Even though the other Technology Specialists and I offer our assistance on all 21 brands West Herr offers, including all pre-owned vehicle brands, we get a lot of the same kinds of questions repeatedly. So I thought I'd post a few of our more frequently asked questions and talk you through our responses.
Question: I've heard some many amazing things about Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. My car doesn't have those features built in. Can I add them?
Answer: It depends on what kind of vehicle you have. If it's a little bit older and is made to easily take the factory radio out freeing up a double din sized space, you can always add an aftermarket Android Auto/ Apple CarPlay head unit through our Vehicle Accessories location. On newer vehicles it gets a little more tricky. Within the last 5 or so years, a lot of manufacturers have begun placing vehicle settings and controls in the in-dash infotainment systems. Removing these radios to put another in would either be impossible or very unsafe. For answers on your specific vehicle, contact our Vehicle Accessories location.
Question: My phone used to connect with my car no problem. Lately it hasn't been. Help!
Answer: Usually the quickest and most effective fix is the simplest: Power your phone all the way down, leave it off for 30 seconds, and power it back up again. Our phones are basically little computers, and just like a computer if we leave them on for too long without a restart they start to misbehave. I recommend to smart phone users that they should restart their phones 2-3 times a week for best performance. Flip phone users can get away with once a week.
If that doesn't work, I suggest to people to un-pair the phone from the vehicle and start over. This involves deleting the car as a connected device in the phone's settings menu, and deleting the phone as a connected device from your car's settings menu. Once both sides have completely forgotten about each other, pair the phone to the vehicle from scratch, and that will 99% of the time solve that issue.
Question: My voice command system in my vehicle seems to always have trouble figuring out what I'm trying to say. How can I make it understand me?
Answer: more often than not, the biggest problem people have with their voice command system is beginning to talk before the "beep" the voice command system plays. After the vehicle asks you what you'd like to do, wait for the beep, pause a second, and then give your command. I promise your car will understand you so much more accurately and you'll have a much happier time speaking commands rather than trying to use the touch screen while driving.
Question: Can't I just get a vehicle without these screens and technology? Give me back my bench seat, AM and FM radio only, and crank windows!
Answer: Technology is not only not going away, it's quickly becoming government mandated. For example, as of 2018, all new vehicles will be required to come with a backup camera standard. So that means in-dash infotainemnt systems are not a fad that's going away. Now if an automaker wanted to make a "retro styled" vehicle that was as easy on the technology as possible and brought back some classic stylings, that would be great, but sadly I don't think that's going to happen. That's why the Technology Specialists are always here to help make things easier for you!
