2005 BUICK TERRAZA steering

Hazard Warning Flashers
Your hazard warning ashers let you warn others. They
also let police know you have a problem. Your front
and rear turn signal lamps will ash on and off.
The hazard warning
asher button is located
near the center of the
instrument panel.
Your hazard warning ashers work no matter what
position your key is in, and even if the key is not in.
Press the button to make the front and rear turn signal
lamps ash on and off. Press the button again to
turn the ashers off.
When the hazard warning ashers are on, your turn
signals will not work.
Other Warning Devices
If you carry reective triangles, you can set them up at
the side of the road about 300 feet (100 m) behind
your vehicle.
Horn
Press near or on the horn symbols on your steering
wheel pad to sound the horn.
Tilt Wheel
A tilt wheel allows you to adjust the steering wheel
before you drive. You can raise the steering wheel to
the highest level to give your legs more room when you
enter and exit the vehicle.
The lever that allows you to tilt the steering wheel is
located on the left side of the steering column.
To tilt the wheel, hold the
wheel and pull the lever.
Then move the wheel
to a comfortable position
and release the lever
to lock the wheel in place.
3-6

Turn Signal/Multifunction Lever
The lever on the left side of the steering column
includes the following:
GTurn and Lane Change Signals. SeeTurn and
Lane-Change Signals on page 3-7.
3Headlamp High/Low-Beam Changer. See
Headlamp High/Low-Beam Changer on page 3-8.
Flash-to-Pass. SeeFlash-to-Pass on page 3-8.
NWindshield Wipers. SeeWindshield Wipers
on page 3-9.
LWindshield Washer. SeeWindshield Washer
on page 3-9.
ZRear Window Wiper. SeeWindshield Washer
on page 3-9.
=Rear Window Washer. SeeWindshield Washer
on page 3-9.
For information on the headlamps, seeExterior Lamps
on page 3-14.
Turn and Lane-Change Signals
The turn signal has two upward (for right) and two
downward (for left) positions. These positions allow you
to signal a turn or a lane change.
To signal a turn, move the lever all the way up or
down. When the turn is nished, the lever will return
automatically.
An arrow on the
instrument panel cluster
will ash in the direction of
the turn or lane change.
To signal a lane change, just raise or lower the lever
until the arrow starts to ash. Hold it there until you
complete your lane change. The lever will return by
itself when you release it.
3-7

The cruise control lever
is located below the
windshield wiper control
on the right side of
the steering wheel.
QRES + (Resume/Accelerate):Push the lever up to
resume the cruise control speed, or to accelerate
when passing another vehicle.
J(CRUISE CONTROL) ON/OFFq:Press the
button on the end of the lever to turn the cruise control
on. Press it again to turn cruise control off.
RSET — (Set/Coast/Decelerate):Push the lever
down to set the cruise speed. If the cruise speed
is already set this position can be used to coast or
decelerate from a higher speed.
CANCEL
R:Pull the lever to cancel the cruise
control speed.
Cruise control allows a speed of approximately
25 mph (40 km/h) or more to be maintained without
keeping your foot on the accelerator. This is helpful
on long trips. Cruise control does not work at speeds
below about 25 mph (40 km/h).
When the brakes are applied, the cruise control
shuts off.
If the vehicle is in cruise control and the Traction
Control System (TCS) begins to limit wheel spin,
the cruise control will automatically disengage. See
Traction Control System (TCS) on page 4-9. When road
conditions allow, the cruise control can be used again.
3-11

Using Cruise Control on Hills
How well the cruise control will work on hills depends
upon the vehicle’s speed, its load, and the steepness of
the hills. When going up steep hills, the accelerator pedal
might have to be used in order to maintain the vehicle’s
speed. When going downhill, the brakes might have to be
applied, or the transaxle might have to be shifted to a
lower gear to keep the vehicle’s speed down. Doing
either of these things will take the vehicle out of cruise.
It may be better not to use the cruise control if the brakes
constantly have to be applied, or the vehicle continuously
needs to be shifted to a lower gear.
Cancelling Cruise Control
To cancel a cruise control session, pull the cruise
control lever forward, or step lightly on the brake pedal.
Doing either of these things will only end the current
cruise control session, but the set speed will be retained
in memory.
Push the button at the end of the cruise control lever to
turn the system off.
Erasing Speed Memory
When the cruise control or the ignition is turned off,
the cruise control set speed memory is erased.
Exterior Lamps
The control to the left of
the steering column
operates the exterior
lamps.
9(Off):Turn the control to this position to toggle off
all lamps. This is a momentary control that will spring
back to AUTO when released.
This momentary control will turn the automatic
headlamps and/or the Daytime Running Lamps on and
off for U.S. vehicles. For vehicles rst sold in Canada,
this is only true when the transaxle is in PARK (P).
AUTO (Automatic):Turn the control to this position to
set your headlamps in automatic mode. AUTO mode,
if enabled, will turn the exterior lamps on and off
automatically depending on how much light is available
outside the vehicle.
3-14

Interior Lamps Control
The interior lamp control is
located to the right of the
exterior lamp controls
on the instrument panel to
the left of the steering
column.
R(Interior Lamp Override):Turn the outer knob to
this position to have your interior lamps remain off
while any door is open.
1(Door):Turn the outer knob to this position to turn
the interior lamps on while any door is open and
when the ignition key is removed from the ignition.
+(Interior Lamps):Turn the outer knob to
this position to turn the interior lamps on.
Turn the inner knob to adjust the instrument panel
brightness, described earlier in this section.
Dome Lamp
The dome lamp is located in the headliner and has
two buttons to manually turn it on or off. The dome lamp
will come on each time you open a door, unless you
turn on the interior lamps override feature. SeeInterior
Lamps Control on page 3-17.
Entry Lighting
With entry lighting, the interior of your vehicle is
illuminated so that you can see inside before you enter
your vehicle. The lamps will come on for 20 seconds
if you unlock your door using your key or the remote
keyless entry transmitter and the ignition is in LOCK.
After 20 seconds have passed, the interior lamps
will slowly fade out. The lamps will turn off before the
20 seconds if you do one of the following:
Lock all the doors using the key.
Press lock on the power door lock switch.
Press lock on the remote keyless entry transmitter.
When any door is opened, entry lighting is cancelled.
The interior lamps will stay on while any door or
the liftgate is open, and slowly fade out when all
doors and the liftgate are closed.
3-17

Theft-Deterrent Feature
THEFTLOCK®is designed to discourage theft of your
vehicle’s radio. The feature works automatically by
learning a portion of the Vehicle Identication Number
(VIN). If the radio is moved to a different vehicle, it
will not operate and LOCKED will appear on the display.
With THEFTLOCK
®activated, the radio will not
operate if stolen.
Audio Steering Wheel Controls
If your vehicle has this feature, some audio controls can
be adjusted at the steering wheel. They include the
following:
wtux(Seek):Press the up or the down arrow
to go to the next or previous station and stay there.
To scan stations, press and hold either arrow for
two seconds until FREQUENCY SCAN appears on the
display. The radio will go to a station, play for a few
seconds, then go to the next station. Press either arrow
again to stop scanning.
The sound will mute while seeking or scanning. The
radio will only seek or scan stations with a strong signal
that are in the selected band.
When a CD is playing, press either arrow to go to the
previous or next track, if more than eight seconds have
played. If either arrow is held or pressed more than
once, the player will continue moving backward
or forward through the CD.
BAND:Press this button to switch between FM1, FM2,
AM, or XM1 or XM2 (if equipped).
3-112

Your Driving, the Road, and Your Vehicle..........4-2
Defensive Driving...........................................4-2
Drunken Driving.............................................4-3
Control of a Vehicle........................................4-6
Braking.........................................................4-6
Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS).........................4-7
Braking in Emergencies...................................4-8
Traction Control System (TCS).........................4-9
StabiliTrak
®System......................................4-10
All-Wheel Drive (AWD) System.......................4-12
Steering......................................................4-12
Off-Road Recovery.......................................4-14
Passing.......................................................4-15
Loss of Control.............................................4-16
Driving at Night............................................4-18
Driving in Rain and on Wet Roads..................4-19City Driving..................................................4-22
Freeway Driving...........................................4-23
Before Leaving on a Long Trip.......................4-24
Highway Hypnosis........................................4-25
Hill and Mountain Roads................................4-25
Winter Driving..............................................4-27
If Your Vehicle is Stuck in Sand, Mud,
Ice or Snow..............................................4-31
Rocking Your Vehicle to Get It Out.................4-32
Loading Your Vehicle....................................4-32
Towing..........................................................4-37
Towing Your Vehicle.....................................4-37
Recreational Vehicle Towing...........................4-37
Level Control...............................................4-39
Towing a Trailer...........................................4-39
Section 4 Driving Your Vehicle
4-1

Control of a Vehicle
You have three systems that make your vehicle go where
you want it to go. They are the brakes, the steering, and
the accelerator. All three systems have to do their work at
the places where the tires meet the road.
Sometimes, as when you are driving on snow or ice,
it is easy to ask more of those control systems than the
tires and road can provide. That means you can lose
control of your vehicle.
Braking
Braking action involves perception time and
reaction time.
First, you have to decide to push on the brake pedal.
That is perception time. Then you have to bring up your
foot and do it. That is reaction time.
Average reaction time is about three-fourths of a
second. But that is only an average. It might be less
with one driver and as long as two or three seconds or
more with another. Age, physical condition, alertness,
coordination, and eyesight all play a part. So do alcohol,
drugs, and frustration. But even in three-fourths of a
second, a vehicle moving at 60 mph (100 km/h) travels
66 feet (20 m). That could be a lot of distance in an
emergency, so keeping enough space between
your vehicle and others is important.And, of course, actual stopping distances vary greatly
with the surface of the road, whether it is pavement
or gravel; the condition of the road, whether it is
wet, dry, or icy; tire tread; the condition of your brakes;
the weight of the vehicle; and the amount of brake
force applied.
Avoid needless heavy braking. Some people drive
in spurts — heavy acceleration followed by heavy
braking — rather than keeping pace with traffic. This is
a mistake. Your brakes may not have time to cool
between hard stops. Your brakes will wear out much
faster if you do a lot of heavy braking. If you keep pace
with the traffic and allow realistic following distances,
you will eliminate a lot of unnecessary braking.
That means better braking and longer brake life.
If your engine ever stops while you are driving, brake
normally but do not pump your brakes. If you do,
the pedal may get harder to push down. If your engine
stops, you will still have some power brake assist.
But you will use it when you brake. Once the power
assist is used up, it may take longer to stop and
the brake pedal will be harder to push.
4-6