I think all need bars and fixing kit ? we bought the thule bars and kit and a halfords box ( reduced to a silly privce in the sale ,then i got more knocked off for scratches ) and we are more than happy with ours !
One thing tho ,check the maximum weight limit of the rrof of your car ,and remember you have to include the weight of the bars and box as well as just the contents !
I Bought an Atera Odessy box and Thule bars from http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/directory2/details.asp?revid=572&typeid=. at £240 + overnight delivery at £10. They do package deals when you buy the two things together. Would recomend you at least have a look. Consider what style of box you will need (long thin, short wide, etc...) Do you wish to carry other items on the roof e.g. bikes, and as Skatty says check the maximum roof weight loading for your car. As a guide I have a Focus Estate with the roof rails and can carry up to 100 KGs on the roof (including the bars etc...)
We went for a thule backbox which sits on a towbar as we already had a towbar on the car. Great bit of kit, takes 420 litres and up to 50 kg and did the job just fine.
The Halford boxes are fine. We have a Mondeo and have the 480litre Halfords and have had no problems with it. It doesn't matter which roofbox you buy, you will always have to get roof bars and the fixing kit, unless it is some combined offer that comes with the accessories. This I would doubt very much as different cars have different fixing kits. We got free fitting from Halfords ( not that you need it ), but it did help int he respect that they showed us how it all goes on.
We don't use it as much now as we very quickly filled up the roofbox and was out of space again. Now we have a trailer and sometimes the roofbox as well.
Hiya
We borrow a Halfords box from a relative(short wide one) and its been absolutely fine.
We are considering getting a long narrow one in the next year or two, to enable us to get bikes on the roof (will eventually need to put 2 bikes on the roof and 3 on the rear mount cycle carrier) so a slim box means space for the bikes.
I noticed in this weeks Makro mailer than they've got a roof box for £79.99 (+vat) if you hold or know of someone holding a makro card. Not sure whether its a good make or not though.
MM
hi, if your finding the roof bars exspensive why not look on ebay or in the local free ads for a second hand set, we got some for a tenner plus postage so it cost 20.00 all in, but thats a saving of about 50.00 against new, and they all do the same job, a good tip tho with ebay(if u dont use it already) is wait until the last minute to bid, it keps the final value of the items down,
All I can add is - go for the largest you can get (you will always find more stuff to fill it) and DON'T FORGET the MAX HEADROOM signs when entering car parks etc We've managed this a couple of times, oops!
We've got an Halfords box, it holds an amazing amount of stuff. I notice some folk have worked hard to remove the Halfords sticker from their boxes, I guess they prefer people to think they spent big money on them. Ours came with fixing brackets for the box & the car already had the bars.
One thing I saw on the road impressed me, I was passed by a car towing a trailer, he'd put pair of bars across his trailer & mounted a roof box on them, I suppose it doubled the capacity of his trailer & he didn't have to drive round on hols with the box in place.
I honestly can't remember how much we paid for ours but my mate bought one from an auction site, whether it was ebay or not I don't know but he got it cheap.
Thule got a new roof box out which is made from canvas. If you think you will find it difficult to store a roof box get this. It holds 340litres and it costs about £160 but it folds up to just over a metre long. Looks really good.
look about on t'internet. We found a performance shop near us that mainly did towbars and trailers, but also sell roofboxes etc. We got a 380lL box for £80.
It's a tough decision between a tow bar / trailer and roofbox. We would have gone for the trailer if we had anywhere to store it (no garage or garden) At the end of the day your roofbox and the your car can only hold so much weight.
forgot to add that you could check your local paper or ebay too. You can buy 2nd hand ones quite cheap and also you could get a good deal off one of the ebay shops - we nearly bought one off an ebay shop but it couldnt be delivered in time for our trip that weekend.