2007 CHEVROLET MALIBU MAXX airbag

Seats and Restraint Systems
....................... 7
Front Seats
.............................................. 8
Rear Seats
............................................. 17
Safety Belts
............................................ 20
Child Restraints
...................................... 42
Airbag System
........................................ 72
Restraint System Check
......................... 90
Features and Controls
................................ 93
Keys
....................................................... 95
Doors and Locks
.................................. 104
Windows
............................................... 110
Theft-Deterrent Systems
....................... 113
Starting and Operating Your Vehicle
..... 117
Mirrors
.................................................. 138
OnStar
®System
................................... 144Universal Home Remote System
.......... 148
Storage Areas
...................................... 160
Sunroof
................................................ 164
Instrument Panel
....................................... 165
Instrument Panel Overview
................... 168
Climate Controls
................................... 188
Warning Lights, Gages, and
Indicators
.......................................... 198
Driver Information Center (DIC)
............ 218
Audio System(s)
................................... 228
Driving Your Vehicle
................................. 287
Your Driving, the Road, and Your
Vehicle
.............................................. 288
Towing
................................................. 330
2007 Chevrolet Malibu Owner ManualM
1

Front Seats..................................................... 8
Manual Seats................................................ 8
Power Seat................................................... 9
Manual Lumbar............................................. 9
Heated Seats.............................................. 10
Reclining Seatbacks.................................... 10
Head Restraints.......................................... 13
Passenger Folding Seatback (Maxx)............ 14
Power Lift Seat........................................... 16
Rear Seats.................................................... 17
Rear Seat Operation................................... 17
Safety Belts.................................................. 20
Safety Belts: They Are for Everyone........... 20
Questions and Answers About Safety Belts.... 24
How to Wear Safety Belts Properly............. 25
Driver Position............................................. 26
Shoulder Belt Height Adjustment................. 33
Safety Belt Use During Pregnancy.............. 34
Right Front Passenger Position................... 34
Rear Seat Passengers................................ 34
Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides................ 37
Safety Belt Pretensioners............................ 41
Safety Belt Extender................................... 41Child Restraints............................................ 42
Older Children............................................. 42
Infants and Young Children......................... 45
Child Restraint Systems.............................. 49
Where to Put the Restraint.......................... 54
Lower Anchors and Tethers for
Children (LATCH).................................... 56
Securing a Child Restraint in a
Rear Seat Position................................... 65
Securing a Child Restraint in the
Right Front Seat Position......................... 67
Airbag System.............................................. 72
Where Are the Airbags?.............................. 74
When Should an Airbag Inate?.................. 78
What Makes an Airbag Inate?................... 79
How Does an Airbag Restrain?................... 79
What Will You See After an Airbag Inates? ... 80
Passenger Sensing System......................... 82
Servicing Your Airbag-Equipped Vehicle...... 88
Adding Equipment to Your
Airbag-Equipped Vehicle.......................... 89
Restraint System Check............................... 90
Checking the Restraint Systems.................. 90
Replacing Restraint System Parts
After a Crash........................................... 91
Section 1 Seats and Restraint Systems
7

Passenger Folding Seatback (Maxx)
Your vehicle may have a passenger folding
seatback. This feature allows for more cargo space
or allows the seatback to be used as a temporary
table while the vehicle is stopped.
{CAUTION:
If you fold the seatback forward to carry
longer objects, such as skis, be sure any
such cargo is not near an airbag. In a
crash, an inating airbag might force that
object toward a person. This could cause
severe injury or even death. Secure objects
away from the area in which an airbag
would inate. For more information, see
Where Are the Airbags? on page 74and
Loading Your Vehicle on page 324.
{CAUTION:
Things you put on this seatback can strike
and injure people in a sudden stop or turn,
or in a crash. Remove or secure all items
before driving.
To fold the seatback forward, do the following:
1. Make sure the seatback is in the most upright
position and locked by using the reclining
seatback lever on the outboard side of the seat.
SeeReclining Seatbacks on page 10.
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2. If your vehicle has the passenger folding seat
without a side impact airbag, press either
lever located on the back of the seatback and
fold the seatback forward.
If your vehicle has the passenger folding seat
with a side impact airbag, press the lever
located on the back of the seatback on
the inboard side. Press the lever and fold the
seatback forward.To raise the seatback, do the following:
1. If your vehicle has the passenger folding seat
without a side impact airbag, press either
lever located on the back of the seatback.
Pull the seatback up to lock it into place.
Make sure the safety belt is not twisted or
caught in the seatback.
If your vehicle has the passenger folding seat
with a side impact airbag, press the lever
located on the back of the seatback on the
inboard side. Pull the seatback up to lock
it into place. Make sure the safety belt is not
twisted or caught in the seatback.
Seat without Side Impact Airbag shown,
Seat with Side Impact Airbag similar
15

or the safety belts!
With safety belts, you slow down as the vehicle
does. You get more time to stop. You stop
over more distance, and your strongest bones
take the forces. That is why safety belts
make such good sense.
Questions and Answers About
Safety Belts
Q:Will I be trapped in the vehicle after an
accident if I am wearing a safety belt?
A:Youcouldbe — whether you are wearing a
safety belt or not. But you can unbuckle a
safety belt, even if you are upside down.
And your chance of being conscious during
and after an accident, so youcanunbuckle
and get out, ismuchgreater if you are belted.
Q:If my vehicle has airbags, why should
I have to wear safety belts?
A:Airbags are supplemental systems only; so
they workwithsafety belts — not instead of
them. Every airbag system ever offered
for sale has required the use of safety belts.
Even if you are in a vehicle that has airbags,
you still have to buckle up to get the most
protection. That is true not only in frontal
collisions, but especially in side and other
collisions.
24

Safety Belt Pretensioners
Your vehicle has safety belt pretensioners for the
driver and right front passenger. Although you
cannot see them, they are part of the safety belt
assembly. They help tighten the safety belts during
the early stages of a moderate to severe frontal
and near frontal crash if the threshold conditions
for pretensioner activation are met. And, if your
vehicle has side impact airbags, safety belt
pretensioners can help tighten the safety belts
in a side crash.
Pretensioners work only once. If they activate in
a crash, you will need to get new ones, and
probably other new parts for your safety belt
system. SeeReplacing Restraint System Parts
After a Crash on page 91.
Safety Belt Extender
If the vehicle’s safety belt will fasten around you,
you should use it.
But if a safety belt is not long enough, your
dealer/retailer will order you an extender. When
you go in to order it, take the heaviest coat you will
wear, so the extender will be long enough for
you. To help avoid personal injury, do not
let someone else use it, and use it only for the
seat it is made to t. The extender has been
designed for adults. Never use it for securing child
seats. To wear it, attach it to the regular safety
belt. For more information, see the instruction
sheet that comes with the extender.
41

{CAUTION:
Children who are up against, or very close
to, any airbag when it inates can be
seriously injured or killed. Airbags plus
lap-shoulder belts offer protection for
adults and older children, but not for
young children and infants. Neither the
vehicle’s safety belt system nor its airbag
system is designed for them. Young
children and infants need the protection
that a child restraint system can provide.
47

Where to Put the Restraint
Accident statistics show that children are safer if
they are restrained in the rear rather than the front
seat. We recommend that children be secured
in a rear seat, including: an infant or a child riding
in a rear-facing child restraint; a child riding in
a forward-facing child seat; an older child riding
in a booster seat; and children, who are large
enough, using safety belts.
A label on your sun visor says, “Never put a
rear-facing child seat in the front.” This is because
the risk to the rear-facing child is so great, if the
airbag deploys.
{CAUTION:
A child in a rear-facing child restraint
can be seriously injured or killed if the
right front passenger’s airbag inates.
This is because the back of the rear-facing
child restraint would be very close to the
inating airbag.
CAUTION: (Continued)
CAUTION: (Continued)
Even though the passenger sensing
system is designed to turn off the right
front passenger’s frontal airbag if the
system detects a rear-facing child restraint,
no system is fail-safe, and no one can
guarantee that an airbag will not deploy
under some unusual circumstance, even
though it is turned off. We recommend that
rear-facing child restraints be secured in
the rear seat, even if the airbag is off.
If you need to secure a forward-facing child
restraint in the right front seat, always
move the front passenger seat as far back
as it will go. It is better to secure the child
restraint in a rear seat.
If you need to secure more than one child restraint
in the rear seat, review the following illustrations.
Depending on where you place the child restraint,
you may not be able to access certain safety belt
assemblies or LATCH anchors for additional
passengers or child restraints.
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