I did a little poking around and found a nice 12v power source you can tap into for lights, stereo, etc. It is in the "Lower Finish Panel" behind the flip-out tray on the driver's side. There is an unused, un-fused power source here... I circled it in the diagram below.

NOTE: I circled the wrong area initially... I have corrected it below.



Thought it might be helpful. I use it to power my trailer lights and it works perfectly!

 

I love you so much right now. I was thinking I'd have to tear apart my center console to wire up some lights to my cigarette lighter line, but this is tons easier.

 

i think they mention this spot when they had the DIY fog lights installation...in the tech area

 

I used one of those add a circuit fuse kit thingies to power my light kit and just used the brake light fuse position under the dash. It gets constant power unlike the cigarette lighter.

 

Yeah, does that annoy anyone else... the fact that the 12v outlet in the console is switched? I think I'll add another outlet in the glove box so I can leave my cell phone, iPod, Garmin, etc. to charge while I'm not driving.

 

Really? I like the feature. Imo it makes sure you don't drain your battery by leaving a charger in. But I guess it doesn't matter to me since I put away all my stuff when I park so my car doesn't get broken into.

 

Well, I never worried about a cell-phone charger draining the battery. Something bigger, like a 12v thermoelectric cooler, yes... but not a cell-phone or iPod. If you left it for weeks, maybe.

I can understand the security argument... you don't want to tempt someone to break in for your electronic goodies... but I park right outside of my store, so I can see my car at all times. At home, we don't even lock our cars or house. It's not that kind of area. Plus, there are three excitable German Shepherds that would love to have someone to "play" with.

I guess I got spoiled by my VW, which had two live 12v ports... one in the dash and one in the trunk. The one in the trunk was great for charging up my laptop or other goodies that could stay out of sight. Come to think of it, I might add a 12v socket in the "trunk" of my xD, too. Heck, I've already routed a nice 12v wire back there for trailer lights!

 

It annoys me too because I don't leave anything big plugged in either and would like to charge my gps or cell phone when the key is off now and then since the battery life on it sucks currently. It also would have been easier to wire in the power to my light kit from the cigarette lighter than running the wire all the way over to the fuse box too. (I have the control box for the light kit mounted in the top glove compartment.)