DIY: building an (inexpensive) GTI mount for TomTom One satnav, plus hardwiring to the fuse box

I thought I'd write a quick guide describing the way I created a mount and hardwired my Tomtom One satnav to the fusebox. It's pretty basic stuff really, and no doubt there are much more elegant ways to do this. Having said that, it all cost me next to nothing, and so far the mount has been very stable and the Tomtom charges and works perfectly. I figure it beats spending a lot of money on a proclip...

All I used/bought was:

• A cigarette lighter adaptor: female cigarette lighter socket on one end, two wires/alligator clips on the other end (from Jaycar)
• A 3 Amp fuse (small size)
• Some black cable ties (various sizes)
• An old stubbie holder (black!)
• A small rubber ball, flattened on one side (not shown!)
• Little plastic bracket thingys (x 2) - as shown in photo!
• Some velcro
• Some black electrical tape

The mount:
I took the Tomtom windscreen mount apart, and placed the small rubber ball into the hole where the windscreen mount normally connects (with the flat side of the rubber ball facing out). I cut up the plastic bracket thingys to make them smaller, and attached them to the Tomtom's mount using the screws provided. I then cut up the stubbie holder, and wrapped a piece around the GTI's console (I figured it would protect the plastic from getting scratched). I then threaded cable ties through the holes in the plastic bracket thingys and wrapped them around the stubbie-holder-protected console. The cable ties work really well, fastening the mount solidly to the console. I then took another piece of stubbie holder and wrapped it (horizontally?) under the mount to hide the main cable ties, although of course I used some more cable ties to fasten the additional bit of stubbie holder! But overall it looked much neater this way. Of course, as I went along I trimmed the plastic ties once I had fastened them. Now you might think it all looks a bit dodgy (especially in one of the photos), but everything is hidden nicely behind the Tomtom mount... that is unless you want to get down in the footwell with a torch :)



The hard-wiring:
The female cigarette lighter attachment I bought from Jaycar had two wires attached ending in alligator clips. I removed the alligator clips and stripped some insulation from the wires. I then connected the earth wire to a screw (as shown), and I wound the power wire around the leg of a 3 Amp fuse and pushed it into an empty spot in the fusebox. You can see in one of the photos- it's the pink fuse in the top row. I had previously tested this empty fuse spot with a test light to make sure it was only powered when the ignition was turned on. Of course, make sure that you plug the fuse the right way around, otherwise you will end up powering the Tomtom bypassing the fuse entirely :)
Next I plugged the Tomtom's car charger into the female cigarette adapter I had just wired in. I ran the cable from the fusebox up behind the dash and behind the interior plastic trim until it emerged between the driver's seat and centre console. I fastened the cable in place at various points along the way using some electrical tape. Oh, and I decided to use some velcro to hold the cigarette lighter adaptor firmly in place in the fusebox, so that it wouldn't add yet another vibration/rattle to the GTI's dash :)

Changing the Tomtom's welcome screen:
I couldn't resist creating a custom VW welcome/splash screen for the Tomtom. It's really simple- just follow these instructions.

I think the most expensive item was the female cigarette lighter adapter- I can't remember its exact price, but definitely < $20. Everything can be removed if necessary, and I haven't damaged the original Tomtom mount or power cable (or my GTI!) in the process. Mounting the Tomtom down low works well for me... it doesn't get in the way of anything, and I can still clearly see it when driving (for the most part I just follow the voice instructions). I think the mount is less obvious down low, which is better for security. And if I'm parked in a dodgy area I can easily throw something over the mount to cover it up :)

I hope that this guide can assist those not-so-technical people like me out there :) Oh, and of course, you follow these instructions at your own risk... I am not responsible if you break your Tomtom, fusebox or GTI :)