I hooked up my Garmin nav to the 12v power port under the bridge thinking I would do some one on one comparisons of how the nav worked. The nav's are comparable but, when I went to pull out the 12v adapter for the Garmin, it seemed to be stuck in the port. I had a heck of a time getting the adapter out, and was only able to after the entire panel popped off while I was attempting to remove the adapter. Heck, it was still difficult to remove the adapter even with the whole panel in my hands. Luckily, the panel popped back in, but I had to reseat the heated seat switches first. I don't know which is the culprit but I have used the Garmin on quite a few vehicles without having this problem. Just letting folks know to be careful when they use the power port. Mike
I have had a very difficult time working with that outlet as well. I was also having an issue with the fuse for that outlet popping several times, as I struggled with a difficult plug. Does the power outlet still work for you or did you also blow a fuse in the process? I wonder if buying an 'extension' cord (leaving one end always plugged in) would be a solution for this, and it would have the added feature of making this outlet more physically accessible as I would not need to reach around / under the center console then.
Note that 12V "cig. lighter sockets" come in two sizes. Often the cable you buy for an accessory will come with the smaller mating plug and an adapter (plastic sleeve). If you try to plug the larger one in a smaller socket you will have problems.
I use a Magellan portable GPS and plug it into the same outlet with no problems at all. Works perfectly. I bet there's a sizing issue with your Garmin's power plug. I bet there's an adapter for this.
No, it didn't blow the fuse. I have never seen an adapter that physically reduces the size of a plug. An extension might be the solution and could give me extra outlets. Mike
This is a common problem with any Toyota. The outlet has open sections on the outer body (i.e. earthing area that the plug slides against) and sometimes various plugs get caught up in the open section and won't pull out easily. One way around this is to fit a heavy duty aftermarket socket that doesn't have the open sections in its body.
