|
Inside+Out
|
| The 1999 Toyota Camry |
|
| Updated |
Jun 10, 2004 22:51:20 |
| Rating |
 24 ( -6 -25% ) |
|
|
Description:
Inside+Out: The 1999 Toyota
Camry
safety & security
Front seatbelt pretensioners
and force limiters &150; To make doubly sure that you are safely secured in your
seat during a collision, the Camry is equipped with a set of high-end safety features for
the driver and front passenger. Here&146;s what they do. Pretensioners automatically pull
any slack out of the front belts if you hit something hard enough. Tied into the air bag
sensors, the pretensioners will actually pull the belt tight across your body and hold you
firmly in place during a serious impact. And this is where force limiters come in. Once
the belt is pulled tight, the force limiter will then allow the belt to spool out a bit in
order to reduce the force that the belt places on your upper torso. If it seems like
pretensioners and force limiters have contradictory jobs, you&146;re right. The
pretensioner pulls the seatbelt snug, but then the force limiter gives the belt a little
"stretch" once you&146;re in place. This provides a slight
"cushioning" effect &150; but it doesn&146;t let you slip free of the belt.
Not long ago, pretensioners and force limiters were only available on expensive German
cars, but Toyota thinks they&146;re too important to be reserved for the rich and famous.
Height-adjustable front
shoulder belts &150; Your Camry is equipped with front shoulder belts that can
be raised and lowered so they have a nice "tailor made" fit. Regardless of how
tall or short you are. In order to adjust the belts, here&146;s what you do: the driver
and front passenger can look over his or her outside shoulder and find a spring-loaded
button where the seatbelt attaches to the roof pillar. By pressing the button in, you can
raise or lower the belt so it won&146;t ride up on your neck or pull down on your
shoulder. For the driver it&146;s best to adjust the belt after you&146;ve adjusted the
seat, side-view mirrors and steering wheel.
Side air bags &150;
You&146;re Camry is one of a growing number of cars that offer front-seat side air bags
to give you added protection in the event of a "T-Bone" crash or side impact.
These bags deploy between the seat and the side arm rest to cushion your rib cage if the
car takes a direct hit to the door. If your model is equipped with these air bags, there
are a few things you should know. First, side air bags operate independently of the front
air bags. They have their own crash sensors in the pillar that runs between the front and
rear doors (technically, this is called the "B" pillar). Secondly, these air
bags are located in the front seats, meaning that regardless of how tall or short you are,
the side air bag is always positioned correctly for your body size. And thirdly, because
the air bags are built into the seats, you should NEVER put any type of covers on the
seats. No sheepskins, no fancy seat covers, nothing. One final thing. As you&146;ve
probably heard a million times, child restraint seats (and generally, kids under 12-years
old) have no business being in the front passenger seat. They absolutely must be put in
the back seat, as an air bag can hurt a little person. Sorry to be so stern, but this is
serious stuff.
Security Is Key
Theft-deterrent system
&150; Every 1999 Camry XLE comes with ignition keys that are imbedded with an electronic
fingerprint that the car must recognize before the engine can be started. This way, only
your key will start your Camry. And that means a thief simply can&146;t jimmy the
ignition to start the car. This key is so smart it doesn&146;t even need a battery to
send it&146;s electronic code to the engine. The ignition and the key will recognize each
other using electricity from the car its self. A word of warning though. If you have
another vehicle with an electronically coded key, don&146;t keep that key and your Camry
key on the same ring. If two coded keys from different vehicles rub together, they can
scramble each other&146;s brains &150; which could mean neither car will start.
Valet key &150; As
you may have noticed, your Camry LE or CE came with three keys, one key with a black
plastic head, a spare with a square metal head, and one with a rounded metal head. The
rounded valet key will only open the door and operate the ignition, meaning a valet
parking attendant can move your car, but he can&146;t open the trunk or glove box. But
before the trunk is totally secure, you need to do more than just give the attendant the
valet key. Because your Camry has an inside trunk release and folding rear seats with
releases inside the car, you need to disable them. First, open the trunk and find the two
vertical switches on the two seat backs. Flip these switches and the inside seat releases
won&146;t work. Next, close the trunk lid and put your normal key in the trunk&146;s
keyhole and turn it one quarter turn counter clockwise. Now the inside release next to the
driver&146;s seat won&146;t work. This way, no one is tempted to rummage through your
trunk for treasures. They also can&146;t shift through your glove box for personal
information while they have the key to your car. The valet key is a nice way to reduce
temptation. |
| Similar news: | - Air Deccan Dynafare'To Cover All Routes - BANGALORE, JULY 18: The country's first low cost airline, Air Deccan which recently launched its Dynafare scheme for Bangalore-Delhi flight offering tickets for as low as Rs 500, will be extending it to all its 19 destinations in a phased manner, ...
- Chronimed to cover Aetna loss - Chronimed Inc. could lose nearly a fifth of its revenue because of Aetna Inc.'s decision to start a new joint specialty pharmacy business with Priority Healthcare Corp.
- Cancel That Cover Shoot - Everyone knows about the Sports Illustrated cover jinx. Does the same misfortune happen to executives who become celebrities? Anecdotally, to be sure. FORBES picked the Charles Schwab Corp. as the company of the year in 2001. Within two years the stock dr
| | Find all news similar on Inside+Out |
| Similar articles: | | | Find all articles similar on Inside+Out |
|
