i3 head unit difficulties in connecting to iPhone

[chris_b]

I am having intermittent problems with the car (2017 with base stereo system) reading my iPhone so I can connect to Pandora. Sometimes, when I start the car with the phone connected via USB cable (my standard approach), it will fire right up and play. Other times, I have to tweak things, primarily by plugging and unplugging the phone, and starting/re-starting Pandora. Does this sound familiar to anyone and if so is there a solution? Sometimes I can't get it to play until I am almost home from my drive- and then what is the point. I am, surprisingly, pretty happy with the sound quality of the base system.