Radio turns on with start

[Anonymous]

I remember with older cars (1970-1980's) that if you left the radio on when you turned off your car, the next time you started your car, the radio would be on and playing at the volume you left it. (Just like the Bolt EV.)
You could be in for a rude awakening the next time you started your car if you left the volume jacked up because you were driving during a downpour!
This got me in the habit of turning the radio volume all the way down every time before I turned off my car.
That habit seems to have helped me with my Bolt EV.
When I park the car, I instinctively turn the radio volume all the way down before I turn off the car.
When I start the car, the radio is on but the volume is at zero.

 

[jmflint]

Yep, volume down to zero seems to be the way to resolve this, barring any true fix by engineering.

Unfortunately, it also means that I spend a lot of time with no radio, because I also forget to turn it back up… But that's me…

 

[SparkE]

I have no problem remembering to turn up the volume when I want to listen to music.

I somehow don't 'forget' that I want to listen to music.

 

[jmflint]

The point is I shouldn't have to "remember" anything.... This car should be able to do what every other car I've ever driven can do.

 

[Bobolinko]

Hi gang!
I had the very same problem except I was using the iPhone nav when I shut the car down. Power on and whamllangtangwoosh the rado came on and blew the doors off!

I have since plugged a non-connected plug into the AUX jack near the usb pair of inputs and all is now fine AND QUIET. The infotainment system recognizes the aux jack is busy and switches to aux mode and not a peep is uttered through the speakers. Inserting an iPhone in the USB input brings the last used volume setting to my ears. JUST HOW I WANT IT!

I have the AUX plug permanently inserted and everyting is ok. YMMV but I think you'll like it too!

 

[LeftieBiker]

That's a very good idea. I wonder if having a patch cable plugged in and ready would do the same.

 

[Bobolinko]

Very simple fix!

Find some old broken earphones or microphone 3mm plug that fits in the aux port in the console area by the USB ports. If it fits, chop off the plug so no wires protrude from the plug. Pop it in the jack and forget your problem ever existed! The infotainment system won't make a peep. It will "sense" the presence of the plugged in AUX plug and put the unit into AUX receiving mode, but there will be no signal to amplify, so it will just sit there waiting for it, muted till you chande the mode of your desire. I use my iPhone music so there will be no blasting radio till I plug my phone in. Too simple to believe, but it works. If your area has a radioshack, you can even buy a new 98 cents stereo plug and use that.

Hope it helps you!

 

[Anonymous]

I just drove a new Bolt off the lot and it *still* has this problem. I turn it off with the radio muted and it is unmuted when I restart the car. Same thing with CarPlay: radio is muted, plug in iPhone to USB, unplug the phone, and radio volume comes back on. Who made this dumb design decision. Why hasn’t it been addressed after all this time?

 

[user 1719]

This worked for me, too. Pop an unused plug into the AUX port AND select AUX as the input device. It will still automatically switch to your Apple CarPlay (USB) connection and automatically switch back to AUX when you disconnect your phone. Stupid - and should be unnecessary - but effective.

Very simple fix!

Find some old broken earphones or microphone 3mm plug that fits in the aux port in the console area by the USB ports. If it fits, chop off the plug so no wires protrude from the plug. Pop it in the jack and forget your problem ever existed! The infotainment system won't make a peep. It will "sense" the presence of the plugged in AUX plug and put the unit into AUX receiving mode, but there will be no signal to amplify, so it will just sit there waiting for it, muted till you chande the mode of your desire. I use my iPhone music so there will be no blasting radio till I plug my phone in. Too simple to believe, but it works. If your area has a radioshack, you can even buy a new 98 cents stereo plug and use that.

Hope it helps you!

 

[Anonymous]

I have the same issue with my new Bolt which I've had for 2 weeks now and I otherwise really like. This is STUPID STUPID STUPID. Hey Chevrolet, please provide a software fix or something. When I turn the radio off, it's because I want it OFF!!

None of the workarounds I've tried so far (thank you everybody!) have worked for me, but more to the point, I shouldn't have to put a tacky cutoff plug in the port of my shiny new car. It might work (I haven't had a chance to try that one yet), but it's more suited to a 1985 Chevette than a 2017 Bolt EV.

 

[Anonymous]

A nice workaround: Copy some nice gentle music onto a usb drive. Pop the drive in one of the USB slots. In audio settings, set USB default on. (Sorry don't remember the actual steps.) As long as that USB music was playing when I turned off the car, that's what starts up when I restart.

 

[kharrang]

Thank you for this creative workaround, but really? Hard to imagine that someone at GM thinks that every single driver wants the radio to start blaring every time the car is started. Or alternatively, this wasn't noticed during testing?

 

[SeanNelson]

Hard to imagine that someone at GM thinks that every single driver wants the radio to start blaring every time the car is started.

The Bolt's radio works identically to the old car radios I used to have - the ones that you turned off by turning the volume knob all the way down counter-clockwise until it clicked. The only thing lacking in the Bolt's radio is the "click" at the end.

The radio will remember the volume setting when you turn off and then restart the car. If you don't want to hear the radio when you turn the car on, just give the volume knob a crank down to "0".

 

[gpsman]

I have no idea what people are talking about.
I’ve had my Bolt for 1 year now (14,000 miles) and have not ever considered this a problem with the radio.

It works the same as every other car I have owned.
It even has a nicer feature that many dont. The “Maximum Startup Volume” can be set. Although oddly, not to zero.

If your kid drives it the night before and had the radio way up, and forgot to turn it down before exiting, the car will automatically reset the volume to what you set.

Mute is designed as a temporary setting as it should be. It has ALWAYS been a temporary setting in every car I have owned. (Maybe 6 or 7 cars in 20 years, so not that many.)

Oddly, now that you all got me out in my car “testing” I find the mute IS retained after a power down and restart, if the restart occurs within x number of minutes. This may explain why people say mute sometimes works. It works for those quick trips to the mailbox or ATM machine if you get back in within a certain time frame I guess. I don’t care enough to figure out the time.

The 3.5mm plug in the socket seems like a simple fix to me though, all things considered.

 

[SeanNelson]

The 3.5mm plug in the socket seems like a simple fix to me though, all things considered.

I'm still wracking my brain trying to understand why people think this is simpler than just turning the volume down to zero...

 

[user 1719]

Because what I want is, when I turn on the car, it senses I have my iPhone connected (CarPlay or bluetooth) and continues playing from it (like it was playing when I turned the car off). But it takes the car just long enough to notice CarPlay or bluetooth, that it can't wait and decides to turn on the radio instead. When I have a cable plugged into Aux, and have Aux selected as the default, I get quiet until CarPlay or bluetooth is finally recognized and can begin playing.; no need to ever adjust volume down or up.

The 3.5mm plug in the socket seems like a simple fix to me though, all things considered.

I'm still wracking my brain trying to understand why people think this is simpler than just turning the volume down to zero...

 

[kharrang]

Sorry to be dense here, but I can't tell in all this discussion if there's a solution to my problem--and many people seem to think this is normal radio behavior.

Problem: (1) While driving I listen to podcasts from my phone played through the sound system, (2) I either pause these before I turn off the car, or they automatically pause on power-down, (3) the next time I turn on the car, the radio begins blaring loudly because the podcasts are softer, and this is true even though I have my phone in the car on restart.

Nothing I can find prevents this behavior, which is super annoying. I suppose I could remember to manually turn the volume down to zero every time I turn off the car, but that seems ridiculous.

Help anyone?

 

[GetOffYourGas]

the next time I turn on the car, the radio begins blaring loudly because the podcasts are softer

A counter-question: why are your podcasts quieter? Is that your phone doing that?

I do basically what you do - mostly I listen to podcasts. The car turns on the radio until it connects to my car and loads CarPlay. But in my case, the radio comes on at the same volume as the podcasts, so it is tolerable.

 

[SmokingRubber]

Sorry to be dense here, but I can't tell in all this discussion if there's a solution to my problem--and many people seem to think this is normal radio behavior.

Problem: (1) While driving I listen to podcasts from my phone played through the sound system, (2) I either pause these before I turn off the car, or they automatically pause on power-down, (3) the next time I turn on the car, the radio begins blaring loudly because the podcasts are softer, and this is true even though I have my phone in the car on restart.

Nothing I can find prevents this behavior, which is super annoying. I suppose I could remember to manually turn the volume down to zero every time I turn off the car, but that seems ridiculous.

Help anyone?

On page 177 of your Bolt manual: Under Radio Settings, You can set "maximum start-up volume" to between 13 and 37

 

[GetOffYourGas]

Sorry to be dense here, but I can't tell in all this discussion if there's a solution to my problem--and many people seem to think this is normal radio behavior.

Problem: (1) While driving I listen to podcasts from my phone played through the sound system, (2) I either pause these before I turn off the car, or they automatically pause on power-down, (3) the next time I turn on the car, the radio begins blaring loudly because the podcasts are softer, and this is true even though I have my phone in the car on restart.

Nothing I can find prevents this behavior, which is super annoying. I suppose I could remember to manually turn the volume down to zero every time I turn off the car, but that seems ridiculous.

Help anyone?

On page 177 of your Bolt manual: Under Radio Settings, You can set "maximum start-up volume" to between 13 and 37

They were so close! If they only gave the option for 0, then we wouldn't be having this conversation.