I have a vehicle which has factory fitted bluetooth controls on the steering wheel, with push tabs (eg; answer, hang up, volume, callers voice heard over car speakers).
So when you get in (mobile can be in your pocket, glove box, console etc) and turn on the ignition or accessories (provided your mobile is turned on) the bluetooth makes a connection with your mobile phone, and you here a audio noise telling you it is connected, the same noise is heard when you turn the ignition (or accessories) off.
If the phone rings while you are driving, you push the answer tab on your steering wheel and talk normally, callers voice as said is heard over the car speakers.
Now all this is fine, except I have found that my mobile phone battery runs down a lot quicker using this bluetooth function just by making the on and off connection via the ignition/accessories without even using the mobile to receive or make calls.
Because of this I now prefer not to use my mobile when driving and just turn my mobile off to preserve my mobile battery user life.
I do have a cigarette type car charger for my mobile phone and could attach this while driving which would overcome this, however I am not so tied to my mobile phone that I could be bothered stuffing around with that and would rather just leave my mobile off.
Anyone else noticed that the bluetooth hand free connection makes this connecting drain on the mobile battery?
Yeah, Duh. Same with my vehicle. The dude in the dealership who sold me the car told me to always have it plugged into 12v socket charger because it would use lotz of battery.
I used to drive with the phone plugged into the 12v cord permanently and it was OK, but, a but like you I guess, I have now 'disabled' the bluetooth function on the mobile, so the mobile and car do not try to 'talk' to each other.
If someone rings me ... I just either let it ring out, or if safe to do so, I pull over and answer the call.
Cheers - John
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2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 SE Auto - 2008 23ft Golden Eagle Hunter Some people feel the rain - the others just get wet - Bob Dylan
I love basic things, and sometimes I think all these new gadgets are just not worth the trouble!
That's why I said I miss my Gen2 phone, back in the days when a mobile phone was a phone.
Also, the car should have a function to disable BT. That way you don't have to loose the phone BT function with other things like laptops, or at least fiddle with the phone when you want to transfer a pic from phone to lappy. This is a function I used frequently.
Cheers
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There are 3 types of people in this world, Ones who make it happen, the second who watches what happens and the third who wonders what happened
I agree Nomad, I think my car has a BT disable on it, as I had to use voice commands to put it on, so maybe it can be reversed the same way, haven't gone right into it, just disabling my mobile BT will do, but I don't use BT for anything else so don't need to fiddle with it for other functions.
Talking about modern functions, I noticed my dash display showing my rear tailgate was up remained on even when ignition/accessories off and keys removed. They do not have a disable function on it. I spoke to my local servicing centre who advised me that leaving the hatch tailgate up overnight was the same as leaving an interior boot or roof light on overnight and would flatten the battery.
On the tailgate hatch lift up section, there is an inverted "V" catch that comes down to a striker to close the hatch, and inside that there is hidden wiring that turns the dash display off when hatch closed.
With the hatch up, they showed me how to move the hook catch inside the "V" over to the closed position (not hard, you can use your keys or other object (eg; screwdriver) and that will turn the dash light off, so if you want to camp overnight with the hatch up, you will not flatten your battery. Before closing the hatch later, it is a simple matter of depressing the lifting handle under your number plate and this releases the catch so you can now close the boot.
I was lucky to have seen the door (in this case hatch) open display on the dash, as when you are in or at the rear of the vehicle in a camping situation, it is hidden by the steering wheel so the display cannot be seen unless you are sitting in the drivers seat.
On the other side of the coin, no way am I giving up my 2012 TV though with all the bells and whistles, beats my oldie hands down especially with the recording side of things, one mod con I do enjoy!!
I don't use mine enough to worry about it JC, don't want the Bluetooth function so only will plug in when I want to recharge the mobile on the move (or make an urgent call if the mob battery is a bit low).
