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I am having problems with my 2012 Subaru Forester Bluetooth system. People report that they cannot hear the words clearly, it is cracking, broken, and that there is a lot of background noise. I have had the microphone replaced under warranty and there is no improvement.
Additionally, the voice recognition is comical. I will say, "John Smith" and it will respond with "Martha Brown" or I'll say "Carl Kozikowski" and it will respond with "Jody Chen." It's totally useless. It also is very difficult to program properly and the one touch speed dial presets are not available when the vehicle is in motion for "safety reasons" yet you have to press three buttons to dial a call. This technology appears to be 10 years out of date. By contrast, my Hyundai Elantra had a flawless Bluetooth system that allowed full access to my iPhone address book. The call quality was outstanding and had a built in noise suppression that the person receiving the call often had no idea I was in my car.
Has anyone else experience problems with the Forester/Subaru Bluetooth system? If so, has anyone had them successfully resolved?
My 2013 OUtback's bluetooth works horribly with my phone. I suspect it is the phone and not the car or bluetooth, although I have not done much to really investigate the problem.
I have an iPhone and it worked flawlessly in my Elantra the day I traded it in on the Forester. The Forester's Bluetooth has been a problem from day 1. The dealer said several people had microphone replaced as a fix. I did that two weeks ago and have noticed no improvement. I plan to write the company because the system is nearly useless.
I am having problems with my 2012 Subaru Forester Bluetooth system. People report that they cannot hear the words clearly, it is cracking, broken, and that there is a lot of background noise. I have had the microphone replaced under warranty and there is no improvement.
Additionally, the voice recognition is comical. I will say, "John Smith" and it will respond with "Martha Brown" or I'll say "Carl Kozikowski" and it will respond with "Jody Chen." It's totally useless. It also is very difficult to program properly and the one touch speed dial presets are not available when the vehicle is in motion for "safety reasons" yet you have to press three buttons to dial a call. This technology appears to be 10 years out of date. By contrast, my Hyundai Elantra had a flawless Bluetooth system that allowed full access to my iPhone address book. The call quality was outstanding and had a built in noise suppression that the person receiving the call often had no idea I was in my car.
Has anyone else experience problems with the Forester/Subaru Bluetooth system? If so, has anyone had them successfully resolved?
With my '12 Forester it seems that it recognizes voice commands better when I just talk as if I was talking to a person, not a machine. That seems to be consistent with what people have found on a multi page thread on this very topic, on the subaruforester.org forums. The system could be easier to use, but I haven't used it that much for phone calls.
Also apparently the position of the phone in the vehicle somehow can affect sound quality. If you haven't read through a few threads on the subaru forums, google "subaru forester bluetooth call quality issues" or something to that effect, and you should find at least one thread on it. A lot of people have issues.
I haven't had any problems with sound quality when making or receiving calls. No complaints from anyone on the other end of the line. I use an HTC Sensation right now. The phone may have something to do with it. I play music via bluetooth also; no problems with that either. The phone is usually in the center console cup holder or on the passenger seat. YMMV.
Not that it helps, but I had the same experience with a $60k Audi. The call quality was good, but the voice commands were not OK at all. I could have written a comedy routine about the nasty arrogant bluetooth lady voice in the dashboard, because she really tested my patience. I had to talk at half speed and twice normal volume to get understood, and even then it wasn't good.
I know this topic is several months old, but I'll post it here in case the OP is still having trouble and/or somebody new stumbles across it in a search:
The microphone is just not very good and your voice is never going to sound great to people on the other end. That said, there are things you can do to make it work better. Two are mentioned in the post above (speak "normally" for better voice recognition, don't put the phone close to the radio). One thing many are not aware of is that you can adjust the gain level of or the microphone while in use by using the volume button on the steering wheel. There are 5 levels (1-5) On the highway, adjust down to 2 or 1 to and speak more loudly. That can reduce the background wind noise. In town 3 or 4 seem to work better. Some have also had success with adding sound deadening material to the roof panel above the microphone. That will be my next project.
Thanks for the info. However, I'm disappointed with Subaru's response to known customer concerns. Another apparently wide-spread concern and frustration is the heavy consumption of the expensive 0/20 synthetic oil. Mine requires a quart about every 1800 miles. That's outrageous for a new car. Subaru's fix, reduce the price of oil $3 to $8 a quart. The rattles are another problem on the 2011/2012 Foresters.
I've had 3 Subarus prior to this one with no issues. The quality of the new ones is not the same. I won't be buying again.
2011 forester bluetooth very bad connection reported to Subaru, microphone replaced, still people have trouble understanding me when using Bluetooth. Subaru say it is within limits, but when I call them they say they can't understand me, it's ridiculous!!!! They are burying their heads in the sand with this issue, they refuse to fix it, I won't be buying another Subaru
I am having problems with my 2012 Subaru Forester Bluetooth system. People report that they cannot hear the words clearly, it is cracking, broken, and that there is a lot of background noise. I have had the microphone replaced under warranty and there is no improvement.
Additionally, the voice recognition is comical. I will say, "John Smith" and it will respond with "Martha Brown" or I'll say "Carl Kozikowski" and it will respond with "Jody Chen." It's totally useless. It also is very difficult to program properly and the one touch speed dial presets are not available when the vehicle is in motion for "safety reasons" yet you have to press three buttons to dial a call. This technology appears to be 10 years out of date. By contrast, my Hyundai Elantra had a flawless Bluetooth system that allowed full access to my iPhone address book. The call quality was outstanding and had a built in noise suppression that the person receiving the call often had no idea I was in my car.
Has anyone else experience problems with the Forester/Subaru Bluetooth system? If so, has anyone had them successfully resolved?
paint a bluetooth on your steering wheel, everything would be fine.
As most here agree the Bluetooth Sux and that's putting it mildly. My 2013 Forester Limited is on the list for Bad Bluetooth. I have to try 4-5 times before it gets the name right. If there's a reason to get rid of Subaru that's it. My buddy's Dodge Durango has one of the best I've seen. Name, Number and it gets the name right 100% of the time. No doubt the system is made in Asia.
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