We couldn't find a comfortable seating position; the problem seemed to lie in the contour of the seatback. And unless the seat was in its lowest position, our head hit the headliner (5'10" driver). Speaking of headroom, there isn't a lot of it, in spite of the high roof.
There are slim folding armrests for each front seat; the driver's armrest sloped a few degrees below horizontal on our test unit, apparently because of a broken stop, and was therefore unusable.
The automatic transmission shift lever, with a big chrome knob, sometimes got stuck in park, and had to be jiggled to engage reverse or drive.
There's no significant storage in any console between the seats, two cupholders and one slot is all. The door pockets are small. There's a useful flip-up compartment on top of the dash, however, and there's a small glovebox.
In the rear, there's one cupholder and small door pockets. The back of the front passenger seat has a tight storage net, but not the back of the driver's seat. GM saved a few cents here.
The windows are controlled on the console by four buttons located just forward of the gear lever. So if you park with the windows down, and want to lock the car, you have to reach down with two hands in front of the gear lever, and hold the buttons down two at a time (or reach with one hand, and hold the four buttons down consecutively, and wait). Even operating the driver's window, at toll booths for example, requires leaning forward and reaching down. Window switches should be on the driver's door.
The turn signal makes a loud, rapid, annoying click. The rearview mirror blocks a significant chunk of forward visibility out the smallish windshield.
The gauges and controls are, well, General Motors. Superfluous chrome rings and trim, and instruments designed to look cool, rather than to be easily readable.
One good thing (even if it is bright chrome) is the door handle, an ergonomically correct ring which actuates with a horizontal inward pull.
If the HHR misses on the little interior things, the cargo storage possibilities are excellent, although the total cargo area of 55.6 cubic feet is 8.4 less than in the PT Cruiser. The rear split 60/40 seat folds flat very easily, as does the front passenger seat; and since the 60-percent side of the rear seat is on the left, a long item like a ladder can be slipped in diagonally. Which is good, because without crossbars to the roof rails, it can't be carried above.
The rear cargo floor flips up to reveal a five-inch-deep tray, where you might hide a wallet, or many wallets, or a few short stacks of pancakes for a firemen's breakfast. The rear liftgate is one piece, and raises easily.
Not surprisingly, there isn't much legroom in the rear seat. Kids are always fine, as long as three of them can share one drink. We actually carried six 10-year-old boys on a soccer team for 60 miles in the HHR, and they were all happy. Even the two who squeezed into the way back.
Overall, interior-wise, the HHR isn't in the same league as the Honda Element."
