Buying roof bars and roof box

scottishblondie

We're looking to get roof bars and a roof box for my 2002 Volvo V40 (with raised roof rails).  With 2 small kids we just don't have enough space inside the car for going on holidays anymore! 

I've been looking at Thule as they seem to be "the" brand, but I'm not really sure how much of a difference there is between brands?  Does anyone have a recommendation of a good website to buy from?

photome

I have bought from  www.roofbox.co.uk a few times, also exchanged old ones with them when changing car

TheProfessional

We are in a similar spot. I like the Thule Motion XT which are about £530. The vector range is about £1400 which seems so expensive.

A friend told me to look used though as a lot of people use them for a couple of years with small kids and then get rid

The reason I have been putting it off is I'm worried about the height of it on a Tiguan and low carpark roofs/entry barriers!

Car_54

TheProfessional said:

We are in a similar spot. I like the Thule Motion XT which are about £530. The vector range is about £1400 which seems so expensive.

Indeed. Either is probably more than the OP's car is worth

Ebe_Scrooge

photome said:

I have bought from  www.roofbox.co.uk a few times, also exchanged old ones with them when changing car

We bought some roof bars from that website a year or so ago - already had a box, which we giving to my son, just needed bars to fit his car.  Ended up getting the Cruz ones - I'd never heard of them before, but they seem perfectly fine, and cheaper than the Thule ones.  There may be cheaper sites if you search around, but certainly I was pleased with the quality and service - select your vehicle model and it'll show you ones that fit, I had no issues at all.

tacpot12

I bought Thule parts off eBay. Once you know what parts you need you can find them fairly readily on eBay as people sell them when they have sold the car they fit. My bars, feet and fitting kit cost me £84. 

AdrianC

Let's separate the bars and the box.

Thule are indeed about the best on the market. Yes, they're hideously expensive. Yes, there's cheaper. Some will be rubbish, some will be decent. The cheapest "universal" crossbars for roof rails I can easily find are £37 for a pair off the 'bay (I'm almost tempted, for occasional use)

Boxes can be hired, or people sell them used. I'd certainly want to look at one before buying, simply because while bars are pretty much fit-or-not, there's so many detail variables in a box that can turn it from ideal to a flimsy, leaky pain that won't fit what you want it to.

scottishblondie

Car_54 said:

TheProfessional said:

We are in a similar spot. I like the Thule Motion XT which are about £530. The vector range is about £1400 which seems so expensive.

Indeed. Either is probably more than the OP's car is worth

:rofl: very true, my car is in excellent condition but it is nearly 20 years old and probably worth about £500.  We will likely be getting a small SUV style car once mine expires such as a VW T-roc.  

I've looked at roofbox.co.uk and the Hapro ones look like better value new, so I'm considering those.  We could get the box and bars for a little over £500.

I've found out one of my friends got a Thule second hand for a good price so I'm also going to take a look at that. 

We're going to go away in the October week, so ideally I'd like to have something before then.

Iceweasel

Be sure to get bars that can be locked on the rails - if you don't have locks than two people can lift the box and bars off and make off with the lot.

Don't ask me why I know this.

littleboo

I hire one periodically, obviously costs more eventually but I don't have to stored a massive plastic box when I'm not using it

scottishblondie

Iceweasel said:

Be sure to get bars that can be locked on the rails - if you don't have locks than two people can lift the box and bars off and make off with the lot.

Don't ask me why I know this.

Oh dear   Locks are essential, noted!