2008 TOYOTA MATRIX Owners Manual

’08 MATRIX_U (L/O 0706)
39
2008 COROLLA MATRIX from Aug. ’07 Prod. (OM12B26U)
You can use the rear right side seatback
as a temporary table only when the ve-
hicle is stopped.
CAUTION
To avoid death or serious injury:
Do not set up the seatback table
while the vehicle is moving.
Do not sit on the seatback table.
NOTICE
To prevent damage to the seat, avoid
putting heavy loads on the temporary
table.
CAUTION
When returning the seatback to the
upright position, observe the follow-
ing precautions in order to prevent
death or serious injury in a collision
or sudden stop:
Make sure the seatback is securely
locked by pushing forward and rear-
ward on the top of the seatback
and that the red mark at the button
on the top of the seatback cannot
be seen. Failure to do so will pre-
vent seat belt from operating prop-
erly.
Make sure the seat belts are not
twisted or caught in the seatback
and are arranged in the proper
position and are ready to use.
Front
Rear
Head restraints

’08 MATRIX_U (L/O 0706)
40
2008 COROLLA MATRIX from Aug. ’07 Prod. (OM12B26U)
For your safety and comfort, adjust the
head restraint before driving.
To raise: Pull it up.
To lower: Push it down while pressing the
lock release button.
The head restraint is most effective when
it is close to your head. Therefore, using
a cushion on the seatback is not recom-
mended.
CAUTION
Adjust the center of the head re-
straint so that it is closest to the
top of your ears.
After adjusting the head restraint,
make sure it is locked in position.
Do not drive with the head re-
straints removed.
Toyota strongly urges that the driver and
passengers in the vehicle be properly re-
strained at all times with the seat belts
provided. Failure to do so could increase
the chance of injury and/or the severity of
injury in accidents.
The seat belts provided for your vehicle
are designed for people of adult size,
large enough to properly wear them.
Child. Use a child restraint system ap-
propriate for the child until the child be-
comes large enough to properly wear the
vehicle’s seat belts. See “Child restraint”
on page 67 in this Section for details.
If a child is too large for a child restraint
system, the child s hould sit in the rear
seat and must be restrained using the
vehicle’s seat belt. According to accident
statistics, the child is safer when properly
restrained in the rear seat than in the
front seat.
If a child must sit in the front seat, the
seat belts should be worn properly. If an
accident occurs and the seat belts are not
worn properly, the force of the rapid infla-
tion of the airbag may cause death or
serious injury to the child. Do not allow any children to stand up or
kneel on either rear or front seats. An
unrestrained child could suffer serious in-
jury or death during emergency braking or
a collision. Also, do not let the child sit
on your lap. Holding a child in your arms
does not provide sufficient restraint.
Pregnant woman.
Toyota recommends the
use of a seat belt. Ask your doctor for
specific recommendations. The lap belt
should be worn securely and as low as
possible over the hips and not on the
waist.
Injured person. Toyota recommends the
use of a seat belt. Depending on the inju-
ry, first check with your doctor for specific
recommendations.
Seat belts—
—Seat belt precautions

’08 MATRIX_U (L/O 0706)
41
2008 COROLLA MATRIX from Aug. ’07 Prod. (OM12B26U)
CAUTION
Persons should ride in their seats
properly wearing their seat belts
whenever the vehicle is moving.
Otherwise, they are much more likely
to suffer serious bodily injury or
death in the event of sudden braking
or a collision.
When using the seat belts, observe
the following:
Use the belt for only one person at
a time. Do not use a single belt for
two or more people—even children.
Avoid reclining the seatback any
more than needed. The seat belts
provide 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 restraint forces directly
to the abdomen or your neck may
contact the shoulder belt. In the
event of a frontal collision, the
more the seat is reclined, the great-
er the risk of death or serious inju-
ry.
Be careful not to damage the belt
webbing or hardware. Take care that
they do not get caught or pinched
in the seat or doors.
Inspect the belt system periodically.
Check for cuts, fraying, and loose
parts. Damaged parts should be re-
placed. Do not disassemble or
modify the system.
Keep the belts clean and dry. If
they need cleaning, use a mild soap
solution or lukewarm water. Never
use bleach, dye, or abrasive clean-
ers, or allow them to come into
contact with the belts—they may
severely weaken the belts. (See
“Cleaning the interior” on page 257
in Section 5.)
Replace the belt assembly (includ-
ing bolts) if it has been used in a
severe impact. The entire assembly
should be replaced even if damage
is not obvious.
Ta b
Buckle
Adjust the seat as needed and sit up
straight and well back in the seat. To
fasten your belt, pull it out of the re-
tractor and insert the tab into the
buckle.
You will hear a click when the tab locks
into the buckle.
The seat belt length automatically adjusts
to your size and the seat position.
The retractor will lock the belt during a
sudden stop or on impact. It also may
lock if you lean forward too quickly. A
slow, easy motion will allow the belt to
extend, and you can move around freely.
—Fastening front and rear
seat belts

’08 MATRIX_U (L/O 0706)
42
2008 COROLLA MATRIX from Aug. ’07 Prod. (OM12B26U)
When a passenger ’s shoulder belt is com-
pletely extended and is then retracted
even slightly, the belt is locked in that
position and cannot be extended. This fea-
ture is used to hold the child restraint
system securely. (For details, see “Child
restraint” on page 67 in this Section.) To
free the belt again, fully retract the belt
and then pull the belt out once more.
If the seat belt cannot be pulled out of the
retractor, firmly pull the belt and release
it. You will then be able to smoothly pull
the belt out of the retractor.
CAUTION
After inserting the tab, make sure
the tab and buckle are locked and
that the belt is not twisted.
Do not insert coins, clips, etc. in
the buckle as this may prevent you
from properly latching the tab and
buckle.
If the seat belt does not function
normally, immediately contact your
Toyota dealer. Do not use the seat
until the seat belt is fixed, because
it cannot protect an adult occupant
or your child from death or serious
injury.
Ta k e u p
slack
To o h i g h
Keeps as low on
hips as possible
Adjust the position of the lap and
shoulder belts.
Position the lap belt as low as possible
on your hips—not on your waist, then ad-
just it to a snug fit by pulling the shoulder
portion upward through the latch plate.
CAUTION
Both highpositioned lap belts and
loosefitting belts could cause seri-
ous injuries due to sliding under
the lap belt during a collision or
other unintended event. Keep the
lap belt positioned as low on hips
as possible.
Do not place the shoulder belt un-
der your arm.

’08 MATRIX_U (L/O 0706)
43
2008 COROLLA MATRIX from Aug. ’07 Prod. (OM12B26U)
Seat belts with an adjustable shoulder
anchor—
Adjust the shoulder anchor position to
your size.
To raise: Slide the anchor up.
To lower: Push in the lock release button
and slide the anchor down.
After adjustment, make sure the anchor is
locked in position.
CAUTION
Always make sure the shoulder belt
is positioned across the center of
your shoulder. The belt should be
kept away from your neck, but not
falling off your shoulder. Failure to
do so could reduce the amount of
protection in an accident and cause
death or serious injures in a colli-
sion.
To release the belt, press the buckle
release button and allow the belt to
retract.
If the belt does not retract smoothly, pull
it out and check for kinks or twists. Then
make sure it remains untwisted as it re-
tracts.

’08 MATRIX_U (L/O 0706)
44
2008 COROLLA MATRIX from Aug. ’07 Prod. (OM12B26U)
If your seat belts cannot be fastened se-
curely because they are not long enough,
a personalized seat belt extender is avail-
able from your Toyota dealer free of
charge.
Please contact your local Toyota dealer to
order the proper required length for the
extender. Bring the heaviest coat you ex-
pect to wear for proper measurement and
selection of length. Additional ordering in-
formation is available at your Toyota deal-
er.
CAUTION
When using the seat belt extender,
observe the following precautions.
Failure to follow these instructions
could reduce the effectiveness of the
seat belt restraint system in case of
an accident, increasing the chance of
death or serious injury.
Remember that the extender pro-
vided for you may not be safe when
used on a different vehicle, for
another person, or at a different
seating position than the one origi-
nally intended.
If the seat belt extender has been
connected to the driver ’s seat belt
buckle without wearing the seat belt
when using the extender in the
driver ’s seat, the SRS driver ’s air-
bag system will judge that the driv-
er wears the seat belt even if not
wearing it. In this case, the driver ’s
airbag may not activate correctly,
causing death or serious injury in
the event of collision. Be sure to
wear the seat belt with the seat belt
extender.
Make sure the front passenger oc-
cupant classification indicator light
indicates “ON” when using the seat
belt extender for the front passen-
ger seat. If the indicator light indi-
cates “OFF”, disconnect the extend-
er tongue from the seat belt buckle,
then reconnect the seat belt. Recon-
nect the seat belt extender after
making sure the indicator light indi-
cates “ON”. If you use the seat belt
extender while the indicator light
indicates “OFF”, the front passen-
ger airbag and side airbag on the
front passenger side may not acti-
vate correctly, which could cause
death or serious injury in the event
of collision.
Be sure to wear the seat belt with-
out the seat belt extender if you
can fasten the seat belt without the
extender.
—Seat belt extender

’08 MATRIX_U (L/O 0706)
45
2008 COROLLA MATRIX from Aug. ’07 Prod. (OM12B26U)
Do not use the seat belt extender
when installing a child restraint
system on the front or rear passen-
ger seat. If installing a child re-
straint system with the seat belt
extender connected to the seat belt,
the seat belt will not securely hold
the child restraint system, which
could cause death or serious injury
to the child or other passengers in
the event of collision.
To connect the extender to the seat
belt, insert the tab into the seat belt
buckle so that the “PRESS” signs on
the buckle release buttons of the ex-
tender and the seat belt are both facing
outward as shown.
You will hear a click when the tab locks
into the buckle.
When releasing the seat belt, press on
the buckle release button on the extender,
not on the seat belt. This helps prevent
damage to the vehicle interior and extend-
er itself.As far as the seat belt extender on the
front passenger side is concerned, do not
fail to disconnect the extender from the
seat belt after the above operation in or-
der to activate the front passenger airbag
correctly when getting into the vehicle
next time.
When not in use, remove the extender
and store in the vehicle for future use.
CAUTION
After inserting the tab, make sure
the tab and buckle are locked and
that the lap and shoulder portions
of the belt and the seat belt extend-
er are not twisted.
Do not insert coins, clips, etc. in
the buckle as this may prevent you
from properly latching the tab and
buckle.
If the seat belt does not function
normally, immediately contact your
Toyota dealer. Do not use the seat
until the seat belt is fixed, because
it cannot protect an adult occupant
or your child from injury.

’08 MATRIX_U (L/O 0706)
46
2008 COROLLA MATRIX from Aug. ’07 Prod. (OM12B26U)
The driver and front passenger seat
belt pretensioners are designed to be
activated in response to a severe fron-
tal impact.
When the sensor detects a severe frontal
impact, the front seat belts are quickly
drawn back by the retractors so that the
belts snugly restrain the occupants.The front passenger ’s seat belt pretension-
er will not activate if no passenger is
detected in the front passenger seat by
the front passenger occupant classification
system. However, the front passenger’s
seat belt pretensioner may activate if lug-
gage is put on the seat, or the seat belt
is buckled up regardless of the presence
of an occupant in the seat. (As for the
front passenger occupant classification
system, see “—Front pass
enger occupant
classification system” on page 63 in this
Section.)
The seat belt pretensioners and SRS air-
bags may not operate together in all colli-
sions.The seat belt pretensioner system mainly
consists of the following components and
their locations are shown in the illustra-
tion.
1. Front airbag sensors
2. SRS warning light
3. Front passenger occupant classification indicator light
4. Front passenger occupant classification system (ECU and sensors)
5. Seat belt pretensioner assemblies
6. Front passenger ’s seat belt buckle switch
7. Airbag sensor assembly
—Seat belt pretensioners