Sonata Bluetooth Problems

ncmedic · September 2011

Sailpro, who would think that a bluetooth speakerphone wouldn't work properly with a bluetooth compatible phone and think of "doing a simple google search" on that topic? EVERYTHING bluetooth is compatible with EVERYTHING ELSE bluetooth, from phone to phone, phone to headset, phone to dongle, dongle to dongle, etc. I have NEVER had a connectivity problem with anything bluetooth before. That is, until I bought my 2012 Elantra that is not compatible with my HTC EVO 4G! I am re-pairing the two at least once a week. My phone book doesn't accurately transfer to the car, and even after disabling phone book syncing the system still tells me to "please wait" when trying to access the phone from the steering wheel controls. And, yes, I also have problems with the volume on my calls, both incoming AND outgoing. Shame on Hyundai for putting crappy (and apparently outdated) technology in a 2012 vehicle and marketing it as a "safety" feature and shame on the salespeople who tout this "safety feature" as a reason to buy the car without telling you "Btw, if you're phone's not 5 years old it won't work right." Which, btw, is ridiculous because my father bought a 2012 Elantra at the same time I did and he is hooked on his 5 year old phone and he has the exact same problems.

Hmmm....class action lawsuit, anyone?

lfr3 · October 2011

I too have a lemon law issue with the Blue Tooth not working properly. I have had 3-4 radios put into the car already and the problem is still not solved. I have had two compatible phones paired.
I agree the Blue Tooth technology list is behind the times. I had to have Verizon pull me out an antiquated phone so that I could try to resolve the Blue tooth issue, but it failed again.
By the way, does your HD radio hold a station.. anywhere? Mine doesn't. I was told that all the cars do that. Why put the bells and whistles on the car if they don't work. I know others manufacturers have the HD technology and their cars actually operate.
What is the magnussum moss warranty act? I am going to arbitration tomorrow morning. After the way I've been treated over the past 14 months, I do not want anything to do with Hyundai. Wish me luck! Hopefully this will be the last post on this site.

fushigi · October 2011

EVERYTHING bluetooth is compatible with EVERYTHING ELSE bluetooth

If only it were so. As with most tech standards, it is versioned. And different manufacturers will have different means of achieving compatibility with their targeted version. Sometimes problems arise that shouldn't.

Case in point: My wife & I had 2 cell phones from the same manufacturer. They're from the same generation though they were different models. Mine synced with my car just fine but hers never would. It wouldn't even get a successful initial pairing. All devices - the car & both phones - were manufactured in 2009.

Was the problem with the phone or the car? Both worked with other BT devices but just wouldn't work with each other. I can't blame the car because it paired just fine with my phone. But I also can't blame her phone as it paired just fine with a regular BT headset. Maybe it would have worked if we'd pair them during a full moon after sacrificing a goat.

Glitches when engineering compatibility based on a standard go back many years. I can remember in the very early 1980s when everyone made their printers compatible with the Epson MX80 yet several devices were "mostly" compatible and would glitch if you tried to do anything esoteric with them.

My wife has yet to pair her Samsung Galaxy S with her 2012 Elantra so I can't comment on it just yet.

mspurgeon · November 2011

Hello,
I just purchased a 2012 sonata SE turbo and have had no issues with pairing my blackberry 9700. However after working fine for about a day, now when i hit the voice command button and say "call xxx" it doesnt understand me or says "this option is not available in the current mode" or suggests a # such as "207" which isnt even close to what I am saying. Does anyone know why this happens? Before today it worked fine and I had no troubles getting it to understand my request. Thanks.

fushigi · November 2011

Sounds like a problem with the microphone pickup garbling what you're saying or the voice recognition system. Probably not a Bluetooth issue in and of itself. You might try manually placing a call & then using the Sonata's Bluetooth for the conversation. If that works - the other party can hear you fine - then the problem is in the voice recognition system.

mspurgeon · November 2011

Thanks for the reply. The other way you said works fine. I read somewhere else it may be getting interference from and ipod and I had just hooked up my ipod when this started happening so I'm going to disconnect the ipod and see if I have better luck. Thanks.

bdidly · December 2011

My bluetooth has stopped working recently. When I try to make a call, it states " downloading phone book" and never starts the connection. If I make the call on my phone directly, the bluetooth works. Any suggestions?

libob · December 2011

I have the same thing happening to me.
I bought the Sonata in March and the Bluetooth was never a problem.
About three weeks ago I first notice it. I went to make a call and got "downloading phone book".
Two weeks ago I had to go to Long Island, NY from my home is NJ, a distance of 75 miles. The download completed about 1 hour later.

libob · December 2011

After I posted the above I started to do some research.

I went to the HTC Forum and found out that Verizon just started to release a new version of the firm-ware. I checked my HTC Incredible and found out I had Version 2.3.4 and software version 4.08.605.2.

My wife has the same phone but hers wasn't updated. Took it to the car and it completed the download in seconds.

Going to Version tomorrow. Will let you know what they say.

shybrid · December 2011

Would like to poke my eyes out. Bluetooth worked perfectly in my Sonata for the first few months I had the car. Since then, I've replaced my phone (with same phone - assuming my old one was a problem) - and it still won't work. Just got it back from the dealership last night - manager said they paired with two other phones and made several calls - no problem. It seems really stupid to me that I would need to get a new phone to have that functionality in my car. Anyone have ideas? My phone will pair and supposedly connect. But will not make a call. Get a message that says "ensure your phone is activated". I've unpaired/connected numerous times. Sometimes it works for a couple calls and then quits. Help?

libob · December 2011

I went to Verizon yesterday and was told they is no way that they install the Android 2.2 on my phone (HTC Incredible S).

I than called HTC and they found two problems with my phone.

1- In the advance settings FTB Server was not checked. It was before the upgrade and they could give me an answer as to why the upgrade "might" had turn it off. I could not check the box hence step 2.
2- The SD card was not full installed. Had to remove it and reinsert it.

So it was the SD card.

Allowed the download to my wife's Incredible.

Both are back to what we had before the upgrade in November.

Hope this helps other people that may been having problems with the upgrade.

Bob

tonyc12 · December 2011

I'm continuning to get download failed when attempting to add contacts from my Sprint LG phone...help

mfast1 · January 2012

Download the following program from the Market

Bluetooth File Transfer

Run the Program Then Menu--> Send Contacts --> All Contacts or select specific group -->Send as single --> In Sonata disconnect phone then reconnect.

I tried a million different combinations and attempted tons of different things including restoring the system to factory defaults and deleting all pairings etc etc etc.

I can't stress how happy I am that it finally Frickin WORKED!!!!!!

mspurgeon · January 2012

I dont think u are understanding my problem.... all of my contacts appearing fine and my phone syncs up fine. The problem is after i say call name and the computer girl says enter name, no matter what name i say it doesnt understand me and it either just shuts down after 2 attempts or calls someone else from my address book that i didnt even say. I had a blackberry before and thought maybe it was the phone but now i have a galaxy nexus and its still not working. Can anyone help ?

Kirstie_H · January 2012

The person above was replying to tonyc12, not to you - that's why his solution didn't address your problem.

wscottw · February 2012

Same issue here, originally worked then stopped reading my address book after the stereo was replaced for a unrelated issue. Now on my fourth phone (two different BB models with different software loads), same issue! Stereo has been replaced due to this issue now, the phone has been securely erased, and still the issue persists.

When I say a name, it seems to find a name form another address book, but not mine, or my wife's. I think they installed a refurbished radio, as the issue only appeared after it was replaced the first time. I am guessing that the refurbished radio I received has someone else's address book in it. If this is the case, this is a huge privacy issue for Hyundai . Yes, I have pushed my address book successfully, with no resolution.

I am going to try to unplug the car battery for a while to wipe radio, in the hopes that does it. FYI, disconnecting the fuse did not resolve the issue either.

Losing faith with the dealer service centre and Hyundai.

Trying with;
Sonata Limited T2.0 without NAV
Blackberry Pearl 3G with OS5
Blackberry Pearl 3G with OS6 (two different phones)
Blackberry Bold 9900 with OS7
(On the Bell Canada network)

blh7068 · February 2012

I think they installed a refurbished radio, as the issue only appeared after it was replaced the first time. I am guessing that the refurbished radio I received has someone else's address book in it. If this is the case, this is a huge privacy issue for Hyundai

Id be willing to bet the farm you got a refurbished unit. I was told by my dealer that the radio replacements are refurb units in just about all cases. I had an 09 Elantra Touring that had TWO replacement radios. The first replacement gave me fits when trying to get my XM service switched over- It was a major hassle because the radio ID was linked to another persons account!

wd8lee · February 2012

If you are still having problems connecting, go to setup, choose the name of the phone that you are using and then proceed with pairing. I had this problem too and then realized that I needed to select the name of the phone that I had paired it with instead creating a "new" name.

wd8lee · February 2012

Is anyone having a problem with the sound quality using the bluetooth? The people on the end of the line are having problems hearing me due to over modulation where the words are distorted or it is so soft that I can't hear them. At first it was only happening on calls that were outgoing. Now it is happening on all calls incoming as well as outgoing.

sheredfoxx6 · March 2012

I've just got a new Hyundai i40 wagon (my company car) Big mistake but that's a whole other topic. Anyway the Bluetooth is rubbish, I can hear everyone perfectly but no one can hear me. Have had it back to dealer twice, they just keep saying "We have re-paired your phone and it's working perfectly. If only pairing was the problem ?? No one can hear me this is the problem I either sound like an echo underwater or a high pitched static sound both of which is unsatisfactory.
It's definately Hyundai's crap technology. The thing is this was one of the reasons we decided on this car. Absolute rubbish

wd8lee · March 2012

I thought that I was the only one experiencing sound quality issues. What I am experiencing currently is that the sound volume is so low that when I am traveling at the higher speeds, I cannot hear the other party. This car model apparently does not have the intelligence to increase in volume with the speed to compensate for the increased road noise. Having said that, this was not a problem when I purchased the vehicle. It is only within the last 6 months that the sound quality issues have been occurring. I have been to the dealership and complained at least a half dozen times. They suggest contacting the phone company which I think is ridiculous as I have no problem with the hearing the other party until I connect via the Tucson bluetooth. I have tried deleting and re-pairing, increasing the volume via the setup and cranking up the volume via the radio knob. I have asked them to reset it back to factory settings and they said that they can't do that. Needless to say, I am very frustrated. I used to think that this was one of the best features of the car. Not any more. :mad:

azuresky · March 2012

When phone connects the menu screen pops up saying phone is in "private mode" even though there is a button that says "handsfree" it won't connect when I push it. I have disconnected and deleted, starting over. But still have the problem. It has worked perfectly for the last several months. Phone I'm connecting to is an iPhone. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you, Deb

raghuk · April 2012

Hi,

I just got new hyundai sonata 2012.But I am experiencing issue with steering.When i am turning steering to left (after 2 -3 complete steering rotation) or right I ma hearing some sort of noise.Is this common for sonata.Let me know. Thanks in Advance.

sigurd · April 2012

I have a 2012 Sonata and a ZTE phone. Have successfully connected Bluetooth (car to phone) -- and have downloaded contacts from phone to car. But I want to delete many of the contacts that are now on the car. The Sonata manual says that the contacts are deleted when I delete a phone (from the car). So, I deleted the phone (on the car), reduced the number of my phone contacts, and re-established the connection between the car and the phone. Then I transferred the smaller contact list from the phone to the car. But the old contacts are still on the car.

How can I manually remove particular contacts from the car? Or how can I "really remove" all of my contacts from the car (so I can start over)?

jsmit86 · April 2012

QUOTE - "I just got new hyundai sonata 2012.But I am experiencing issue with steering.When i am turning steering to left (after 2 -3 complete steering rotation) or right I ma hearing some sort of noise.Is this common for sonata.Let me know. Thanks in Advance. "

Do you have your AM radio on? I have a 2011, and I thought I had an issue with noise from my power steering when near full L or R. It turns out that under that condition, I get a high pitched whine from my radio (AM 780 in this case) Turn off the radio, problem solved.

Bottom line, the EPS can slightly interfere with the AM radio at extreme L or R position. Not really a big deal...

Check to see if your issue is caused by the same AM radio interference.

sonatagal · June 2012

I have a 2011 Sonata. My phone had so many contactst it jammed the car's bluetooth. Hyundai said i had to get second phone with less contacts and pair yhat phone. Does anyone know how many contacts thecar's phonebook will allow? Thx!

squirl1899 · July 2012

I have a 2012 Sonata Limited 2.0T and just had the software upgraded by the dealer and am STILL having the same call quality issues. I hear people just fine on my end but everyone says that I sound muffled, tinny and garbled. The dealer checked it out when they did the software upgraed but still the same issue. I have 5K miles on the car and drive a ton and need to use my phone while I drive. I have reverted back to using my corded headset but then I have to pair the phone again to stream my music, BIG pain in the butt! ANY suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

mdulay · July 2012

Did you ever find a solution? I'm having that same trouble. Thanks.
Mel

wd8lee · July 2012

Sort of and it was purely accidental. I found a tear in the seat cover of the driver's seat. I took it in to have it replaced and they had to take the whole seat out to replace it. When they did, they must have disconnected all the wiring that was attached to the seat and in doing so, they disabled all of the electrical system. When I got the car back, I had to reset the radio presets and the time. The announcement upon transfer of my contacts used to scream at me, "TRANSFER COMPLETE!". It actually hurt my ears and was irritating to say the least. Well, after the seat cover repair, the announcement is back to normal and I can now hear the people that I am talking to. I am not sure that they hear my all that well but at least now I can hear without having to jack up the volume. I had asked if they could do a reset to factory settings & they told me that was not possible so maybe a disconnect of your battery terminal cable might do the trick. It's worth a try. I have other issues but that is another post and I am looking in to the Lemon Law.

wd8lee · July 2012

I have had problems with the gear shifter jamming and not moving when I try to get it in to park. This has happened to me twice. The first time they tried to blame it on me saying that I had the litter bag handle slipped on to the gear shifter. The second time that it happened, there was nothing on the gear shifter. I tried to shift it in to other gears but it would only slip in to neutral. I shut off the car but then it could not get it started again because it was not in park and yes, my foot was firmly planted on the brake pedal. After playing around with it for a while, I was finally able to get it in to park. I took it back to the dealership and they diagnosed it as a problem with the brake light switch. They said that it wasn't acting up enough to show up on the diagnostic the first time that it happened. A week later, the downhill function light came on. I stopped the car, shut it off and restarted it. The light went out but a few days later, it happened again. I drove it in to the dealership with the downhill function light still lit on the dash. This time they blamed it on the brake light switch. My problems with this car have been a hole in the driver's seat, gears not shifting properly, bluetooth not synching correctly, and inconsistent gas consumption. I am considering invoking the Lemon Law. I have made a request for arbitration and I am waiting to hear back from the dealership. :lemon:

jesse40 · October 2012

I recently purchased a 2012 Sonata Limited with Nav. Pkg. and I love the car! The car will load my T-Mobile Sparq contacts and I can receive calls handsfree but to place a call it will recognize numbers I call out to dial but will not recognize names called out. The Sparq uses 2.1 EDR connectivity. I have been to two dealers and they said I must use iPhones! What is my option other than an iPhone?

ryster · October 2012

I have a T-Mobile Android smartphone and have no such issues.

One thing to try with your current phone...when you say the name of the contact you are trying to call, speak it as last name then first name...for example "Call Smith John" instead of "Call John Smith". I am assuming you have your contacts loaded with entries in both the first name and last name fields in the phone's phonebook.

There have been reports that the Hyundai system works as last name/first name. In my phone, I put the entire name as the first name which allows me to say "Call John Smith" in my Sonata. You could also put a "test" entry in the phonebook with the entire name as the first name and see if that works for you as well.

toby1guy · November 2012

I have a 2011 sonata. I paired my cell phone when I got it in Oct. 2011. Since then, I have added and/or deleted numbers in my cell phone. But they don't show up in Bluetooth in my car. That seems odd to me. I would think since I connect to my cell phone, that whatever numbers I have in there should show up. How do I fix this? Thx
Susan

smokeater39 · November 2012

I purchased two different Garmin units. Neither one will give me a traffic report because it does not get a signal. It can tell me how to get to any location using the GPS function but no traffic reports. What's wrong?

backy · November 2012

On my Blackberry Bold my wife's Sonata (2013) has no problem with my saying first name, last name even though they are stored separately in my contact list.

One little annoyance is that my Blackberry refers to a work number as "work" but the Sonata calls it "office." Easy to remember though.

bad1550 · January 2013

My bluetooth volume on my new 2013 Sonota GLS is very low. The other party hears me fine but I cannot get loud volume to hear their voice. Any suggestions would be appreciated

ryster · January 2013

If you go into the setup menu on the radio, you can set the Bluetooth volume. I have mine set on "14" and have no problem hearing any incoming calls.

bad1550 · January 2013

To hear calls my volume needs to be over 30.

It then defaults back to below 15 and have to change volume as call comes in to hear. I just dont understand how to keep all settings?

Thx

choog · February 2013

My wife and I have Samsung Intensity phones that paired without issue to our 2011 Sonata SE and handsfree worked perfectly. All was great until we had to have the entire stereo unit replaced due to the CD player distortion when warm. In the new unit, the CD player is fine but now there is a new problem: when placing or receiving a call using handsfree, the party on the other end can barely hear me. Voice sounds very far away. Incoming voice volume is fine and can be adjusted via the unit. Took it back to the dealer and they said we have a phone problem. Since it does this on BOTH phones, I did not accept that. So, they replaced the unit again with no improvement. Now they are saying it's a phone company issue. Please! I'm not sure what to try or do next at this point. It's not the phone or phone company, especially since it was working fine before the unit replacement. Anyone with this issue that got it resolved?

bad1550 · February 2013

My issue is the opposite of yours as I cannot hear the other callers with out maxing out my volume.

choog · February 2013

At least there is a way to adjust the incoming volume. No such adjustment for outgoing volume that I can find.

bob10345 · March 2013

I leased a 2012 Sonata Limited for 3 years and traded it in on a 2013 Sonata Limited after 13 months (broke lease) due to the failure of the Bluetooth system to ever be repaired. My 2013 sonata has issues with call duration. When I make a call using the Bluetooth (never with phone alone) it disconnects the call at exactly 15 minutes. I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and before the Note I had a basic phone that had the same issue. I'm going to the dealer tomorrow the 4th and have them check it out. Has anyone else had this time out problem? Is there a setting that can be changed? It is very annoying that such an awesome car would have such stupid issues that no one can figure out. If they can't fix this issue I'm having I will get out of this lease and go to a different (reluctantly) vehicle that can resolve issues without all the hassle to the customer. Thanks to anyone that replies with information concerning my problem.

dlaub · March 2013

I purchased a new phone yesterday through Straight Talk. It's a Huawei Ascend (Android-powered) I finally paired it through my Blue Tooth after many tries, but it won't download my contacts. Will I be able to do this from this phone, or am I out of luck?

laalaasc00 · March 2013

I have the same exact problem with my 2013 Hyundai sonata. Have you been able to find a solution?

dlaub · March 2013

I did. It was trying to connect to my cell phone and I had to give it permission. There was pop up on the top of my cell phone screen asking me to give permission, I pushed it and lo and behold it accessed my contacts just fine. Hope this helps. If it hadn't worked, I was just going; to drop by the dealership and ask them to help me.

choog · March 2013

So has anyone else experienced this "low outgoing volume" when using the Bluetooth connectivity? Outgoing volume through cell phone is fine for recipient until I connect though the unit's bluetooth capability.

lskarp · March 2013

I have this same issue as well. I got my car in December (2013 Sonata) and at pretty much EXACTLY 15 minutes , consistently, the bluetooth stops working fully. It seems that they can hear me, however I cannot hear the people I called. I found that if I change the audio source on my iPhone back to iPhone, then back to Sonata, I am good again for 15 minutes.
I was due to upgrade from my 4s to a 5 last month so I did and as a side, was hoping this issue would go away, but it still occurs consistently.
Sounds like I am not alone here, which is good. But has anyone been able to get this repaired??

bob10345 · March 2013

Sorry about the late response. I'm traveling and haven't signed in to Edmunds in quite awhile. I'm taking my 2013 Sonata to a Hyundai dealer in Georgia on Monday 3/25 for them to look at the issue of Bluetooth 15 minute timeout that occurs every phone call either in or out going. The dealer in the state of Delaware where I leased the car felt it was the head unit that would need replacing. I didn't have time to wait for them to check it out and order the unit (5-7 working days) before I was leaving for Georgia so I set up an appointment with the dealer here and they feel it could be electrical or a simple setting. They also said it could be the head unit and it would be about 5-7 days to order and about a 45 minute install. I will be sure to get back on here and give all the details of my up coming appointment on Monday.

laalaasc00 · March 2013

I went on a Hyundai forum and saw were a person who was having the same problem also had their radio replaced. I called the service center at the dealership and they were quite nice. He said that he had not heard of the 15 min problem but someone had been there and it happened after 30 mins. He has not heard back from the other customer so he assumes the problem is fixed. I am going by the dealership shortly. He said as long as I can recreate the problem , which isn't hard it happens every 15, that they will order and replace the radio. As bob10345 it should take about a week for a new radio and about 30 mins or so to install. I will keep you posted on the results.

bob10345 · March 2013

I wonder if it will ever get to recall status. I have an appointment the 25th of this month at a Hyundai dealer here in Georgia and they seem to think it can be a few different things but we will see. I know mine cuts off at exactly 15 minutes incoming or outgoing calls. There is no doubt the unit is bad in my mind unless there is a setting I don't know about and if it were that simple to fix they would have told me about a setting change. Anyway I'll post the results from the appointment on Monday and keep it updated after that.

Sonata Bluetooth Problems

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