VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE 2018 Owners Manual

Cleaning storage compartments and cup holders

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 damage. Anchorages that have been loaded must also be inspected.

Parts, accessories, repairs, and modifications

WARNING
Inappropriate spare parts and accessories as well as improperly performed work, modifications 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 information, and trained personnel to properly replace any airbag in your vehicle and assure system effectiveness in a crash.
x Only install parts on the vehicle that are consistent with factory-installed parts with respect 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

Parts and accessories

x Accessories and other things installed in front of the cooling air intakes impair the efficiency of the engine coolant. The engine can overheat under high outside temperatures or under high engine loads!
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 regulations.
Repairs and technical modifications

Changing the vehicle's suspension system can change the way that the airbag system works in a crash. For example, using tire-rim combinations not approved by Volkswagen, lowering the vehicle, changing the stiffness of the suspension, including the springs, suspension struts, shock absorbers etc. can change the forces that are measured by the airbag sensors and sent to the electronic control unit. Some suspension changes can, for example, increase the force levels measured by the airbag 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 manufactured.
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 characteristics 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 passenger 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 passenger 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, mobile telephones and CB radios, etc.) should be performed by authorized Volkswagen dealers or authorized Volkswagen Service 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 Material. 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 information about the identity of its owner or lessee.
NOTE: Your vehicle may be equipped with Volkswagen Car-Net. Please see ⇒ page 31 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 performance in the event of a crash. Stored data can also only be read and downloaded with special equipment that is directly connected to the vehicle.
Using a mobile phone without a vehicle-integrated antenna - some
important things to know

Therefore we strongly recommend that you use your mobile telephone in your vehicle only when it is properly attached to an appropriate cradle mounted on a base plate on the instrument panel.
Because of the large number and variety of mobile telephones on the market and the frequency with which new models are introduced, Volkswagen does not offer cradles for mobile telephones. Please check with the manufacturer of the mobile telephone that you plan to use.
Bluetooth® is a registered trademark of Bluetooth® SIG, Inc.
WARNING
A mobile phone on the seat, instrument panel or in other places can be thrown around the inside of the vehicle during a sudden braking maneuver, a crash or other accident and injure vehicle occupants.
x Never place or attach accessories or other objects (such as cup holders, telephone brackets, note pads, navigation systems, large, heavy or bulky objects) on the doors, on the windshield, over or near the area marked “AIRBAG” on the steering wheel, instrument panel, backrests or between these areas and the occupant. Such objects could cause serious injury in a collision, especially if an airbag inflates.
WARNING
Using a mobile phone or CB radio inside the vehicle without a properly installed and separate outside antenna can be dangerous to your health and that of your passengers because the electromagnetic radiation energy that mobile phones and CB radios emit may be above established limits. This also applies if the outside antenna is not installed properly.
x Always keep the mobile phone antenna at least 8 in. (20 cm) away from pacemakers. Heart specialists advise that mobile phones can adversely affect the way pacemakers work.
x Never carry a mobile phone that is switched on in the breast pocket directly over a pacemaker.
x If you suspect there may be interference with a pacemaker or other medical device, switch the mobile phone off immediately.
Portable iPhone® holder

Fig. 148 On the center console. A: Removing the iPhone® holder, B: Installing the cover for the mount.