Bluetooth Connectivity

[The Duffer]

I have a 2009 Avensis with the Panasonic Radio (No sat nav). I recently got a new phone, Sony Xperia Z. My problem is sometimes when I recieve or make a call it mutes the radio but does not transfer the other persons voice out through the Speakers of the car (i.e. I have to hold the phone up to my ear even though its connected to the radio). I have tried unpairing the phone off the radio and repairing it again to no avail.

[Konrad C]

Hi Tony.

I did a bit of digging around on Google and went to the Sony Xperia forum.

http://talk.sonymobile.com/t5/Xperia-Z-ZL-ZR/Xperia-Z-does-not-work-with-car-BLUETOOTH-handsfree-module/td-p/307708

Basically some of the suggestions depend on how your incar audio, stores the previous phones protocol and data.

You need to wipe the radio memory by reset back to factory.

Before you do this, have you rebooted the phone with a power off? Sometimes this helps the Sony to make the settings work.

I had this problem with my old Sony Ericsson Arc S not working with WiFi. It was fixed by restarting the phone.

Hopefully this might work.

Konrad

[Konrad C]

Another issue is the Sony (Sony Ericsson) firmware updates can sometimes improve things or make them worse. Wifi was poor, but the bluetooth fine.

I now use a Samsung which has been great.

Since the phone you are using is newer than the radio, the compatibility list needs to be updated.

[The Duffer]

Hi Konrad,

Thank you for your help.

I will try resetting the radio.

I have already updated the firmware on the phone.

[Konrad C]

Hi Konrad,

Thank you for your help.

I will try resetting the radio.

I have already updated the firmware on the phone.

Hi Tony

Reboot the phone again if you have not done so. I found that it took a couple of shutdowns to get the phone to behave.

Konrad

[Konrad C]

Tony

Here is another link in case there is anything useful.

http://www.toyota.co.uk/owners-info/vehicle-information

I dug a little deeper in the toyota site and found this:

http://www.toyota-europe.com/own/bluetooth/bluetooth_connect.tmex

It appears from their info that your combination should work!?

I noted the Android version 4.2.1. is quoted.

Konrad

[The Duffer]

Hi Konrad,

I have tried everything you said (i.e. completely shutting down my phone several times, unpairing and repairing my phone etc.). I had already gone on to the link you gave me to see if my phone is compatable and it appears it is, however the facts are different. I think what I will have to do is try and get a second hand Toyota radio, the type with the large screen, like the one in the attached photo. It belongs to a friend of mine and he has the exact same phone and it works fine. I have already phoned most of the car dismantlers in Ireland but no luck so far. Thanks again for all your help.

[Konrad C]

No problem Tony.

Sorry to hear you were not successful.

One last thing you could try if your friend was available, is to pair your phone to his car, and his to yours.

This covers all bases and may confirm an issue with the phone and not the radio.

An example of confirming any missed issues - my brother said my old phone was faulty because it would not recognise his sim. I went to his house with my other phone using same network and put my sim in the 'faulty' phone. The phone works! I put his now suspect sim in my phone and the phone throws a wobbly. Then he put his faulty sim in his other phone and again the sim is not recognised. My brother looked at one angle before I made him check other issues.

What I am saying is make sure the Sony is not the problem (it is under guarantee) before spending on another radio. remember the bluetooth worked fine with your previous phone. I have had issues with Sony Ericsson Arc S and got around most of them, but find Sony tend to be behind on the updates.

Lets hope you get the result you are after.

Konrad

[The Duffer]

Hi Konrad,

My Friend had the same model Avensis as I have (2009) with the same radio until he traded it in for a 2012 Model with the sat nav type radio. He had problems with his bluetooth in his old car.

Tony

[Konrad C]

Hi Tony

I take your point. The radio in the 2009 model has unreliable bluetooth connection. it may work with some phones but not others even if they are the same make/model.

Regarding changing your stereo, make sure that all the connections are the same or you will come across the posted recently in the forum.

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/104299-upgrade-avensis-t27-standart-audio-to-premium-nearly-completed-but/

Good luck and let us know your final result.

Konrad

[The Duffer]

Hi Konrad,

I have just completed changeing the radio/CD player in my Avensis for the Sat Nav type with touch screen. I have wrote a "How To" guide in the "How To" section. Click the following link if you would like to see it.

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/tutorials/article/30-how-to-replace-a-toyota-avensis-t27-radiocd-player-w53828-with-a-toyota-navigation-unit-b9012/

The bluetooth is now working perfect and I have the added feature of a Sat Nav and a hard drive to store all my CD's.

Regards,

Tony

[alan333]

Fantastic write up, I'm sure it'll be a godsend for the next person.

As a side note my 2012 Avensis came with Touch and Go, which doesn't have voice dialling for the phone (you need Touch and Go Plus for that). Ironically my 2009 with the basic stereo (like the one you just removed) did. It's got the button on the steering wheel and the display says "this function not available" or similar when you press it. I assume your new kit has voice dialling...does it work ok? And may I ask where you got the replacement and approx costs, if it's not too cheeky?

[The Duffer]

Hi Alan,

Yes, my new kit has voice dialling and voice commands for the sat nav etc. It works very well. If you want to go somewhere using the sat nav, or use the telephone, you don't need to touch the screen at all. You can give it all the directions by voice. It also has a built in hard drive which means every time you put in a CD it automatically records the contents of the CD onto the hard drive including album names, track names etc.So next time you want to play a CD you don't have to have the CD with you, Its all stored on the Hard Drive. I got the replacement from a car dismantlers in Cork City:

http://gerlancarparts.ie/component/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,57/

It cost €350 (£290 approx.) for the unit, the gps antenna and the reverse camera.

[alan333]

Thanks for that, I had pretty much given up but might give the subject a bit more thought now :)

[Konrad C]

Tony,

I have to say that I have seen the link, and it is detailed and perfect.

You did a lot of research and the results are there for others to see.

Well done.

Konrad