Hi,

Today I entered my car and the phone didn't connect to the infotainment. I tried several times and got a message bluetooth needs to be turned on?

I didn't know how to do it, so i did factory reset

Now the bluetooth is on, found the menu but I can't discover it, it doesn't seem to transmit, checked with android and iphone.

My best case bluetooth chip is fired for some reason.

Any tips i can try before i take it to the garage? They set an appointment to 2/9 so i have some time

A regular response to requests for help on the forum is to draw your attention to a relevant section in the handbook then cut and paste it. You might as well look at that before you do anything else.

Setting up the phone took up a lot of time with our Fabia 4. We are not very experienced with smartphones and our previous car was lacking most of the sophisticated paraphernalia of more recent cars.  In hindsight that was a big plus over the latest models.

First issue was that our car needs to have the engine running to fully explore all the menus.  The result was hours fiddling around exploring and changing settings on the driveway in freezing weather. Our Fabia 4 mc has no ignition switch.

Like you we have an android and an iPhone. The android phone is better adapted for use in the Fabia so I’d concentrate on that one.  It seems likely that something isn’t right in the settings of the car or phone rather than a blown Bluetooth chip. Avoid spending silly amounts of time on this as I did. You’d be better coming back to it until you get a resolution. Hopefully, nothing has "blown".

I’ve not found our dealership much help with issues. When the car was booked in relating to an electronics/software glitch, we received a phone call warning that if no problem is identified by the engineers we would be charged for the visit. It may however depend on the dealership as to how user friendly they are.  You can’t really drop by for a friendly chat unless you want to buy a new car.

Try connecting using the c usb cable. Important to make sure the cable is the correct data type. I tried 3 cables before I found the correct one.

In the infotainment. Go to settings and Delete Bluetooth data

In your Phone go to Bluetooth settings and Delete the Skoda data

Start the car wait for infotainment to start up properly and then connect the cable to the usb c and do the same on your phone. It should connect first time. If not use another cable and do above again

Good advice. I can remember connecting the phone with a usb c cable. It worked with the android phone but our iPhone (with lightning connector) was more trouble than it was worth and is never linked to the car.

9 hours ago, bazz2004 said:

...First issue was that our car needs to have the engine running to fully explore all the menus...

Do you actually mean that?

Although selecting/altering some items in a Fabia Mk 4's settings menus requires the car's ignition to be switched on (advice to do this should appear on the car's infotainment display-unit) as far as I'm aware every settings-menu item can be selected/altered without needing to have the car's engine running.

A Fabia Mk 4 can have one of three types of infotainment display-unit (Swing, Bolero or Amundsen) and guidance on connecting a smartphone using Bluetooth is covered separately for each type in the Owner's Manual.

This video describes the procedure for a Fabia with the Amundsen display-unit

The smartphone needs to be compatible with the infotainment display-unit and the Bluetooth and Visibility items need to be 'ticked' in the display-unit's settings. I've no interest in using a phone in my Fabia, but, when experimenting, my elderly iPhone 7 connected easily to my car's Amundsen display-unit via Bluetooth. My Fabia does not have 'wireless' Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, but cable-connecting my iPhone 7 was also straightforward.

Nimni originally said "Today I entered my car and the phone didn't connect to the infotainment. I tried several times and got a message bluetooth needs to be turned on?"

I'm unsure if that means the phone connected previously but now did not, or that nimni expected the car to automatically recognise his phone with no action needed on his part. As bazz2004 has suggested, it's more likely to be something wrong with the Bluetooth-related settings on nimni's Fabia and/or phone, rather than an 'electronic' fault.

If you are unfamiliar with recent tech it's daunting to get to grips with a higher spec Fabia 4. The car we have does not enable a full exploration of the menus without having the engine running.

It would be helpful to know everything about the Fabia 4 but making this a hobby was never on our agenda. We just want a car that's easy to drive. The wife really misses the simplicity of our Peugeot 307 and so do I at times. Unfortunately, the number of petrol only vehicles now coming out has dwindled to almost nothing so it is what it is.

Although we have an android phone which is now fully linked to the car we would not make calls when driving.

2 hours ago, bazz2004 said:

...The car we have does not enable a full exploration of the menus without having the engine running...

Which of your car's menus need the engine running to use?

I note that, earlier, you said "Our Fabia 4 mc has no ignition switch". I assume your car (like mine) has 'keyless engine starting' with the push-button on its steering column shown in the photo below.

This replaces the traditional 2-stage key-operated ignition switch, with (Stage 1) a simple press turning on the Fabia's ignition, while (Stage 2) pressing the button with (depending on whether the car has manual or automatic transmission) the clutch or brake pedal being simultaneously depressed, causing the engine to start. It's definitely the case that some setting menus need the car's ignition to be turned on (Stage 1) but going to Stage 2 should really not be required.

The last time I Bluetooth-connected my iPhone 7 to my car was in May 2024. Out of curiosity I did it again today following exactly the guidance in the video I provided a reference to in my last posting. 'Pairing' took place with no difficulties and I successfully made a phone call just to check everything worked. I did not need to turn on my car's ignition, just its infotainment system.