Automobile cargo carriers...

[Tuffcookie]

I have a Camry and want to get a cargo carrier for the top of the car for next year's camping trip. What brand or type is the best, easiest to fool with, and what should I know about them before I have one installed? Thanks for all your help. I'll probably have a ton more questions before it's over

TC

 

[Piglet's Pal]

I don't know if I will be much help to you, but I can tell you our experience with cargo carriers. We have a mini van with a roof rack and used to rent a hard sided carrier from a local rental company. It was okay and served it's purpose, but the rental company was less than careful putting the carrier on and put a couple small dents on our roof and didn't seem to really care.
We decided it was time to get our own and we checked at the dealer to see if there were specific carriers for our van. We ended up getting a soft sided carrier that zippers and velcros shut. We like it much better than the hard sided. It straps right onto our roof rack, it forms to our luggage & we have never had wet luggage. When we get to our destination we unload the carrier, unstrap it & toss it in the back of the van. It takes very little storage space at home, unlike the hard sided.
Good luck finding a carrier that works well for you!
PP

 

[donaldduck1967]

I will be looking into getting one as well. Can you tell us what brand you purchased and a price range? You don't need to be specific on the price I don't want to see like I am being nosy.

Thanks

 

[Piglet's Pal]

We purchased the soft sided carrier from the dealer and there is a Ford logo on it, but I'm not sure if Ford is the actual manufacturer. We did not shop around for one. It was more like we have a trip in 1 week, lets buy a carrier instead of renting one type of thing. I think we bought it about 4-5 years ago and I am thinking it was somewhere in the $80-90 range. Sorry, I can't be more help, I am not very good about keeping receipts.
PP

 

[Disneymommie]

Hi, we have the soft one as well. We got ours at Target. They have 2 sizes. It works well for us. You have to have a roof rack to attach it to. We have the smaller of the 2 they sell and it cost I think 40 or 50 and the next size was 60 I think. Hope this is helpful.

 

[bigs1923t]

We bougt a hard carrier from Sears. We liked the carrier and it has loads of room but I did not like the tie down setup that came with it. I bought a set of clamp on roof racks and a u bolt kit to secure the carrier to the racks. This worked very well. When we got to Fort Wilderness I just loosened the clamps and stored the carrier on the deck of our cabin. The carrier had locks on it & we traveled through some rains with nothing inside getting wet.Also with the racks the carrier does not sit on the roof of your car and scratch it.

 

[DisneyFanGuy]

We have had a hard sided carrier from Sears for the past 5 years. It cost me about 100 dollars.

We go on several trips every year and it's heavily used. I like it because luggage doesn't actually sit on the top of the car. (It clamps to the luggage racks) The front and back are beginning to wear a bit and I will probably get a new one next year when I get a new car.

Sears has a book that shows which carriers fit what cars, and what hardware you will need.

The bottom line is that we have been very happy with it.

 

[Mic]

Hi,Tuffcookie!
We, like Piglet's Pal, decided to go with a soft car-top carrier, and have been very pleased with it. The brand name is AXIUS, and the box it came in is about the size of a large shoe box. The product is called a "Rack-Pack Roof Top Cargo Bag", and it has 15 cubic feet of usable space! We were able to pack 4 large pilot cases and 2 small(Disney) suitcases and 4 12-packs of coke(cans) in ours for our trip in June. Even though it rained hard on the way home, nothing got wet in it, even though the box states it is water-resistant as opposed to waterproof. There is a listing of vehicles on the back that are equipped with the proper luggage rack for this product, and the Camry is not listed, but the 4-Runner, landcruiser, and Sienna are. I am sure they make a smaller version for cars. I purchased ours at a K-mart that was closing back in April for $22(reg. price was @$50). We were looking for something that would not require a lot of storage space while not in use, and had to be easy to use(as I am so not technical)and this thing is perfect. We checked with our GMC dealer first, and the price for their carriers were more than we wanted to spend, however I used that info to search for a carrier that would fit our van(sizewise). Turns out my luggage rack would hold 2 of the AXIUS carriers, so I am kicking myself for not getting another one!

 

[Whosemom]

I'm so glad you guys are talking about this - I was looking at the soft carrier at Target. Very happy to hear such good experiences with it!

 

[clkelley]

We have a Mercury Sable that does not have a roof rack. Is there a softsided that straps on at the windows or something?

Thanks,