…let’s say…a 7,500 mile oil change interval is acceptable, this is not necessarily a realistic or beneficial interval, given the conditions under which the car has been driven. And, trust me–if the mfr specifies a 7,500 mile oil change interval, a rental car will be driven every bit of those miles between changes.
Unlike a car that is driven by one person on a regular basis, little problems with a rental car are unlikely to be reported by the folks who rent them for the short term. A major problem would likely be reported, but what appear to be small problems are probably just accepted without comment by the renters. Unfortunately, those small problems can morph into big ones over time, as a result of not being dealt with. Overall, remember that the rental company cannot make money from a car that is out of service for warranty-related repairs, so the chance of a rental car being taken to a dealership for warranty-related work is…not good…unless the car is actually not driveable. This factor very possibly applies to the types of problems that the OP has experienced.
Unfortunately, some folks will do intentionally abusive things to rental cars. I personally knew someone who loved to rev up the engine on his rental cars to…maybe 3,500 RPMs, and then drop the shift lever into the Drive position. Really great for that transmission, right? Obviously, not everyone will do this type of thing, but–How do you know when you buy a rental car that it was not abused by one, or two, or twenty previous drivers? And, even if we are not talking about intentional abuse, drivers who are piloting an unfamiliar car are more likely to hit curbs, put it in the wrong gear, and otherwise cause damage that is not visible.
Vdc put it very well. While I don’t avoid rentals you have to be very carefull. Also it’s better when the car is owned by one of the bigger rental chains them the smaller ones. Cars displaying the problems you car are were usually abused. Also as I said on a earlier post the cars most likely to be abused are those in the compact/economy class. They rent the cheapest so there renters are usually younger. Intermediates and up are mostly family’s and business men.