Cellphone charger

I got a new Civic and I'm having a problem with its power-outlet, or
socket (formerly known as a cigarette lighter). Anyway, I need it to
recharge my cellphone, but when I try to remove the cellphone
charger from the socket, it doesn't want to come out. At one
point I couldn't remove it at all and took it in to the dealer. He
said there's different sizes of sockets, and that to remove my
cellphone charger from it they'd have to remove the whole panel just
to get to it. Well, I decided against it and finally managed to
remove it myself. So what now? Does anybody know about this? How
many different socket sizes are there? Do I need a different size
other than the one that comes standard? Thanks.

 

I believe there is only one standard size for cigarette lighters / power
outlets. I have found that many of the cell-phone chargers simply have a
plug that is too big. Even my brother's original Nokia car charger has
this problem (too big, tested in Honda Civic, VW Gti and Infiniti I30).
The side contact sticks out too far and is too stiff. You could try
bending in the side contact a bit or you could just look for another
charger with a smaller plug.

 

Yes, there is only one standard size. But because there are ranges of
tolerance in this size, some plugs will fit tighter than others. As was
stated, the side contacts maybe to stiff and require adjustment.

 

That makes sense to me. I'm glad I didn't let the dealership rip my
dash out! Thanks.

 

You could also try a little bit of oil. Mine was sticking before the oil
and it slides much smoother now.

-Dave

 

Thanks, I'll try that too.

 

You could also check the auto parts store for one of those cheap adapters
that let you plug two things into one outlet. Your phone charger may fit
that OK, and it then fit your car. Not pretty, but will save you from
damaging your outlet and having to then pay the dealer to rip out the dash
to replace it.