Pioneer DMH-2000NEX and Apple CarPlay issues

I am having issues with DMH-2000NEX and wired Apple Car Play.

1. Phone is iPhone 16 and attempting to wired connect causes Apple Car Play to pop up but before I can "Allow" disappears.
2. Phone is iPhone 15 and exhibits the exact same behavior. As you can see 2 different phones, 2 different cables - 16 being USB-C while 15 is Lightning.
3. We can thus rule out cable issues or phone issues.
4. After repeated re-tries which included resetting the head unit (Pioneer) and iPhone network settings Car Play did start to work but after I shut down the vehicle and came back next day - stopped working again.
5. In both cases - the cable used is the one supplied by Apple and is not 3rd. party cable.
6. I called Pioneer support and they confirmed this is a Apple issue. Reason is below:
7. My family's 3rd. phone is Android which connects seamlessly and holds the connection without any issues. This rules out USB port issue and the head unit being correctly configured to support USB.

I am seeing numerous posts across Reddit and others where folks are facing similar issues. Would like to know of a solution please.