@Barneyboy48 when you connect an Android phone to the car, if Android auto is enabled on both the car and phone, then it will automatically start. To prevent this, Android auto must be disabled on either the phone of the car, then the phone will just establish a normal bluetooth connection.

The method suggested by @Rbz5416 is one option, there are others depending on the options available on the car settings. Have a read through this https://carpuride.com/blogs/news/how-to-turn-off-android-auto

Edited 5 December, 20255 Dec by NottsIan

OK - I've been down to the dealership and had a conversation with three blokes who all have Apple phones which is unfortunate!

I don't know if there setup is different with their phones, but certainly there is one fixed variable and that's the car. So logically it's a phone problem.

My concerns in the main are that connection using the Android Auto app that is now widely available on smartphones, will at some measure eat into data.

I have a small data package with my phone contract. I rarely use it and prefer to keep it for possible emergencies. Mobile Data is therefore invariably turned off on my phone.

What I have found out this morning, with a Skoda guy watching over my shoulder, is that:

a) When Wi-Fi is switched off on my phone, I cannot make a pairing with the car.

b) If I disable the Android Auto app, using the method kindly offered by @Rbz5416, I definitely cannot make the pairing/connection.

c) I can only make a pairing between phone and car if both Android Auto is enabled and Wi-Fi is switched on.

Regarding the latter, (Wi-Fi), I am still trying to understand what the Wi-Fi has to do with it at all, because my Mobile Data is switched off so where is the Wi-Fi connection? I'm doing all of this in the middle of a vast car park where there is no Wi-Fi. My phone is telling me there is no Wi-Fi connection but the system demands that I still turn it on. Is there something I'm missing?

So it seems that there is no way you can connect a modern phone up wirelessly to a car without having to use Android Auto.

This is not Skoda's problem. This is a phone issue, so I am going to have to get some clarification from the manufacturer. Thank goodness they are pretty quick in coming back.

One thing the lads at Skoda seemed to concur on was that if my Mobile Data is switched off, and unless by magic it can be switched on remotely without me knowing, my data will not be eaten in to. The system is only using what is in the phone, (ie the contacts, phone call history etc., and any downloaded information that is offline such as music or photos or the like, so that is sort of reassuring. If I felt the need to start surfing the internet whilst tootling along in the traffic, risking the wrath of the overhead CCTV cameras, passing policemen and general busybody whistleblowers, I's need to manually turn the Mobile Data back on - which ain't going to happen!

The other thing that interests me that I haven't tried yet is that I'm given the option in set up of hard wiring the phone via the USB-C ports in both my car and the phone. What does that give you? It sounds to me, like you have to have the phone hanging on one of those fixtures that fits in the air conditioning vent and you are back to time when you had to press things on the phone - or am I looking at this wrongly?

1 hour ago, Barneyboy48 said:

Regarding the latter, (Wi-Fi), I am still trying to understand what the Wi-Fi has to do with it at all, because my Mobile Data is switched off so where is the Wi-Fi connection? I'm doing all of this in the middle of a vast car park where there is no Wi-Fi.

The car has built-in wifi as well as bluetooth. The wifi can be used as a hotspot if you have a subscription using its built in sim card. However the wifi is also used to make the Android auto connection to the phone.

When you pair the phone with the car using bluetooth, if the phone and car support Android auto , then the pairing sequence automatically connects the phone (via wifi) to the cars builtin wifi. Android auto will in itself not use any (well maybe just a little!) mobile data on the phone. Only if you run an app such as google maps which needs an internet connection will the phone use mobile data.

1 hour ago, Barneyboy48 said:

So it seems that there is no way you can connect a modern phone up wirelessly to a car without having to use Android Auto.

Disabling Android auto on the phone ought to still allow you to connect via bluetooth and use the phone hands free . You may have to delete, on the car, any existing pairing of that phone and then re-pair it. Having disabled AA , when re-pairing the car should recognise that the phone now doesnt support AA and make a normal hands free bluetooth connection.

Well at least that's what I think should happen...

1 hour ago, NottsIan said:

The car has built-in wifi as well as bluetooth. The wifi can be used as a hotspot if you have a subscription using its built in sim card. However the wifi is also used to make the Android auto connection to the phone.

When you pair the phone with the car using bluetooth, if the phone and car support Android auto , then the pairing sequence automatically connects the phone (via wifi) to the cars builtin wifi. Android auto will in itself not use any (well maybe just a little!) mobile data on the phone. Only if you run an app such as google maps which needs an internet connection will the phone use mobile data.

Disabling Android auto on the phone ought to still allow you to connect via bluetooth and use the phone hands free . You may have to delete, on the car, any existing pairing of that phone and then re-pair it. Having disabled AA , when re-pairing the car should recognise that the phone now doesnt support AA and make a normal hands free bluetooth connection.

Well at least that's what I think should happen...

I've had the car for three years from new. I don't recall renewing any subscriptions that may have come free with the car for the first year or so. Although there was an app that I remember that was really of little use which allowed me to lock and unlock the doors from the other side of the world, (if needed!) and I think flash the lights and sound the horn if I couldn't find it on a multi-story. It was something like £40/year so I didn't bother.

I don't need any of the internet facilities like Google Maps or Sat-Nav. I have the built in Sat-Nav which I find alright for my purpose. Music, apart from that on the radio, comes from several USB-C flash drives I keep in the car on which I have stored a load of my ripped CDs.

I have disabled Android Auto (AA) but when I did this and attempted the pairing again it didn't work. I re-enabled AA and it paired.

So far, my successful attempts to pair have all been done on my drive. My house router has a strong signal, so I don't know if this has anything to do with it. I had to go out a while back and where I was parked up I tried again, (although I was in a bit of a rush), and I was unsuccessful.

On all attempts, I have had my Mobile Data switched off, my Wi-Fi switched on and my Bluetooth also switched on.

I'm a one for persevering. So I'll keep going until I hopefully understand it.

I have sent a query off to the phone manufacturer. Hopefully they will get back fairly soon.

Do you know what a direct connection with a USB connection gives? I don't really want trailing wires all over the place - it seems a retrograde step to me, but I'm prepared to try it as long as it doesn't mess things up further.

All help is appreciated.

Edited 5 December, 20255 Dec by Barneyboy48

@Barneyboy48

Maybe post your location in case there's someone nearby who can assist. I find it hard to believe that you need Android Auto enabled, as that implies that you could never pair a phone that doesn't have it.

I agree with @NottsIan that you should try to remove any existing pairing & then try again from the bluetooth menu.

Edited 5 December, 20255 Dec by Rbz5416

Its a while since I first connected my phone to my current Karoq but I'm fairly sure that whether to use AA was an option on the setup. In my case, I would have selected yes, because I use Waze as my nav system. I found the built-in nav so awful on my previous Karoq that I went straight to Waze via AA on this one!.