CRUISER- the dealer told me last night the HHR has a 2k rebate right now. That oddball one you are admiring would have the rebate i think, and prob a nice dealer discount. In my case, i have nearly 2k in GM card burning a hole in my pocket and GM even has an incentive out there to make up to 2k in my final lease payments on my Ford as well. What I am saying, check the rebates and test the waters on the dealer discount.
The Fit is a thoughtful car, but cmon, its light, has no power, and will not have the solidity of the HHR. A few spring potholes and where is the Fit? And if you make the choice solely on engines alone, you already know the ecotec is a great torque four that gets great FE and has passing reserves. That Fit motor just can't keep up, despite how seemingly awesome hondas torqueless wonders are.
Mazda 5 is nice and has more interior versatility than the HHR. I don't think its faster though and at least from when i researched it, i don't think its real world FE was all that much better than cars like the Ford Freestyle were (Freestyles consistently scored 20-25 real world city, my 500 has been seeing 22-23 this summer in town).
A 20k sticker to me translates to a maximum 17k price out the door after rebate, maybe even closer to 16 than 17. If you shop around, you'll find virtually nothing as cool in that price range.
Talked to my neighbor last night. He is a big car guy. He works part time for Dodge doing promotions on the side. He owns an SSR, that's his toy. his wife needed a car. he said he tried to steer her into an HHR but she wanted AWD so they got a Suzuki SX4. he didn't even get a Caliber...LOL. Point being, he thought the HHR is a super package as well.