VW Roof Racks vs. Yakima Racks

chootie unit

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 9, 2012
Location
Honolulu, Hi
TDI
2002 Jetta GLS
Any preference on these. The Yakima complete system is $100 more than the VW Racks from the dealership. Yakima is trusted as one of the best, any reason not to go with the cheaper VW Racks? Thanks for input...
 

dislexicmofo

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2008
Location
Atlanta, GA
TDI
2003 VW Golf TDI GLS
I would venture to guess they are both quality products. The differences may be in what attachments are available for one vs the other, though I am sure that thule or yakima makes the OEM rack anyway. Other than that get the one you think looks the best.
 

chootie unit

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 9, 2012
Location
Honolulu, Hi
TDI
2002 Jetta GLS
That's my thought, that the VW should be equal or similar build as Yakima, can't imagine they would be significantly less. I know the Yakima comes with the pads on the crossbars, but $100 difference? Also, Yakima has numerous adapters for kayaks, bikes, etc. but I don't need them. I like the VW Racks for aesthetics.
 

Larry Larson

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 10, 2000
Location
Champaign-Urbana Illinois
I have Yakima racks and they are very high quality, as I assume the VW ones would be. One advantage to the VW ones might be that the design might integrate better stylistically with the rest of the car.
 

Jetter_Sprinta

Veteran Member - TDIClub Contributor
Joined
Nov 7, 2002
Location
Boston, Massachusetts
TDI
2 Peeps sharing 1 UseYerName//an array of cars
After I ran through a low clearance lane in Boston Logan Terminal B with 2 bikes on my Yakima rack, and came out with nothing worse than roadrash on the highest seat, I vowed that I would never get anything other than Yakima. Then I got my A3 Jetta, and I could not get a Yakima to fit that car for love nor money.

I eventually went with Thule, and while it was a tough fit, it did fit. Somewhere I got the impression that Thule builds the OEM VW racks. I'll go out on a limb and say any of the three are good. Just make sure the installation is correct. And if given the option, test drive for wind noise. On the A3 with a sunroof, I definitely had to get the fairing (sp??) and even then, it was LOUD!
 

dislexicmofo

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2008
Location
Atlanta, GA
TDI
2003 VW Golf TDI GLS
I would hit up the sale forums on vwvortex.com first. They move crazy fast though so be prepared to scramble to keep up.
 

coalminer16

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 11, 2008
Location
Central Wisconsin
TDI
Golf 2004
I have the VW ones on a Golf. They don't make much noise at 75 mph. There is a little noise but not much. Now with a car top carrier on there or other attachments on then things can get noisy but that is up to that attachments design not the bars. The Yakima bars that are on my brothers 05 wagon (has the vw bars going lengthwise that the yakima bars attach to). With that those make noise unless you have the wind deflector which is just more wind resistance. But they are good bars as well and brother keeps them on the whole time. They are wider so you can hole more things up there but you also have the chance of taking an eye out walking too close to the car at night. But there is a better chance of a bike rack and a car top carrier up there at once and that isn't so with OEM. I personally would do OEM again. I have a custom 2 inch receiver hitch for the rest I want to take with.
 

Jon Linn

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2007
Location
Fort Wayne, In
TDI
2002 New Beetle 160,000 miles
I eventually went with Thule, and while it was a tough fit, it did fit. Somewhere I got the impression that Thule builds the OEM VW racks.
When I had a MkIII Jetta TDI, the roof rack I had was factory made by Thule. I brought replacement keys from a local Ski/Snowboard shop,that carried Thule racks.

I never bought the flaring; although opening the sunroof was useless with all the noise the rack made. Perhaps flaring would have helped with that.
 

b1jackson

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2005
Location
Prince Edward Island, Canada
TDI
2012 Golf - Gone in BUYBACK. Replaced with 2015 Golf
I had the OEM VW rack on my Jetta. When carrying two kayaks on J-cradles, I couldn't stand the noise. I tried to buy a Thule fairing to mount to it but it wouldn't work, required some modification and ended up pretty much standing straight up and down anyway so it wasn't deflecting any wind.

Went with a complete Yakima set so I could mount the proper fairing to it and it looks good to boot.
 

Diesel2005Golf

Active member
Joined
Aug 17, 2010
Location
Ottawa, ON, Canada
TDI
2003 Golf
Any preference on these. The Yakima complete system is $100 more than the VW Racks from the dealership. Yakima is trusted as one of the best, any reason not to go with the cheaper VW Racks? Thanks for input...
I have Yakima racks for my Honda, about to buy adapters to use them on the VW. Very high quality. The advantage of the Yakima racks is that by buying different foot pieces you can adapt them to different vehicles. They will outlast your VW.
 

kiwibru

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 21, 1999
Location
Distant island in WA. state
TDI
Golf 2-door, 2k Silver. Red RTDI now gone but not forgotten!
Factory OEM is Thule. I have combined them both for a great "hybrid". Thule risers with Thule cross bars, then the square adapters from Yakima and mount the Yakima bike mount. Run the wind fairing on the front, little noise, little mileage hit.
 

Boggie105

Active member
Joined
May 6, 2009
Location
Cincinnati, OH
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI GL (196K miles)
I have a Yakima racks for my Jetta - go on and come of easy. Lots of rack options - you can probably find a complete rack or parts of a rack on craigslist cheap.

If you're buying new I would look into the new Wispbar system - might give you better fuel economy with the rack left on and you might be able to get away without a fairing. I haven't read any reviews about them to know if they are worth the money.
 

halocline

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Location
San Antonio
TDI
04 Jetta Wagon
My wagon has the factory rails and I found that the VW rack fit the rails much better than the yakima.
 

btcost

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 13, 2002
Location
Boston, MA
TDI
'12 JSW, '00 Jetta (totaled 12/23/10), 1987 M-B 300D
on my Mk4 sedan I had both the factory rack, followed by a Thule with a wind deflector.

The Thule with deflector was much, much more quiet than the factory set up.

Shop around for a used set up. I ended up selling mine for $100.
 

ToolNut

Veteran Member
Joined
May 2, 2004
Location
Boylston, MA, USA
TDI
'02 Jetta GLS, '11 SportWagen
We've had the Yakima setup for 12 years. I'd buy them all over again. One major advantage over the VW units is the ability to switch towers/mounts for different cars without having to switch the bars and accessories. Thule is probably similar. Another advantage: I was able to get extra-wide bars so I can carry two bikes --one each outboard of the towers/mounts while mounting a canoe inboard of the towers/mounts. Not possible with the VW rack.
 

Dodoma

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2004
TDI
2002 Jetta White
I have the VW brand that I got for less than $100 and instillation was easy for 2002 Jetta.
 
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