[Car Thing] Setup & troubleshooting guide

[Katerina]

Hey folks, glad to see you here!

We've put together this guide to help you out along your Car Thing journey.

Getting a Car Thing

Spoiler

If you haven't already, you can register for one here. 

When you successfully register, you'll receive an email confirmation to your inbox chosen during the signup. If you've logged in with the wrong account, you can always select Change User or Change email.

Once one is available for you, you should receive an email with more info.

Keep in mind that this is available to Premium subscribers in the US only at the moment. There's more info about the requirements here.

 

Setting up Car Thing

Spoiler

You've received your Car Thing, congrats!

The first thing you'll need to do is setup your Car Thing with your mobile device. We have a dedicated support site to get you started here.

Once you've set up the two, you can mount Car Thing to your car. 

We also have some helpful video tutorials on how you can use Car Thing.

Troubleshooting Car Thing

Spoiler

No need to panic!
The first thing to do is perform some basic troubleshooting. Don't forget to start with some often overlooked steps like rebooting your device. If that doesn't do the trick, check out our support site.

If you can't find an answer to your issue listed there, we recommend starting a new thread in this board. That way, other Community users, Stars or Moderators can help out. Don't forget to include helpful details like how you're setting up Car Thing, at what point you're having troubles, etc. An image is a thousand words so you can also consider attaching any helpful images to better point out what's happening.

We'll be updating this thread with new tips and FAQs, so we recommend checking back often. You can also subscribe to this thread to stay in the loop automatically when this happens.

[bmlacy14]

Plan

Premium

Country

United States 

Device

(iPhone 12 Pro

Operating System

(iOS 15.5

My Question or Issue

Car thing acts like it is trying to connect to my phone but will not stay connected. I have tried forgetting and re-adding my phone which does not work. I also cannot access any setting to do a factory reset. Any help would be appreciated!

[Brophyst79]

Greetings Katerina,  I'm loving the car thing but I'm also having trouble with it.  My car is a 2013 Ford Fusion, the trouble I'm having is that the Car Thing is interfering with my ability to make and receive cell phone calls on the cars hands free system. The only work around I have been able to come up with is turning off Cellular Data to Car Thing.  With Cellular data off my handsfree phone in the car works perfectly.

Please tell me there's another way to enjoy Carthing and my Fords handsfree calling?

Sleepless Nerd in Detroit,

SB

[Brophyst79]

I think you and I are having the same issue!  Hopefully someone will get back to us!

[marsstars]

My car thing was working for about half a day…then all of a sudden turned off and won’t turn back on. I have a charger connected to the usb port as well, and it works just fine, so I know that’s not the issue. The stereo connected to my car is fine as well. Any suggestions?

[Vasil]

Hey @marsstars,

Make sure to plug Car Thing into the 12V or 24V power outlet (also known as the cigarette lighter) in your car - and that the outlet is functioning properly.

Other ports (such as the USB port) don’t provide enough power to the device.

More info can be found here 🙂
Cheers!

[pdbutch]

I just got my car thing and plugged the adapter into car 12 v got message on car thing saying use the adapter supplied with device.  I am using the adapter supplied with the device.

[NotWill1]

The car thing turns on but it says I need to use the included power supply, even though I already am and won’t get past this screen

[NotWill1]

Same with mine

[pdbutch]

Well I don't think they care much about my problem............

[Yordan]

Hey @pdbutch and NotWill1!

Make sure you're pushing in the adapter deep into the socket so that it makes a firm connection. Could you try it one more time and see how it goes?

Keep us posted. Cheers!
 

[Jkm23]

I am having the same problem. The connector is loose as well. I think my device is defective, but can't reach anyone for a replacement

[pdbutch]

Thank you for your response. The cord that came in the box would not insert
properly. I changed the cord and it works. Thank you.

Walter

[Jkm23]

Thanks! I’ll try that

[Jabeytasup]

Hello, I'm experiencing the same issue. May I ask what you did to fix the issue? Thank you.

[Jkm23]

I bought a new cord.

[NotWill1]

the cord worked for me too, it wasnt a problem with the socket at all just the cord that came in the box, although it works for other USB-C things so idk whats wrong with it

[JMacMillin]

I am having the same issue as many others and as is another friend of mine I've talked to. I've attempted multiple factory resets, normal restarts, and plain attempting phone connection, but nothing has gotten the car thing to show up on Bluetooth. Weve attempted to find it on my phone and my wife's phone, both of which are iPhone 11's in good condition and on the most current OS, and I have also attempted to find it via my laptop. I've searched through the settings in the about section of the car thing and cannot seem to find anyway to use it. The original cord was also too loose for connection into the car thing and the car thing would not recognize it as a viable cord. Its been **bleep** in a handbasket to try and get this thing to work unfortunately, as I was and still am really excited to have a working one. 

[dondak42]

I just got my car thing, it seems like I’m having issues with bluetooth. Inputs on car thing never work, it always says that I need to log in on my phone even though I am, and when the music actually plays it’s really choppy. It’ll cut out or speed up the song. How do I fix this?

[AlejaR]

Hey folks,

Thanks for your replies and the info shared.

In this case, if you're having inconveniences with your Car Thing, you can follow the steps in this article to see if that makes any difference.

If this doesn't do the trick, the best way to go here would be to contact our Customer Support team, so they can help you check. You can find out how to contact them here.

We hope you found this helpful. Let us know if you need anything else. 
 

Cheers!

[hammyyoder13]

I got my car thing and the knob would not work, is there a way to fix this?