Hi,

Reading some posts here suggests that my partner is not the only one who is missing the power/ciggy socket from her Panda! Talk about being tight, Fiat....

Anyway, the problem I am facing is where to obtain the said "kit" (other than the stealers). I need a lighter socket and the plastic tub thing with the hole in it for the socket. I don't need the lighter itself as we are non-smokers!

Any nice sites for this?

Thanks

CJ

Halfords do a basic one, I fitted one to my 126 for charging my sat-nav. Obviously though need to drill holes, splice cables etc so helps to have a bit of electrical knowledge.

My local cheapo shop are selling the kit for £2.
That's socket & lighter. The socket has the spade terminals on the bottom and a small light (with tails) attached to the side.
Alternatively, I bought a double extension socket with 2 USB sockets for less than a fiver on ebay.
I have a doblo and used this as a way of getting a power supply onto the shelf above the windscreen and another to provide power to the rear (so kids can charge iphones or watch films etc.

sludgeguts said:

My local cheapo shop are selling the kit for £2.
That's socket & lighter. The socket has the spade terminals on the bottom and a small light (with tails) attached to the side.
Alternatively, I bought a double extension socket with 2 USB sockets for less than a fiver on ebay.
I have a doblo and used this as a way of getting a power supply onto the shelf above the windscreen and another to provide power to the rear (so kids can charge iphones or watch films etc.

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I would be quite careful with such mods. If your car bursts into flames and they find evidence of DIY kits don't expect a pay out.

JD82 said:

I would be quite careful with such mods. If your car bursts into flames and they find evidence of DIY kits don't expect a pay out.

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If it bursts into flames I doubt there would be much evidence left ;-)

If fused correctly should there be an issue there won't be a fire, and the majority of cars 20+ years old have moddified electrical systems as by nature they tend to go wrong at some stage.

Triple extension sockets with a single USB socket are currently £2.99 in Aldi stores.

USB is useful in a car as the new standardisation for phone charging means that you won't need a dedicated phone charger for your new mobile phone (once all phones are standardised) as they will all use the same socket.

Simply buy the correct USB cable (£1.98 on Ebay), plug one end into the extension socket's USB socket and the other end into your mobile phone - great when you and your wife have different phones as one cable works on both phones!

If you already have a cigarette lighter in your car down by the gearlever, you can buy a cup-shaped x2 extension socket with USB that sits in the cupholder next to the cigarette socket - works brilliantly!

hi i have a genuine one from my old panda for sale look in the the ads

evans family

If you look at other recent posts in this section you will see its not just a case of plugging the items into the connections that is there under the blanking plate.

I can't understand how so many people don't realise there is no power socket - its been pretty clear on the on-line configurator for years. Perhaps salesmen aren't communicating this on to new buyers either.

I would imagine most cars spec'd by dealers for stock purposes would have them these days, especially from a manufacturer that offers Tomtom units.

From Jan 2010 all Pandas have the 12v socket. My 10 reg Panda 1.1 Active Eco has the 12v socket .

percymon said:

Perhaps salesmen aren't communicating this on to new buyers either.

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A salesperson (sorry to be PC) will only tell a buyer what the buyer wants to hear.

Yes, but whens there's more (albeit marginal) profit to be made out of the optional extra of a power socket, its no hardship to point it out to people. I don't think they are likely to walk away at the prospect of paying a small amount extra for a power socket.

percymon said:

Yes, but whens there's more (albeit marginal) profit to be made out of the optional extra of a power socket, its no hardship to point it out to people. I don't think they are likely to walk away at the prospect of paying a small amount extra for a power socket.

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I think its logistics, an option like that means a factory order and it can delay delivery times. From a sales persons point of view it may be best just to keep quiet and hope the buyer dosn't notice the lack of a 12v output.

When I ordered my car I had an 8 week wait but the car was ordered anyway if nobody wanted it would have become a demo or something.

Considering the number of car gadgets & gizmos around these days, I'm amazed manufacturers don't add a few 12v sockets AND a couple of USB charging points - my mobile, tomtom, dashcam and ipod all charge off a USB socket.

sludgeguts said:

Considering the number of car gadgets & gizmos around these days, I'm amazed manufacturers don't add a few 12v sockets AND a couple of USB charging points - my mobile, tomtom, dashcam and ipod all charge off a USB socket.

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TBH I think cars should have at least 2 as standard now. Perhaps one ignition switched and one not?

I've 5 in the Stilo And dont ask how much gadg is hard wired.

http://www.nexxia.co.uk/product.asp?product_code=NX-MFS-PK

Have a look on the site above, you'll find fuses with a extra tail off one side to power add-ons without chopping into cables. The do standars & Mini-fuses. Of course you'll need to pick up an earth somewhere too.
I got a pair of single surface mounted sockets C/W cables from Halfords a couple of years ago. There's enough cable on them to have one either side of the dash on the Voyager & still route the cables tidy! I recon they'd do front & rear of a Panda.