The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: jgold723 on May 03, 2015, 04:43:31 AM
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I'm looking for a decent, but not insanely priced roof rack for my 2005 Toyota Matrix (bareroof, no factory rails). I see lots of Thules and Yakimas, but their prices are crazy. Is there a decent off brand rack that some can recommend?
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Thule and Yakima are the largest brands in the US. You can often pick up used racks on craigslist for very cheap. For a bare roof car, you will probably end up needing to still buy the specific adapter mounts for your car, but the rest (base feet, crossbars, mounts such as bike or ski racks) can be bought used fairly easily.
Or, for new, take a look at etrailer.com. They carry some other brands too that are cheaper, but still sturdy and quality, like Rhino and Inno.
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I use Thule but they all perform the same function. I would strongly recommend getting aero bars over the standard square tube though. Square bars are very noisy on the highway, which gets old on long trips. They're a bit more expensive but worth it in my opinion. Newer racks are a little easier to install / remove, so if you plan on taking them on and off a bunch that might also factor into your decision.
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Also look for one with a deflector up front - I don't have one on my roofrack and it's annoyingly loud.
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Also look for one with a deflector up front - I don't have one on my roofrack and it's annoyingly loud.
I'll second this. I have square bars but having the fairing made a decent difference in both the noise and gas mileage. Still louder and not quite as good mileage as before I got the rack but far far closer.