Shabbis

Actually, Yakima the company is based out of Arcata, California.

Shabbis

Mine did on my 92 Subaru Legacy. They rusted in the middle and the end caps kept falling off.

leeep

...after each trip. Hopefully this will be 'nuf to mitigate the problem somewhat. YMMV.<p>-eric
<a href="http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/~leeep/audi/">Jaspis/Opal '00 Avant 1.8TQTipS, GIAC Stage 1.5</a>
#AudiWorld on <a href="http://www.efnet.org/">EFNet</a> IRC

downindenver

I also used to work in bike shops...so I've sold both. Here's my opinion.

The Thule system is built to last. It may not be as pretty or as easy to use, but I've moved a Thule system around quite a bit, only needing to buy new feet for each car/truck. I had a single Thule system go from an '86 Chevy Blazer to an '87 Nissan Pathfinder to an '88 Audi 90q, to a '95 Integra GSR to an '87 Porsche 944. These were not all my cars, but the system went onto the Blazer in '86, finished on the Porsche in '99. The paint was flaking off a little bit and some of the hardware was starting to show rust.

I bought a Yakima for my Audi in '97. The bolts on the fairing are already rusting. The paint is peeling off the rack clamps and the bike attachment rear tire clamp (which is showing some rust, too).

Thule wins in terms of durability.

The Yakima wins in terms of ease of use, but I understand the newer attachments for Thule are much better than the old ones I have.

Yakima's round bars are cool cause you can move accessories out of the way (ski racks) when not in use. This creates less drag and less windnoise. But they are weaker and will bow more over time than Thule rectangular. If you leave your accessories up (not folding them down)and don't have a fairing, the Thule system is quieter.

They used to be pretty comparable in terms of price. I'm not sure how they are now. Expect to pay around $400, possibly more depending on how many accessories you want.

Which would I buy today?

The Yakima rack is 10x easier to install and remove. So if you want to swap between cars, or take it off when not in use, I'd go with the Yakima (again, my Thule is very old, but I haven't seen any changes from them concerning the basic rack). If all you care about is durability, buy the Thule.<p>- Josh
- '98 A4qms 2.8 (now SOLD)
- '72 911T

Wayne H.

and the prices were pretty similar. I liked the round bars for a slightly better connection for attachments.

I hadn't heard about rusting problems, but I'll do the WD-40 thing to help prevent it.

Personally, I like the looks of the Yakima Q-towers better :-)<p>Wayne H.
99 1.8TQMS APR

gdewiTT

Then maybe I can buy one after all.

bbmass

From what I can tell both products work well, so why not support the American company? If there was an American made car comparable to the A4 I would buy it. I realize how funny that sounds.

a4drew

Thule has a huge manufacturing operation in the US I think its in Colorado. I've had good luck with the bike and ski racks on an 1987 Audi 5000 S and a on 1990 Audi 100 quattro.
Werd37