My problem exactly - except the wife part. I would stop, turn off the car, and turn it back on and that usually fixed it. Since then, I go to Phone Settings and turn off CarPlay and then turn it back on. Usually comes back with sound.iPhone 15 pro max. Will have wireless CarPlay connect and maps work like it should, but song will play with no sound (podcast,music etc). Seems to happen more often when wife is in car with her phone as well. I have it happen to me once. With wife, 3-4 times in the last 4-6 weeks or so.
You don't need to go to the phone. You can go to the phone settings on the car (even while driving) and turn off then on CarPlay there. Works for me.Same problem with no audio through CarPlay here. My fix is usually to restart sync using the steering wheel buttons, but disconnecting CarPlay on my phone then reconnecting also works. Very annoying since this seems to be happening multiple times per week recently.
Amen-For me its carplay wireless.