Upon starting our trip from Florida back to Texas, I could not get the Android auto to work. We messed with for a while with no luck. Phone also shows a " Check USB connection" when you plug it in. Tried 3 other cables and another phone with the same results. Since the front USB is a connection to the head unit, I am assuming it is not fused since the other functions of the head unit are working. Saw a couple of posts on other forums with a similar issue and it was a USB harness that was replaced under warranty. My warranty expired so I want to try and get this fixed without involving a dealer. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to start?
Your beyond the 3 year 36000 mile bumper to bumper warranty? If your just beyond the 36k miles, the dealership may still repair it for free - since the car is less than 2 years old.
Are you wanting to use the USB port as an audio input, or just to charge your devices? If power is all you need, that's easier to fix.
UPDATE. Went out this afternoon (3 days after it stopped working) to look for fuses or anything else obvious that could be causing the problem. Plugged the phone in and everything was working again as it should. Certainly not a fuse as they don't heal themselves. Still not happy with the flakey performance of the Android Auto head unit and will likely end up putting in a android head unit like my last Prius had. Not many choices to be found for gen 4 Prius' but at least a few showed up in my searches yesterday. I searched last year when I got the car and found none.
Perhaps a weak 12V battery? Had the car been sitting in Florida before starting your trip back to Texas? Maybe the 12V charge had dropped below 12V while sitting.
If your using an old micro-usb connection cable; some of them are charge only cables; NO data to activate android auto. Connecting and disconnecting on those old phones; tends to waddle out the connectors and cause intermittent connections. You can remedy this by buying a cheap phone battery case - you've got a new connector to plug into.
I solved my problem with a MFi certified charger cable. Purchased a Belkin BoostCharge Braided cable from Amazon for $16 and it fixed it.
If there is no 5V power or data connectivity to the console-mounted USB connector, a cable change will not solve the problem. It is possible that a new OEM USB source cable from the head unit and extension box may solve the problem.
