how to blog: Pair my iPhone with my Toyota Sienna via Bluetooth?

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Just picked up a used Toyota Sienna van and I’m pretty psyched about it – lots of room and it’s really comfortable to drive – but I’m not sure how to pair my Apple iPhone 4 with the navigational system from Toyota. any help or tips? Before you ask, yes, the car does have Bluetooth as far as I can tell.

Dave’s Answer:

I don’t have a Toyota Sienna van (though I used to own one a few years ago and agree that they’re a great example of van-as-car rather than the old days of van-as-truck) but I do own a Toyota Highlander and I’m pretty sure that the Toyota navigational GPS system is standard across the line. if you have one, it’s going to be the same as the one I have. now, yours might be a bit more recent, mine is as-installed in a 2008 Highlander, but from what I’ve seen of other model years, it doesn’t seem to have changed that much across the years…

As you might know if you’ve done this before, pairing a bluetooth device with a car nav system can be a bit of a hassle so I do want to set expectations before we go further. there are steps you have to take on the car system then steps you need to take on the phone, back and forth, until you’re done.

Then again, there’s no penalty for having to try this more than once, so let’s jump in!

First off, on your dashboard you should see a row of buttons below the Toyo nav system screen like this:

Push on the “INFO” button to proceed. It’ll show you the following primary options on the GPS screen:

As I’ve indicated, you want to tap on the “Telephone” button to set up your BT connection.

It’s a bit confusing here because it’s acting as if you already have a phone paired, but as you can see on the top right, there’s a “NO CONNECT” warning message too. no worries, though, ignore all the dial display buttons and tap on “Settings” on the lower left.

Now we’re getting nearer to the setup options. Good. Tap on “Bluetooth” here, but before you go further, notice also that there’s a “Select Telephone” option. Very helpful if there’s more than one driver / passenger who has a phone that you want paired with the Bluetooth in the car!

You can see that the device has the unimaginative name of “HANDSFREE” (instead of, say, “TOYOTA” or “YOUR CAR” or something). Tap on “Register” to add your phone to the car’s Bluetooth database…

Great. now we’re — finally! — at the point where you need to switch to your iPhone and go through the steps on that side to pair the phone with the car Bluetooth system. Ready?

On your iPhone tap on the “Settings” icon, then look for “General”:

Tap on “General” and you’ll see a bunch of useful options that I definitely encourage you to explore. but not right now. For now, tap on “Bluetooth” and let’s see how it’s configured:

The most important thing is to ensure that your Bluetooth is turned ON on your iPhone. Makes sense, right? You might already have other BT devices known to your phone, like a headset or, in my case, my computer. The new HANDSFREE device should appear pretty quickly if you’re sitting in your car, which is what I assume you’re doing if you’re trying to pair things!

To pair the “Handsfree” (odd how it’s called “HANDSFREE” on the Toyota screen) tap on it here on the Bluetooth setup screen…

That’s what we want. now look on the Toyota nav system screen and you’ll see that there’s a Passkey code being displayed, 1 1 1 1. That’s what you need to enter here on the iPhone (well, whatever your displayed code is, but I’m betting it’s also 1 1 1 1). Enter it successfully before the car Bluetooth system times out and you’ll see:

Done! Connected! try it now, make a phone call on your iPhone and you’ll see that the car system will automatically take it over and let you talk hands free. Smart, safe and easy.

Help others find this article at Del.icio.us, Digg, Netscape, Reddit, and Stumble Upon       Categorized: iPhone and Cell Phone Help   (Article 9985, Written by Dave Taylor)Tagged: apple iPhone 4, iPhone bluetooth, toyota bluetooth, toyota gps, toyota highlander, toyota nav system, toyota siennaPrevious: Add a check-in deal to your Facebook Places venue? Next: Add a succinct page link to a Facebook comment or update?Subscribe!Never miss another Q&A article!Click to subscribe:Subscribe in NewsGator Comments Rather amazingly, there are no comments on this article yet. I have something to say, now that you mention it, but …I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I’d like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site bybuying you a cup of coffee!I do have a comment, now that you mention it!name (required):Email Address (required):Web site URL (if desired):Remember personal info?YesNoPlease note that I will never send you any unsolicited email. Ever.While I’m at it, please note that by submitting a question or comment you’re agreeing to my terms of service, which are: you relinquish any subsequent rights of ownership to your material by submitting it on this site.Comments:Recommended How do I copy iTunes music onto my Apple iPhone? How can I fix too little virtual memory in Windows? How do I install Windows XP in Boot Camp on my Mac? How do I download photos onto my Apple iPhone? How do I convert WMA to MP3 audio files in Windows Media Player? How can I add a Google search box to my site? How can I put music on my Apple iPod? How can I get my Nintendo DS to connect to the Internet? How do I reset my Mac OS X administrator (root) password?recent EntriesCheck in to a local venue on Google Plus?Add a friend to a Circle in Google Plus on iPhone?How can I have a group chat in Google Plus Chat?How can I chat with my friend on Google Plus?How do I enable Facebook Skype video chat?How do I invite a friend to Google Plus? Search I Need Help!.dmcontent_container {margin-top: 0px;margin-right: 0px;width:180px;height:93px;}.dmcontent_title {background:none repeat scroll 0 0 #FFFFFF;border-bottom:1px dotted #666666;color:#554455;font-family:verdana,arial,sans-serif;font-size:10px;font-weight:bold;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:1px;text-align:left;line-height:18px;width:180px;height:20px;}.dmcontent_body {line-height:12px;float:left;overflow-y: auto; text-align: left;margin-right: auto;width: 180px;height: 70px;}.dmcontent_body a:hover {text-decoration:none; color:#FF3300;}.dmcontent_link {text-decoration:none;font-family:verdana,arial,sans-serif;;color:#110099;font-size:10px;}Local GuidesAll Local GuidesAlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDCDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingEven more HelpApple iPad Help Articles and Reviews Auctions and Online Shopping Blogs and RSS Feeds Building Web Site Traffic Business and Management CGI Scripts and Web Site Programming Computer and Internet Basics d) none of the above Facebook Help HTML and CSS Industry News and Trade Shows iPhone and Cell Phone Help iPod, Sony PSP and MP3 Player Help Mac OS X Help Pay per Click (PPC) Advertising Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Shell Script Programming The Writing Business Twitter, LinkedIn and Social Network Help Unix and Linux Help Video Game Tips and Help Windows PC Help film blog – social media / blogging speaking – business blog – Colorado photography – free tech support © 2002 – 2011 by Dave Taylor. all Rights Reserved.Note: this web site is for the purpose of disseminating information for educational purposes, free of charge, for the benefit of all visitors. we take great care to provide quality information. however, we do not guarantee, and accept no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any material contained on this web site or on any linked site. business blog | sitemap |link to us! “Ask Dave Taylor®” is a registered trademark of Intuitive Systems, LLC.Translate this page into…ArabicChinese SimplifiedChinese TraditionalDutchFrenchGermanGreekItalianJapaneseKoreanPortugueseRussianSpanishView the Original article

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