Cigarette Lighter Question for 2003 Vibe

[dejablues76]

Hey Guys, I am new to the forum -- so any help would be greatly appreciated. I have an FM Transmitter for my IPOD in a 2003 Vibe. I feel like I am doing a bit of damage to the cigarette lighter in the car, after a year or two of use. I am noticing some lights on my dash (Air Conditioning / heat / etc) sometimes don't turn and once the dash is "tapped" pop on (indicating a loose connection). My Question is, has anyone dealt with this problem with their IPODs (or anything else they plug in and out of their cigarette lighter -- cell phone, XM, Sirius, etc.)? Thanks in advance guys!- Brian

[Therica]

The problem may be a fundamental electrical design problem and not a result of abuse on the cigarette lighter.I don't know about this issue for the Vibe. But I previously owned a 91 Toyota Corolla for about 10 years. The Matrix/Vibe is a version of the Corolla. My Corolla lights for the same panel would jossle on/off with road bumps, spanking the dashboard, or sometimes randomly.Now getting into heresay... a friend owned another type of Toyota (I forget the model) that did the same thing in the 90's and his mechanic said the problem was common in some Toyota models.Good luck.

[Imonaride82]

A lot of Vibes have had that fan control knob light go on and off with turning it. It is a known problem, it is most likely going dead. There are some topics here that talk about how to replace it and what to do and all that.