Buick Encore 2014 Owner’s Manual

The 2014 Buick Encore is a small luxury crossover that is comfy and stylish to drive. The Encore is great for cities because it has a sleek exterior and small size, but it still has a lot of room inside. It has a nice, quiet cabin with high-quality elements that make it a nice place to spend time while driving. The Encore has a fuel-efficient turbocharged engine that gives it quick acceleration and good gas mileage. It also has current safety features and technology, such as an infotainment system with a touch screen and optional navigation. Overall, the 2014 Buick Encore is a compact premium crossover that offers luxury, versatility, and fuel economy.

Safety Belts

This section of the manual describes how to use safety belts properly. It also describes some things not to do with safety belts.

Warning
Do not let anyone ride where a safety belt cannot be worn properly. In a crash, if you or your passenger(s) are not wearing safety belts, injuries can be much worse than if you are wearing safety belts. You can be seriously injured or killed by hitting things inside the vehicle harder or by being ejected from the vehicle. In addition, anyone who is not buckled up can strike other passengers in the vehicle.
It is extremely dangerous to ride in a cargo area, inside or outside of a vehicle. In a collision, passengers riding in these areas are more likely to be seriously injured or killed. Do not allow passengers to ride in any area of the vehicle that is not equipped with seats and safety belts.
Always wear a safety belt, and check that all passenger(s) are restrained properly too.

Why Safety Belts Work
When riding in a vehicle, you travel as fast as the vehicle does. If the vehicle stops suddenly, you keep going until something stops you.
It could be the windshield, the instrument panel, or the safety belts!
When you wear a safety belt, you and the vehicle slow down together.
There is more time to stop because you stop over a longer distance and, when worn properly, your strongest bones take the forces from the safety belts. That is why wearing safety belts makes such good sense.

Questions and Answers About Safety Belts

• Q: Will I be trapped in the vehicle after a crash if I am wearing a safety belt?
  A: You could be— whether you are wearing a safety belt or not. Your chance of being conscious during and after a crash, so you can unbuckle and get out, is much greater if you are belted.
• Q: If my vehicle has airbags, why should I have to wear safety belts?
  A: Airbags are supplemental systems only; so they work with safety belts— not instead of them. Whether or not an airbag is provided, all occupants still have to buckle up to get the most protection.
  Also, in nearly all states and in all Canadian provinces, the law requires wearing safety belts.

How to Wear Safety Belts Properly
This section is only for people of adult size.
There are special things to know about safety belts and children. And there are different rules for smaller children and infants. If a child will be riding in the vehicle, see Older Children on page 3-36 or Infants and Young Children on page 3-38.
Follow those rules for everyone’s protection.
It is very important for all occupants to buckle up. Statistics show that unbelted people are hurt more often in crashes than those who are wearing safety belts.
There are important things to know about wearing a safety belt properly

• Sit up straight and always keep your feet on the floor in front of you.
• Always use the correct buckle for your seating position.
• Wear the lap part of the belt low and snug on the hips, just touching the thighs. In a crash, this applies force to the strong pelvic bones and you would be less likely to slide under the lap belt. If you slid under it, the belt would apply force on your abdomen. This could cause serious or even fatal injuries.
• Wear the shoulder belt over the shoulder and across the chest. These parts of the body are best able to take belt restraining forces. The shoulder belt locks if there is a sudden stop or crash.

Warning
You can be seriously injured, or even killed, by not wearing your safety belt properly.

• Never allow the lap or shoulder belt to become loose or twisted.
• Never wear the shoulder belt under both arms or behind your back.
• Never route the lap or shoulder belt over an armrest.

Lap-Shoulder Belt
All seating positions in the vehicle have a lap-shoulder belt.
The following instructions explain how to wear a lap-shoulder belt properly.

1. Adjust the seat, if the seat is adjustable, so you can sit up straight. To see how, see “Seats” in the Index.
2. Pick up the latch plate and pull the belt across you. Do not let it get twisted. The lap-shoulder belt may lock if you pull the belt across you very quickly. If this happens, let the belt go back slightly to unlock it.
   Then pull the belt across you more slowly.
   If the shoulder portion of a passenger belt is pulled out all the way, the child restraint locking feature may be engaged.
   If this happens, let the belt go back all the way and start again.
   The rear center safety belt can only be withdrawn from the retractor if the seatback is in the upright locked position
3. Push the latch plate into the buckle until it clicks.
4. Pull up on the latch plate to make sure it is secure. If the belt is not long enough, see Safety Belt Extender on page 3-22. Position the release button on the buckle so that the safety belt could be quickly unbuckled if necessary.
5. If equipped with a shoulder belt height adjuster, move it to the height that is right for you. See “Shoulder Belt Height Adjuster” later in this section for instructions on use and important safety information.
6. To make the lap part tight, pull up on the shoulder belt.
   It may be necessary to pull the stitching on the safety belt through the latch plate to fully tighten the lap belt on smaller occupants.

To unlatch the belt, push the button on the buckle. The belt should return to its stowed position. Slide the latch plate up the safety belt webbing when the safety belt is not in use.
Before a door is closed, be sure the safety belt is out of the way. If a door is slammed against a safety belt, damage can occur to both the safety belt and the vehicle.

Shoulder Belt Height Adjuster
The vehicle has a shoulder belt height adjuster for the driver and right-front passenger seating positions.
Adjust the height so the shoulder portion of the belt is on the shoulder but not falling off of it. The belt should be close to but not contacting the neck. Improper shoulder belt height adjustment could reduce the effectiveness of the safety belt in a crash. See How to Wear Safety Belts Properly on page 3-16.

To move the shoulder belt height adjuster down, push down on the release button and move the height adjuster to the desired position. You can move the height adjuster up by pushing up on the shoulder belt guide.
After the adjuster is set to the desired position, try to move it down without pushing the release button to make sure it has locked into position.

Safety Belt Pretensioners
This vehicle has safety belt pre-tensioners for the front outboard occupants. Although the safety belt pretensions cannot be seen, they are part of the safety belt assembly.
They can help tighten the safety belts during the early stages of a moderate to severe frontal, near frontal, or rear crash if the threshold conditions for pre-tensioner activation are met. And, for vehicles with side impact airbags, safety belt pretensions can help tighten the safety belts in a side crash or a rollover event.
Pretensioners work only once. If the pre-tensioners activate in a crash, the pretensions and probably other parts of the vehicle’s safety belt system will need to be replaced. See Replacing Safety Belt System Parts after a Crash on page 3-22.

Rear Safety Belt Comfort Guides
Rear safety belt comfort guides may provide added safety belt comfort for older children who have outgrown booster seats and for some adults. When installed on a shoulder belt, the comfort guide positions the shoulder belt away from the neck and head. Safety belt comfort guides are available through your dealer.

To install the adjustable comfort guide to the seatback and the safety belt:

1. Locate the anchorage loop on the rear outboard seatback, near the top.
2. Attach the adjustable comfort guide to the anchor loop by threading the hook through the loop.
3. Place the guide over the belt, and insert the two edges of the belt into the slots of the guide.
4. Be sure that the belt is not twisted and it lies flat. The elastic cord must be under the belt and the guide on top.
5. The elastic cord on the comfort guide is adjustable. You can make it longer or shorter by squeezing both ends of the plastic adjuster and pulling on the elastic cord or the guide.
6. Adjust the guide so the shoulder portion of the belt is on the shoulder and not falling off of it. The belt should be close to, but not contacting the neck. Improper comfort guide adjustment could reduce the effectiveness of the safety belt in a crash.
   Warning
   A safety belt that is not properly worn may not provide the protection needed in a crash. The person wearing the belt could be seriously injured. The shoulder belt should go over the shoulder and across the chest. These parts of the body are best able to take belt restraining forces.
7. Buckle and position the safety belt as described previously in this section. Make sure that the shoulder belt crosses the shoulder.
   To remove and store the comfort guide, squeeze the belt edges together so that the safety belt can be removed from the guide. Un-hook the guide from the loop on the seat. Store the guide in a convenient place like the glove box for the next time it is needed.

FAQ