Hi All:

I'll be buying a new Civic sometime in the next few months. I'm going
with the sedan primarily for greater rack stability. I just spoke to a
guy at a specialty rack shop who said he didn't recommend the Yakima Q
Tower setup for the new Civics, as there's a chance the rack will fly
off the car. He said the best option is a custom Yakima install, and
the second best is a standard Thule setup.

Anyone have any experience with putting racks on these new (2006+)
Civics? I'm not thrilled about the idea of putting rivets in my brand
new car for a custom rack, but if that's a significantly safer option,
I suppose I could do it.

Any advice or wisdom is appreciated. If it makes a difference, the
rack will primarily be used for one or more whitewater boats.

Thanks,

Harvey

"Harvey Rogers" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi All:

I'll be buying a new Civic sometime in the next few months. I'm going
with the sedan primarily for greater rack stability. I just spoke to a
guy at a specialty rack shop who said he didn't recommend the Yakima Q
Tower setup for the new Civics, as there's a chance the rack will fly
off the car. He said the best option is a custom Yakima install, and
the second best is a standard Thule setup.

Anyone have any experience with putting racks on these new (2006+)
Civics? I'm not thrilled about the idea of putting rivets in my brand
new car for a custom rack, but if that's a significantly safer option,
I suppose I could do it.

Any advice or wisdom is appreciated. If it makes a difference, the
rack will primarily be used for one or more whitewater boats.

Thanks,

Harvey


I'm a lurker with the same question, except that mine is a '98 Accord.

Al G

Harvey Rogers wrote:
Hi All:

I'll be buying a new Civic sometime in the next few months. I'm going
with the sedan primarily for greater rack stability. I just spoke to a
guy at a specialty rack shop who said he didn't recommend the Yakima Q
Tower setup for the new Civics, as there's a chance the rack will fly
off the car. He said the best option is a custom Yakima install, and
the second best is a standard Thule setup.

Is there something special about a 2006 Civic roof? I think maybe your
installer is angling for some increased profits. I think Yakimas are
good products.

Steve

On Nov 28, 3:59 pm, Steve Cramer wrote:
Is there something special about a 2006 Civic roof? I think maybe your
installer is angling for some increased profits. I think Yakimas are
good products.

The price of the permanent install is only $10 more, so my guess is
that his advice isn't profit driven. I don't know about the specifics
of the Civic's roof--that's just what the guy told me.

Harvey Rogers wrote:

I just spoke to a
guy at a specialty rack shop who said he didn't recommend the Yakima Q
Tower setup for the new Civics, as there's a chance the rack will fly
off the car. He said the best option is a custom Yakima install, and
the second best is a standard Thule setup.

I have no experience with this model, but I'm suspicious of these claims.
Looking at photos on the Honda website, I can't see anything that shows this
roof or design to be so different than older Honda Civics that the roof rack
won't be secure. I've been driving a Civic hatchback with a rock solid Thule
rack for 14 years - and that's with the short roof adapter.

I'd like to know _why_ the salesdroid makes this claim.

Mike

He's going to bore 8 holes in your roof, install hardware, and charge
you $10? This is hard to believe. BTW, rivets through sheet metal isn't
the most secure mounting system in the world.

Steve

On Nov 28, 8:13 pm, "Harvey Rogers" wrote:
On Nov 28, 3:59 pm, Steve Cramer wrote:

Is there something special about a 2006 Civic roof? I think maybe your
installer is angling for some increased profits. I think Yakimas are
good products.

The price of the permanent install is only $10 more, so my guess is
that his advice isn't profit driven. I don't know about the specifics
of the Civic's roof--that's just what the guy told me.

The parts are cheaper so the final price only ends up being $10 more.

Apparently, one significant benefit of the permanent install is that,
aside from the "landing pads" which the towers connect to, the rack is
easier to remove than the clips.

On Nov 30, 9:03 am, " wrote:
He's going to bore 8 holes in your roof, install hardware, and charge
you $10? This is hard to believe. BTW, rivets through sheet metal isn't
the most secure mounting system in the world.

Steve

On Nov 28, 8:13 pm, "Harvey Rogers" wrote:

On Nov 28, 3:59 pm, Steve Cramer wrote:

Is there something special about a 2006 Civic roof? I think maybe your
installer is angling for some increased profits. I think Yakimas are
good products.
The price of the permanent install is only $10 more, so my guess is
that his advice isn't profit driven. I don't know about the specifics
of the Civic's roof--that's just what the guy told me.

Harvey wrote:
The parts are cheaper so the final price only ends up being $10 more.

Apparently, one significant benefit of the permanent install is that,
aside from the "landing pads" which the towers connect to, the rack is
easier to remove than the clips.

How much easier? With the clips, I open the doors, unlock the locks,
flip the cams open, and lift. Installing might be faster, as there wouldn't
be any guessing about where to place the towers.

Looking at the control tower directions, it's not necessary to open the doors
with a through the roof mount.

Jeremy, with Yakima Q towers on a '94 civic 4 door

Jeremy wrote:

How much easier? With the clips, I open the doors, unlock the locks,
flip the cams open, and lift.

I think that Yakima has the better tower designs with easier attachment and
removal. Thule has better fiddly bits like saddles etc, though. Just MHO.


Installing might be faster, as there wouldn't
be any guessing about where to place the towers.

I'm not sure I understand this comment - don't you have little stickers on the
inside of the door frame to show where to attach the towers every time?

Mike

Michael Daly wrote:
Jeremy wrote:

I think that Yakima has the better tower designs with easier attachment and
removal. Thule has better fiddly bits like saddles etc, though. Just MHO.

I've heard that suggested. Fortunately, it seems that both companies have
decided to target each other's customers. That's almost as good as
compatibility

Installing might be faster, as there wouldn't
be any guessing about where to place the towers.

I'm not sure I understand this comment - don't you have little stickers
on the inside of the door frame to show where to attach the towers every
time?

Nah. After several years of use, there is a difference in paint color, but
no intentional markings.