instrument panel BUICK LACROSSE 2009 Get To Know Guide

Congratulations on your purchase of a Buick LaCrosse. Please read this information and your Owner Manual
to ensure an outstanding ownership experience. Note that your vehicle may not include all the features
described in this booklet. Keep this booklet with your Owner Manual for easy reference.
DRIVER INFORMATION
Instrument Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Instrument Panel Cluster . . . . . . .3
Vehicle Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Driver Information Center . . . . . . .4
SAFETY & SECURITY
Unlocking the Doors
with the Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Automatic Door Locks . . . . . . . . .6
Passenger Airbag Status
Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
OnStar
® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
COMFORT
Tilt/Telescoping Steering
Wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Dual Automatic Climate
Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8ENTERTAINMENT
Audio Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Bluetooth
®System . . . . . . . . . . .11
Audio Steering Wheel
Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
CONVENIENCE
Remote Vehicle Start . . . . . . . . .12
Exterior Lamps and
Automatic Headlamp System . . .13
Daytime Running Lamps . . . . . .13
Interior Lamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Windshield Wipers/Washer . . . .14
Cruise Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Universal Home Remote . . . . . . .15
Vehicle Enhancements . . . . . . . .15
Accessory Power Outlets . . . . . .17PERFORMANCE & MAINTENANCE
Opening the Vehicle Hood . . . . .17
Passenger Compartment
Air Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
Antilock Brake System . . . . . . . .18
Ultrasonic Rear Parking
Assist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Traction Control System . . . . . . .18
StabiliTrak
®– Stability Control
System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Automatic Transaxle
Shift Lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Acoustic Laminate Glass . . . . . .19
Resetting the Oil Life System . .19
OWNER INFORMATION
Roadside Assistance . . . . . . . . .20
My GMLink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

The main features of the instrument
panel include:
A. Air Outlets
B. Interior Lamps Control
C. Exterior Lamps Control/Fog Lamp
Control
D. Turn Signal/Multifunction Lever
E Cruise Controls
F. Instrument Panel Cluster
G. DIC Buttons (if equipped)/
Hazard Warning Flashers
Button/Traction Control ButtonH. Passenger Airbag Status Indicator
I. Audio System Controls
J. Hood Release
K. Parking Brake
L. Tilt Lever (if equipped)
M. Horn
N. Audio Steering Wheel Controls
O. Shift Lever
P. Accessory Power Outlet
Q. Climate Controls
R. Glove Box
Getting to Know Your LaCrosse2
See Section 3 of your Owner Manual.
DRIVER INFORMATION
Instrument Panel

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Your vehicle’s instrument panel is
equipped with this cluster or one very
similar to it. The instrument panel cluster
includes these key gauges and
lights/lamps:
A. Trunk Ajar
B. Door Ajar
C. Tire Pressure Monitor
D. Antilock Brake System (ABS)
E. Cruise Control Engaged
F. Tachometer
G. Security
H. Safety Belt – Driver
I. Driver Airbag
J. Service Vehicle Soon
K. Speedometer
L. Headlamp SuggestedM. Fuel Gauge
N. Washer Fluid Level
O. Battery
P. Temperature Gauge
Q. Reduced Engine Power
R. Traction Control Disabled
S. Check Gas Cap
T. Change Engine Oil
U. Check Engine
V. Oil Pressure
Note: The instrument panel cluster is designed to let
you know about many important aspects of your vehi-
cle’s operation. It is important to read your Owner
Manual and become familiar with the information
being relayed to you by the lights, gauges, DIC mes-
sages and indicators, as well as what action can be
taken to ensure safety and to prevent damage.
C
Instrument Panel Cluster
See Section 3 of your Owner Manual.
P

Getting to Know Your LaCrosse4
Driver Information Center
The base-level Driver Information
Center (DIC) displays the odometer and
trip odometer. Uplevel DICs also display
a compass, trip computer, fuel economy
information, OnStar
®phone numbers
called (if equipped) and other messages
or warnings. The DIC display is located
on the instrument cluster below the
speedometer, and can be programmed
in English, French or Spanish.
The outside temperature displays in the
bottom-right corner of the uplevel DIC
when viewing the trip/odometer screens,
fuel screens and some gauge screens.
At 37ºF (3ºC) or below, readings toggle
between temperature and the word ICE
for two minutes.
The following DIC controls are located in
the center of the instrument panel:
TRIP/ODO (Trip/Odometer):On the
base DIC, press to display odometer/trip
distance. Uplevel DICs also display time
elapsed and average speed.
Vehicle Symbols
Following are examples of symbols you
may find on your vehicle. It is important
to become familiar with them, as they
indicate vehicle features and alert you
to various vehicle operating conditions.
Air Conditioning (A/C)
Air Recirculation
DIC Fuel
DIC Gauges
DIC Option
DIC Set/Reset
Fog Lamps
Headlamps
Off
On/Off
On
Parking Lamps
Rear Window Defogger
Remote Vehicle Start

• Roadside Assistance
• Fuel Station Location
• Information & Connections services
• Virtual Advisor, GPS-based Traffic &
Weather
For Turn-by-Turn Navigation, press your
OnStar button. OnStar Advisors can
send a planned route to your vehicle
and, as you approach a turn, instructions
will play over your vehicle speakers.
For Remote Door Unlock or Stolen
Vehicle Location Assistance, call
1-888-4-ONSTAR (1-888-466-7827). For
more information, refer to your OnStar
Owner’s Guide or visit onstar.com.
See Section 2 of your Owner Manual.
7
Tilt/Telescoping Steering Wheel
To adjust the tilt position of the steering
wheel, hold the wheel and pull the lever
(A) on the left of the steering column
toward you. Move the wheel up or down
to a comfortable level. Release the lever
to lock.
To adjust the telescoping position of the
steering wheel, push down on the lever
(B) to unlock the steering wheel. Pull or
push the steering wheel to the desired
position. Push up on the lever to lock
the steering wheel.
Do not adjust the position of the steering
wheel while driving.
See Section 3 of your Owner Manual.
A B
Passenger Airbag Status
Indicator
Your vehicle is equipped with a
Passenger Sensing System located in
the front passenger seat for the front
passenger frontal airbag, and a passen-
ger airbag status indicator located on
the instrument panel center stack.
See Sections 1 and 3 of your Owner Manual.
Note:It is recommended that children
not be placed in the front passenger
seat, even with the Passenger Sensing
System. All children should be secured in
a rear seat, including an infant riding in a
rear-facing infant seat, a child riding in a
forward-facing child seat or an older child
riding in a booster seat.
COMFORT
OnStar®
Your vehicle features the uplevel OnStar
Directions & Connections Plan with one
year of OnStar service from the date
you purchased your new vehicle. With
the help of OnStar Advisors, who are
available 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week, OnStar offers a wide variety of
safety and driver assistance capabilities,
including the following services:
• Driving Directions and Turn-by-Turn
Navigation
• OnStar Vehicle Diagnostic e-mail
• Automatic Notification of Airbag
Deployment
• Automatic Advanced Crash
Notification
• Emergency Services
• Remote Door Unlock
• Stolen Vehicle Location Assistance
• Hands-Free Calling with 30 calling
minutes

Getting to Know Your LaCrosse8
Dual Automatic Climate Control
Dual automatic climate control maintains
the desired temperature individually for
the driver and front seat passenger.
Automatic Operation
Push the AUTO button and use the
driver- or passenger-side up/down arrow
keys to adjust the temperature. The air
delivery mode, fan speed, air condition-
ing and recirculation functions will be set
automatically to achieve the desired
temperature.
To turn the passenger-side operation on
or off, press the PASS button. When first
turned on, the setting will be the same
as the driver’s. Use the up/down arrow
keys to adjust the temperature.
To turn off the entire system, press the
OFF button.
Manual Operation
To manually select the temperature or
mode, press the desired mode button
as follows:
(Temperature):Press to manually
adjust the temperature. The left side
controls the driver side and the right
side controls the passenger side.
(Decrease Fan Speed):Press to
lower fan speed.
(Increase Fan Speed):Press to
raise fan speed.
(Air Conditioning):Press to activate
or deactivate air conditioning.
(Recirculation):Press to prevent
outside air from entering your vehicle.
Recirculation can be activated in Vent or
Bi-Level mode, but not in Floor/Defog or
Defrost mode.
(Rear Window Defog):Press to
clear the rear glass (it turns off after
about 20 minutes). Press again for
extended operation. Press again or
switch off the ignition to turn off.
(Floor mode):Press to direct most
of the air to the floor.
(Bi-Level mode):Press to direct
most of the air to the instrument panel
and floor outlets.
(Vent mode):Press to direct air
through the instrument panel outlets.
(Floor/Defog):Press to clear the
windshield and front side windows of
mist and frost.
(Defrost):Press to clear the wind-
shield of heavier amounts of mist and
frost more quickly.
(Heated Seats) (if equipped):
Press to turn the driver or front passen-
ger heated seat on/off.
See Section 3 of your Owner Manual.

Getting to Know Your LaCrosse12
CONVENIENCE
Remote Vehicle Start
This feature allows you to start the
engine from outside the vehicle by
using the Remote Keyless Entry (RKE)
transmitter. The remote start capability
must be turned on using the Driver
Information Center.
Audio Steering Wheel Controls
Audio Steering Wheel Controls
The following audio controls are located
on the steering wheel:
+ – (Volume): Pull up on the plus or
minus button to increase or decrease
the volume.
(Next/Previous/End): Press the
up or down arrow to go to the
next or previous radio station stored as
a favorite or, when a CD is playing, to
the next or previous track. Press the
(End) button to end an OnStar or
Bluetooth call.
SRCE (Source):Press this button to
switch between AM, FM, XM (if equip-
ped), CD and the auxiliary input jack.
(Seek):Press this button to go to
the next radio station on the same band
or, when a CD is playing, to the next
track.
(Mute/Push to Talk/Voice
Recognition): Press this button to
mute the vehicle speakers. Press and
hold the button for more than two sec-
onds to interact with the OnStar or
Bluetooth system.
See Section 3 of your Owner Manual.
Based on outside temperature, the vehi-
cle’s automatic climate control system
will default to a heating or cooling mode.
Starting the Vehicle
1. Aim the RKE transmitter at the
vehicle.
2. Press and release the (Lock)
button on the transmitter.
3. Immediately press and hold the
(Remote Start) button for about four
seconds. When the vehicle starts, the
parking lamps will light and remain
on while the engine is running. The
engine will continue running for
10 minutes.
4. Repeat these steps for a 10-minute
time extension. Only two consecutive
remote starts are allowed.
After a remote start, the ignition must
be turned to the On position before
driving.
Canceling a Remote Start
To turn off the engine instead of driving
after a remote start:
• Press and hold the (Remote Start)
button until the parking lamps turn off.
• Press and release the Hazard
Warning Flashers button. Press it
again to turn off the flashers.
• Turn the key in the ignition switch to
the On position and then off.
See Section 2 of your Owner Manual.
Note:The Remote Vehicle Start feature
will not operate if the key is in the igni-
tion, a door or the hood is open, or the
Check Engine light is illuminated on the
instrument panel cluster.

Exterior Lamps and Automatic
Headlamp System
You will find the exterior lamps knob on
the left side of the instrument panel.
(On/Off): To turn the headlamps off
when the lights are on, turn the control
to the position. The momentary
switch design springs back to AUTO
when released.
AUTO:Activates the automatic head-
lamp system, illuminating all exterior
lamps and the instrument panel/radio
lights when needed.
(Parking Lamps):The parking lamp
position illuminates tail/side marker/
license plate lamps and instrument
panel/radio lights.
(Headlamps):The headlamps posi-
tion manually activates the headlamps,
exterior tail/marker lamps and instru-
ment panel/radio lights.
(Fog Lamps):To activate the fog
lamps, press the center of the rotary
control marked .
To switch headlamps from low to high
beam, push the multifunction lever away
from you. Pull it back and release for
low-beam operation.
See Section 3 of your Owner Manual.
Daytime Running Lamps
The Daytime Running Lamps (DRLs)
illuminate the low-beam headlamps at a
lower intensity in daylight to make the
front of the vehicle more visible to
others. The DRLs do not illuminate the
taillamps or side marker lamps.
See Section 3 of your Owner Manual.
Interior Lamps
The interior lamps control is located next to
the exterior lamps control on the left side
of the instrument panel. It can be set to:
(Off):This position disables the
interior lamps entirely, whether or not a
door is open.
(Door):This position turns on the
interior lamps when a door is opened
and when the ignition key is removed.
(On):This position turns on the
interior lamps continuously.
Instrument Panel Brightness:When
you push the center of the interior lamps
knob, a spring-loaded stem will pop out.
Turn it right or left to adjust intensity.
Reading Lamps:Press the reading light
lens to turn on/off.
See Section 3 of your Owner Manual.
13

The cruise control buttons, located on
the steering wheel, include the following
functions:
(On/Off): Press this button to turn
the cruise control system on or off.
– SET (Set): Press this button to set
a speed, or to decrease the set speed
when the system is active. When the
cruise control is set, the cruise light
will illuminate on the instrument panel
cluster.
+ RES (Resume/Accelerate): Press
this button to resume a set speed, or to
increase the set
speed when the
system is active.
(Cancel):
Press this button
to cancel the set
speed. The set
speed will remain
in memory.
Applying the
brakes will also
cancel the set
speed.
See Section 3 of your
Owner Manual.
Getting to Know Your LaCrosse14
Cruise Control
The windshield wipers/washer controls
are located on the multifunction lever on
the left side of the steering wheel.
(Mist):For a single wipe, twist the
band on the multifunction stalk down to
this position and release.
(Off):Twist the band to this position
to turn off the wipers.
(Delay):Twist the band up to set the
delay time (the top of the band equals a
shorter delay).
(Low):Twist the band up to this
position for low-speed wipers.
(High):Twist the band up to this
position for high-speed wipers.
(Washer):To spray washer fluid,
turn the paddle at the top of the multi-
function lever forward and release.
There will be a slight delay before the
wipers are activated. This is normal and
allows the washer to clean the entire
windshield.
See Section 3 of your Owner Manual.
Windshield Wipers/Washer

PERFORMANCE & MAINTENANCE
Opening the Vehicle Hood
Pull the hood release handle located
under the driver’s side of the instrument
panel.
Under the leading edge of the hood
itself, push the secondary hood release
handle up and to the right. Lift the hood.
See Section 5 of your Owner Manual.
Passenger Compartment
Air Filter
The filter is located in the engine com-
partment below the air inlet grille, near
the passenger-side wiper arm. It traps
most of the pollen from the air that
enters the air conditioning module.
See your Owner Manual for scheduled
maintenance and replacement
instructions.
See Section 3 of your Owner Manual.
Accessory Power Outlets
Your vehicle is equipped with 12-volt
power outlets. One is located on the
center console below the climate con-
trols. The second outlet is located inside
the center storage console. On six-
passenger models, the second outlet is
located in the flip/fold console. Use them
to power cellular phones, CB radios, etc.
See your Owner Manual for full safety
and warranty cautions.
See Section 3 of your Owner Manual.
Hanging Garments
Use the rear assist handle or coat
hook to secure clothing on hangers for
transport.
17