WEST U.S. -- LG VX5500 Bluetooth failure

I have just switched over to Verizon from Qwest and have a new LG VX5500 phone, replacing a Sanyo Katana. With the Katana I could link the phone to my Toyota RAV4 via Bluetooth and talk on the phone hands free. I linked the LG to my car via Bluetooth and get the BT symbol and bars on the radio display, but if the ignition is turned on and someone calls me I get the ring but I cannot hear the caller nor can they hear me. Even when I take the phone out, open it up, and try to talk it can't do it if the ignition is on or the car is running. The caller phone number also displays on the radio display.

Has anyone else had this kind of problem? Is it a defective unit or is this a common LG or Bluetooth problem? Is there a simple cure short of changing phones?

It also seems like the bars symbol doesn't ever change from the first display. In other words, once it shows three bars, for example, it shows three bars everywhere I go.

I have turned off the Bluetooth function and the phone works fine, incoming and outgoing.