Jaguar XE roof bars. Beware!

[whiskywill]

A couple of week after taking delivery of his new Jaguar XE, my friend, who is a keen kayaker and surfer, decided to buy roof bars. He ordered them from a Jaguar dealer complete with kayak and surfboard carrying clamps. Total cost was near £550.
On receiving the bars he was confused by the rear bar having fixing points on the car roof and the front bars just clamping onto the roof edge, so had the dealer fit them for him. The dealer assured my friend that the weight of the rack would keep the front end in place.
Late on a Friday evening he loaded up the car with two kayaks and three bodyboards and set off for Cornwall. About 20 miles from home, and on a motorway, his wife said she thought she saw the kayaks move. He pulled onto the hard shoulder to check but all seemed to be OK. A further 5 miles on and travelling at around 65mph, the roof bars and the car parted company taking the rear window with it. Two following cars collided with the rack/kayaks but, fortunately, nobody was hurt.
Two separate estimates suggest that the cost of repairing the holes in the roof is around £10,000.

The liability argument is ongoing.

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Ouch, you wouldn't have thought that the dealer had a leg to stand on.

 

[llangatwgnedd]

Two Kayaks and three body boards acted like wings, especially going at that speed.

 

[Yetty]

Paper instructions supplied with my Thule roofbar fitting kit (4040) include this illustration on front page, advising caution above 50Mph.

I wonder if the OP's friend received any printed information / instructions from the dealer after fitting ? This might well influence the liability...

 

[E-wan]

When carrying kayaks or canoes on my roof I always tie down the front and back on the boat to the car

It's always advisable to secure the front and back of the boat to the towing eye screwed into the front bumper and the rear towing eye or tow hitch.

As well as stopping the front of the boat lifting whilst driving it also keeps the boats and rack with the car in the event of a failure.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=ht ... are_type=t

More info here

Ewan

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[E-wan]

Glad no one was hurt

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[E-wan]

Also I've never been particularly impressed by car manufacturers roof rack offerings

Two the most well-regarded kayak roof rack manufacturers are


https://www.whetmanequipment.com/roof-racks.html

https://www.karitek.co.uk/shop/roof-rac ... acks-rails


Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[whiskywill]

Paper instructions supplied with my Thule roofbar fitting kit (4040) include this illustration on front page, advising caution above 50Mph.

I wonder if the OP's friend received any printed information / instructions from the dealer after fitting ? This might well influence the liability...

I don't know if they were like other kayak carrying roof bars but they are usually carried on edge so offer less upward thrust.

 

[whiskywill]

When carrying kayaks or canoes on my roof I always tie down the front and back on the boat to the car

It's always advisable to secure the front and back of the boat to the towing eye screwed into the front bumper and the rear towing eye or tow hitch.

As well as stopping the front of the boat lifting whilst driving it also keeps the boats and rack with the car in the event of a failure.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=ht ... are_type=t

More info here

Ewan

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

That is good advice but my friend expressed concern when the bars were fitted, about the way that the front roof bars just clamped by sideways pressure onto the edge of the roof whereas the rear bars fitted into threaded holes.

 

[sunnybob]

By strange coincidence, I have just found a man i know standing by the roadside with his XE waiting for a breakdown lorry.
I stopped to see if i could help but his fan belt had shredded I mean SHREDDED!. He's not happy. Its brand spanking new and only 6000 miles on the clock. Apparently the whole front end has to come off to replace one belt.

While talking to him I had a look at the roof rack connections. The car has the standard two detachable strips that cover the connectors. It would be logical to expect front as well as rear locators. He would not let me peel one off to see (spoilsport), but looking at the front door pillars, there is no way in this world that a roof rack should be connected there.
Its a very steep smooth piece of metal. the angles are so wrong i doubt my 9 year old grandson would try to fix something there. It must have crushed the metal out of shape.
Your friend should be consulting a lawyer to sue jaguar. I suspect the man who fitted it is no longer available for comment.

 

[whiskywill]

By strange coincidence, I have just found a man i know standing by the roadside with his XE waiting for a breakdown lorry.
I stopped to see if i could help but his fan belt had shredded I mean SHREDDED!. He's not happy. Its brand spanking new and only 6000 miles on the clock. Apparently the whole front end has to come off to replace one belt.

While talking to him I had a look at the roof rack connections. The car has the standard two detachable strips that cover the connectors. It would be logical to expect front as well as rear locators. He would not let me peel one off to see (spoilsport), but looking at the front door pillars, there is no way in this world that a roof rack should be connected there.
Its a very steep smooth piece of metal. the angles are so wrong i doubt my 9 year old grandson would try to fix something there. It must have crushed the metal out of shape.
Your friend should be consulting a lawyer to sue jaguar. I suspect the man who fitted it is no longer available for comment.

My friend was present when they were fitted and the instructions were quite clear that the front bars were to be placed 810mm in front of the rear bars. This was done. It is just the method of fitting the front bars which is wrong.

 

[sunnybob]

Theres nothing for anything to clip to, or even press against apart from whats under that strip.
maybe the instructions were for a different model.