Black plate (3,1)Buick Verano Owner Manual - 2012 - CRC - 1/10/12
In Brief 1-3
A.Air Vents on page 8‑6.
B. Headlamp High/Low-Beam
Changer on page 6‑2.
Turn and Lane-Change Lever.
See Turn and Lane-Change
Signals on page 6‑4.
Driver Information Center (DIC)
Buttons. See Driver Information
Center (DIC) on page 5‑21.
C. Instrument Cluster on page 5‑8.
D. Windshield Wiper/Washer on
page 5‑3.
E. Keyless Access Ignition. See Ignition Positions (Key Access)
on page 9‑15 orIgnition
Positions (Keyless Access) on
page 9‑17.
Traction Control System (TCS)
on page 9‑33. StabiliTrak
®
System on page 9‑35.
F. Light Sensor. See Automatic
Headlamp System on page 6‑3.
G. Hazard Warning Flashers on
page 6‑4. H. Infotainment Display Screen.
I.
Passenger Airbag Status
Indicator on page 5‑12.
Trunk Release. See Trunk
Release on page 1‑6.
J. Hood on page 10‑4.
K. Exterior Lamp Controls on
page 6‑1.
Front Fog Lamps on page 6‑4
(If Equipped).
Instrument Panel Illumination
Control on page 6‑5.
L. Instrument Panel Fuse Block on
page 10‑30.
M. Data Link Connector (DLC) (Out of View). See Malfunction
Indicator Lamp on page 5‑13.
N. Cruise Control on page 9‑37.
O. Steering Wheel Adjustment on
page 5‑2.
P. Horn on page 5‑3. Q.
Steering Wheel Controls on
page 5‑2.
R. Ignition Switch. See Ignition
Positions (Key Access) on
page 9‑15 orIgnition Positions
(Keyless Access) on page 9‑17.
S. Shift Lever. See Automatic
Transmission on page 9‑26.
T. Electric Parking Brake. See Parking Brake on page 9‑31.
U. Climate Control Systems on
page 8‑1 (If Equipped).
Dual Automatic Climate Control
System on page 8‑3
(If Equipped).
Heated Front Seats on page 3‑6
(If Equipped).
V. Infotainment on page 7‑1.
Satellite Radio on page 7‑17
(If Equipped).
Black plate (11,1)Buick Verano Owner Manual - 2012 - CRC - 1/10/12
Keys, Doors, and Windows 2-11
Power Door Locks
K(Unlock):Press to unlock the
doors.
Q(Lock): Press to lock the doors.
See “Power Door Locks” inVehicle
Personalization on page 5‑30.
Automatic Door Locks
Automatic Door Lock
The doors are programmed to
automatically lock when the shift
lever is moved out of P (Park).
The automatic door lock feature
cannot be disabled.
Automatic Door Unlock
The doors will automatically unlock
when the shift lever is moved into
P (Park).
See Vehicle Personalization on
page 5‑30.
Safety Locks
The rear door safety locks prevent
passengers from opening the rear
doors from inside the vehicle.
Pressv {to activate the safety
locks. The indicator light will
illuminate.
This switch also disables the power
window controls on the rear doors.
Press
v {again to deactivate the
safety locks and rear window.
If a rear door handle is pulled when
the safety lock is deactivated, that
door will remain locked and the
indicator light may flash. Release
the handle, then press the safety
lock twice to deactivate the safety
locks.
Black plate (30,1)Buick Verano Owner Manual - 2012 - CRC - 1/10/12
5-30 Instruments and Controls
TIRE LEARNING ACTIVE
This message displays when the
system is learning new tires. See
Tire Pressure Monitor Operation on
page 10‑44.
Transmission Messages
SERVICE TRANSMISSION
This message displays if there is a
problem with the transmission. See
your dealer.
SHIFT TO PARK
This message displays when the
transmission needs to be shifted to
P (Park). This may appear when
attempting to remove the key from
the ignition or from the vehicle if the
vehicle is not in P (Park).
TRANSMISSION HOT—IDLE
ENGINE
This message displays and a chime
sounds if the transmission fluid in
the vehicle gets hot. Driving with the
transmission fluid temperature high can cause damage to the vehicle.
Stop the vehicle and let it idle to
allow the transmission to cool. This
message clears when the fluid
temperature reaches a safe level.
Washer Fluid Messages
WASHER FLUID LOW ADD
FLUID
This message may display when
the washer fluid level is low. See
Washer Fluid on page 10‑16.
Window Messages
OPEN, THEN CLOSE DRIVER/
PASSENGER WINDOW
This message is displayed when the
window needs to be reprogrammed.
If the vehicle's battery has been
recharged or disconnected, you will
need to reprogram each front
window for the express-up feature to
work. See
Power Windows on
page 2‑18.
Vehicle
Personalization
The audio system controls are used
to access the personalization
menus for customizing vehicle
features.
CONFIG (Configuration): Press
to access the Configuration
Settings menu.
TUNE/MENU: Press the center of
this knob to enter the menus and
select menu items. This feature is
unavailable with navigation radios.
Turn the knob to scroll through the
menus.
/BACK: Press to exit or move
backward in a menu.
Black plate (33,1)Buick Verano Owner Manual - 2012 - CRC - 1/10/12
Instruments and Controls 5-33
Vehicle Locator Lights
This allows the vehicle locator lights
to be turned on or off. When on, the
headlamps and back-up lamps will
flash when
Kis pressed.
Press the TUNE/MENU knob when
Vehicle Locator Lights is highlighted
to open the menu. Turn the TUNE/
MENU knob to highlight On or Off.
Press TUNE/MENU to select On or
Off. Press
/BACK to confirm the
selection and move back to the
last menu.
Power Door Locks
Select Power Door Locks and the
following will be displayed:
.Auto Door Unlock
.Delay Door Lock
.Open Door Anti Lock Out
.Passive Door Unlock Auto Door Unlock
This allows selection of which of the
doors will automatically unlock when
the vehicle is shifted into P (Park).
Press the TUNE/MENU knob when
Auto Door Unlock is highlighted.
Turn the knob to select All Doors,
Driver Door, or Off. Press the TUNE/
MENU knob to confirm and press
BACK to go back to the last menu.
Press
/BACK to return to the
last menu.
Delay Door Lock
When on, this feature will delay
the locking of the doors until
five seconds after the last door is
closed. Press either the power lock
button or
Qon the RKE transmitter
twice to override the delay locking
feature and immediately lock all of
the doors.
Press the TUNE/MENU knob when
Delay Door Lock is highlighted to
select On or Off. Press
/BACK to
return to the last menu. Open Door Anti Lock Out
When on, all doors will lock. The
driver door will then unlock if door
locking is requested while the driver
door is open, and disable the Delay
Door Lock feature.
Even when this feature is off, the
driver is protected from accidental
lockouts when the key is in the
ignition.
If Off is selected, the Open Door
Anti Lock Out feature may be
enabled through an additional menu
selection.
Press the TUNE/MENU knob
when Open Door Anti Lock Out is
highlighted to select On or Off.
Press
/BACK to return to the
last menu.
Passive Door Unlock
This allows selection of which doors
are unlocked by pressing the button
on the outside door handle.
Black plate (1,1)Buick Verano Owner Manual - 2012 - CRC - 1/10/12
Driving and Operating 9-1
Driving and
Operating
Driving Information
Distracted Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2
Defensive Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Drunk Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Control of a Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Braking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3
Steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-4
Off-Road Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-5
Loss of Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-5
Driving on Wet Roads . . . . . . . . . 9-6
Highway Hypnosis . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6
Hill and Mountain Roads . . . . . . 9-7
Winter Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7
If the Vehicle Is Stuck . . . . . . . . . 9-9
Vehicle Load Limits . . . . . . . . . . 9-10
Starting and Operating
New Vehicle Break-In . . . . . . . . 9-14
Ignition Positions (KeyAccess) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-15
Ignition Positions (Keyless Access) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-17
Starting the Engine . . . . . . . . . . 9-19
Engine Heater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-21 Retained Accessory
Power (RAP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-22
Shifting Into Park . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-23
Shifting out of Park . . . . . . . . . . 9-24
Parking over Things That Burn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-24
Engine Exhaust
Engine Exhaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-25
Running the Vehicle WhileParked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-25
Automatic Transmission
Automatic Transmission . . . . . 9-26
Manual Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-28
Brakes
Antilock BrakeSystem (ABS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-30
Parking Brake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-31
Brake Assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-33
Hill Start Assist (HSA) . . . . . . . 9-33
Ride Control Systems
Traction Control System (TCS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-33
StabiliTrak
®System . . . . . . . . . 9-35
Cruise Control
Cruise Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-37
Object Detection Systems
Ultrasonic Parking Assist . . . . 9-39
Fuel
Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-41
Recommended Fuel . . . . . . . . . 9-41
Gasoline Specifications . . . . . . 9-42
California Fuel Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-42
Fuels in Foreign Countries . . . 9-42
Fuel Additives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-42
Fuel E85 (85% Ethanol) . . . . . 9-43
Filling the Tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-44
Filling a Portable Fuel Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-46
Towing
General TowingInformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-46
Driving Characteristics and Towing Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-47
Trailer Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-50
Towing Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . 9-52
Conversions and Add-Ons
Add-On Electrical Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-52
Black plate (6,1)Buick Verano Owner Manual - 2012 - CRC - 1/10/12
9-6 Driving and Operating
.Try to avoid sudden steering,
acceleration, or braking,
including reducing vehicle speed
by shifting to a lower gear. Any
sudden changes could cause
the tires to slide.
Remember: Antilock brakes help
avoid only the braking skid.
Driving on Wet Roads
Rain and wet roads can reduce
vehicle traction and affect your
ability to stop and accelerate.
Always drive slower in these types
of driving conditions and avoid
driving through large puddles and
deep‐standing or flowing water.
{WARNING
Wet brakes can cause crashes.
They might not work as well in a
quick stop and could cause
pulling to one side. You could
lose control of the vehicle. (Continued)
WARNING (Continued)
After driving through a large
puddle of water or a car/vehicle
wash, lightly apply the brake
pedal until the brakes work
normally.
Flowing or rushing water creates
strong forces. Driving through
flowing water could cause the
vehicle to be carried away. If this
happens, you and other vehicle
occupants could drown. Do not
ignore police warnings and be
very cautious about trying to drive
through flowing water.
Hydroplaning
Hydroplaning is dangerous. Water
can build up under the vehicle's
tires so they actually ride on the
water. This can happen if the road
is wet enough and you are going
fast enough. When the vehicle is
hydroplaning, it has little or no
contact with the road. There is no hard and fast rule about
hydroplaning. The best advice is to
slow down when the road is wet.
Other Rainy Weather Tips
Besides slowing down, other wet
weather driving tips include:
.Allow extra following distance.
.Pass with caution.
.Keep windshield wiping
equipment in good shape.
.Keep the windshield washer fluid
reservoir filled.
.Have good tires with proper
tread depth. See
Tires on
page 10‑34.
.Turn off cruise control.
Highway Hypnosis
Always be alert and pay attention
to your surroundings while driving.
If you become tired or sleepy, find
a safe place to park the vehicle
and rest.
Black plate (15,1)Buick Verano Owner Manual - 2012 - CRC - 1/10/12
Driving and Operating 9-15
Following break‐in, engine speed
and load can be gradually
increased.
Ignition Positions (Key
Access)
The ignition switch has four different
positions.
Notice:Using a tool to force the
key to turn in the ignition could
cause damage to the switch or break the key. Use the correct
key, make sure it is all the way in,
and turn it only with your hand.
If the key cannot be turned by
hand, see your dealer.
The key must be fully extended to
start the vehicle.
To shift out of P (Park), turn the
ignition to ON/RUN and apply the
brake pedal.
A (STOPPING THE ENGINE/
LOCK/OFF):
When the vehicle is
stopped, turn the ignition switch to
LOCK/OFF to turn the engine off.
Retained Accessory Power (RAP)
will remain active. See Retained
Accessory Power (RAP) on
page 9‑22.
This is the only position from which
the key can be removed. This locks
the steering wheel, ignition, and
automatic transmission. Do not turn the engine off when the
vehicle is moving. This will cause a
loss of power assist in the brake
and steering systems and disable
the airbags.
If the vehicle must be shut off in an
emergency:
1. Brake using a firm and steady
pressure. Do not pump the
brakes repeatedly. This may
deplete power assist, requiring
increased brake pedal force.
2. Shift the vehicle to Neutral. This can be done while the vehicle is
moving. After shifting to Neutral,
continue to firmly apply the
brakes and steer the vehicle to a
safe location.
3. Come to a complete stop. Shift to P (Park) with an automatic
transmission, or Neutral with a
manual transmission. Turn the
ignition to LOCK/OFF.
Black plate (17,1)Buick Verano Owner Manual - 2012 - CRC - 1/10/12
Driving and Operating 9-17
Key Lock Release
Vehicles with an automatic
transmission are equipped with an
electronic key lock release system.
The key lock release is designed to
prevent ignition key removal unless
the shift lever is in P (Park).The key lock release is always
functional except in the case of an
uncharged or low voltage (less than
9-volt) battery. If the vehicle has an
uncharged battery or a battery with
low voltage, try charging or jump
starting the battery. See
Jump
Starting on page 10‑64.
If charging or jump starting the
battery does not work, locate the
hole below the ignition lock. Insert a
flat bladed tool or another key from
the key chain into the opening.
When the lever can be felt, actuate
the lever toward the driver, and
remove the key from the ignition.
Ignition Positions
(Keyless Access)
The vehicle has an electronic
keyless ignition with pushbutton
start.
Pressing the button cycles it through
three modes: ACC/ACCESSORY,
ON/RUN/START, and Stopping the
Engine/OFF.