It sounds simple and trivial, but recessed roof rack mounts (ala BMW) are a great idea. For those of us who need a certain amount of utility in our vehicle, recessed mounting points makes adding and removing a roof rack quick and easy. I don't know why more manufacturers don't implement this simple idea.

 

It would be nice if more car manufactures reached out to those of us who need roof racks. If they don’t think it is a factor in some car purchases, they are mistaken.

Real world example: I once actually did not buy a car that I really wanted, only because I couldn’t find a roof rack that would fit it. It was a Subaru SVX. You probably remember those, they are the ones with the funny half roll down windows. I had loved those since they first came out. They had the utility of all-wheel-drive wrapped in a good-looking package that was sporty enough to match my driving style. Back in 1998 I found a good deal on a bright red 1996 Subaru SVX. It had low miles and was loaded. I test drove it and loved it. I was ready to buy it the next day, but I wanted to make sure I could find a roof rack that would fit it. I Checked with Yakima and Thule, the two largest rack manufactures as well as some smaller companies. No one had any towers that would fit it or knew of any that would. I didn’t buy the car.

I like the recessed roof rack attachment points. I think that is the direction that the industry needs to head in. I thought it was good marketing a couple of years ago when VW was offering the Trek version of one of their vehicles that came with a roof rack. What I think is useless and silly are all of the sport utility vehicles that have roof racks that run parallel to the sides of the car. How pointless is that? I can just see me throwing one of my kayaks on top of that thing. It would have to be perpendicular to the car. That would be fine until you met oncoming traffic.

Fortunately, I’m don’t have to worry about the roof rack dilemma on my next purchase. I’ve decided to keep my Corolla as a shuttle vehicle and sundry other tasks.

 

Although most cars (except the svx!) can be fitted with roof racks, the beauty of the recessed mounting points is that the rack can be removed quickly and easily so the car's form and lines don't always have to be obscured. It's also nice that it only takes 2 minutes to attach ;-) Now that I have a car with the mounting points, it's hard to imagine going back.