Why won't universal roof bars fit?

[Plymman]

Hi all, 

We've recently picked up a second hand roomster and just love it with one exception, I keep reading that without rails, none of the universal roof bars will fit. Why is this? 

 

I assumed something like this would be fine:

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F152544805284

 

But I keep reading they won't work, although most posts are a few years old, is it any different now? 

 

I know the inflatable handirack bars will fit but will stop the curtain airbags from working which isn't ideal. My local skoda dealer quoted £350 including parts, labour and vat to retrofit the roof rails which is a bit pricy but I guess not the end of the world if its my only option, any advice please? 

 

 

 

[Plymman]

I should add I've contacted a couple of sellers of the universal type bars and have generally had the same response "these bars should fit most 5 door skoda models" which seems disconcertingly vague. 

 

What would stop them from fitting? 

[RichardatWakefield]

Hi Plymman,

There should still be earlier stuff on here from members retro-fitting the roof-rails, I recall they didn't enjoy removing/refitting the headliner!  Or did they find that there were captive nuts welded to the inside of the roof, so a case of using the supplied template, mark, drill, clear swarf, treat bared metal, fit rails.

They bought a kit for about £90, which included the template to mark out the hole positions.  Guess it depends on your budget, DIY confidence, time available.

 

That quote sounds pretty reasonable to have the work done.  Or maybe consider selling the car and find a similar one that already has the rails factory-fitted??   I searched on Autotrader for used Roomsters, was specifically looking for one already fitted with the rails, so I could use roof-bars, and because I think the car looks better with them (as, in my opinion, do the Peugeot Partner Tepees/Citroen Berlingos).

HTH.

Richard.

Edited 12 March, 2018 by RichardatWakefield
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[Plymman]

I looked at the previous posts and I'm not going to risk fitting rails myself,I can see myself doing damage that'll end up costing more than getting the rails fitted in the first place! I'm no practical and have almost zero tools. 

 

Neither am I going to buy a different model, it's taken me months to find a nice condition model in the spec I want and we've had no problems with it. They hardly ever come up for sale where I am and getting a decent diesel with full history and low miles is like finding a needle in a haystack. 

 

I just really want to understand why the universal bars that go under the doors won't work. I've got a cheap option with the inflatable bars, or a pricy one with the rails but I'd rather just use standard bars and can't see why they won't work. I guess they don't as the roof bar issue seems to be a common one but why? 

 

 

Edited 12 March, 2018 by Plymman
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