I am interested in hearing from folks who own HHR'S. What are your likes and dislikes?, happy with mpg?, ect. Would like to know what all of you think about them. Thank You

We have just purchased a HHR to tow behind our motorhome. We too would like to see comments from anyone else who has a HHR toad.
Good and bad comments welcome.

We have an hhr, it is not set up to tow yet, but will be.
The best mileage we have gotten is 28mpg.
It is the sport model, so has low profile tires that are a little loud on rough roads.
But, overall, we love it and think it will be a great toad. Big enough to sleep in if necessary too.
We also have a teardrop trailer that it looks very cool with.

we tow an HHR and LOVE it. drives and rides like a big car and gets great gas mileage. getting about 34 highway, 28 around town. has about 7000 miles. mileage is still getting better. first 3-4k miles just got about 22 city and 27 highway but then started getting better. Lots of head room, easy to tow 4 down and room in the back to haul stuff. just our experience. Gene

For those who weren't sure what this was all about,(like me) they mean the Chevy HHR.

One question, what mpg do you actually get with it? Chevy claims 28.

We have a 2006 HHR and love it. It's as easy to tow as our Jeep Wrangler was. I did put in a switch for the fuse you have to pull. Mileage is 24 to 26 in town and 30-32 hiway. The engine is the 2.4 and that may explain why the mileage is lower than others. Not to mention my heavy right foot. We have a little over 15000 miles with an additonal 18000 being towed. There is a little front tire wear right now, but a long way from being worn out.

Life is good,
Jack

I was wondering if towing an HHr , does the odometer rack up mileage in tow mode?

Nope, no mileage added while towing.

ok, we went and bought a used 2006 hhr. I cant beleive how comfortable it is to drive and the fuel economy is fantastic 27-29 town, and 32-34 highway. we tow on a flat bed and have no problems. plus the addded bonus of 5 year 100000mile warrenty because it is gm certified .
we love it and recommend them to any one for a toad.
mike and deb, alaska bound 5 july

Hi All,

We purchased a used 2007 LT auto. (Ex rental unit). Freeway cruises easy on 70+. Hills slow it down somewhat. We are in Colorado at the moment and it struggles up some of the BIG long hills. But it digs in and just keeps going. We are getting 34 mpg and that includes mountain, town and freeway driving.
Real easy to drive and feels like a big car ride. We do a lot of dirt backroads and it handles this hard use real good.
My only caution is the tow height. We flat tow behind a CC Intrigue. The front of the HHR is very low. You will need to drop the height of the hitch on your MH to keep a level aframe.
It's also got a bit too much plastic inside for my liking. Pulling the fuse can also be a pain sometimes.

Would I buy another one to flat tow. Yes in a heart beat.

Bruce

Brucet:

I am going to look at an HHr this coming Friday so this was a timely thread but I'm not sure that I understand your advice on hitch placement. I am planning (I think) of going with a Blue Ox system for towing; would your advice still be the same? As you can probably tell I know absolutly nothing about towing but the other question I have for anyone is this: if I go with Blue Ox to tow an HHR would I still need a Brake Buddy. I don't know if this enters into the calculation needed for an answer but the motor home is a 1998 Itacsca A class, thirty three feet. Jen

As I have mentioned recently on a similar thread I currently have an Uplander and today I have confirmed that it cannot be towed. I'm not too sad about that because it is big and heavy and it's going to be hard to park on some of those narrow Mexican streets but one trhing that I find disheartening is that I am going to take such a bath when I go to trade/sell the Uplander. The prices have really come down on these vehicles since I boutht mind. Oh well to look on the bright side it looks like we will save lots on fuel costs! Jen

Hi Jen,

I have at Roadmaster Sterling installed. When removed there is no visible tow gear on the HHR. The brackets go under the front bumper so you will see that they are low. With a large over hang I would be cautious about your tow height.
I am registered in Texas and don't need brakes on the HHR. I forget the exact reason why I don't need brakes but the guys at Camping World, (in Texas), showed me the regulations and confirmed that I don't need brakes. (They were quite happy to sell me brakes but were honest enough to show me the regulations). Someone else here may have the regulations at hand.

Good luck.
Bruce

Thanks Bruce. I just had a look at the Roadmaster Sterling. I think I know what you are talking about but I'm not sure where to check out what would be involved for my particular motor home. Does anyone have any suggestions? I have talked to someone locally who installs hitches but that was several months ago before we bought our current motor home and before I knew of Blue Ox. I guess I could call him back with my updated information and see what he has to say. Jen

Jen

Blue Ox or Roadmaster are both great products with superb company support.

Many cars need a "drop" in the hitch setup to get the tow bar within safe parameters. Blue Ox indicates your hitch point on the motorhome should be no more than 4" higher than the hitch points on the car. The motorhome hitch point should NEVER be lower. The reason for those limits is what happens when you do a panic stop. You don't want the toad climbing up over the towbar, nor do you want it going under and lifting the rear of the motorhome and reducing your motorhome braking power.

I have a 4" drop on my Blue Ox hitch system to get the tow bar down about 1-2" higher on the motorhome end. I am towing a Honda Odyssey, which also is pretty low in the front. (I used to have a 4" Roadmaster drop and it drug sometimes. I replaced it with a 4" Blue Ox drop that has never drug. The Blue Ox drop is designed differently and is several inches shorter in length).

As for auxilliary brakes in the toad, you might be legal in your own state without them depending on the weight of the toad and what state you live in. However, if you plan to travel through other states, you will need toad brakes to be legal in all other states, Canada, etc. AND, if you plan to be as safe as possible, you need an auxilliary braking system no matter where you are traveling and what you are towing. It just makes sense to have all the braking power you can have when you really need it.

Thanks Paul: I think I know what you are talking about but is there anyway to tell in advance of buying a toad what my particular motor home can safely tow. Are there some basic guidelines for height differences that I can measure?

When General RV delivered the motor home the man who drove it here was using Blue Ox to tow a small car. I didn't pay much attention to it except to notice that there were two metal cylinders protruding from the grill area. The toad in this case seemd like some sporty something or other and looked as if it were built fairly close to the ground.

When you say "drug" do you mean that this is something that happens on an incline or decline or just randomly when you are driving down the road?

Also, I am in Canada and noticed that you mentioned Canada, so I gather that it is a matter of law here to have auxillary brakes. I actually would likely go with a braking system due to my level of cowardice! I want to be as safe as possible and to have as much control over any braking situation as is possible. Jen