iPhone 7 Audio Jack Adapter Issues

Since getting my iPhone 7 I've noticed issues when connecting the phone to my car via the 3.5mm-to-lightning adapter. Every so often the phone will refuse to acknowledge that there is an audio source plugged in and the sound will randomly switch from the car speakers to the iPhone's speakers.

For the time being I am having to disconnect the cable (aux cord + 3.5mm-to-lightning adapter) from the phone and reconnect it, and that only solves the problem 8 out of 10 times. In certain instances even that will fail to fix the problem and I will be left with a phone that cannot connect to my car. I have noticed it start to happen more frequently since installing iOS 10.0.2.

I am wondering if this is more an issue of the phone or the adapter not working properly. Please help.

Note: I have tried connecting the aux cord to another source via the headphone jack and can confirm that there is no problem with the cable.