Cheap car with roof rails or mounting points

[jamesbilluk]

Hi all,

I've recently fitted a roof top tent to the 159 Sportwagon (recommended by the manufacturer, and within weight limits) they were the clamp on though, and one collapsed causing damage to the roof.

I would like to keep the 159 as a daily, but my plan now is to have something cheap, with pepper roof rails, or roof bar mounting points I can keep the roof top tent on.

It can be estate, SUV, it would need to have a roof limit of at least 75kg though,

What would you recommend for £2000 ish? relatively reliable as well..

I did look at the mini clubman, they have roof rails, bit not sure the car will be big enough to carry what we need.

And the Skoda Yeti, apparently the roof rails have to have the additional support at the rear, which those dong sadly.

[66HFM]

An A4 Avant 06 onwards or its sister car a Seat Exeo ST (estate), see last weeks Shed of the Week for information on what a Seat Exeo is.
Other options are an 06 onwards 3 Series Touring, all with fixed roof rails

[jamesbilluk]

66HFM said:

An A4 Avant 06 onwards or its sister car a Seat Exeo ST (estate), see last weeks Shed of the Week for information on what a Seat Exeo is.
Other options are an 06 onwards 3 Series Touring, all with fixed roof rails

Thank you for that I'll look into those.

[66HFM]

66HFM said:

An A4 Avant 06 onwards or its sister car a Seat Exeo ST (estate), see last weeks Shed of the Week for information on what a Seat Exeo is.
Other options are an 06 onwards 3 Series Touring, all with fixed roof rails

Just to add to my earlier suggestions, Skoda Octavia estate, Volvo V50 and V70

[jamesbilluk]

66HFM said:

Just to add to my earlier suggestions, Skoda Octavia estate, Volvo V50 and V70

Thank you. I forgot about the V50, I've always liked them, and interior.

[vikingaero]

If you buy a car with roof rails where they mount just at the front and rear then you may still have similar problems.

If you can find a car with flush mounted roof rails then you could use a third roof bar to help spread the load.

[SlowV6]

vikingaero said:

If you buy a car with roof rails where they mount just at the front and rear then you may still have similar problems.

If you can find a car with flush mounted roof rails then you could use a third roof bar to help spread the load.

Our Mondeo estate has these. It's a Titanium X Mk4.5 with the 2.0TDCi 163BHP engine. Looking at Autotrader there are a number of Mk4 estates under the £2k budget, but you'd need £3k to start getting a small selection of Mk4.5s. Not ULEZ compliant mind, so you may rule out depending on where you live.

Our other car is an old E-91 330d M-Sport and that has similar rails. However as a load lugger it's sh*te and is getting needy as it is aging whereas the Ford generally behaves itself. Also Ford parts are cheaper. I couldn't recommend the beemer over the Ford at this price point.

[jamesbilluk]

vikingaero said:

If you buy a car with roof rails where they mount just at the front and rear then you may still have similar problems.

If you can find a car with flush mounted roof rails then you could use a third roof bar to help spread the load.

Ah, good point, it certainly seems like a lot of weight.

[jamesbilluk]

SlowV6 said:

Our Mondeo estate has these. It's a Titanium X Mk4.5 with the 2.0TDCi 163BHP engine. Looking at Autotrader there are a number of Mk4 estates under the £2k budget, but you'd need £3k to start getting a small selection of Mk4.5s. Not ULEZ compliant mind, so you may rule out depending on where you live.

Our other car is an old E-91 330d M-Sport and that has similar rails. However as a load lugger it's sh*te and is getting needy as it is aging whereas the Ford generally behaves itself. Also Ford parts are cheaper. I couldn't recommend the beemer over the Ford at this price point.

Thank you, I shall take a look at the Mondeo as well. I like the Mk4 as well.

Not to worry about ULEZ, many hours away from London.