Help New Droid will Not Automatically Connect to Car Bluetooth

[ChipDroid]

Hello,

I hope someone can solve a problem I am having with my brand new Bionic. For whatever reason, it will not automatically connect to my car's blue tooth. I am driving a Toyota Highlander 2008 (not that this should matter). I am able to pair the phone and the car. Unlike my Stratosphere or all my previous "dumb" phones, the Droid does not connect automatically. I go into settings and it shows that it is paired, but not connected.

After trying different things for 30 minutes I went to my local Verizon store. A salesperson came out to my car and tried all kinds of things with no luck. We rebooted the phone multiple times, deleted the pairings for my old phone so only the Bionic is in the car's system, unpaired and paired the two. He was stumped and suggested I back up all my files and contacts, the do a factory reset and try again,

By the end my battery was down to 20%. He said that the low battery may be causing a problem (that seems like a stretch).

Finally, he said something that made my jaw drop. "Sometimes, a particular phone will not work with a particular car. This happens a lot with Mercedes." Is this true? Is it possible that a high-end phone from a top manufacturer does not work with a popular car model from a leading auto company?

I should note that the Samsung Stratosphere connected with no problems and worked without a hitch for 90 days.

Should I do the factory reset he suggests?

Chip

 

[ChipDroid]

P.S. I did search through similar posts like Bluetooth will not automatically connect once paired - but did not find anything of use.

 

[Deanie]

I have a Subaru outback and the bionic connects fine. Cannot transfer all contacts though. Only 1 by 1 until 20. Have you tried stopping by your dealer and have them help out? Fyi- I leave Bluetooth on all the time and I usually have over 50% battery in the evening, with extended battery.

 

[ChipDroid]

I have a call into my local Toyota dealer and will be in touch tomorrow with their Bluetooth expert. All of a sudden the phone started working. I checked Toyota's site and it says the Bionic has not yet been tested with the Highlander. The other Motorola smart phones have all been tested and they all pass.

 

[bulla16]

I had/have the same problem, but think I figured out why it happens (although I may totally be wrong and it may just be total coincidence):

Do you turn your Bionic Bluetooth off when not using it? I do, via the Power Control widget (that doesnt have anything to do with it). I have found that if I turn on the Bionic Bliuetooth, go in and toggle to connect to the car, it finds it just fine. If I then leave the Bionic Bluetooth on, then leave the car and come back, whether for an hour or a day, when I start up the car the phone and car connect perfectly everytime.

If I turn off the Bionic Bluetooth between car tips, it defaults back to the not connected statis with the vehicle, and I have to manually reconnect it.

Try that and see how you come out. Both the wife and I have Bionics, and we've duplicated it on both phones, our OnStar FMV mirror, our 2007 Mini Cooper S, our 2012 Chevrolet Camaro SS, and two aftermarket Pioneer head units in our older cars. Sanme way every time.

Hope that clarifies. I don't like it, but that seems to be the issue. My orginal Droid did not act this way, nor did my wife's Eris....

 

[smguy101]

i seem to have no problem with my Binic in my 2012 Equinox. As soon as I either turn the car on or turn bluetooth on, the Phone automatically connects. Maybe it's a probem with the car's bluetooth interface.

 

[Lars]

Pretty much all Toyota and Lexus cars have the same Nav/BT unit underneath as far as I can tell because a hack on the Prius works for many Lexus models too. Here's what I can tell you having used a handful of different phones with the Lexus Nav/BT. With moto phones (at least the X and Bionic) the pairing occasionally gets screwed up. The only solution I've found is to delete the pairing in BOTH the NAV unit and the phone and re pair. It is important to delete the phone from the car's menu.

iphone, Samsung and HTC phones don't seem to have this problem. Obviously if you have multiple phones programmed in the Nav you have to manually select the one you want the car to connect with. It doesn't look for all/any of them; only the selected one.

 

[bffhusker]

I had an original Droid that connected to my Forester fine. Then got the Bionic in November. Won't autoconnect unless I go in and manually connect it. So I KNOW it is NOT the vehicle. It is the Bionic.

Am going to try leaving the BT on/connected, and when I go out in the morning will start it and see if it auto connects.

I will be sorely disappointed if this is a flaw in the Bionic. I flat won't manually connect every time I get in the car. Waste of BT feature in the car until I get a different phone .

 

[CamoCustom]

Cant offer any other suggestions other than what is posted, but my Bionic connects with my 2011 Mazda 3 no problems. I can already have the car on, THEN turn on bluetooth on phone, and within a few seconds it will connect, or have car off, and already have BT on in phone, just start the car, it connects just fine this way too.

Sorry OP, it could just be the Toyota

 

[Gibreficul]

I had an original Droid that connected to my Forester fine. Then got the Bionic in November. Won't autoconnect unless I go in and manually connect it. So I KNOW it is NOT the vehicle. It is the Bionic.

Am going to try leaving the BT on/connected, and when I go out in the morning will start it and see if it auto connects.

I will be sorely disappointed if this is a flaw in the Bionic. I flat won't manually connect every time I get in the car. Waste of BT feature in the car until I get a different phone .

I'm having the exact same issue with my Bionic and my 2011 Impreza. Original Moto-Droid worked perfect. This thing just doesn't want to auto-connect. I'm going to try to disable the media sharing feature of the bluetooth and only allow the phone feature, see if that works.

This is supposed to be a safety feature. Considering so many of us are having this issue, Motorola needs to figure it out, and issue an update. :hmmmm2: Motorola has lost some brownie points in my world, between the Razr having a fixed battery, and the Bionic having THIS issue... I expected top quality after a very enjoyable experience with the original Droid.