2012 VOLVO XC90 fold seats

01 Safety
Front airbags 01
24
The front airbag system
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The front airbags supplement the three-point
seat belts. For these airbags to provide the
protection intended, seat belts must be worn
at all times.
The front airbag system includes gas genera-
tors surrounded by the airbags, and decelera-
tion sensors that activate the gas generators,
causing the airbags to be inflated with nitrogen
gas.
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Location of the passenger's side front airbag
As the movement of the seats' occupants com-
presses the airbags, some of the gas is expel-
led at a controlled rate to provide better cush-
ioning. Both seat belt pretensioners also
deploy, minimizing seat belt slack. The entire
process, including inflation and deflation of the
airbags, takes approximately one fifth of a sec-
ond.
The location of the front airbags is indicated by
SRS AIRBAG embossed on the steering wheel
pad and above the glove compartment, and by
decals on both sun visors and on the front and
far right side of the dash.
•The driver's side front airbag is folded and
located in the steering wheel hub.
•The passenger's side front airbag is folded
behind a panel located above the glove
compartment.
WARNING
•The airbags in the vehicle are designed
to be a SUPPLEMENT to–not a replace-
ment for–the three-point seat belts. For
maximum protection, wear seat belts at
all times. Be aware that no system can
prevent all possible injuries that may
occur in an accident.
•Never drive a vehicle with your hands on
the steering wheel pad/airbag housing.
•The front airbags are designed to help
prevent serious injury. Deployment
occurs very quickly and with consider-
able force. During normal deployment
and depending on variables such as
seating position, one may experience
abrasions, bruises, swellings, or other
injuries as a result from deployment of
one or both of the airbags.
•When installing any accessory equip-
ment, make sure that the front airbag
system is not damaged. Any interfer-
ence in the system could cause mal-
function.

01 Safety
Whiplash Protection System 01
36
WARNING
•If your vehicle has been involved in a
rear-end collision, the front seat back-
rests must be inspected by a trained
and qualified Volvo service technician,
even if the seats appear to be undam-
aged. Certain components in the
WHIPS system may need to be
replaced.
•Do not attempt to service any compo-
nent in the WHIPS system yourself.
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WARNING
Any contact between the front seat back-
rests and the folded rear seat could impede
the function of the WHIPS system. If the rear
seat is folded down, the occupied front
seats must be adjusted forward so that they
do not touch the folded rear seat.
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WARNING
•Boxes, suitcases, etc. wedged behind
the front seats could impede the func-
tion of the WHIPS system.
•If the rear seat backrests are folded
down, cargo must be secured to pre-
vent it from sliding forward against the
front seat backrests in the event of a
collision from the rear. This could inter-
fere with the action of the WHIPS sys-
tem.

04 Interior
Front seats
04
104* Option/accessory, for more information, see Introduction.
Manually adjusted front seats
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Front-rear adjustment: lift the bar and
move the seat to the position of your
choice.
Raise/lower the front edge of the seat
cushion*: use the control to pump the front
edge of the cushion up or down.
Raise/lower seat height: pump the seat up
or down.
Lumbar support: turn the control for firmer
or softer lumbar support.
Backrest tilt: turn the control to adjust the
angle of the backrest.
Control panel for optional power seat (see
page 105 for more information).
WARNING
•Do not adjust the seat while driving. The
seat should be adjusted so that the
brake pedal can be depressed fully. In
addition, position the seat as far rear-
ward as comfort and control allow.
•Check that the seat is securely locked
into position after adjusting.
Folding the backrests in the front seat
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The front passenger seat backrest can be
folded to a horizontal position to make room for
a long load. Fold the backrest as follows:1. Move the seat as far back as possible.
2. Adjust the backrest to the upright position.
3. Lift the catches on the rear of the backrest.
4. Without releasing the catches, push the
backrest forward.
5. Move the seat as far forward as possible
so that the head restraint slides under the
glove compartment.
WARNING
•When transporting long objects, cover
sharp edges on the load to help prevent
injury to occupants. Secure the load to
help prevent shifting during sudden
stops.
•When the seat's backrest is returned to
the upright position, push and pull it to
be sure that it is securely locked in this
position.

04 Interior
Rear seats
04

109
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Head restraint – second row, center
position
The head restraint in the center position can be
adjusted to 4 different heights.
To raise – pull the restraint up until it clicks into
one of the four heights positions.
To lower – press the button at the base of the
support (see illustration above) and press the
head restraint down.
WARNING
The center rear seat head restraint should
only be in its lowest position when this seat
is NOT occupied. When the center position
is occupied, the head restraint should be
correctly adjusted to the passenger’s
height. The upper edge of the head restraint
should be at least on a level with the upper-
most point of the seat occupant's ear.G027022
Folding the backrests – second row of
seats
CAUTION
To help avoid damage to the upholstery,
there should be no objects on the rear seat
and the seat belt should not be buckled
when the backrest is folded down.
1. Move the seat(s) to their rearmost position
(seven-seat models only).
2. Pull the loop to fold down an outboard
head restraint. Press down the center head
restraint if necessary (see page 109).

04 Interior
Rear seats
04
110
3. Pull the handle (1) outward to release the
backrest. The backrests are designed to
lock at a 45 degree angle. Pull the handle
again to continue pressing it down until it
locks in the horizontal position.
To return the backrests to the upright position,
pull handle 1 and pull the backrest up.
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Folding the backrests—third row of
seats
Folding down the backrest
If necessary, fold in the load anchorage eyelets
before folding down the backrests.1. Move the seats in the second row as far
forward as possible, see page 108.
2. Pull up the handle, illustration 1 above.
3. Push the seat cushion firmly rearward,
under the backrest.
4.
Fold down the backrests
2 (the head
restraints fold down automatically) to the
horizontal position.
WARNING
The seats in the third row are not equipped
with top tether anchors or ISOFIX/LATCH
lower child seat anchors. Child restraint sys-
tems should never be used on these seats.
Returning the backrest to the upright
position
1. Fold up the backrest to the upright posi-
tion.
2. Grasp the strap (see illustration 3 above)
and pull the seat cushion out until it locks
in place. This also locks the backrest in the
upright position.
WARNING
•When one or more sections of the back-
rest is returned to the upright position,
check that it is properly locked in place
by pushing and pulling it. The red indi-
cators should also not be visible.
•Return the outboard head restraints to
the upright position.
•Long loads should always be securely
anchored to help avoid injury in the
event of a sudden stop.
•Always turn the engine off and apply the
parking brake when loading/unloading
the vehicle.
•Place the transmission in the Park (P)
position to help prevent inadvertent
movement of the gear selector.
•On hot days, the temperature in the
vehicle interior can rise very quickly.
Exposure of people to these high tem-
peratures for even a short period of time
can cause heat-related injury or death.
Small children are particularly at risk.
2Please note that the head restraints in this row cannot be vertically adjusted.

04 Interior
Storage compartments
04
114* Option/accessory, for more information, see Introduction.
Storage compartment in third row of seats
Storage compartment
Glove compartment
Storage compartment in center console
Rear seat cup holders
Storage pocket (also in front edge of front
seats)
Grocery bag holder*
WARNING
Make sure that no hard, sharp or heavy
objects lie on or in any of the storage areas
where they might cause injury during sud-
den braking.
Storage compartment in the center
console
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To open the lid on the storage compartment,
press the lower edge of the opening latch (see
illustration above). This lid can be folded back
to form a small table area for rear seat passen-
gers.
Lift the tray under the lid to expose the deep
storage bin with slots for CD storage.
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Cup holders for the front seatsTwo cup holders are provided for the front seat
occupants. Press lightly on the rear edge of the
cover to open it.
Ashtray (accessory)An ashtray insert is available from your Volvo
retailer. This insert slides into either of the cup
holders.
Pen holderThere is a pen holder in the center console, in
front of the gear selector.

04 Interior
Securing cargo
04
118
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As a safety precaution, all cargo in your vehicle
should be securely anchored to keep it from
being thrown forward in the event of sudden
braking, etc. The vehicle is equipped with eye-
lets in the cargo space to which straps or other
cargo restraints can be attached.
WARNING
The eyelets are not to be used as passenger
restraints or as anchorages for child
restraints.
Consult your Volvo retailer about suitable
accessories for this purpose.Remember that an object weighing 44 lbs
(20 kg) produces a force of 2,200 lbs
(1,000 kg) in a head-on collision at 30 mph
(50 km/h)!
Keep the following in mind when loading the
vehicle:
•The load carrying capacity of your vehicle
is determined by factors such as the num-
ber of passengers, the amount of cargo,
the weight of any accessories that may be
installed, etc. See the section "Vehicle
loading" in the chapter "Wheel and tires"
for more detailed information.
•Load the cargo against the backrest.
•Load heavy cargo as low as possible.
•If no one is sitting in the outboard rear
seat(s), reinforce the backrest by fastening
the seat belts.
•Never load cargo above the backrest with-
out a cargo net.
WARNING
When the rear backrest(s) are folded down,
the vehicle should not be loaded to a level
higher than 2 in. (5 cm) below the upper
edge of the rear side windows. Objects
placed higher than this level could impede
the function of the inflatable curtain.
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Attachment bracket
Nylon cargo net (accessory)The Volvo XC90 can be equipped with a cargo
net made of strong nylon fabric.
This net can be installed in two places:
•Behind the rear seat backrests (the second
row of seats in seven-seat models)
•Behind the front seat backrests if the rear
seat backrests (the second row of seats in
seven-seat models) have been folded
down.

04 Interior
Securing cargo
04
120
Steel grid (accessory)
Installing the grid, upper attachments
1. Lift in the grid through the tailgate or
through one of the rear passenger doors (in
this case, fold down the rear seat back-
rests/backrests in second row of seats in
seven-seat models).
2. Insert one of the grid's upper attachments
into an attachment bracket above one of
the rear passenger doors (see illustration
above).
3. Push the grid's attachment into the forward
position in the attachment bracket (see
inset illustration above) to lock the attach-
ment in place.
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Lower attachments
4. Insert the grid's other upper attachment in
the attachment bracket above the oppo-
site rear passenger door, and press the
attachment into the forward position in the
attachment bracket to lock it in place.
Installing the grid, lower attachments1. Insert the lower attachment bracket
through the steel grid's lower mount from
underneath.
2. Install the spring on the attachment
bracket and tighten the knob.
3. Secure the attachment bracket hook in the
lower cargo eyelet. Turn the knob to ten-sion the attachment bracket in the cargo
eyelet.
4. Repeat the operation on the opposite side.
5. Tighten both attachment brackets alterna-
tively.
6. Place the protective caps on the threads
above the knobs.
WARNING
•The backrests of the third row seats
must be folded down when installing
the steel grid.
•The steel grid is installed behind the
second row of seats. To avoid the risk
of injury, no one should be allowed to sit
in the third row of seats when the steel
grid is in place in the vehicle.