2015 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT Owners Manual

WARNING
Damage to safety belts reduces their overall effectiveness and increases the risk of serious personal injury and death whenever the vehicle is being used.
x Check the condition of all safety belts regularly. If you notice that the safety belt webbing, hardware, retractor, buckle, or any other part of the safety belts is damaged, immediately have an authorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized Volkswagen Service Facility replace the safety belt with the correct replacement belt for your vehicle model and model year.
x Never use chemical cleaning agents, solvents, or any substance that may damage or weaken the safety belt webbing or any other parts of the safety belt. Never let the belts come into contact with corrosive fluids or sharp objects. Otherwise, the safety belt webbing will be significantly weakened.
x After cleaning, always give the safety belts time to dry completely before letting them retract. The moisture can damage the retractor and keep it from working properly.
x Never let foreign objects or liquids get into the safety belt latch. This could prevent the belt buckles and safety belts from working properly.
x Damaged safety belts must be replaced; they cannot be repaired.
x Never try to repair a damaged safety belt yourself. Never remove or modify the safety belts in any way.
x Safety belts that were subject to stress in an accident and stretched must be replaced with a correct, new safety belt, preferably by an authorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized Volkswagen Service Facility.
x Replacement after a crash may be necessary even if a safety belt shows no visible dam-age. Anchorages that have been loaded must also be inspected.

Parts, accessories, repairs and modifications

WARNING
Inappropriate spare parts and accessories as well as unprofessionally performed work, modi-fications and repairs can cause vehicle damage, accidents and serious personal injuries.
x Volkswagen strongly recommends to only use accessories approved by Volkswagen and Genuine Volkswagen Parts®. These parts and accessories have been evaluated by Volkswagen for their suitability, reliability and safety.
x Have repairs and vehicle modifications performed by an authorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized Volkswagen Service Facility. Authorized Volkswagen dealers and authorized Volkswagen Service Facilities have the required tools, diagnostic equipment, repair infor-mation, and trained personnel to properly replace any airbag in your vehicle and assure sys-tem effectiveness in a crash.
x Only install parts on the vehicle that are consistent with factory-installed parts with re-spect to design and characteristics.
x Never store, mount or attach objects, such as cup holders or phone cradles on or next to the airbag module covers or within the airbags deployment zones.
x Only use wheel rim / tire combinations approved by Volkswagen for the respective vehicle type.
Break-in period

Volkswagen recommends that you consult an authorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized Volkswagen Service Facility before purchasing accessories, spare parts or other equipment. Always do so if you want to install additional accessories or replace parts. Your authorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized Volkswagen Service Facility can provide information about legal requirements and factory-recommended accessories, spare parts, and other equipment.
WARNING
Improper vehicle modifications and repairs affect the performance of the airbag system and cause malfunctions and severe personal injuries.
x Never store, mount or attach objects, such as cup holders or phone cradles, on or next to the airbag module covers or within the airbag deployment zones.
x Objects on or near the surface where airbags are located can come loose and cause seri-ous personal injury if the airbag deploys.
Operating fluids and equipment

Leaking operating fluids can pollute the environment. Collect leaking operating fluids in suitable containers and dispose of them properly in accordance with applicable environmental laws and regula-tions.
Repairs and technical modifications

sensors and sent to the electronic control unit and make the airbag system deploy in crashes in which it would not deploy if the changes had not been made. Other kinds of changes may reduce the force levels measured by the sensors and prevent the airbag from deploying when it should.
Never install leather upholstery on a vehicle that originally had cloth upholstery. Never install cloth upholstery on a vehicle that originally had leather upholstery. The capacitive passenger detection system for the Advanced Airbag system will not work properly if different upholstery is installed on the passenger seat than the upholstery originally installed on the vehicle when it was originally manufac-tured.
WARNING
Changing the vehicle's suspension including use of unapproved tire-rim combinations can change airbag performance and increase the risk of serious personal injury in a crash.
x Never install suspension components that do not have the same performance characteris-tics as the components originally installed on your vehicle.
x Never use tire-rim combinations that have not been approved by Volkswagen.
WARNING
Leaving the optional safety belt extender attached to the safety belt buckle on the front pas-senger seat when the safety belt is not being used will prevent the Advanced Airbag System from working properly and can increase the risk of serious personal injury in a collision.
x Leaving the extender attached to the safety belt buckle when the front seat is occupied and the safety belt is not being used will signal to the airbag control unit that the front pas-senger seat is occupied and that the safety belt is being used. The electronic control unit for the airbag system will then receive incorrect information that will
– cause the safety belt pretensioner to deploy unnecessarily in collisions and
– cause the front passenger airbag to deploy later in collisions in which the front airbag would otherwise be triggered earlier to help protect an unrestrained front seat passenger.
x Always remove the safety belt extender when it is not needed and stow it safely.
x Never use the safety belt extender to secure a child restraint.
WARNING
Items stored between the safety belt buckle and the center console can cause safety belt buckle to send the wrong information to the airbag control unit and prevent the Advanced Airbag System from working properly.
x Always make sure that nothing can interfere with the safety belt buckles and that they are not obstructed.

WARNING
Improper care and servicing, and improper modification and repair work, can increase the risk of personal injury and death by preventing an airbag from deploying when needed or deploying an airbag unexpectedly:
x Never repair, adjust, or change any parts of the airbag system.
x All work on the airbag system, steering wheel, instrument panel, front seats or electrical system (including the installation of audio equipment, cellular telephones and CB radios, etc.) should be performed by authorized Volkswagen dealers or authorized Volkswagen Ser-vice Facilities. They have the necessary manuals, training, and special equipment.
x The airbag system can be activated only once. After an airbag has inflated, it must be replaced.
x Use only original equipment airbags approved by Volkswagen. Have them installed by a trained technician who has the necessary tools and diagnostic equipment to properly replace any airbag in your vehicle and assure system effectiveness in a crash.
x Never permit salvaged or recycled airbags to be installed in your vehicle.
Undeployed airbag modules and safety belt pretensioners are classified as Perchlorate Materi-al. Special handling may apply – see http://www.dtsc.ca.gov/hazardouswaste/perchlorate. Obey all applicable legal requirements regarding handling and disposal of the vehicle or parts of its restraint system, including airbag modules and safety belts with pretensioners. Authorized Volkswagen dealers and authorized Volkswagen Service Facilities are familiar with the requirements, and we recommend that you have them perform this service for you.
Notice about data recorded by the Event Data Recorder and vehicle
control modules

x upon the official request by the police;
x upon the order of a court of law or a government agency; or
x for the defense of a lawsuit through the judicial discovery process.
Volkswagen may also use the data for research about vehicle operation and safety performance or provide the data to a third party for research purposes without identifying the specific vehicle or infor-mation about the identity of its owner or lessee.
NOTE: Your vehicle may be equipped with Volkswagen Car-Net. Please see ⇒ page 30 and the Volkswagen Car-Net Terms of Service and Privacy Policy at (http:// www.vw.com/carnet) for details regarding how Volkswagen collects, processes, transmits, uses and shares information obtained through the Volkswagen Car-Net equipment and service.
Your vehicle is also equipped with a number of electronic control modules for various vehicle systems, such as engine management, emission control, airbags, and safety belts.
These electronic control modules record data during normal vehicle operation that may be needed by trained technicians for diagnostic and repair purposes. The recording capability of these modules is limited to data (no sound is recorded). Only a small amount of data is actually recorded over a very limited period of time, or stored when a system fault is detected by a control module. Some of the data stored may relate to vehicle speed, direction, or braking, as well as restraint system use and perfor-mance in the event of a crash. Stored data can also only be read and downloaded with special equip-ment that is directly connected to the vehicle.
Using a mobile phone in a motor vehicle when it is not connected to
the vehicle telephone antenna - some important things to know