2009 KIA SOUL Owners Manual

Safety features of your vehicle
4
3
Front seat adjustment C010101ASA
Forward and backward
To move the seat forward or backward:
1. Pull the seat slide adjustment lever
that is under the front edge of the seat cushion up and hold it.
2. Slide the seat to the position you desire.
3. Release the lever and make sure the seat is locked in place.
Adjust the seat before driving, and make
sure the seat is locked securely by trying
to move forward and backward without
using the lever. If the seat moves, it is not
locked properly.
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(Continued)
When resetting the seatback to the upright position, make sure it
is securely latched by pushing it
forward and backwards.
To avoid the possibility of burns, do not remove the carpet in the
cargo area. Emission control
devices beneath this floor gener-ate high temperatures.WARNING - Rear seatbacks
The rear seatback must be securely latched. If not, passen-
gers and objects could be thrown
forward resulting in serious
injury or death in the event of a
sudden stop or collision.
Luggage and other cargo should be laid flat in the cargo area. If
objects are large, heavy, or must
be piled, they must be secured.
Under no circumstances should
cargo be piled higher than the
seatbacks. Failure to follow thesewarnings could result in serious
injury or death in the event of a
sudden stop, collision or rollover.
No passenger should ride in the cargo area or sit or lie on folded
seatbacks while the vehicle is
moving. All passengers must be
properly seated in seats and
restrained properly while riding.
(Continued)
WARNING
After adjusting the seat, always
check that it is securely locked into
place by attempting to move the
seat forward or backward without
using the lock release lever.
Sudden or unexpected movement
of the driver's seat could cause you
to lose control of the vehicle result-ing in an accident.

35
Safety features of your vehicle
C010102AUN
Seatback angle
To recline the seatback:
1. Lean forward slightly and lift up on theseatback recline lever located on the
outside of the seat at the rear.
2. Carefully lean back on the seat and adjust the seatback of the seat to the
position you desire.
3. Release the lever and make sure the seatback is locked in place. (The lever
MUST return to its original position for
the seatback to lock.) C010103AUN
Seat cushion height (for driver’s seat)
To change the height of the seat cushion,
push the lever that is located on the out-
side of the seat cushion upwards or
downwards.
To lower the seat cushion, push the
lever down several times.
To raise the seat cushion, pull the lever up several times. C010104BUN
Headrest
The driver's and front passenger's seats
are equipped with a headrest for the
occupant's safety and comfort.
The headrest not only provides comfort
for the driver and front passenger, but
also helps to protect the head and neck
in the event of a collision.
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Safety features of your vehicle
6
3
Forward and backward adjustment (if equipped)
The headrest may be adjusted forward to
3 different positions by pulling the head-
rest forward to the desired detent. To
adjust the headrest to it’s furthest back-
wards position, pull it fully forward to the
farthest position and release it. Adjust the
headrest so that it properly supports the
head and neck. Adjusting the height up and down
To raise the headrest, pull it up to the
desired position (1). To lower the head-
rest, push and hold the release button (2)
on the headrest support and lower theheadrest to the desired position (3).
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WARNING
For maximum effectiveness in case of an accident, the headrest
should be adjusted so the middleof the headrest is at the same
height of the center of gravity of
an occupant's head. Generally,
the center of gravity of most peo-ple's head is similar with the
height of the top of their eyes.
Also, adjust the headrest as close
to your head as possible. For this
reason, the use of a cushion that
holds the body away from the
seatback is not recommended.
Do not operate the vehicle with the headrests removed as severe
injury to the occupants may
occur in the event of an accident.
Headrests may provide protec-
tion against neck injuries when
properly adjusted.
Do not adjust the headrest posi- tion of the driver’s seat while the
vehicle is in motion.

37
Safety features of your vehicle
Removal
To remove the headrest, raise it as far as
it can go then press the release button (1)
while pulling upward (2).
To reinstall the headrest, put the head- rest poles (3) into the holes while press-
ing the release button (1). Then adjust it
to the appropriate height.Active headrest (if equipped)
The active headrest is designed to move
forward and upward during a rear impact.
This helps to prevent the driver's and
front passenger’s heads from moving
backward and thus helps prevent neck
injuries.
C010107AUN
Seat warmer (if equipped)
The seat warmer is provided to warm the
front seats during cold weather. With the
ignition switch in the ON position, push
either of the switches to warm the driver'sseat or the front passenger's seat.
During mild weather or under conditions
where the operation of the seat warmer
is not needed, keep the switches in theOFF position.
✽✽
NOTICE
With the seat warmer switch in the ON position, the heating system in the seat
turns off or on automatically depending
on the seat temperature.
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WARNING
Make sure the headrest locks in
position after adjusting it to proper-
ly protect the occupants.
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Safety features of your vehicle
8
3
C010109AVQ-C1
Armrest (for driver’s seat, if equipped)
To use the armrest, swing down the arm-
rest to the lowest position.
WARNING - Seat warmer
burns
Passengers should use extreme
caution when using seat warmers
due to the possibility of excess
heating or burns. In particular, the
driver must exercise extreme care
for the following types of passen-
gers:
1. Infants, children, elderly or dis- abled persons, or hospital outpa- tients
2. Persons with sensitive skin or those that burn easily
3. Fatigued individuals
4. Intoxicated individuals
5. Individuals taking medication that can cause drowsiness or
sleepiness (sleeping pills, cold
tablets, etc.)CAUTION
When cleaning the seats, do not
use an organic solvent such asthinner, benzene, alcohol and gasoline. Doing so may damage
the surface of the heater or seats.
To prevent overheating the seat warmer, do not place blankets,cushions or seat covers on the seats while the seat warmer is in
operation.
Do not place heavy or sharp objects on seats equipped withseat warmers. Damage to the seat
warming components could occur.
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39
Safety features of your vehicle
C010108AAM
Seatback pocket (if equipped)
Rear seat adjustment
C010307BUN-C1
Folding the rear seat
The rear seatbacks may be folded to
facilitate carrying long items or toincrease the luggage capacity of the
vehicle.To fold down the rear seatback:
1. Insert the rear seat belt buckle in the
pocket between the rear seatback and
cushion (if equipped), and insert the
rear seat belt webbing in the guide to
prevent the seat belt from being dam-aged.
2. Set the front seatback to the upright position and if necessary, slide the
front seat forward.
3. Lower the rear headrests to the lowest position.
WARNING - Seatback
pockets
Do not put heavy or sharp objects
in the seatback pockets. In an acci-
dent they could come loose from
the pocket and injure vehicle occu-pants.
OUN028040/H
WARNING
The purpose of the fold-down rear
seatbacks is to allow you to carry
longer objects than could not oth-erwise be accommodated.
Never allow passengers to sit on
top of the folded down seatback
while the car is moving as this is
not a proper seating position and
no seat belts are available for use.
This could result in serious injuryor death in case of an accident or
sudden stop. Objects carried on the
folded down seatback should not
extend higher than the top of the
front seats. This could allow cargo
to slide forward and cause injury or
damage during sudden stops.

Safety features of your vehicle
10
3
4. Pull on the seatback folding lever, then
fold the seat toward the front of the
vehicle. When you return the seatback
to its upright position, always be sure it
has locked into position by pushing on
the top of the seatback. 5. To use the rear seat, lift and pull the
seatback backward by pulling on the
folding lever. Pull the seatback firmly
until it clicks into place. Make sure the
seatback is locked in place.
6. Return the rear seat belt to the proper position.
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WARNING
When you return the rear seatback to its upright position after being
folded down:
Be careful not to damage the seat
belt webbing or buckle. Do not
allow the seat belt webbing or
buckle to get caught or pinched in
the rear seat. Ensure that the seat-
back is completely locked into its
upright position by pushing on the
top of the seatback. Otherwise, in
an accident or sudden stop, the
seat could fold down and allow
cargo to enter the passenger com-
partment, which could result in
serious injury or death.

311
Safety features of your vehicle
C010303BPA
Headrest
The rear seat(s) is equipped with head-
rests in all the seating positions for the
occupant's safety and comfort.
The headrest not only provides comfort
for passengers, but also helps to protect
the head and neck in the event of a colli-sion.
WARNING - Cargo loading
Make sure the engine is off, the
automatic transaxle is in P (Park)and the parking brake is applied
whenever loading or unloading
cargo. Failure to take these steps
may allow the vehicle to move if
shift lever is inadvertently moved toanother position.
WARNING - Cargo
Cargo should always be secured to
prevent it from being thrown about
the vehicle in a collision and caus-
ing injury to the vehicle occupants.Special care of objects should betaken when placing them in the rear
seats, since those may hit the front
seat occupants in a frontal colli-sion.
CAUTION - Rear seat belts
When returning the rear seatbacks
to the upright position, rememberto return the rear shoulder belts to
their proper position. Routing theseat belt webbing through the rear seat belt guides will help keep thebelts from being trapped behind or
under the seats.
CAUTION - Damaging rear
seat belt buckles
When you fold the rear seatback or put luggage on the rear seat cush-ion, insert the buckle in the pocket between the rear seatback and
cushion. Doing so can prevent thebuckle from being damaged by therear seatback or luggage.
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