6.4
fairly significant- Typical Repair Cost:
- $150
- Average Mileage:
- 33,250 miles
- Total Complaints:
- 11 complaints
Most common solutions:
- not sure (6 reports)
- replace radio (5 reports)
This problem may be covered under warranty. Ask your Subaru dealer.
The cell phone will not seamlessly connect. The system reports that the memory is full, even though there's only one cell number stored. This is a known issue, there's a service bulletin with a work-around that doesn't seem to quite work around. It's pretty frustrating, especially when the system reports that due to safety issues the phone will not answer calls via the buttons on the steering wheel.
- Dianna G., Reisterstown, US
Vehicle purchased with limited but somewhat functional Bluetooth phone connectivity. Able to pair phone, make calls, receive calls. Contact list population was pretty much a non-starter. That said, unit was used intermittently by my spouse and then fell into disuse. Car purchased in 2014 and Bluetooth/phone connectivity existed into 2018. I tried to pair my phone (I am an infrequent user of the car) in early 2019 and was unable to do so. Pressed 'talk' button on steering wheel and nothing happened.
I have searched forums associated with Subaru and thought I had found a solution. Bluetooth problems were associated with Clarion radios (the installed brand) and possible fix was a software upgrade. The software version installed was M 347504V081. Based on radio model number CF646UH, I downloaded software update file 470347505v087-MainMicom-USA-H. The update resulted in version M 347505V087 being installed. Still no ability to activate Bluetooth connection.
Still trying to verify that I am not missing anything obvious. Any suggestions, recommendations, and possible solutions would be welcome.
- rcurylo, Yuma, US
The bluetooth connection built in to the radio was working flawlessly for the first 30k miles. Now, the radio is unable to reconnect to my devices, Android and iPhone. Radio memory resets once the vehicle is shut off. Even the radio password resets. Radio channels will save just fine. Bluetooth will not reconnect and does remain connected when manual pairing is successful. The radio is faulty and should be replaced with an upgraded model. Do not accept the same radio if it fails.
- mewgen, Daly City, CA, US
Started having this issue as soon as I got the car new. From iphone 4, 5, 5s, to 6 and 7.. and happens to my android phone as well. So, to the tech at dealership - please stop talking and giving excuses that it's my phone's problem!!!!
The radio will connect to my phones when the car is first turned on but after a few minutes it will randomly disconnect while playing music or on a call. The radio will freeze up and after about 5 to 10 minutes I try to reconnect my phone via Bluetooth. Sometimes I will get a message that says audio system failed on the display screen. This is a daily occurrence. Sometimes it shows "BT-A Please Wait", sometimes it shows "please check audio system", sometimes just blackout, no BT at all.
I have tried un-pairing and re-pairing my phone with no change. My phones works fine with all other Bluetooth devices and another car.
Did warranty repair in April, was told I get a new unit replaced, but same issue happened again the day after, went back to the dealership, the tech loaded the updates on the firmware. It didn't resolve the issue at all. I was told I didn't do the iOS updates, but no help even keeping the iOS updated.
Now approaching 36k miles, what can I do?
- Han W., Berkeley Heights, NJ, US
I have the navigation head unit. I had been using a Samsung Galaxy S4 with no problems but had a friend connect with her iphone 7 for road trip music control. It initially worked for the duration of our trip but upon reconnecting with her iphone, she was unable. I too was unable to reconnect with my Samsung. The bluetooth device number has reset itself to all zeros and I am unable to locate the device when scanning with any phone.
I brought the vehicle into my dealer and there were no updates available. I was told, by them, that the onboard memory for the head unit had been flashed and there was nothing they could do other than order me a new unit for $600 since I was past warranty. They also charged me $150. Pretty upsetting for a 2 year old vehicle and a $2500 package.
- connor86, Wichita, US
The radio will connect to my phone (note4) when the car is first turned on but after a few minutes it will randomly disconnect while playing music or on a call. The radio will freeze up and after about 5 to 10 minutes I try to reconnect my phone via Bluetooth. Sometimes I will get a message that says audio system failed on the display screen. This is a daily occurrence.
I have un-pairing and re-pairing my phone with no change. My phone works fine with all other Bluetooth connections including and not limited to our other family vehicle, wireless speakers and headphones which indicates it is a stereo issue.
- Kyle B., Long Valley, NJ, US
Mentioned having the radio replaced but nothing was said. Bluetooth will not stay connected. Since the cost of the vehicle had this feature and it is not working, it should be covered by Subaru. Not happy with this at all. I have taken the vehicle back to Gateway several times. They've paired the Bluetooth with my phone, but as soon as I left, my phone dropped the pairing. This has happened more than once.
- byrnhart, Delmar, MD, US
This vehicle is not a bad SUV, but there are some features that are so frustrating and aggravating that I have been severely tempted to get rid of it.
The so-called phone feature is the worst on the market and should be a forced recall due to safety concerns. It takes 9 steps to insert a phone number by voice, and six by your phone. There is absolutely no way in which to download your contacts for use that does not include having to try it over and over. I have more than 350+ numbers in my phone and it is a daunting task. I have only managed to get 4 numbers in my cars memory so far, and that took over 7 hours and 4 different people trying to do it.
You also cannot use the speed dial feature if you are moving! What the HELL kind of safety feature is that?! You have to dig on your phone and search for a name and it isn't easy. Not having this feature is bad, and a concern for me and others as to how UNSAFE this unit is.
I went back to the dealer to get them to add numbers and their expert got one on here, and the salesman couldn't get any. I used different genders, accents, etc to try to enter these damn things, and nothing works!
When I asked if I could get the upgraded unit for this model before I left with the vehicle, I was told no. After I found that I could have, I asked the dealer to quote me a price on the upgraded radio/AHA phone/navigation system and haven't been contacted in almost two months.
- kilowatt3544, Springfield, US
Radio is antiquated as is. It initially wouldn't sync with phone properly due to too many contacts. Numerous contacts in phone book were deleted. A week later, the bluetooth stopped working completely. Old phone pairing could not be deleted and no new phone could be paired. We have the navigation system.
- Thomas P., St Paul, MN, US
I bought the same car in June......Bluetooth worked great. car was totaled in accident. Bought same car different color. Bluetooth didn't work from day 1. After 6 month and numerous trips to dealer it still doesn't work. The dealer says it's my cell phone. I told them the same phone worked in the first car I had...my cell phone works in the loaners they give me when the car is in the shop. The idoits keep saying it's my phone. I had several friends of mine try their phones......Samsung S 5....IPhones and 3 of the major cell carriers....AT&T....Verizon and Sprint. None of them work.
Talk about stupidity.
Any ideas would be helpful
- dsorchinski, Jackson, NJ, US
This is an ongoing problem, since the car was new:
When you either send or receive a phone call, it generally starts off fine in hands free mode. Then it "cuts out" and goes to the regular phone, then eventually pops back to hands free. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it. We have had this issue over the course of 3 different iPhone versions, with multiple iOS versions, over the years. My mother also has the same car... and the same exact problem. We've tried a number of different solutions over the years but nothing seems to work... and because it's intermittent, it's difficult to know if a solution was THE solution for a while.
Does anyone have ANY good solutions to this issue? When contacting the dealership, they immediately say that it's not a supported phone, etc., but that's BS...if you follow my other complaints, you would see that I am not super impressed with their service department.
- n1wgk, Higganum, CT, US