So it was only the morning after I bought my 08 VC GLS that I discovered it had no siderails - nothing - nada - zip on top. Dealer told me it would cost like 800$ including labor to drill holes and install them. LOL

It makes no sense a car so well equipped including mood lighting, rear climate control and seating for 7 would leave 6.5 measly square feet for all the junk those 7 people would have to carry on vacation.

Yakima and Thule have nothing custom for it. I am curious if the drill holes already exist for this model under the molding.

Suggestions please?

I have a 2007 that is the same way--no roof rack. For $800, you might want to instead consider having a hitch mounted and buying yourself a small trailer. My local dealership said they didn't have a towing package available for the Veracruz, but U-Haul put one on for me for about $250 (if memory serves me correctly). I have a small 4'x8' trailer that I use with it. You could probably buy a little 4'x4' trailer for about $200 (add some wood for another $50 ) and then you'd have the cabin space your looking for for your trips for about $500. If you upgrade to a 4'x8' trailer like I have, you get the added benefit of something to haul semi-light loads of plywood and supplies, if you ever have the need.

Thats a novel idea! I guess my only thing with that is I live in a condo - without much room to store a trailer - and plus I won't have much use for it on a regular basis... Thanks though for the suggestion!

If you don't have space for a trailer, you might want to still consider getting a towing package from somewhere and then buying one of those metal cargo carriers / basket racks that slides into the receiver. You could probably store that in a basement without any problem. If it gives you enough additional cargo space, it would spare you the expense of maintain a license plate for the trailer, too.

I'm sorry, but I don't have a answer for you. But that price doesn't surprise me since I paid $34k for my 08 VC limited last week and I got 5 miles from the dealer and the gas light came on because I was on Empty. I called the salesman to find out if they forgot to fill it up, and he said that they never fill the cars up when they sell them. I have purchased many cars in my life and never rolled off the lot on Empty.

Wow.

Mine was 26500 OTD even with 10% sales tax in Chicago. But it was spec'd out as vanilla as they come - but with floormats. Family Hyundai here gave me a tankful though. Like an 80$ value too these days. LOL

Its no one's fault but mine that I never saw to see there were no siderails...

WOT: I have no basement either. :)

Room under the bed? Behind the sofa? Throw legs on it and make it into an end table? :grin:

That is precisely the route I went! I bought a hitch from e-trailer for approx $160 (free shipping on orders over $150). I also bought the harness from a guy on e-bay for approx $30.00. The hitch is fairly easy to put on (2 people make it easy). The harness is really easy to install (plug -n-play). I bought a 48" X 40" utility trailer from Harbor Freight for approx $160.00 (the one with the 12" wheels - spare wheel/tire cost about $40 more). I put a piece of 3/4" plywood on it (cost about $15 for a half sheet at Lowes) which I painted with exterior house paint to weather proof it. I then bolted my Sears cargo travel pod on it. I just got back from vacation in Colorado (an 1100 mile round trip) and the trailer performed perfectly - in fact - I could barely tell it was back there! The bonus using the trailer is minimal drag (I still averaged almost 25 mpg on the trip), it held a bunch of stuff which freed up interior space, and no wind noise. The drawbacks to using a trailer are the inherent troubles one might have with simply pulling a trailer (i.e. flat tire, backing up, etc). I was able to cram a bunch of stuff in the cargo pod which allowed me to leave one of the back seats up for my kids to use. I was a bit concerned going this route since I had never done it before, and I was also a bit concerned about using the small utility trailer to go such a long distance. All of my fears were for nothing - I was totally pleased with the results and I am now figuring how to get a bit more space out of my trailer/cargo pod for the next vacation. If you can figure out how to store a small trailer, I highly recommend going this route.

This post has been edited by CMac: Jun 1 2008, 09:23 PM

CMac is right... If you buy a trailer, always carry at least one spare tire with you when you use it. You'll also want to be sure that you have a jack along that's capable of lifting the trailer and a lug wrench that fits the nuts on the trailer wheels. I've never driven with a 4'x4' trailer but, the shorter the trailer is, the harder it will be to backup with it on. A short trailer will come around on you much faster than a longer trailer when backing. With a small trailer like that, it may also be wise to mount fiberglass reflective sticks to the rear corners so that you know where the back of the trailer is when looking out the rear window. Carrying a set of triangles (or some type of road reflectors) isn't a bad idea, either. Another thing not to forget is to grease the wheel bearings on the trailer about once a year.

The furthest I've ever towed is about 1,300 miles round trip (not with my Veracruz, though). Although my trailer is 4'x8', it has the smaller 8" rims--but I've had no problems with it. My trailer is very similar to the 4'x8' that Harbor Freight sells. My only complaint about it is that it is designed to fold in half for easier storage, which I believe weakens it and gives it a tendency to flex under full load. Since I never fold mine, I no longer use plywood and, instead, made a bed of 2x4. It makes the trailer a bit heaver but I believe it greatly increased the overall strength.

I used the cargo carrier/basket (that WOT referred to earlier) when we went to Colorado last year and quite frankly I didn't like it. It made the vehicle sag way too much, and since the carrier was almost directly behind the exhaust tips - it melted the tarp I had covering my luggage and - it made the luggage too hot for my liking.

Also - like WOT referred - backing a little trailer up would be a pain. I simply made sure that I never got into a situation where I had to. If I did get into that predicament - I simply would have unhooked it and turned my VC around then re-hooked it up.

WOT - I thought about the fiberglass sticks so I would have visual reference. I still may fit them to the trailer - time will tell.

I too was concerned that the 12" wheels and wheel bearings would have taken a beating during the trip, but I checked the wheel hubs by putting my hand on them during every stop and they were never more than "slightly warm" at any time. I did repack the bearings when I initially got the trailer with high temp grease just to be sure, but after making the trip - the "stock" grease probably would have worked just fine. Better safe than sorry! BTW - I drove as fast as 80 mph and the trailer/wheels/bearings passed with flying colors.

Wow! -- 80 MPH! That's a pretty good clip! :) How much weight to you estimate you were towing? For my long run, I was hauling between 600 and 800 pounds but never went over 55 or 60 MPH.

Between the weight of the cargo pod and the luggage inside it, I probably had about 400 lbs on the trailer. I typically drive 5 mph over the speed limit when I travel, and the speed limit in Colorado on I-70 is 75 - hence the 80 mph. I might have been aprehensive about doing 80 right off the bat, but I had about 350 miles of doing 55 - 70 mph to get a feel for how well the trailer would behave before I hit Colorado. When I checked the temp of the wheel hubs after doing 55 - 70 mph and found no issues whatsoever, I had no qualms doing 80 mph with my little trailer in tow.