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we're off on holiday in a couple of weeks and i'm starting to panic about space. we're taking a couple of tents and travelling light, but i think i'd be more confident if we had a roof box or summat.
does anybody know what kind of roof rack or box you can get for a volvo V70? and how they fit on? more importantly, how much it will cost?

we would only use it this time cos we usually take the caravan, so i don't want to spend an arm and a leg for 2 weeks use!

Have you looked at the Thule 'matchmaker' website?  It seems rather slow to load today, but you can choose your car, up comes an image, then click on the different style and size of box to see what suits you best.  Then you can jot down the measurements etc and dig around on the www to get a good deal.

Thule UK - Discover our world - Thule Web - MatchMaker is top right.

People have different ideas about roof boxes so it's best to select one that really suits.  I nearly bought a new one with a larger capacity but then thought that the overall vehicle height could stop me using the T-tolls in France and also getting into some car parks when fitted.

It's claimed that certain cheaper top boxes are constructed of a different material to some more expensive ones and that they will not last as long.  My old Thule must be about 12-14 years old now and is still serving us well - though the same size box is now available for little more than I paid for it all those years ago! 

If you have no real need for a top box long term, (and they are not cheap!) why not hire one?  A tow-bar fitting company near me used to hire them out and probably they and others still do.  The Roof Box Company: sales and hire of Thule roof boxes and other brands of r

Oozat

thanks for that - just after i posted i thought maybe hiring would be a better option. it really will only be used this once and i know they're expensive.
i'll look into the hiring option!

cheers

billie, I have a roof bag, "pouch", from here http://www.familyonboard.com/KANGA_SHERPAK_ROOF_POUCH_DIRECTORY.html

I saw them favourably reviewed in a magazine years ago, but by the time I came to buy one I couldn't find a supplier in the UK so I ordered direct from the USA. The company were very helpful and the shipping charge (forgotten what it was) was very reasonable.

I have always been very pleased with ours. Its well made out of good strong stuff. It sits very securely on the roof of the car and everything inside is safe and dry.  We use it for pillows, sleeping bags, clothes holdalls etc. The bag sits on a mat of that sticky mesh fabric on the roof of the car (to avoid any scratches on  the car from dirt etc) and there are strong hooks on adjustable straps which clamp inside the car door frames. When you get to the campsite, you just empty it, take it off the car, roll it up and stick it out of the way  until you need it to go home. Similarly at home, where it lives in the corner of the shed.  As you don't need roof bars or rails with it, I have also been able to lend it to friends quite easily for their holiday needs. MT

Speaking of packing pillows, bedding etc, we bought a couple of packs of these a few years ago. 

http://www.betterware.co.uk/productdetails.aspx?pid=015986&cid=004&language=en-GB

Brilliant!  You can roll them up, sit on them, or use a vacuum cleaner to suck out the air.  If you 'pat' the bags as the air is being sucked out you can actually get a very good stackable shape.  They save masses of space in our car - and I really do mean that.

They are much better and stronger than the one's we bought from Argos a few years before, which had an awkward sealing 'stick'.

HTH

Oozat

i think thule do the roof bags now, and someone also said that tescos had started to as well.

there was a thread on here, i'll see if i can find it.

http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=6&TopicID=68450&SearchPagePosition=1&search=tesco&searchMode= allwords&searchIn= Topic&forum=6&searchSort= dateDESC&ReturnPage=Search

here you go.

http://www.thule.com/Thule/ProductDetailPage____24544.aspx

heres the thule one

CAN RECOMMEND THULE PRODUCTS. THEIR STUFF IS EXCELLENT QUALITY. I HAVE BEEN TO THEIR UK BASE AND DONE THE OFFICIAL TRAINING COURSE A FEW YEARS BACK WHEN I WAS IN THE MOTOR TRADE. THEY EVEN SAY THAT BY ADDING A ROOF BOX IT CAN HELP THE FUEL ECOMOMY ON SOME CARS!!!

Quote: Originally posted by billie on 08/6/2006

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merry terrier, how does yours fit on the car?

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We bought the smallest size, as we only had  a Punto at the time, and there are various sizes available. It came with two different sets of adjustable straps - one set to use if you were going to strap the bag onto either a roof rack or roof rails, and a second set for if, like us, the bag would be sat on its mat on the roof of the car and hooked onto the door frame (ie the actual car body inside where the door shuts, not the door itself). Oh dear, I don't think I'm explaining this very well!

Try again. the bag is on the roof with the four straps dangling down. Each strap ends in a hook. Open the car door, hook the hook (!) onto the part of the door frame above where the door would be, tighten all four straps, shut the car doors. Bob's your uncle. MT

lol, thanks for that - i think i understand!

i know the thule ones are supposed to be the best, but we are only needing one because we decided to leave the caravan at home and save on the petrol costs - probably an extra £300. if we were gonna buy thule roof bars and box we might as well just take the van!

We have the thule back box and easy base and are about to use it for the first time.  It is massive and very easy to load and we think it is very sexy!

Ali