Which roof rack to buy?

We’d like to buy a new roof rack for our 2016 Prius. We’re looking at Thule’s and Yakima’s racks, both of which are on sale this week at REI, while also wondering about the one from Toyota. A bike mechanic at our local REI also installs these Thule & Yakima racks on cars for people nervous about putting them on for the first time themselves (I’m not). He recommends Yakima’s rack system now, saying Yakima revised them last year to fit better and more precisely, with more level crossbars, on Priuses with their more domed roof shape. Anybody have any experience of this newer Yakima roof rack system? Or of Thule on their Gen 4 Priuses? Aaaaand: how does the Toyota-branded rack set-up (which looks less expensive) compare? Any difference in traveling noise? Thanks, Eric

 

Thanks for your thoughts, folks, but my question actually has nothing to do with bikes, which we can comfortably carry inside our hatchbacked Prius. I may have confused some of you by my reference to a bike mechanic: at REI, these just happen to be the guys who mount roof racks for customers who need help--whatever the purpose of those racks. (We mean to carry a big double kayak and at other times a cargo box up there.) My question is about what experience any of you have had of the fit to a Gen 4 Prius's dome-ish roof of any of the three brands of rack mounts I mentioned. - Eric

 

No problem, frodoz! We tend to read quickly these days, and more troublesomely, write too quickly . . . and it's probably natural to fill in what writers meant, not just what they wrote. Nothing lost here at all, apart from some minutes' effort. I find that the older habits of reading a second or third time are mostly gone, and people are used to sending out messages without double-checking what they've written first--and we're used to reading those. Much more troubling in other situations!

 

FYI: We bought our roof rack and a cargo box. We opted for a Yakima rack on sale at REI. The primary reason we went with Yakimas is that the company reportedly revised their racks for better fit on each Gen of Priuses, with clear, specific directions in applying their added adjustments. The main adjustment that sold us is the angle you can add to the crossbars held by their Baseline support towers: you can see in my photo that these crossbars are leveled on Priuses, previously a challenge, given our car roofs’ unusual slopes. In all fairness, I’m not sure just how valuable this bar leveling is, but we liked that these wing-shaped aerodynamic crossbars lie level. By all reviews and reports, both Thule’s and Yakima’s products are excellent: sure better than the cheap rack I used to use pre-Prius. And both brands offer crossbars in a few different shapes and metals, all of which can safely carry either brands’ cargo boxes. Lifetime warrantied, too. I didn’t feel confident of Toyota’s offered alternative, although I didn’t get to inspect them. Now we can carry our boat, our skis, or some of our piles of camping stuff up top! - Eric