Quote Originally Posted by wai View Post
Just remember that the cigarette lighter socket is powered with the ignition on for a reason.

If you insert the lighter element in and it gets stuck for any reason (e.g. there is a mismatch and the grip/release mechanism gets caught in the element), it will set the car on fire unless you can get to the battery with the appropriate spanner, or find and remove the fuse.

This is not so much of an issue for an accessory socket because there is not a mechanism to hold a lighter element in them.

The powering of the lighter socket with the ignition on or on accessory was part of an ADR until manufacturers agreed to make that operation standard. This reduced the amount of paperwork required to get compliance.
Skoda Octavia has permanently powered lighter socket (drives me insane). Kind of blows your argument out of the water