BUICK LACROSSE 2011 Owner's Manual

Black plate (13,1)Buick LaCrosse Owner Manual - 2011
Customer Information 13-13
Collision Damage Repair
(U.S. and Canada)
If the vehicle is involved in a
collision and it is damaged,
have the damage repaired by a
qualified technician using the proper
equipment and quality replacement
parts. Poorly performed collision
repairs diminish the vehicle resale
value, and safety performance can
be compromised in subsequent
collisions.
Collision Parts
Genuine GM Collision parts are
new parts made with the same
materials and construction methods
as the parts with which the vehicle
was originally built. Genuine GM
Collision parts are the best choice to
ensure that the vehicle's designed
appearance, durability, and safety
are preserved. The use of Genuine
GM parts can help maintain the GM
New Vehicle Limited Warranty.Recycled original equipment
parts may also be used for repair.
These parts are typically removed
from vehicles that were total losses
in prior crashes. In most cases,
the parts being recycled are from
undamaged sections of the vehicle.
A recycled original equipment GM
part may be an acceptable choice
to maintain the vehicle's originally
designed appearance and safety
performance; however, the history
of these parts is not known. Such
parts are not covered by the GM
New Vehicle Limited Warranty, and
any related failures are not covered
by that warranty.
Aftermarket collision parts are
also available. These are made
by companies other than GM and
may not have been tested for the
vehicle. As a result, these parts
may fit poorly, exhibit premature
durability/corrosion problems,
and may not perform properly in
subsequent collisions. Aftermarket
parts are not covered by the GM
New Vehicle Limited Warranty, and
any vehicle failure related to such
parts is not covered by that
warranty.
Repair Facility
GM also recommends that you
choose a collision repair facility that
meets your needs before you ever
need collision repairs. The dealer
may have a collision repair center
with GM-trained technicians and
state‐of‐the‐art equipment, or be
able to recommend a collision
repair center that has GM-trained
technicians and comparable
equipment.

Black plate (14,1)Buick LaCrosse Owner Manual - 2011
13-14 Customer Information
Insuring The Vehicle
Protect your investment in the
GM vehicle with comprehensive
and collision insurance coverage.
There are significant differences
in the quality of coverage afforded
by various insurance policy terms.
Many insurance policies provide
reduced protection to the GM
vehicle by limiting compensation
for damage repairs by using
aftermarket collision parts.
Some insurance companies
will not specify aftermarket collision
parts. When purchasing insurance,
we recommend that you ensure
that the vehicle will be repaired with
GM original equipment collision
parts. If such insurance coverage
is not available from your current
insurance carrier, consider switching
to another insurance carrier.If the vehicle is leased, the leasing
company may require you to have
insurance that ensures repairs with
Genuine GM Original Equipment
Manufacturer (OEM) parts or
Genuine Manufacturer replacement
parts. Read the lease carefully, as
you may be charged at the end of
the lease for poor quality repairs.
If a Crash Occurs
If there has been an injury, call
emergency services for help.
Do not leave the scene of a crash
until all matters have been taken
care of. Move the vehicle only if its
position puts you in danger, or you
are instructed to move it by a police
officer.
Give only the necessary information
to police and other parties involved
in the crash.
For emergency towing see
Roadside Assistance Program
(U.S. and Canada) on page 13‑8
or
Roadside Assistance Program
(Mexico) on page 13‑10. Gather the following information:
.Driver name, address, and
telephone number.
.Driver license number.
.Owner name, address, and
telephone number.
.Vehicle license plate number.
.Vehicle make, model, and
model year.
.Vehicle Identification
Number (VIN).
.Insurance company and policy
number.
.General description of the
damage to the other vehicle.
Choose a reputable repair facility
that uses quality replacement parts.
See “Collision Parts” earlier in this
section.
If the airbag has inflated, see What
Will You See After an Airbag
Inflates? on page 3‑35.

Black plate (15,1)Buick LaCrosse Owner Manual - 2011
Customer Information 13-15
Managing the Vehicle Damage
Repair Process
In the event that the vehicle
requires damage repairs, GM
recommends that you take an
active role in its repair. If you
have a pre-determined repair
facility of choice, take the vehicle
there, or have it towed there.
Specify to the facility that any
required replacement collision
parts be original equipment parts,
either new Genuine GM parts
or recycled original GM parts.
Remember, recycled parts will
not be covered by the GM vehicle
warranty.
Insurance pays the bill for the repair,
but you must live with the repair.
Depending on your policy limits,your insurance company may
initially value the repair using
aftermarket parts. Discuss this with
the repair professional, and insist
on Genuine GM parts. Remember,
if the vehicle is leased, you may
be obligated to have the vehicle
repaired with Genuine GM parts,
even if your insurance coverage
does not pay the full cost.
If another party's insurance
company is paying for the repairs,
you are not obligated to accept
a repair valuation based on that
insurance company's collision
policy repair limits, as you have
no contractual limits with that
company. In such cases, you can
have control of the repair and parts
choices as long as the cost stays
within reasonable limits.
Service Publications
Ordering Information
Service Manuals
Service Manuals have the
diagnosis and repair information
on the engines, transmission, axle,
suspension, brakes, electrical,
steering, body, etc.
Service Bulletins
Service Bulletins give additional
technical service information
needed to knowledgeably service
General Motors cars and trucks.
Each bulletin contains instructions
to assist in the diagnosis and
service of the vehicle.

Black plate (16,1)Buick LaCrosse Owner Manual - 2011
13-16 Customer Information
Owner Information
Owner publications are written
specifically for owners and intended
to provide basic operational
information about the vehicle.
The Owner Manual includes
the Maintenance Schedule
for all models.
In-Portfolio: Includes a Portfolio,
Owner Manual, and Warranty
Booklet.
RETAIL SELL PRICE:
$35.00 (U.S.) plus handling and
shipping fees.
Without Portfolio: Owner
Manual only.
RETAIL SELL PRICE:
$25.00 (U.S.) plus handling and
shipping fees.
Current and Past Models
Technical Service Bulletins and
Manuals are available for current
and past model GM vehicles.
ORDER TOLL FREE:
1-800-551-4123 Monday - Friday
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM Eastern Time
For Credit Card Orders Only
(VISA-MasterCard-Discover), visit
Helm, Inc. at: www.helminc.com.
Or write to:
Helm, Incorporated
P.O. Box 07130
Detroit, MI 48207
Prices are subject to change
without notice and without incurring
obligation. Allow ample time for
delivery.
All listed prices are quoted in
U.S. funds. Make checks payable
in U.S. funds.
Reporting Safety
Defects
Reporting Safety Defects
to the United States
Government
If you believe that your vehicle
has a defect which could cause
a crash or could cause injury or
death, you should immediately
inform the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) in addition to notifying
General Motors.
If NHTSA receives similar
complaints, it may open an
investigation, and if it finds
that a safety defect exists in a
group of vehicles, it may order
a recall and remedy campaign.

Black plate (17,1)Buick LaCrosse Owner Manual - 2011
Customer Information 13-17
However, NHTSA cannot
become involved in individual
problems between you, your
dealer, or General Motors.
To contact NHTSA, you may
call the Vehicle Safety Hotline
toll-free at 1-888-327-4236
(TTY: 1-800-424-9153);
go tohttp://www.safercar.gov;
or write to:
Administrator, NHTSA
1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20590
You can also obtain other
information about motor
vehicle safety from
http://www.safercar.gov
.
Reporting Safety Defects
to the Canadian
Government
If you live in Canada, and you
believe that the vehicle has a
safety defect, notify Transport
Canada immediately, and notify
General Motors of Canada Limited.
Call them at 1-800-333-0510 or
write to:
Transport Canada
Road Safety Branch
2780 Sheffield Road
Ottawa, Ontario K1B 3V9
Reporting Safety Defects
to General Motors
In addition to notifying NHTSA (or
Transport Canada) in a situation like
this, please notify General Motors.
Call 1-800-521-7300, or write:
Buick Customer Assistance Center
P.O. Box 33136
Detroit, MI 48232-5136
In Canada, call 1-800-263-3777
(English) or 1-800-263-7854
(French), or write:
General Motors of Canada Limited
Customer Communication Centre,
Mail Code: CA1-163-005
1908 Colonel Sam Drive
Oshawa, Ontario L1H 8P7

Black plate (18,1)Buick LaCrosse Owner Manual - 2011
13-18 Customer Information
Vehicle Data
Recording and
Privacy
This GM vehicle has a number of
sophisticated computers that record
information about the vehicle’s
performance and how it is driven.
For example, the vehicle uses
computer modules to monitor and
control engine and transmission
performance, to monitor the
conditions for airbag deployment
and deploy airbags in a crash, and,
if so equipped, to provide antilock
braking to help the driver control the
vehicle. These modules may store
data to help the dealer technician
service the vehicle. Some modules
may also store data about how you
operate the vehicle, such as rate of
fuel consumption or average speed.
These modules may also retain the
owner’s personal preferences, such
as radio pre-sets, seat positions,
and temperature settings.
Event Data Recorders
This vehicle has an Event Data
Recorder (EDR). The main purpose
of an EDR is to record, in certain
crash or near crash-like situations,
such as an airbag deployment or
hitting a road obstacle, data that
will assist in understanding how
a vehicle's systems performed.
The EDR is designed to record
data related to vehicle dynamics
and safety systems for a short
period of time, typically 30 seconds
or less. The EDR in this vehicle is
designed to record such data as:
.How various systems in the
vehicle were operating.
.Whether or not the driver and
passenger safety belts were
buckled/fastened.
.How far, if at all, the driver was
pressing the accelerator and/or
brake pedal.
.How fast the vehicle was
traveling. This data can help provide a better
understanding of the circumstances
in which crashes and injuries occur.
Important:
EDR data is recorded
by the vehicle only if a non-trivial
crash situation occurs; no data is
recorded by the EDR under normal
driving conditions and no personal
data (e.g., name, gender, age,
and crash location) is recorded.
However, other parties, such as
law enforcement, could combine
the EDR data with the type of
personally identifying data
routinely acquired during a
crash investigation.
To read data recorded by an EDR,
special equipment is required, and
access to the vehicle or the EDR is
needed. In addition to the vehicle
manufacturer, other parties, such
as law enforcement, that have the
special equipment, can read the
information if they have access
to the vehicle or the EDR.

Black plate (19,1)Buick LaCrosse Owner Manual - 2011
Customer Information 13-19
GM will not access this data or
share it with others except: with
the consent of the vehicle owner
or, if the vehicle is leased, with the
consent of the lessee; in response
to an official request by police or
similar government office; as part
of GM's defense of litigation through
the discovery process; or, as
required by law. Data that GM
collects or receives may also be
used for GM research needs or
may be made available to others for
research purposes, where a need is
shown and the data is not tied to a
specific vehicle or vehicle owner.OnStar®
If the vehicle is equipped with
an active OnStar system, that
system may also record data in
crash or near crash‐like situations.
The OnStar Terms and Conditions
provides information on data
collection and use and is available
in the OnStar glove box kit,
at www.onstar.com (U.S.) or
www.onstar.ca (Canada), or
by pressing the
Qbutton and
speaking to an advisor.
Navigation System
If the vehicle has a navigation
system, use of the system may
result in the storage of destinations,
addresses, telephone numbers, and
other trip information. Refer to the
navigation system operating manual
for information on stored data and
for deletion instructions.
Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID)
RFID technology is used in
some vehicles for functions such
as tire pressure monitoring and
ignition system security, as well as
in connection with conveniences
such as key fobs for remote door
locking/unlocking and starting, and
in-vehicle transmitters for garage
door openers. RFID technology in
GM vehicles does not use or record
personal information or link with
any other GM system containing
personal information.

Black plate (20,1)Buick LaCrosse Owner Manual - 2011
13-20 Customer Information
Radio Frequency
Statement
This vehicle has systems that
operate on a radio frequency that
comply with Part 15 of the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC)
rules and with Industry Canada
Standards RSS‐210/220/310.
Operation is subject to the following
two conditions:
1. The device may not causeinterference.
2. The device must accept any interference received, including
interference that may cause
undesired operation of the
device.
Changes or modifications to any
of these systems by other than an
authorized service facility could void
authorization to use this equipment.

Black plate (1,1)Buick LaCrosse Owner Manual - 2011
INDEX i-1
A
Accessories andModifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3
Accessory Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-24
Adaptive Forward Lighting (AFL) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-4
Add-On Electrical
Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-62
Adjustments Lumbar, Front Seats . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
Air Cleaner/Filter, Engine . . . . . 10-15
Air Conditioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1
Air Filter, Passenger
Compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8
Air Intake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8
Air Vents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-8
Airbag System Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-43
How Does an AirbagRestrain? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-34
Passenger Sensing System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-37
What Makes an Airbag Inflate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-34 Airbag System (cont.)
What Will You See After
an Airbag Inflates? . . . . . . . . . . 3-35
When Should an Airbag
Inflate? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-32
Where Are the Airbags? . . . . . . 3-31
Airbags Adding Equipment to theVehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-42
Passenger Status Indicator . . . 5-15
Readiness Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-14
Servicing Airbag-Equipped Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-41
System Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-29
Alarm System Anti-Theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-14
All-Wheel Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-31
AM-FM Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-12
Antenna Satellite Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-20
Anti-Theft Alarm System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-14
Alarm System Messages . . . . . 5-38 Antilock Brake
System (ABS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-32
Warning Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-21
Appearance Care Exterior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-92
Interior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-97
Assistance Program,
Roadside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13-8, 13-10
Audio Players . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-20 CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-20
CD/DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-23
Audio System Backglass Antenna . . . . . . . . . . . 7-19
Radio Reception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-19
Theft-Deterrent Feature . . . . . . . . 7-2
Automatic
Climate Control System . . . . . . . . 8-1
Headlamp System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3
Automatic Transmission . . . . . . . 9-28 Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-15
Manual Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-30
Shift Lock ControlFunction Check . . . . . . . . . . . 10-28
Auxiliary Devices . . . . . . . . 7-31, 7-34

Black plate (2,1)Buick LaCrosse Owner Manual - 2011
i-2 INDEX
B
Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-27Jump Starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-86
Load Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-6
Power Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-7
Voltage and ChargingMessages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-33
Blade Replacement, Wiper . . . 10-29
Bluetooth . . . . . . . . . . 7-46, 7-48, 7-53
Brake System Warning Light . . . 5-19
Brakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-24 Antilock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-32
Assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-35
Fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-25
Parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-33
System Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-33
Braking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3 Break-In, New Vehicle . . . . . . . . . 9-16
Bulb Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-37
Fog Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-5
Halogen Bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-33
Headlamp Aiming . . . . . . . . . . . 10-30
Headlamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-33
Headlamps, Front TurnSignal and Parking
Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-34
High Intensity Discharge (HID) Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-33
License Plate Lamps . . . . . . . 10-36
Taillamps, Turn Signal, Stoplamps, and
Back-Up Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . 10-35
Buying New Tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-64
C
Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5
California
Fuel Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . 9-51
Perchlorate MaterialsRequirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3
Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3
Camera, Rear Vision . . . . . . . . . . 9-46
Canadian Vehicle Owners . . . . . . . . iv
Capacities and Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-2
Carbon Monoxide Engine Exhaust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-27
Trunk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-12
Winter Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-9
Cautions, Danger, and
Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .v