Are cigarette lighters still standard? I thought they were removed ages ago in favor of a DC power outlet (which you can plug a lighter into if you want).

Well it was standard in my 1997 Neon

I was told once several years ago(1998ish) by a cadillac dealer that ashtrays were actually required by law.

Aiwa makes Car stereos with mini jack Aux inputs. I will be making use of it this weekend.

Well as far as I know now just a DC outlet is standard. Both my Saturns have/had no lighter or ash tray, though it would have been possible to get a "smoking" version of the car for a little bit more money.

Did you notice the horrible location of the Neon cup holder as well? If you have a large cup it's wedged in there and you are likely to spill it trying to pick it up.

When I have a large drink cup, I usually just wedge it in between the parking brake and the passenger seat. Much more accessible. But don't make any sudden stops. ;)

I use the cig lighter to plug my phone charger into.

The dashboard is useless, and when the sun returns you will see the other problem with it. It reflects light like crazy. When Jason and I drove to Chicago last summer we actually had a piece of cloth to put on the dashboard so that we wouldn't be blinded.

Having said all of this, I still like the Neon. But like anything else in my price range, it has its flaws. :)

I bought the Neon from an online-only car dealer that no longer exists... ah, .com bubble, it was fun while it lasted.

Yeah I noticed they were quite hidden almost on the floor.

My God.. you actually got a new car online. Wow.

My dad and brother found a classic 1954 Chevy truck on Ebay in the next state over from my Brother but that is not quite the same thing.

one of my friends cars has a audio in jack, it is a great idea but i think that it does not sell for "astetic" reasons; same reason there is that annoying slope to the dashboard. The only explination i can think of is that it is for marketing puposes, nobody would buy a car that was rectangular simply because all the "future" movies have cruves in them and the marketing people realize this and make it so there cars look like this. believe me, i hate it every bit as much as you do.

In addition, it is a "universal 12 volt power jack" not a cigerett lighter, also it is a coin tray not an ash tray. good luck with your new car though.

What astetic reasons? A mini headphone jack is a hole half the size of a pea.

I had a both a coin tray and an ashtray on my tarus this is really an ashtray.

My sister's 2003 car has an ashtray, cigarette lighter, power jack, cd player, and a cointray.. all standard in her most basic of basic vehicles. I think it's a company based standard thing as opposed to an industry wide issue. Also.. headphones are illegal while driving a vehicle. That is one of the very few things I remember from drivers ed. So while you may not be using the jack for headphones, it could be used for that by others. The idea is that headphones prevent you from hearing sirens, or other car horns. The reason it is ok for cell phones to have headsets is that it is only one ear not both.

The headphone jack I was talking about would be an audio in so you can hook up an external MP3 player.

I think the reason why cell phones are legal when driving and headphones are not is that cell phones are more dangerous and not many law makers has the balls to pass a flat out driving ban when using them.

Yes, A big cup holder would be nice.

Here in the UK, as of December 1st 2003, it's illegal to hold and use a cell phone while driving (although using one with a headset is OK).

Really a national wide law! Wow I know New York State had a state law but we do not have anything nationally.

Yup, I bought my car from onegoodcar.com. It wasn't quite new; it had 20,000 miles on it. It was an ex-rental car. It was weird clicking the "Buy" button for a $10,000 purchase, but of course you were able to say "no" if the car turned out to be no good. You had a week or so to give it back.

They delivered it in a big truck with the One Good Car logo on the side, and the car had a teddy bear with an OGC shirt, sitting on the seat waiting for me.

This was right before the dotcom crash, or maybe right around the same time. OGC didn't last much longer, which was a shame. I enjoyed the transaction. No haggling, no pressure.

I have almost 60,000 on the Neon now, and have driven it to Los Angeles and back, and to Chicago and back.

Well I am glad to hear that other people enjoyed their Neon. The more I learn the more comfortable I am with my choice.

"Really a national wide law! Wow I know New York State had a state law but we do not have anything nationally."

Jake there is no nation wide law because we have 50 states. England is not very large.

Also, if you had a cupholder big enough to hold a big gulp you would have other smaller cups sliding around all over the place in it. Can you actually drink an ENTIRE big gulp???!!!
Better save the empty container. Heh.

Yeah Peter but that is what the Federal Goverment and the the DOT is for.

I totally agree with all of the above statements. i own a 1998 vw jetta. have you ever seen the cup holders on these vehicles?! you can hardly get a paper cup in them! i decided after i bought this car that from now on i will purchase only cars with glutenous sized drink holders. this is america damnit. we like our pepsis large.

i had the same problem with my '98 jetta gt, but due to an unfortunate wreck my '00 jetta 1.8t has decent cupholders that extend from the dash just above the stereo headunit