Bluetooth connection problems

[SteveR.]

My 2007 RAV4.3 XT5 supports hands-free phone use using built-in Bluetooth connectivity. It often seems very reluctant to connect, which is a real pain. I've had various theories about how to beat it into submission (allow connection before starting engine, don't dismiss the nag screen until it's connected, sacrifice a chicken before getting in the car etc.) but nothing seems to work reliably. Today I was moving the car in and out of the garage a few times and I noticed that it connected every time, and seemed to do so quite quickly. It occurred to me that a common factor was that my wife wasn't in the car with me, so neither was her phone...

Could the presence of two bluetooth phones in the car be causing difficulties? Both are paired with the RAV but mine is normally the one selected. I would have thought it should just pair with the one that's currently selected and ignore any others (when it's not in pairing mode), but could the transmissions from one phone be making the other more difficult to reach or something?

[IanML]

It may well be the problem.  To try to pin it down, either remove one phone from the car, or put it in a metal box (Faraday cage), and see if the problem goes away.

Otherwise, it's the wrong breed of chicken