
Black plate (24,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2012
3-24 Seats and Restraints
Driver Side Shown, PassengerSide Similar
The roof-rail airbags for the driver,
right front passenger, and second
row outboard passengers are in the
ceiling above the side windows.
{WARNING
If something is between an
occupant and an airbag, the
airbag might not inflate properly
or it might force the object into
that person causing severe injury
or even death. The path of an
inflating airbag must be kept
clear. Do not put anything
between an occupant and an
airbag, and do not attach or put
anything on the steering wheel
hub or on or near any other
airbag covering.
Do not use seat accessories that
block the inflation path of a
seat-mounted side impact airbag.
Never secure anything to the roof
of a vehicle with roof-rail airbags
by routing a rope or tie‐down
through any door or window
opening. If you do, the path of an
inflating roof-rail airbag will be
blocked.
When Should an Airbag
Inflate?
Frontal airbags are designed to
inflate in moderate to severe frontal
or near frontal crashes to help
reduce the potential for severe
injuries mainly to the driver's or right
front passenger's head and chest.
However, they are only designed to
inflate if the impact exceeds a
predetermined deployment
threshold. Deployment thresholds
are used to predict how severe a
crash is likely to be in time for the
airbags to inflate and help restrain
the occupants.
Whether the frontal airbags will or
should deploy is not based on how
fast your vehicle is traveling.
It depends largely on what you hit,
the direction of the impact, and how
quickly your vehicle slows down.

Black plate (43,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2012
Instruments and Controls 5-43
Exiting the Feature
Settings Menu
The feature settings menu will be
exited when any of the following
occurs:
.The vehicle is shifted out of
P (Park).
.The vehicle is no longer in
ON/RUN.
.The trip/fuel or vehicle
information DIC buttons are
pressed.
.The end of the feature settings
menu is reached and exited.
.A 40-second time period has
elapsed with no selection made.
Universal Remote
System
SeeRadio Frequency Statement on
page 13‑16 for information
regarding Part 15 of the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC)
rules and Industry Canada
Standards RSS-GEN/210/220/310.
Universal Remote System
Programming
This vehicle may have the Universal
Home Remote System. This system provides a way to
replace up to three remote control
transmitters used to activate
devices such as garage door
openers, security systems, and
home automation devices.
Do not use this system with any
garage door opener that does not
have the stop and reverse feature.
This includes any garage door
opener model manufactured before
April 1, 1982.
Read the instructions completely
before attempting to program the
transmitter. Because of the steps
involved, it may be helpful to have
another person available to assist in
programming the transmitter.

Black plate (47,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2012
Instruments and Controls 5-47
.If a switch is set between
the up and down position,
write“Middle.”
The switch settings written
down in Step 2 will now
become the button strokes
to be entered into the
Universal Home Remote in
Step 4. Be sure to enter the
switch settings written down
in Step 2, in order from left
to right, into the Universal
Home Remote, when
completing Step 4.
3. From inside your vehicle, first firmly press all three buttons at
the same time for about
three seconds. Release the
buttons to put the Universal
Home Remote into
programming mode.
A. Left Button ("Up," "+,"or "On.")
B. Middle Button ("Middle," "0," or "Neutral.")
C. Right Button ("Down," "-," or "Off.") 4. The indicator lights will
blink slowly. Enter each switch
setting from Step 2 into your
vehicle's Universal Home
Remote. You will have two and
one-half minutes to complete
Step 4. Now press one button on
the Universal Home Remote for
each switch setting as follows:
.If you wrote “Left,”press
the left button in the
vehicle.
.If you wrote “Right,”press
the right button in the
vehicle.
.If you wrote “Middle,”press
the middle button in the
vehicle.
5. After entering all of the switch positions, again, firmly press and
release all three buttons at the
same time. The indicator lights
will turn on.

Black plate (7,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2012
Lighting 6-7
Lighting Features
Entry Lighting
For vehicles with courtesy lamps,
they come on and stay on for a set
time whenever the unlock symbol is
pressed on the Remote Keyless
Entry (RKE) transmitter.
If a door is opened, the lamps stay
on while it is open and then turn off
automatically about 20 seconds
after the door is closed. If the unlock
symbol is pressed and no door is
opened, the lamps turn off after
about 20 seconds.
Entry lighting includes a feature
called theater dimming. With theater
dimming, the lamps do not turn off
at the end of the delay time.
Instead, they slowly dim and then
go out. The delay time is canceled if
the ignition key is turned to ON/RUN
or the power door lock switch is
pressed. The lamps will dim
right away.When the ignition is on, illuminated
entry is inactive, which means the
courtesy lamps will not come on
unless a door is opened.Delayed Entry Lighting
Delayed entry lighting illuminates
the interior for a period of time after
all the doors have been closed.
The ignition must be off for delayed
entry lighting to work. Immediately
after all the doors have been closed,
the delayed entry lighting feature
continues to work until one of the
following occurs:
.The ignition is in ON/RUN.
.The doors are locked.
.An illumination period of about
25 seconds has elapsed.
If during the illumination period a
door is opened, the timed
illumination period is canceled and
the interior lamps remain on.
Delayed Exit Lighting
This feature illuminates the interior
for a period of time after the key is
removed from the ignition.
The ignition must be off for delayed
exit lighting to work. When the key
is removed, interior illumination
activates and remains on until one
of the following occurs:
.The ignition is in ON/RUN.
.The power door locks are
activated.
.An illumination period of
20 seconds has elapsed.
If during the illumination period a
door is opened, the timed
illumination period will be canceled
and the interior lamps will remain on
because a door is open.
Parade Dimming
Parade mode automatically prohibits
the dimming of the instrument panel
displays during the daylight while
the headlamps are on so that the
displays are still able to be seen.

Black plate (17,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2012
Infotainment System 7-17
.Play begins from the first track in
the first folder and continues
sequentially through all tracks in
each folder. When the last track
of the last folder has played,
play continues from the first
track of the first folder.
When playback starts from a new
folder, the new track name displays
unless folder mode has been
chosen as the default display, then
the new folder name displays.
Buttons and Knobs
The buttons and knobs on the radio
control the following features.
f(Tune): Turn to select MP3 files
on the disc.
©SEEK: Press to go to the start of
the track, if more than 10 seconds
have played. Press and hold or
press multiple times to continue
moving backward through tracks.
¨SEEK: Press to go to the next
track. Press and hold or press
multiple times to continue moving
forward through tracks.
sREV (Reverse): Press and hold
to reverse playback quickly. Sound
is heard at a reduced volume and
the elapsed time of the track
displays. Release
sREV to
resume playing.
\FWD (Fast Forward): Press
and hold to advance playback
quickly. Sound is heard at a reduced
volume and the elapsed time of the
track displays. Release
\FWD to
resume playing.
4(Information): Press to display
available additional information
about the current track.
BAND: Press to listen to the radio
while an MP3 disc is playing. The
MP3 disc remains inside the CD
player. CD/AUX (CD/Auxiliary):
Press to
play an MP3 disc while listening to
the radio or a portable audio device.
Press this button again and the
system automatically searches for
an auxiliary input device, such as a
portable audio player. If a portable
audio player is not connected, No
Aux Input Device Found may
display.
Softkeys
The six softkeys below the radio
display are used to control functions
that display as tabs.
The softkeys below the radio display
control the following features.S c(Previous Folder): Press
the softkey below
S cto go to the
first track in the previous folder.
cT (Next Folder): Press the
softkey below
cT to go to the first
track in the next folder.

Black plate (18,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2012
7-18 Infotainment System
RDM (Random):MP3 files can be
listened to on a CD in random,
rather than sequential order. To use
random:
1. Press the softkey under the RDM tab until Random Current
Disc displays to play songs from
the current CD in random order.
2. Press the same softkey again to turn off random play.
h(Music Navigator): Press the
softkey below
hto have the files
played in order by artist or album.
The player scans the disc to sort the
files by artist and album ID3 tag
information. It can take several
minutes to scan the disc depending
on the number of files on the disc.
The radio may begin playing while it
is scanning in the background.
When the scan is finished, the disc
begins playing files in order by
artist. The current artist playing is
shown on the second line of the
display. Once all songs by that artist are played, the player moves to the
next artist in alphabetical order and
begins playing files by that artist.
To listen to files by another artist,
press the softkey located below
either arrow tab. The disc goes to
the next or previous artist in
alphabetical order. Continue
pressing either softkey below the
arrow tab until the desired artist
displays.
To change from playback by artist to
playback by album:
1. Press the softkey located below
the Sort By tab.
2. Press one of the softkeys below the Album tab from the sort
screen.
3. Press the softkey below the Back tab to return to the main
music navigator screen. The album name displays on the
second line between the arrows and
songs from the current album
begins to play. Once all songs from
that album have played, the player
moves to the next album in
alphabetical order on the disc and
begins playing MP3 files from that
album.
To exit music navigator mode, press
the softkey below the Back tab to
return to normal MP3 playback.CD Player Messages
CHECK DISC:
If an error message
displays and/or the disc comes out,
it could be for one of the following
reasons:
.The CD player is very hot. When
the temperature returns to
normal, the disc should play.
.The road is very rough. When
the road becomes smoother, the
disc should play.

Black plate (20,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2012
7-20 Infotainment System
Phone
Bluetooth
For vehicles equipped with
Bluetooth capability, the system can
interact with many cell phones,
allowing:
.Placement and receipt of calls in
a hands-free mode.
.Sharing of the cell phone’s
address book or contact list with
the vehicle.
To minimize driver distraction,
before driving, and with the vehicle
parked:
.Become familiar with the
features of the cell phone.
Organize the phone book and
contact lists clearly and delete
duplicate or rarely used entries.
If possible, program speed dial
or other shortcuts.
.Review the controls and
operation of the infotainment
system.
.Pair cell phone(s) to the vehicle.
The system may not work with
all cell phones. See “Pairing”in
this section for more information.
.If the cell phone has voice
dialing capability, learn to use
that feature to access the
address book or contact list. See
“Voice Pass-Thru” in this section
for more information.
.See “Storing and Deleting Phone
Numbers” in this section for
more information.
{WARNING
When using a cell phone, it can
be distracting to look too long or
too often at the screen of the
phone or the infotainment
(navigation) system. Taking your
eyes off the road too long or too
often could cause a crash
resulting in injury or death. Focus
your attention on driving.
A Bluetooth system can use a
Bluetooth‐capable cell phone with a
Hands‐Free Profile to make and
receive phone calls. The system
can be used while the key is in the
ON/RUN or ACC/ACCESSORY
position. The range of the Bluetooth
system can be up to 9.1 m (30 ft).
Not all phones support all functions,
and not all phones work with the
in-vehicle Bluetooth system. See
www.gm.com/bluetooth for more
information on compatible phones.

Black plate (3,1)Chevrolet Impala Owner Manual - 2012
Climate Controls 8-3
Air Delivery Mode Control:Turn
clockwise or counterclockwise to
change the direction of the airflow
inside the vehicle.
To change the current mode, select
one of the following:
H(Vent): Air is directed to the
instrument panel outlets.
)(Bi-Level): Air is divided
between the instrument panel
outlets and the floor outlets.
6(Floor): Air is directed to the
floor outlets, with some of the air
directed to the windshield and side
window outlets. In this mode, the
system automatically selects
outside air.
-(Defog): This mode clears the
windshield of fog or moisture. Air is
directed equally to the windshield
and the floor outlets. When defog is
selected, the system turns off
recirculation and runs the air
conditioning compressor unless the
outside temperature is below
4°C (40°F).
0(Defrost): This mode clears the
windshield of fog or frost more
quickly. Air is directed to the
windshield with some air to the side
window vents and the floor vents.
When defrost is selected, the
system automatically forces outside
air into the vehicle. The air
conditioning compressor will run
automatically in this setting, unless
the outside temperature is below
4°C (40°F).
#(Air Conditioning): Press to
turn the air conditioning system
on or off. An indicator light comes
on to show that it is on. The air
conditioning can be selected in any
mode as long as the fan is on and
the outside temperature is above
freezing. A flashing indicator light
indicates that the air conditioning
compressor is currently not
available.
On hot days, open the windows to
let hot inside air escape; then close
them. This helps to reduce the time it takes for the vehicle to cool down.
It also helps the system to operate
more efficiently.
For quick cool down on hot days, do
the following:
1. Select the
Hmode.
2. Press the
#button.
3. Select the coolest temperature for both zones.
4. Select the highest
9speed.
5. When the coolest temperature is selected in the A/C mode, the
system automatically goes into
the recirculation mode to
improve cooling.
Using these settings together for
long periods of time may cause the
air inside the vehicle to become too
dry. To prevent this from happening,
after the air inside the vehicle has
cooled, turn the recirculation
mode off.