Introduction

The doors and rear luggage lid of your Seat Leon can be locked manually and partially opened if necessary, such as in situations where the key fob or electronic central locking system is damaged.

WARNING Opening and closing vehicle doors carelessly can cause serious personal injury.

• If the vehicle is locked from the outside in Safe mode, the doors and power windows cannot be opened from the inside under any circumstances.
• Never leave children or persons with disabilities unattended alone in the car. They could easily become trapped in the vehicle in an emergency situation and will not be able to get themselves to safety.
• Depending on the seasonal weather and time of the year, temperatures inside a locked and closed vehicle can climb or drop to extremely dangerous levels, resulting in serious injuries, sudden illness, or even death, particularly for infants and young children.

WARNING Getting in the swing path of closing doors and the rear lid is dangerous and can lead to severe crushing injuries.

• Always open and close the doors and the rear lid only when there is nobody standing in the way.

NOTICE In freezing winter weather conditions, ice or snow may accumulate on the lower front part of the doors between the outer frame and the body sill; do not force the doors open with excessive force until you are completely sure that there is no accumulated ice or snow blocking them.

NOTICE When performing an emergency opening or closing procedure, carefully disassemble any trim components and then reassemble them correctly to avoid causing permanent damage to your Seat Leon.

Emergency unlocking or locking of the driver's door

Fig. 77 Driver's door handle: lock cylinder.

If the central locking system should fail to operate or the battery loses power, the driver's door of your Seat Leon can still be locked and unlocked manually by turning the physical mechanical key inside the door lock cylinder.

As a general rule, when the driver's door is locked manually using the key blade, all other side doors are secured and locked at the same time.

When it is unlocked manually, only the driver's door opens initially. Please observe the specific instructions relating to the onboard anti-theft alarm system before proceeding.

• Remove the emergency key blade from the main vehicle key fob housing.
• Insert the mechanical key blade into the lock cylinder slot to unlock or lock the vehicle manually.

The mechanical key blade is inserted correctly by pointing the key grip towards the rear door (the entire key blade enters the lock cylinder smoothly in this position).

Special characteristics

• The factory anti-theft alarm system will remain fully active when vehicles are unlocked using only the mechanical key blade.
• After the driver's door is physically opened, you have a brief window of 15 seconds to switch on the ignition (depending on regional market settings). Once this countdown time has elapsed without ignition, the alarm triggers automatically.
• Switch the ignition on. The onboard electronic immobilizer system recognises a valid vehicle key transponder and deactivates the anti-theft alarm system immediately.

Note The anti-theft alarm system is not activated when the vehicle is locked manually using the mechanical key blade from the outside.

Emergency lock of doors without lock cylinders

Fig. 78 Locking the door manually.

If the central locking system fails completely or the vehicle's 12V battery goes flat, doors that lack a visible external lock cylinder will have to be locked separately using the emergency lock mechanism.

The manual emergency lock mechanism is located on the inner edge face of the front passenger door and both rear passenger doors. It can only be seen and accessed when the corresponding door is opened.

• If necessary, pry off and remove the protective rubber seal or cap from the front edge of the door mechanism ››› Fig. 78.
• Insert the emergency key blade into the interior slot and turn it to the right as far as it will go (if the door is positioned on the right side of the vehicle) or to the left (if the door is located on the left side of the vehicle).
• Replace the protective cap or rubber seal securely over the slot.

Once the door has been closed, it can no longer be opened from the outside handle. Pull the interior door handle once from inside the cabin to unlock and open the door.

Child lock

Fig. 79 Left door child lock.

The manual child lock prevents the rear doors from being opened from the inside handles. Its main function is to prevent children from inadvertently opening a rear door while your Seat Leon is in motion.

This mechanical function is completely separate from the vehicle's electronic central locking and window lockout systems. It operates exclusively on the rear passenger doors. It can only be activated and deactivated manually using the key blade, as described in detail below.

Activating the child lock

• Unlock the vehicle central locking and open the specific rear door on which the child safety lock mechanism is to be activated.
• With the rear door open, turn the internal slot using the vehicle key blade clockwise for the left-side doors ››› Fig. 79 and anticlockwise for the right-side doors.

When the manual child lock is activated, the affected rear doors can only be opened from the outside door handles.

Deactivating the child lock

• Unlock the vehicle and open the rear door from which you want to disengage the child safety lock.
• With the door open, turn the slot using the vehicle key blade anticlockwise for the left-side doors ››› Fig. 79 and clockwise for the right-side doors.

WARNING The rear passenger doors cannot be opened from the inside when the manual child lock is activated. This means that occupants may be locked inside the vehicle cabin.

In an emergency situation, trapped passengers may not be able to leave the vehicle independently or save themselves from danger.

• Never leave children or persons in need of physical assistance unattended in the vehicle when the doors are locked or child locks are engaged.

WARNING If children, persons requiring assistance, or pets are left unattended inside the vehicle interior, they could be exposed to dangerously high or very low ambient temperatures depending on weather. There is a severe risk of serious illness or fatal injuries.

• Never leave children, vulnerable individuals, or animals unattended inside the vehicle under any circumstances.