mving cross country in my 2005 volkswagen golf

[newbranches]

Hello (& HELP!) - I will be moving cross country from VA to CA in 2 weeks, with my dog, and need some extra space. I have a 2005 diesel VW Golf (5dr). I have looked at your roof racks & hitch mounts and have a few questions regarding safety, drag, expense, and fit. I would like to get the least expensive system that will fit my car, be the easiest to use (for a woman alone), safest for my stuff, create the least amount of wind drag or noise, and be the easiest to store.

Questions:

1. As far as the safety of the stuff I'll be packing, say at night when parked outside a motel...could someone slash through/pry open a roof top box or bag, or steal it off the car altogether, or are they competely safe/worry free to use?

2. What about wind resistance and fuel economy? What option is the best? Roof or rear mount? Bag or box?

3. Which system (roof/rear, bag/box) would be the easiest for me to load/unload?

[lord of the racks]

The base rack system options that will fit your 2005 Volkswagon Golf 5 door are the Thule 400XT Aero roof rack system from Thule Racks and the Yakima Q Tower roof rack system from Yakima Racks. No matter what you decide to go with as far as transporting your belongings, you will need a multi-purpose base rack system which serves as the foundation / platform that you can then mount any of the cargo carrier options to. They mount to the multi-purpose base rack system pair of crossbars.

Roof bags are inexpensive and convenient to store when not in use, but are not as secure or weatherproof as a lockable plastic hard-shell cargo box. Perhaps your best solution could be the Thule 682 Sidekick. Obviously, it does not require the installation of a receiver hitch that would be required of a hitch mounted cargo box. It is also in a safer location in the event of a rear ending type of traffic accident. Also includes locks to lock your belongings inside the roof box.

Anything put up on a vehicle's roof will reduce fuel economy somewhat and generate a bit of wind noise, but the rack and box could easily be removed if desired after your trip. Hope this gives you the info you need to move in the direction that makes the best sense for you.