brooks

My MY00 has 4 areas where the Thule roof bars clamp on where the rubber feet have damaged the paint. There are lots of tiny scores where the rubber Thule feet press on the roof of the car. I put the second biggest box on the car where we go away. I tighten the clamps as much as I dare onto the plastic part the clamps grips to. I dont know if anyone else has suffered this? Is it due to not being able to tighten the clamps due to the design of the Impreza? Is it the quality of the paint? Am I doing something wrong? Has anyone else had this problem?

Simon

scoobyfella

I'm thinking of getting some roof bars and a box so would also be interested to hear what people say about them, and where to get them from.

Sorry for hi-jacking your thread Simon.

Cheers James.

David_Dickson

This can happen when dirt gets trapped between the foot of the roofbar and your roof.
All it takes is a thin layer of dust to cause this sort of damage, and from what I hear, Scoobys may not have the best quality paint anyway.

Try T-cut (use the metallic version if your car is metallic) to get rid of the marks, and next time you use the bars, wipe the areas of the roof with a clean cloth before fitting them.

brooks

Scoobyfela - no problem.

David, thank you for the reply. Your speculation seems good. As I recall it the damage is a little greater on the front pad area, I guess these would pick up more dust and grit??!!??

I wanted to get an idea of the cause before I get the area sorted out by the body repair place (T-cut would not fix the paint - it is a little too far gone for that).

Iain Young

That's why I bought the official Subaru rack for my STi7. It's a pain to fit, but you don't get any of these scratching problems (as it doesn't touch the bodywork).

You could try getting in touch with Mark Underwood. He / Swissol produce some cleaning fluids that should get the marks out of the paint, and it's a LOT less damaging to your paintwork than t-cut.

Iain

Brett P1

Don't know too much about the paint issue but the box will definately do nothing for your 'pose' stakes...!

brooks

Iain, thanks but I think the marks are too much for any product. I use Wax Wizard (Mark's old company) products already, and have done since I had the car (from new). I had hoped that the WW Wax would hace protected the paint, no luck though :O( .

Brett, you are right, it doesn't add much to the look of the car. I am considering an MY03 5 door Prodrive (and with a 5 door I would need the roof box less), especially with the prices as they are at the moment :O) !

AJbaseBloke

There are clear plastic sheets designed for this exact purpose that you should stick on the paint to protect it from the feet. Sold commonly at pretty much ervery decent rack shop I've ever been to.

It has nothing to do with the paint...any car that you put stuff like that directly on to is going to scratch. Without fail. Everytime.

Sorry if that is not what you want to hear, but those are the facts. Peace

Chris.Palmer

I used Thule bars & have never had any problems.