2012 CHEVROLET MALIBU ABS

Black plate (5,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2012
Infotainment System 7-5
If a station's frequency is weak or if
there is static, decrease the treble.
To quickly adjust bass, midrange,
or treble to the middle position,
press the softkey positioned under
the BASS, MID, or TREB tab for
more than two seconds. A beep
sounds and the level adjusts to the
middle position.
To quickly adjust all tone and
speaker controls to the middle
position, press the
fknob for more
than two seconds until a beep
sounds.
EQ (Equalization): Press this
button to choose bass and treble
equalization settings designed for
different types of music. Selecting
MANUAL or changing bass or
treble, returns the EQ to the manual
bass and treble settings.
Unique EQ settings can be saved
for each source.
If the radio has a Bose
®audio
system, the EQ settings are either
MANUAL or TALK.
Adjusting the Speakers
(Balance/Fade) Radio with CD
To adjust the balance or fade:
1. Press the
`or press the
fknob until the speaker control
label displays.
2. To adjust the setting, do one of the following:
.Turn thefknob.
.Press either¨SEEK,
or
©SEEK button.
.Press either\FWD,
or
sREV button.
Adjusting the Speakers
(Balance/Fade) Radio with
CD (MP3) and USB Port,
Radio with CD (MP3)
BAL/FADE (Balance/Fade):
To adjust the balance or fade:
1. Press the
fknob until the
speaker control tabs display.
2. Highlight the desired speaker control tab by doing one of the
following:
.Pressing thefknob.
.Press the softkey under the
desired tab.
3. Adjust the setting by doing one of the following:
.Turn thefknob clockwise
or counterclockwise.
.Press the¨SEEK,
or
©SEEK button.
.Press the\FWD,
or
sREV button.

Black plate (8,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2012
7-8 Infotainment System
Storing Radio Stations
Drivers are encouraged to store
radio station while the vehicle is
parked, seeDefensive Driving on
page 9‑3. Tune to stored radio
stations using the presets, favorites
button, and steering wheel controls,
if the vehicle has this feature.
Radios that have a FAV button store
radio stations as favorites, up to
36 stations can be programmed as
favorites using the six softkeys
below the radio station frequency
tabs and by using the FAV button.
Press the FAV button to go through
up to six pages of favorites, each
having six favorite stations available
per page. Each page of favorites
can contain any combination of AM,
FM, or XM, if equipped, stations.
Radios that do not have a FAV
button store radio stations as
presets, up to 18 stations
(six FM1, six FM2, and six AM),
can be programmed on the
six numbered pushbuttons. Storing a Radio Station as a
Preset
Radios that have numbered
pushbuttons store radio stations as
presets.
Up to 18 stations (six FM1, six FM2,
and six AM), can be programmed
on the six numbered buttons.
To store preset stations:
1. Tune to a radio station.
2. Press and hold one of the
six numbered pushbuttons for
three seconds until a beep
sounds.
3. Repeat Steps 1 and 2 to store additional radio stations.
Storing a Radio Station as a
Favorite
Radio that have a FAV button store
radio stations as favorites.
To store a station as a favorite:
1. Tune to a radio station.
2. Press the FAV button to display the page where the station will
be stored. 3. Press and hold one of the
six softkeys until a beep sounds.
4. Repeat Steps 1 through 3 to store additional radio stations.
The number of favorites pages can
be setup using the MENU button.
To setup the number of favorites
pages:
1. Press the MENU button.
2. Press the softkey located below the FAV 1-6 tab.
3. Select the number of favorites pages by pressing the softkey
located below the displayed
page numbers.
4. Press the FAV button, or let the menu time out, to return to the
original main radio screen
showing the radio station
frequency tabs and to begin
the process of programming
favorites.

Black plate (10,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2012
7-10 Infotainment System
Finding an XM Channel
BAND:Press to switch between
AM, FM, or XM™, if equipped.
f(Tune): Turn to manually select
an XM channel.
©SEEK: Press to go to the
previous XM channel.
.To scan stations, press and
hold
©SEEK for a few seconds
until the radio beeps once. The
radio goes to a cahnnel, plays
for a few seconds, then goes to
the next station. Press
©SEEK
again to stop scanning.
¨SEEK: Press to go to the next
XM channel.
.To scan stations, press and
hold
¨SEEK for a few seconds
until the radio beeps once.
The radio goes to a station,
plays for a few seconds,
then goes to the next station.
Press
¨SEEK again to stop
scanning.
sREV: Press to go to the
previous XM category.
\FWD: Press to go to the next
XM category.
Finding a Category (CAT)
Channel
To find XM channels in a category:
1. Press the CAT button to display
the category tabs. Continue
pressing the CAT button until the
desired category name displays.
.Radios with CD and DVD
can also navigate the
category list by pressing
the
\FWD or thesREV
button.
2. Press either of the two softkeys below the desired category tab
to immediately tune to the first
XM station in that category. To go to the previous or next XM
station in the selected category,
do one of the following:
.Turn thefknob.
.Press the softkey below the
right or left arrows in the
category tab.
.Press©SEEK or¨SEEK.
3. To exit the category search mode, press the FAV button or
BAND button to display the
favorites again.
Adding and Removing Categories
Categories cannot be added or
removed while the vehicle is moving
faster than 8 km/h (5 mph).
To add or remove a category:
1. Press the MENU button.
2. Press the softkey located below the XM CAT tab.

Black plate (11,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2012
Infotainment System 7-11
3. Turn thefknob to display the
category you want to add or
remove.
4. Press the softkey located under the Add or Remove tab.
To restore all removed
categories, press the softkey
under the Restore All tab.
5. Repeat the steps to remove more categories.
Storing XM Channels
Drivers are encouraged to store
radio station while the vehicle is
parked, see Defensive Driving on
page 9‑3. Tune to stored radio
stations using the presets, favorites
button, and steering wheel controls,
if the vehicle has this feature.
Up to 36 stations can be
programmed as favorites using the
six softkeys below the radio station
frequency tabs and by using the FAV button. Press the FAV button
to go through up to six pages of
favorites, each having six favorite
stations available per page. Each
page of favorites can contain any
combination of AM, FM, or XM,
if equipped, stations.
Storing an XM Channel as a
Favorite
To store a station as a favorite:
1. Tune to an XM channel.
2. Press the FAV button to display
the page where the station will
be stored.
3. Press and hold one of the six softkeys until a beep sounds.
4. Repeat Steps 1 through 3 to store additional radio stations. The number of favorites pages can
be setup using the MENU button.
To setup the number of favorites
pages:
1. Press the MENU button.
2. Press the softkey located below
the FAV 1-6 tab.
3. Select the number of favorites pages by pressing the softkey
located below the displayed
page numbers.
4. Press the FAV button, or let the menu time out, to return to the
original main radio screen
showing the radio station
frequency tabs and to begin
the process of programming
favorites.

Black plate (16,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2012
7-16 Infotainment System
Playing a CD
When a CD is inserted into the
player the CD symbol displays, and
as each new track starts to play the
track number displays.
If the ignition or radio is turned off
when a CD is in the player, the CD
stays in the player. If the ignition or
radio is turned on when a CD is in
the player, the CD starts to play
where it stopped, if it was the last
selected audio source.
Buttons and Knobs
The buttons and knobs on the radio
control the following features.
f(Tune):Turn to select tracks on
the CD.
©SEEK: Press to go to the start of
the current track, if more than ten
seconds have played. Press and
hold or press multiple times to
continue moving backward through
the tracks on the CD.
¨SEEK: Press to go to the next
track. Press and hold or press
multiple times to continue moving
forward through the tracks on
the CD.
sREV (Reverse): Press and hold
to reverse playback quickly within a
track. Sound is heard at a reduced
volume and the elapsed time of the
track displays. Release to resume
playing the track.
\FWD (Fast Forward): Press
and hold to advance playback
quickly within a track. Sound is
heard at a reduced volume and the
elapsed time of the track displays.
Release to resume playing the
track.
4(Information): Press to display
available additional information
about the current track.
BAND: Press to listen to the radio
while a CD is playing. The CD
remains inside the CD player. CD/AUX (CD/Auxiliary):
Press to
play a CD 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 five softkeys below the radio
display are used to control functions
that display as tabs.
The softkeys below the radio display
control the following features.
RDM (Random): Tracks can be
listened to in random, rather than
sequential order.
To use random:
1. Press the softkey below RDM
tab until Random Current Disc
displays.
2. Press the softkey again to turn off random play.

Black plate (19,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2012
Infotainment System 7-19
Softkeys
The five softkeys below the radio
display are used to control functions
that display as tabs.
The softkeys below the radio display
control the following features.
Sc(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.
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.

Black plate (23,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2012
Infotainment System 7-23
¨SEEK:Press to go to the next
track. Press and hold
¨SEEK or
press it multiple times to continue
moving forward through tracks.
sREV (Reverse): Press and hold
to reverse playback quickly. Sound
is heard at a reduced volume.
Release
sREV to resume playing.
\FWD (Fast Forward): Press
and hold to advance playback
quickly. Sound is heard at a reduced
volume. Release
\FWD to
resume playing.
4(Information): Press to display
additional information about the
selected track.
Softkeys
The five softkeys below the radio
display are used to control functions
that display as tabs.
To use the softkeys, press a softkey
below any tab that is displayed,
or if no tabs are displayed, press the
first or last softkey below the radio
display to display the tabs. The softkeys below the radio display
control the following features.
j(Pause):
Press the softkey
below
jto pause the track.
The tab appears raised when pause
is being used. Press the softkey
below
jagain to resume playback.
Back: Press the softkey below the
back tab to go back to the main
display screen on an iPod, or the
root directory on a USB storage
device.
c(Folder View): Press the
softkey below
cto view the
contents of the current folder on the
USB drive.
To browse and select files:
1. Press the softkey below
c.
2. Turn
fto scroll through the list
of folders. 3. Press
fto select the desired
folder. If there is more then one
folder, repeat Steps 1 and 2 until
the desired folder is reached.
4. Turn
fto scroll through the files
in the selected folder.
5. Press
fto select the desired file
to be played.
To skip through large lists, the five
softkeys can be used to navigate in
the following order:
.First softkey, first item in the list.
.Second softkey, 1% through the
list each time the softkey is
pressed.
.Third softkey, 5% through the list
each time the softkey is pressed.
.Fourth softkey, 10% through the
list each time the softkey is
pressed.
.Fifth softkey, end of the list.

Black plate (1,1)Chevrolet Malibu Owner Manual - 2012
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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-6
Driving on Wet Roads . . . . . . . . . 9-6
Highway Hypnosis . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7
Hill and Mountain Roads . . . . . . 9-8
Winter Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-8
If the Vehicle Is Stuck . . . . . . . . 9-10
Vehicle Load Limits . . . . . . . . . . 9-11
Starting and Operating
New Vehicle Break-In . . . . . . . . 9-16
Ignition Positions . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-16
Starting the Engine . . . . . . . . . . 9-18
Engine Heater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-20
Retained AccessoryPower (RAP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-21 Shifting Into Park . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-21
Shifting out of Park . . . . . . . . . . 9-22
Parking over Things
That Burn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-23
Engine Exhaust
Engine Exhaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-23
Running the Vehicle WhileParked . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-24
Automatic Transmission
Automatic Transmission . . . . . 9-24
Manual Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-26
Brakes
Antilock BrakeSystem (ABS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-28
Parking Brake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-29
Brake Assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-29
Ride Control Systems
Traction Control System (TCS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-30
Electronic Stability Control (ESC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-32
Cruise Control
Cruise Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-33
Fuel
Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-36
Recommended Fuel . . . . . . . . . 9-36
Gasoline Specifications(U.S. and Canada Only) . . . . 9-37
California Fuel
Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-37
Fuels in Foreign Countries . . . 9-37
Fuel Additives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-37
Fuel E85 (85% Ethanol) . . . . . 9-39
Filling the Tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-40
Filling a Portable Fuel Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-41
Towing
General TowingInformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-42
Driving Characteristics and
Towing Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-42
Trailer Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-46
Towing Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . 9-47
Conversions and Add-Ons
Add-On Electrical Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-48