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Old 07-26-2011, 11:05 PM   #1
Kaykogi
 
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Drives: 2009 Barcelona Red Sedan
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Exclamation Catastrophic Yakima Roof Rack Failure

I've lurked here on yw.com for some time, but now is a time for action. Also, my first post. I bought a Yakima Q-tower base rack system (The old style with the hash marks on top, if anyone is interested), 48" crossbars, and two frontloader bike mounts for my 2009 Yaris sedan. It worked awesome for a few months, and I would check it frequently to make sure it was still secure. The other day on the way home from a ride the whole thing detached from the roof at 50 mph and fell onto the road. Amazingly, the bikes (mine: $2800, and a friend's: $4800) sustained minimal damage. The rack, however, is a total loss, and my car, which was in pristine condition, now has a series of dents:





And scratches:



I was really enjoying this rack setup.



As you can tell.

I wish I had a picture of the bikes and the rack now, but they're currently in a friends garage. My question is this: has anyone else out there had any problems with Yakima (or Thule, out of curiosity) roof racks failing? I believe that my case was due to the clips that hook under the doors slipping out, even though I checked them minutes before it fell off, so I'm hoping Yakima will cover the cost of the rack and repairs to the bikes and my car. Anyway, any feed back would be appreciated.
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Old 07-26-2011, 11:53 PM   #2
Pacquiao
 
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That's absolutely terrible! Sorry to hear about that, man. What I would do is contact Yakima, and be ready to forward pictures of the damage it caused to your car. Also be ready to send back the base mounts so that their quality control department can investigate it for failure.

Good luck to you, man.

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Old 07-27-2011, 09:26 AM   #3
Bernie P.
 
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That really sucks.Was this the rack recommended for the car by Yakima?
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Old 07-27-2011, 09:44 AM   #4
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first off - welcome! very sorry about your car and if yakima won't do something for you maybe the place you purchased the kit will? i had the identical system on my 08 sedan for years until one day - in a moment of stupidity - i drove into my garage with my bike still attached!!! my car has the same dings/scratches on the roof and trunk, but on the plus side my bike was ok(in fact, the bike was still attached to the rack as it hung off the back/side of my car).

the q-clips were bent, but everything else was undamaged - except my car, of course!

i would call yakima, but i doubt you'll get anything other than *maybe* a new rack/clips from them at best. if you had it installed at a yakima dealer by qualified employees you might be better off going thru the retailer if you want compensation for damage to your vehicle. otherwise, unless they've had repeat issues with racks detatching at speed you might be out of luck on the car - it's the whole 'you installed it and we can't be held liable for improper set-up' legal mumbo-jumbo.

there's always your insurance company! call them and see what they can do for you.
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Old 07-27-2011, 10:16 AM   #5
Cosworth
 
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I've used a Yakima rack w/ vipor mounts on our old Civic and Yaris. It's worked great for us with our road bikes.

I really don't think that Yakima will be held responsible for the damages. But, here are some questions for you.

Q1: Did you tighten down the clips before each use? I know on ours, we usually tighten the system down over a 24-hour period before first install of the season. Then, before each use, I double check the tension on the clips and mounts.

Q2. Did you travel on gravel or rough pavement? Just wondering if rough road conditions might have contributed to the clips coming off.

Comment: Like Pacquiao mentioned, I would save the clips and take it to the place you bought them from. And, see if Yakima could do a test on them for any defects. But, this would take a lot of time.

Godd luck with getting things fixed!

-Sean

p.s. wow... a $4,800 mt. bike? I'm glad it survived the fall.
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Old 07-27-2011, 05:33 PM   #6
Kaykogi
 
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I was going to go through and answer questions one by one, but I can just say that the way I installed the rack and how careful I was about putting things on it leads me to believe that one or more of the clips worked their way lose within five minutes of paved road driving. I have contacted Yakima, and I just got a response about two minutes ago, so hopefully I can get this taken care of.
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Old 08-13-2012, 12:52 AM   #7
yours_falsely
 
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So what was the verdict?
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Old 08-14-2012, 03:55 PM   #8
swidd
 
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At least the bicycles were okay, that's all that matters....I'll show myself out.
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Old 08-14-2012, 03:59 PM   #9
nookandcrannycar
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by swidd View Post
At least the bicycles were okay, that's all that matters....I'll show myself out.
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