height VOLKSWAGEN JETTA 2.5 SE 2012 Owners Manual

Track1, front 60.1–60.7 in. (1527–1541 mm)
Track1, rear 59.9–60.6 in. (1523–1538 mm)
Ground clearance (unloaded) about 3.7–5.5 in. (about 94–139 mm)2
NOTICE
x Please be careful when parking your vehicle in areas with parking barriers or curbs. These vary in height and could damage your bumper and related parts if the front of your vehicle hits a barrier or curb that is too high while you are getting into or out of a parking spot.
x Always be careful when you enter a driveway or drive up or down steep ramps or over curbs or other obstacles. Parts of the vehicle close to the ground may be damaged (such as bumper covers, spoilers, and parts of the engine, suspension, and exhaust systems).

2 Varies depending on your vehicle's equipment (engine, tires, wheels, tire inflation pressure, driving situation and other factors).

WARNING
Always adjust seat, safety belts, and head restraints properly before driving and make sure that all passengers are properly restrained.
x Push the passenger seat as far back as possible. Always be sure that there are at least 10 inches (25 cm) between the front passenger's breastbone and the instrument panel.
x Always adjust the driver's seat and the steering wheel so that there are at least 10 inches (25 cm) between your breastbone and the steering wheel.
x Adjust the driver's seat so that you can easily push the pedals all the way to the floor while keeping your knee(s) slightly bent. The distance to the instrument panel in the knee area must be at least 4 inches (10 cm).
x If these requirements cannot be met for physical reasons, contact an authorized Volkswagen dealer or an authorized Volkswagen Service Facility to see whether adaptive equipment is available.
x Always hold the steering wheel on the outside of the steering wheel rim with your hands at the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions to help reduce the risk of personal injury if the driv-er's airbag inflates.
x Never hold the steering wheel at the 12 o'clock position or with your hands at other places inside the steering wheel rim or on the steering wheel hub. Holding the steering wheel the wrong way can cause serious injuries to the hands, arms, and head if the driver's airbag in-flates.
x Pointing the steering wheel toward your face decreases the ability of the driver's airbag to help protect you in a collision.
x Never drive with backrests reclined or tilted back farther than necessary to drive comfort-ably. The farther back the backrests are tilted, the greater the risk of injury caused by incor-rect positioning of the safety belts and improper seating position.
x Never drive with the front seat passenger backrest tilted forward. If the front airbag de-ploys, the front backrest can be forced backward and injure passengers on the rear seat.
x Sit as far back as possible from the steering wheel and the instrument panel.
x Always sit upright with your back against the backrest with the front seats properly ad-justed. Never lean against or place any part of your body too close to the area where the air-bags are located.
x Rear seat passengers who are not properly seated and restrained are more likely to be seriously injured in a crash.
WARNING
Improper adjustment of the seats can cause accidents and severe injuries.
x Never adjust the seats while the vehicle is moving. Your seat may move unexpectedly and you could lose control of the vehicle. In addition, you will not be in the correct seating posi-tion while adjusting the seats.
x Adjust the front seat height, angle and longitudinal direction only if the seat adjustment area is clear.
x The adjustment of the front seats must not be restricted by things in the footwell in front or behind the seats.

For your own safety and to reduce injuries in the event of sudden braking maneuvers or accidents, Volkswagen recommends the following seating positions:
Applies to all vehicle occupants:
x Adjust head restraints so that the upper edge of the head restraint is at least at eye level or higher.
Position the back of your head as close as possible to the head restraint ⇒ fig. 32 and ⇒ fig. 33.
x Push the head restraint completely down for short people, even if the top of the head is then below the upper edge of the head restraint.
x Tall people should pull the head restraint all the way up.
x Adjust the seat backrest angle to an upright position so that your back is in full contact with it when the vehicle is moving.
x Always keep both feet on the floor and in the footwell whenever the vehicle is moving.
x Always adjust and fasten safety belts properly, Safety belts.
Driver – seat and steering wheel adjustment:
x Adjust the steering wheel so that there are at least 10 inches (25 cm) between the steering wheel
and your breast bone ⇒ fig. 32. When adjusting the proper distance to the steering wheel, grasp the top of the steering wheel with your elbows slightly bent.
x Always hold the steering wheel on the outside of the steering wheel rim with your hands at the 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions to help reduce the risk of personal injury if the driver's airbag inflates.
x Never hold the steering wheel at the 12 o'clock position or with your hands at other places inside the steering wheel rim or on the steering wheel hub. Holding the steering wheel the wrong way can cause serious injuries to the hands, arms, and head if the driver's airbag inflates.
x Adjust the steering wheel so that the steering wheel cover points at your chest and not at your face. Pointing the steering wheel toward your face decreases the ability of the driver's airbag to help protect you in a collision.
x Adjust the driver's seat so that you can easily push the pedals all the way to the floor while keeping your knee(s) slightly bent.
x Adjust the seat height so that the top point of the steering wheel can be reached.
x Always keep both feet in the footwell so that you are in control of the vehicle at all times.
Passenger – front seat adjustment:
x Push the passenger seat as far back as possible in order to ensure optimum protection if the airbag is deployed.

Manual controls on the driver and front passenger seats

Fig. 34 Driver seat: Manual controls to move the seat forward or back and adjust the backrest angle, seat height, and lumbar support (if applicable).

Electrical controls on the driver and front passenger seats

Fig. 35 Driver seat: Electrical controls to move the seat backward or forward, and adjust seat cushion height and backrest angle (if applicable).

WARNING
Not wearing a safety belt or wearing an improperly positioned safety belt increases the risk of severe personal injury or death. Safety belts offer optimum protection only when they are used properly.
x Properly worn safety belts are the single most effective means of reducing the risk of serious injury and death in a collision or other accident. For this reason, always wear your safety belt properly and make sure all passengers wear their safety belts properly as well whenever the vehicle is moving.
x The driver must always make sure that every person in the vehicle is properly seated on a seat of his or her own, properly fastens the safety belts belonging to that seat before the vehicle starts to move, and keeps the belts properly fastened while riding in the vehicle. This applies even when just driving around town. Therefore, always wear your safety belts and make sure that everybody in your vehicle is properly restrained.
x Always secure children in the vehicle with a restraint system appropriate for their age, weight and height, Child safety and child restraints.
x Always fasten safety belts correctly before driving off and make sure that all passengers are properly restrained.
x Never attach the safety belt to the buckle of another seat. Attaching the safety belt to the wrong buckle will reduce safety belt effectiveness and can cause serious personal injury.
x Never let any objects or liquids get into the safety belt latch and prevent it from working properly.
x Never remove a safety belt while the vehicle is moving. Doing so will increase your risk of being injured or killed.
x Never strap more than one person, including small children, into any single safety belt.
x Never let children or babies ride sitting on your lap, and never place a safety belt over a child sitting on your lap.
x Never wear belts over rigid or breakable objects in or on your clothing, such as eyeglass-es, pens, keys, etc., as these may cause injury.
x Several layers of heavy clothing (such as a coat worn over top of a sports jacket) may interfere with proper positioning of the safety belt and reduce the overall effectiveness of the system.
x Never use comfort clips or devices that create slack in the shoulder belt. However, special clips may be required for the correct use of some child restraint systems.
x Safety belts offer optimum protection only when the seat backrest is upright and belts are correctly positioned on the body.

WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can cause serious personal injury in an accident or a sud-den braking maneuver.
x Always make sure that all vehicle occupants are correctly restrained and stay in a correct seating position whenever the vehicle is being used.
x Safety belts offer optimum protection only when the seat backrest is upright and belts are correctly positioned on the body.
x A loose-fitting safety belt can cause serious injuries by shifting its position on your body from the strong bones to more vulnerable soft tissue and cause serious injury.
x The shoulder belt portion of the safety belt must be positioned over the middle of the occupant's shoulder and never across the neck or throat.
x The safety belt must lie flat and snug on the occupant's upper body.
x Never wear the shoulder part of the safety belt under your arm or otherwise out of posi-tion.
x The lap portion of the safety belt must be positioned as low as possible across the pelvis and never over the abdomen. Make sure the belt lies flat and snug against the pelvis. Pull on the safety belt to tighten if necessary.
x Expectant mothers must always wear the lap portion of the safety belt as low as possible across the pelvis and below the rounding of the abdomen.
x Do not twist the belt when attaching it. If you cannot untwist a twisted safety belt, wear it anyway, but make sure the twisted part is not in contact with your body. Have the problem corrected right away by an authorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized Volkswagen Service Facility.
x Never hold the safety belt away from your body with your hand.
x Never wear belts over rigid or breakable objects, such as eyeglasses, pens or keys.
x Never modify the position of the belt using comfort clips, loops or similar devices.
If you have a physical impairment or condition that prevents you from sitting properly on the seat with the safety belt properly fastened, special modifications to your vehicle may be necessary. Contact your authorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized Volkswagen Service Facility or call the Volkswagen Customer CARE Center at 1-800-822-8987 for information about possible modifications to your vehi-cle.
Safety belt height adjusters

Fig. 53 Next to the front seats: Safety belt height adjuster.

Safety belt height adjusters for the front seats can be used to adjust the height of the shoulder portion of the safety belt so that it is positioned correctly:
x Pinch the safety belt attachment together as indicated by the arrows and hold ⇒ fig. 53.
x Slide the belt and upper attachment up or down until the safety belt is positioned over the center of the shoulder, Safety belt position.
x Release the safety belt attachment.
x Pull on the safety belt to make sure that the upper attachment is securely locked in place.
WARNING
Never adjust the height of the safety belt while driving.
Safety belt extender

Fig. 54 A safety belt extender properly attached to the factory-installed safety belt.

Fig. 55 Positioning of the safety belt extender.

These dimensions are important because they help determine the way that the forces that arise during towing are applied to the receiver and its attachments to the vehicle. If you buy a ball mount and ball, make sure that they meet the following specifications.
Ball mount dimensions
x The drop height (A) from the center of the ball to the center of the hole for the securing pin on the ball mount must be at least 1 inch (25.4 mm) and at most 27/8 inches (73 mm).
x The pin-to-ball distance (B) from the center of the ball to the center of the hole for the securing pin on the ball mount must be no more than 7 inches (178 mm).
x The ball diameter must be no more than 11/4 inches (32 mm).
A ball mount and ball combination that does not meet these specifications can damage your vehicle
and may even fail in use ⇒ .
Never install a “weight distributing” or “load equalizing” trailer hitch on your vehicle. The vehicle is not
designed for this kind of trailer hitch ⇒ .
WARNING
An improperly installed or unsuitable trailer hitch can cause the trailer to separate from the towing vehicle and result in a major accident with serious personal injuries.
x Have any trailer hitch retrofit or other work on a trailer hitch done by a qualified workshop.
CAUTION
The ball mount sticks out behind the rear bumper and can cause injury to pedestrians and cyclists.
x To reduce the risk of injury in rear-end collisions, and the risk to pedestrians and cyclists when the vehicle is parked, always remove the ball carrier when you are not towing a trailer.
NOTICE
x Never use a ball larger than 11/4 inches (32 mm) on your vehicle. The vehicle was not designed to tow heavier trailers with a receiver larger than the specified ball. The increased loads can damage the attachment points for the trailer hitch.
x Never use an adapter to increase the size of the trailer hitch receiver from 11/4 inches (32 mm) to 2 inches (50.8 mm) or more to tow a trailer that is heavier than the maximum permissible trailer weight that your vehicle can tow.
x You can use an adapter if required for the proper installation of a bicycle rack or other similar carrier as long as the maximum weight limits are observed. When using bicycle racks or similar carriers, make sure that the rear lights are not blocked.
x Only use trailer hitches that are approved by the hitch manufacturer for your vehicle and model.

WARNING
Parking improperly can cause serious personal injury.
x Never remove the key from the ignition switch while the vehicle is moving or rolling to a stop. The steering wheel will lock and you will not be able to steer or control the vehicle.
x Never park the vehicle where the hot exhaust system or catalytic converter could ignite flammable materials, such as brush, leaves, dry grass, spilled fuel, etc.
x Always apply the parking brake when parking your vehicle.
x Improper use of the parking brake can seriously injure you and your passengers.
x Never use the parking brake to slow down the vehicle when it is moving, except in an emergency. The stopping distance is much longer because only the rear wheels are braked. Always use the foot brake to stop the vehicle.
x Never activate the throttle manually from the engine compartment when the engine is running and the automatic transmission is in gear. The vehicle will start to move as soon as the engine speed increases even if the parking brake is on.
x Never leave children or anyone who cannot help themselves behind in the vehicle. They could release the parking brake and move the gear selector lever or gear shift, which could cause the vehicle to start moving. This can lead to a crash and serious personal injuries.
x Always take the key with you when you leave the vehicle. The engine can be started and vehicle systems such as the power windows can be operated, leading to serious personal injury.
x Never leave children, disabled persons, or anyone who cannot help themselves in the vehicle. The doors can be locked with the remote control vehicle key, trapping passengers in the vehicle in an emergency. For example, depending on the time of year, people trapped in the vehicle can be exposed to very high or very low temperatures.
x Heat buildup in the passenger and luggage compartment of a parked vehicle can result in temperatures in the vehicle that are much higher than the outside temperatures, particularly in summer. Temperatures can quickly reach levels that can cause unconsciousness and death, particularly to small children.
NOTICE
x Always be careful when you park in areas with parking barriers or high curbs. These vary in height and could damage your bumper and related parts if the front of your vehicle hits a barrier or curb that is too high while you are getting into or out of a parking spot. To help prevent damage, stop before the tires of your vehicle touch a parking barrier or curb.
x Always be careful when you enter a driveway or drive up or down steep ramps or over curbs or other obstacles. Parts of the vehicle close to the ground may be damaged (such as bumper covers, spoilers, and parts of the engine, suspension, and exhaust systems).
Warning and indicator lights