2008 TOYOTA COROLLA tow

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2008 COROLLA from Aug. ’07 Prod. (OM12B28U)
Never leave anyone (particularly a
small child) alone in your vehicle,
especially with the ignition key still
inserted. Otherwise, he/she could
use the power window switches and
get trapped in a window. Unat-
tended person (particularly a small
child) can be involved in a serious
accident.
To open the trunk lid from the outside,
insert the master key and turn it clock-
wise.
See “—Stowage precautions” on page 201
in Section 2 for precautions when loading
luggage.
To close the trunk lid, lower it and press
down on it. After closing the trunk lid, try
pulling it up to make sure it is securely
closed.
CAUTION
Keep the trunk lid closed while driv-
ing. This not only keeps the luggage
from being thrown out but also pre-
vents exhaust gases from entering
the vehicle.
Trunk lid—

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2008 COROLLA from Aug. ’07 Prod. (OM12B28U)
3. Hold the hood open by inserting thesupport rod into the slot.
To insert the support rod into the slot,
move it straight up. If it is moved to the
side or toward the inside of the vehicle,
it may become detached.
Before closing the hood, check to see that
you have not forgotten any tools, rags,
etc. and return the support rod to its
clip—this prevents rattles. Then lower the
hood and make sure it locks into place.
If necessary, press down gently on the
front edge to lock it.
CAUTION
After inserting the support rod into
the slot, make sure the rod supports
the hood securely from falling down
on to your head or body.
NOTICE
Be sure to return the support rod to
its clip before closing the hood. Clos-
ing the hood with the support rod up
could cause the hood to bend.
This indicates that the fuel filler door
is on the left side of your vehicle.
Fuel tank cap

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2008 COROLLA from Aug. ’07 Prod. (OM12B28U)
While the vehicle is being driven, all ve-
hicle occupants should have the seatback
upright, sit well back in the seat and prop-
erly wear the seat belts provided.
CAUTION
Do not drive the vehicle unless the
occupants are properly seated. Do
not allow any passengers to sit on
top of a foldeddown seatback, or
in the luggage compartment or car-
go area. Persons not properly
seated and/or not properly re-
strained by seat belts can be killed
or severely injured in the event of
emergency braking or a collision.
During driving, do not allow any
passengers to stand up or move
around between seats. Otherwise,
death or severe injuries can occur
in the event of emergency braking
or a collision.
Driver seat
CAUTION
The SRS driver airbag deploys with
considerable force, and can cause
death or serious injury especially if
the driver is very close to the airbag.
The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (“NHTSA”) advises:
Since the risk zone for driver airbag
is the first 50—75 mm (2—3 in.) of
inflation, placing yourself 250 mm (10
in.) from your driver airbag provides
you with a clear margin of safety.
This distance is measured from the
center of the steering wheel to your
breastbone. If you sit less than 250
mm (10 in.) away now, you can
change your driving position in sever-
al ways:
Move your seat to the rear as far
as you can while still reaching the
pedals comfortably.
Slightly recline the back of the
seat. Although vehicle designs vary,
many drivers can achieve the 250
mm (10 in.) distance, even with the
driver seat all the way forward, sim-
ply by reclining the back of the
seat somewhat. If reclining the back
of your seat makes it hard to see
the road, raise yourself by using a
firm, nonslippery cushion, or raise
the seat if your vehicle has that
feature.
If your steering wheel is adjustable,
tilt it downward. This points the air-
bag toward your chest instead of
your head and neck.
The seat should be adjusted as rec-
ommended by NHTSA above, while
still maintaining control of the foot
pedals, steering wheel, and your view
of the instrument panel controls.
Seats Front seats—
—Front seat precautions

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2008 COROLLA from Aug. ’07 Prod. (OM12B28U)
CAUTION
Avoid reclining the seatback any
more than needed. The seat belts pro-
vide maximum protection in a frontal
or rear collision when the driver and
the front passenger are sitting up
straight and well back in the seats. If
you are reclined, the lap belt may
slide past your hips and apply re-
straint forces directly to the abdomen
or your neck may contact the shoul-
der belt. In the event of a frontal
collision, the more the seat is re-
clined, the greater the risk of death
or serious injury.
FOLDING DOWN REAR SEAT1. To unlock the seatback, pull the le- ver in the trunk.2. Fold down the seatback.
Each seatback can be folded separately.
This will enlarge the trunk as far as the
seatbacks. See “—Stowage precautions”
on page 201 in Section 2 for precautions
when loading luggage.
NOTICE
Make sure the luggage loaded in the
enlarged trunk will not damage the
webbing of the rear center seat belt
when the right seatback is folded
down.
Folddown rear seat

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This function will be canceled when you
turn the ignition switch to the “ON” posi-
tion.
To turn on the windshield wipers, move
the lever to the desired setting.
The key must be in the “ON” position.Lever position
Speed setting
Position 1Intermittent
Position 2Slow
Position 3Fast
For a single sweep of the windshield,
push the lever up and release it. With interval adjuster: The “INT” band lets
you adjust the wiping time interval when
the wiper lever is in the intermittent posi-
tion (position 1). Twist the band upward to
increase the time between sweeps, and
downward to decrease it.
To squirt washer fluid, pull the lever
toward you.
If the windshield wipers are off, they will
operate a couple of times after the washer
squirts.
For instructions on adding washer fluid,
see “Adding washer fluid” on page 279 in
Section 7
−3.
In freezing weather, warm the windshield
with the defroster before using the washer.
This will help prevent the washer fluid
from freezing on your windshield, which
can block your vision.
NOTICE
Do not operate the wipers if the wind-
shield is dry. It may scratch the
glass.
Windshield wipers and washer

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2008 COROLLA from Aug. ’07 Prod. (OM12B28U)
Ty p e A
Ty p e B
Ty p e C
The gauge indicates the engine coolant
temperature when the ignition switch is
on. The engine operating temperature
will vary with changes in weather and
engine load.
If the needle moves into the red zone,
your engine is too hot. If your vehicle
overheats, stop your vehicle and allow the
engine to cool.Your vehicle may overheat during severe
operating conditions, such as:
Driving up a long hill on a hot day.
Reducing speed or stopping after high
speed driving.
Idling for a long period with the air
conditioning on in stop
−and− go traffic.
Towing a trailer.
NOTICE
Do not remove the thermostat in
the engine cooling system as this
may cause the engine to overheat.
The thermostat is designed to con-
trol the flow of coolant to keep the
temperature of the engine within
the specified operating range.
 Do not continue driving with an
overheated engine. See “If your ve-
hicle overheats” on page 224 in
Section 4.
Engine coolant temperature
gauge

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2008 COROLLA from Aug. ’07 Prod. (OM12B28U)
(b) Overdrive switch
You can select either a third gear (with
overdrive off) or fourth gear (with over-
drive on) by pushing this switch.
To turn the overdrive off, push the switch.
The “O/D OFF” indicator light should come
on. To turn the overdrive on again, push
the switch again. The “O/D OFF” indicator
light should go off.
Always drive your vehicle with the over-
drive on for better fuel economy and
quieter driving.
If the engine is turned off when the over-
drive is off and restarted, the overdrive
will be on automatically.Vehicles with cruise control—When the
cruise control is being used, even if you
downshift the transmission by pushing and
releasing the overdrive switch, engine
braking will not be enabled because the
cruise control is not cancelled.
For ways to decrease the vehicle speed,
see “Cruise control” on page 131 in this
Section.
(c) Normal driving
1. Start the engine as instructed in “How to start the engine” on page 206 in
Section 3. The transmission must be in
“P” or “N”.
2. With your foot holding down the brake pedal, shift the selector lever to “D”.
When the lever is in the “D” position, the
automatic transmission system will select
the most suitable gear for running condi-
tions such as normal cruising, hill climb-
ing, hard towing, etc.
Always turn the overdrive on for better
fuel economy and quieter driving. If the
engine coolant temperature is low, the
transmission will not shift into overdrive
gear even with the overdrive on.
CAUTION
Never put your foot on the accelera-
tor pedal while shifting.
3. Release the parking brake and brake pedal. Depress the accelerator pedal
slowly for smooth starting.
(d) Using engine braking
To use engine braking, you can downshift
the transmission as follows:
Push the overdrive switch. The “O/D
OFF” indicator light will come on and
the transmission will downshift to third
gear.
Shift into the “2” position. The trans-
mission will downshift to second gear
when the vehicle speed drops down to
or lower than 105 km/h (65 mph), and
stronger engine braking will be en-
abled.
Shift into the “L” position. The trans-
mission will downshift to first gear
when the vehicle speed drops down to
or lower than 49 km/h (30 mph), and
maximum engine braking will be en-
abled.

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2008 COROLLA from Aug. ’07 Prod. (OM12B28U)
Vehicles with cruise control—When the
cruise control is being used, even if you
downshift the transmission by pushing and
releasing the overdrive switch, engine
braking will not be enabled because the
cruise control is not cancelled.
For ways to decrease the vehicle speed,
see “Cruise control” on page 131 in this
Section.
CAUTION
Be careful when downshifting on a
slippery surface. Abrupt shifting
could cause the vehicle to skid or
spin.
(e) Using “2” and “L” positions
The “2” and “L” positions are used for
strong engine braking as described pre-
viously.
With the selector lever in “2” or “L”, you
can start the vehicle in motion as with the
lever in “D”.
With the selector lever in “2”, the vehicle
will start in first gear and automatically
shift to second gear.
With the selector lever in “L”, the trans-
mission is engaged in first gear.
NOTICE
Be careful not to overrev the en-
gine. Watch the tachometer to keep
engine rpm from going into the red
zone. The approximate maximum al-
lowable speed for each position is
given below for your reference:
“2” 118 km/h (73 mph) . . . . . . . . . . .
“L” 65 km/h (40 mph) . . . . . . . . . . . .
 Do not continue hill climbing or
hard towing for a long time in the
“2” or “L” position. This may cause
severe automatic transmission dam-
age from overheating. To prevent
such damage, “D” position should
be used in hill climbing or hard
towing.
(f) Backing up
1. Bring the vehicle to a complete stop.
2. With the brake pedal held down with your foot, shift the selector lever to the
“R” position.
NOTICE
Never shift into reverse while the ve-
hicle is moving.
(g) Parking
1. Bring the vehicle to a complete stop.
2. Pull the parking brake lever up fully to securely apply the parking brake.
3. With the brake pedal pressed down, shift the selector lever to the “P” posi-
tion.
CAUTION
Never attempt to move the selector
lever into “P” position under any cir-
cumstances while the vehicle is mov-
ing. Serious mechanical damage and
loss of vehicle control may result.
(h) Good driving practice
If the transmission repeatedly shifts up
and down between third gear and over-
drive when climbing a gentle slope, the
overdrive should be turned off. Be sure
to turn the switch on immediately after-
ward.
When towing a trailer, in order to main-
tain engine braking efficiency, do not
use overdrive.