I did figure out the issue and it was weird. I thought I would post here so if anyone else runs across the thread.
So Just for completeness here you go ... :-)

A couple of notes before I get to the explanation. I could plug my Samsung (GS8+) into my 2016 Honda and it would work. So at the time, I did not think my phone had an issue. I could plug an old Andriod phone (1+1) into the NEX and it would work. I figured it had to be something with compatibility between the two devices. According to Pioneer, it was not. Looks like Pioneer was correct.


To make a short story longer, yesterday I was in a meeting and charging my phone from the conference room table charging port. I forgot to mute it. When it ding, I looked and no messages. Did it aging, no messages. The third time I notice a pattern on the screen like it was just plugged into the charger. Remember from back in the Samsung G2 days, I thought I would clean out the USB port. Then I tested phone back on the Pioneer and it worked! I really did not expect it to work because this has been going on now for two and a half months. Remember the phone worked in the Honda this whole time. Face with the reality that cleaning it did fix the issue, I was trying to figure out how?
The only theory is the Pioneer is USB 3 (yet to be confirmed) and Honda is USB 2 (now confirmed). If true then one of the bidirectional lines is bad, hence USB 3 failed. But the one that USB 2 uses, worked. There are all kinds of troubleshooting principles that I used, that got me way off in the weeds.