Update - we solved it with this "gearhead" package check:

fun isAndroidAutoAvailable(): Boolean { val packageManager = this.packageManager val packages = packageManager.getInstalledPackages(PackageManager.GET_SERVICES) for (packageInfo in packages) { packageInfo.services?.forEach { serviceInfo -> val serviceName = serviceInfo.name if (serviceName.contains("gearhead")) { return true } } } return false }

I'm going to pay out some of the bounty to those that commented as it definitely helped us get to the solution - thanks guys! :)
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