I’m looking at getting a new (used) vehicle soon and have it narrowed down to, oh, fifteen or so options. :) A few of them are smaller – vehicles I like, but I’m trying to assess whether they will provide me enough space for packs, fishing tackle/rod tubes, etc.. The other thought is how conducive these would be to transporting multiple boats. Any of you have a smaller SUV, such as Honda HR-V, Subaru Crosstrek, BMW X1, etc. and carry a couple boats at a time? Any issues with that?

My other consideration as I shop is the roof rails. The raised ones seem more desirable in terms of crossbar placement flexibility. If I understand right, with the flush rails you might be limited in where you can attach, for example, Yakima landing pads. Hard to really tell from my research and until I get the parts, but it looks like attachment points might be limited to where the carmaker puts the bolts/plugs for their factory crossbars. We have a new Honda Pilot, and if that’s correct then my crossbars will only be 32” apart when I do it on that vehicle. (I'm open to other rack brands but I have the Yakima 78" bars so,..)

The Subaru Outback would be near the top of my list, but I see none without the funky rails. Don't want to drill holes or anything like that. I love how carmakers always show that they have a kayak attachment available and picture a 9’ yak on their rail-to rail crossbars. Pass. I want to be able to take two canoes, a canoe + yak, two yaks, etc., etc.

I imagine I’ll go with something a little bigger – Tiguan, CR-V, etc. – but some of the smaller ones are nice and have their own advantages too. And after hoisting boats up on my ’09 Ridgeline the past 11 years and F-150 before that, it’d be nice not to have to reach so high.

Very prudent of you to check for rack compatibility before buying. I was going to buy a Toyota Avalon and found Thule didn't make a rack for it. My older Camry takes a Thule and I have a lot of different length Thule bars from previous vehicles. I did find that Yakima made a rack for the Avalon so I bought the car. So now I have complete sets of accessories for both systems. It makes us gung-ho canoeists and kayakers keep are vehicles longer! I have no experience with attaching cross bars to a cars existing rails. I always wondered how strong they were myself.

For years I had a Honda Civic hatchback that I installed Yakima Tracks on. I ran 66 or 78 inch crossbars on that rack. Max kayak load was 2 sea kayaks and 2 whitewater. Also ran 2 canoes and, on one occasion, two luggage boxes with around 300 pounds of climbing and camping gear in them. Little car. Big rack. No problem.

Hard point racks or tracks are your friend. 30"+ crossbar spread is important. It's easier to "safely" overload a hard point or track rack than it is a clamp-on rack like a Q-Tower or Baseline. These can "creep" a little under excess load and loosen up on the car.

This summer I made the trip from Savannah, GA to Winona with a heavy roof rack load on my F150. Baseline towers. Luggage box, 3 sea kayaks. 200#+. Definitely way over the recommended limit. I had to stop every couple hours and inspect towers and retighten.

Made me wish I had my old track system again.

Maybe I should mount some on the Ford...

At any rate. Before you buy a new vehicle, make sure to take a look at the Yakima Dealer Fit website. It's quicker to navigate than the commercial site and will help you determine if your potential ride has a good rack fit.

Used to suggest this all the time back when I worked at Rutabaga. Never buy a car until you know it has a good fit!

You'll find the dealer fit site if you do a web search.

Happy trails!

Brian

Howie, when we bought our SUV, there were several prerequisites for our purchase. One big one as it pertained to canoeing was the appropriate roof rails for my Yakima rack. I figured that I would need to buy new Yakima towers to fit the new rail designs... and I ended up doing that. I already had the 78" round bar for the old rack so I bought the towers to fit. And the bars have the L-shaped gunwale pads (mandatory). The right SUV with the right roof rails would have two canoes riding on top perfectly rock solid.

We bought a VW Atlas and it's already been to Atikokan and Quetico once and will undoubtedly go again. Two canoes on top ride great and the Atlas has lots of room for four people and gear for a week. We love it for all sorts of reasons. Great vehicle.

As for smaller vehicles, it's nice to have the bars farther apart, but even semi-close, properly secured to the bars and tied down front and back, two canoes will ride fine. You're doing a lot of research, and for good reason. You'll be happy when you pull the trigger on your purchase. Good luck.

My 2018 Outback GT has standard rails for Thule bars and such. I bought a pair of the 78" bars just for two canoes. I'd guess that was the case for the 2015-2019 models. Not sure if its changed for 2019 and beyond.

I'm in midst of building a small utility trailer for camping with two crossbars about 10' apart - two canoes - and gear. I expect to move to a smaller electric car before I stop tripping (optimism) and get one with 1000 pound tow capacity - like a Prius today.

Good luck!

I think for the flush-mounted rails I’m limited to attaching Yakima landing pads at the two locations each side (our Pilot)


I just saw these two vehicles and think these types of rails would be ideal, with ability to space them further apart.

I just saw these two vehicles and think these types of rails would be ideal, with ability to space them further apart.

Factory side rails can be a great option, but you have to be careful. Sometimes the factory weight rating is pretty low. Normal racks are 165# or more. Some factory racks are rated for 100# or less. Not a problem for a couple ultralights. Pretty light if your boats are as heavy as some of mine!

Brian

During my vehicle and Yakima rack system search, I found this site to be quite handy.

https://fitlookup.yakima.com

When I bought my 2019 Subaru Forester Sport, I got Thule bars directly from Subaru that attach to the raised rails that are standard on the Forester. The bars I got are not long enough for two canoes, but maybe you can get them to supply 78 inch bars instead. The bars can be mounted between a few inches and roughly 43 inches apart. I use Yakima keel overs on the bars. They make it very hard for the canoes to slide or twist on the bars. Thule makes a product called the portage that is similar to the keel over. All of this keeps the canoe well above the roof of the car. This allows me to leave my Superior Portage Pads on the canoe when transporting it. There is plenty of clearance between the roof and the portage pads.

Copied from an old post:
We love our 2018 Toyota Highlander, but the factory-installed anchor points for adding a roof rack (hidden under pry-off access covers in the roof rails) are only 27.5 inches apart, front-to-back. Yakima offers an excellent solution of landing pads and towers which would allow us to continue to use our existing bike and ski components, but a 27.5 inch bar spread (Yakima actually lists it at 28) is less than their recommended 30 inch spread for a 17.5 ft Kevlar canoe. (The bar spread on our old Taurus X was 35.5 inches.)

We've since taken to using quality foam blocks instead. Much better results than I expected.

Hi: We have had great luck with our 2017 Subaru Forester. The factory roof rails are open and we use the same THULE brackets that we used on our much older Subaru Outback. Cargo capacity would be suspect for a party of four on a 7-10 day trip however. We have had multiple Forester models and each generation has been quieter, and more comfortable. It is one of my favorite canoe vehicles.

What’s a smaller vehicle? On my Honda Odyssey I have attached two crossing 2x4s to the roof rails (see pics). Excellent and cheap roof rack. I used u bolts (example pictured) for this. One canoe fits on the crossing 2x4s no problem. I drive it from Indianapolis to Ely or Crane Lake a couple times a year since 2012, never had an issue. When I want to add a second or third canoe (pick up in Mpls or at an outfitter in Ely) I lay parallel an eight foot 2x4 on one side of the pictured crossing bars. So two 8 ft 2x4s total, one on the front crossing 2x4 and one on the back one. Then I drill holes such that I can place two carriage bolts (8inch) through each of the two parallel 2x4s laying flat and next to each other. If you look closely you can see the holes in the attached crossing 2x4s. The 8 foot 2x4s fit into the odyssey no problem when traveling with them in tow. Sorry don’t have a picture with the 8 foot 2x4 attached as they only go on when needed, but you get the idea.

Total materials used include three 8 foot 2x4s (one cut in half and used for the “permanent” cross bars)...four u bolts....and four 8 inch carriage bolts. Maybe $30 max.

How many boats? Two?

We drive a Toyota Prius or a Nissan Leaf typically. Doesn't get much smaller than that unless you plan to drive a Smart car. We can put 2 canoes on side by side. We use an Inno brand rack. You buy one set of bars and then can match with the "feet" that fit your car style. In order to fit 2 canoes, we took two 2x2 pieces of wood and we use metal plumber strapping to attach the wood to the rack. That way we can extend out from the rack far enough to fit 2 canoes.



This picture shows the 2 canoes loaded. You can just barely make out the wood extenders. Sorry I don't have a close up. If you want more details, I can take a pick when the weather warms up.

I dread transporting canoes! A cross wind from the left, you meet a semi (some worse than others), and you are in for a rocking. Tie them down well!

My all-time favorite is the little Chevy S-10, or GMC S-15 (same). I had a 1991, 5 speed with a 4 banger. I would buy again in a heartbeat! Home made rack.

1JimD: "I dread transporting canoes! A cross wind from the left, you meet a semi (some worse than others), and you are in for a rocking. Tie them down well!"

Jim, if you seriously dread transporting your canoes, you need to invest in a better rack system. With the Yakima racks and bars with L-shaped gunwale pads, I could drive to California and back at 80 mph and not worry about a thing. I'm sure Thule racks would offer just as much stability.

Yes, they're pricey, but you cry once and appreciate them every time you're carrying a canoe (or two). With good gear, you never look back and wish you had bought the cheap stuff.

Agree with you JF a good system is well worth it.
I had Yakima towers and clips on my Ridgeline, as there were just the gutter/grooves and no rails. I felt confident in the setup, but it took time for me to always get the tension just right and “was this my front bar or back bar?” (Marked w a oiece of duct tape after a few times), plus the clips tended to scratch the paint if i didn’t take time to put some kind of material/piece of chamois or something in between (the orig rubber fell off at some point). That’s why I want to go with rails for quicker setup. I can use the round 78” bars and gunwale brackets i already have.

The homemade setups with 2x4’s and such generally look very solid, but I’m not up to engineering something. Plus, if i have it on a lot and the wife should drive the vehicle there’s , you know, the aesthetics ...

Aesthetics?!
In situations like yours I always ask, "WWRGD?"

WWRGD

Wanted to lighten the mood a bit. Sounds like you are on the right "track." Can't go wrong with a high quality Yakima or Thule system. In summer, I regularly transport a skinny solo and a smallish tandem hundreds of miles on a Subaru outfitted with Yakima round bars. Do consider, though, in several states including MN, the bars by law may not exceed beyond the span of the sideview mirrors. Not sure if a state trooper would pull you over, but still...

PVnRT: "Aesthetics?!
In situations like yours I always ask, "WWRGD?"


WWRGD


Wanted to lighten the mood a bit. Sounds like you are on the right "track." Can't go wrong with a high quality Yakima or Thule system. In summer, I regularly transport a skinny solo and a smallish tandem hundreds of miles on a Subaru outfitted with Yakima round bars. Do consider, though, in several states including MN, the bars by law may not exceed beyond the span of the sideview mirrors. Not sure if a state trooper would pull you over, but still..."

PVnRT. That is without a doubt the most ideal name I’ve seen on these messageboards.

Be careful when purchasing a Subaru!!! Especially a used one with no warranty!!!

I have a 2013 Subaru Outback. Bought it new. Would NOT buy another.

In less than 100k i replaced the trans, short block (class action lawsuit), water pump, power steering pump, rear wheel bearings, and almost every exterior light. They eat brakes as well.

Do your research. Get on some Subaru owner online forums, read and ask questions.

And the advertised MPG is quite a bit different in the colder months. Subaru won't tell you this directly.

In the warmer months my highway MPG is awesome at 31 mpg. In the winter it is 26 MPG.

It has to do with the type of fluid they use in their transmissions and differentials. It gets real thick in the colder months reducing MPG.

airmorse: "Be careful when purchasing a Subaru!!! Especially a used one with no warranty!!!


I have a 2013 Subaru Outback. Bought it new. Would NOT buy another.


In less than 100k i replaced the trans, short block (class action lawsuit), water pump, power steering pump, rear wheel bearings, and almost every exterior light. They eat breaks as well.


Do your research. Get on some Subaru owner online forums, read and ask questions. "

Though Subarus do have issues- especially prior to 2010- eating brakes (or breaks if you prefer) is not one I've encountered. I've owned 4, Legacy or Outback and have gone close to 100k on original brakes on each vehicle. My 2012 Legacy went to 130k before I replaced pads.

It's a love hate relationship when it comes to Subaru.

Subaru has an issue with their calipers. They stick...a lot.

This can also be confirmed on Subaru owner online forums.

LarryS48: "When I bought my 2019 Subaru Forester Sport, I got Thule bars directly from Subaru that attach to the raised rails that are standard on the Forester. ....... "

Larry, how do you like your vehicle? While the Forester seems to check most of my boxes, I tend not to get very excited about the appearance. I know it's mainly cosmetic, but the Sport version, I think, looks great and is one of the candidates on my list.

I see the comments about bad luck with Outbacks...a bit surprised, as I know 6-7 people who've had Subarus (various models) and all had them a long time with a pretty high level of satisfaction. Maybe good that the Outback was crossed off my list though.

HowardSprague: "

LarryS48: "When I bought my 2019 Subaru Forester Sport, I got Thule bars directly from Subaru that attach to the raised rails that are standard on the Forester. ....... "

Larry, how do you like your vehicle? While the Forester seems to check most of my boxes, I tend not to get very excited about the appearance. I know it's mainly cosmetic, but the Sport version, I think, looks great and is one of the candidates on my list.


I see the comments about bad luck with Outbacks...a bit surprised, as I know 6-7 people who've had Subarus (various models) and all had them a long time with a pretty high level of satisfaction. Maybe good that the Outback was crossed off my list though."

For the most part, I like my 2019 Subaru Forester Sport. It drives well, has the features I want, and has had no mechanical problems. There a couple of things that could be improved. It has a low towing capacity, 1500 lbs. The user interface for the displays is awkward. For example, it takes 10 steps to manually set your clock using two displays and two set of controls. I did it once using the user manual to guide me. I now take it to the dealer and ask them to set it twice a year. I do this to encourage them to contact Subaru and ask for a software update or to at least correct this in future models. All the sales people at my dealership know how to set the clock. Apparently, it is a common request.

I love my Outback, especially the tech. It's a 2018 Grand Touring model with the 6 cylinder. Looking forward to next years Outback Wilderness model.

If I ever buy a new car, I might look at the RAV4 prime. Loved my 2008 RAV4 with 6 cylinders, but after 2012 they were kind of wimpy for my preferences, but the Prime accelerates faster than the old 6 cyl.

And the EVs available in a year or two will change everything.

HowardSprague: " While the Forester seems to check most of my boxes, I tend not to get very excited about the appearance. I know it's mainly cosmetic, but the Sport version, I think, looks great and is one of the candidates on my list.
"

The beauty of the Forester is the view from the inside looking out; unmatched visibility. Who cares what it looks lie from the outside- you can't see it when you're using it.

I had a 2011 Forester manual transmission and now have a 2017 Outback 6cyl. automatic model. Both pleasant driving without mechanical problems. Neither performance oriented vehicles. They are safe, conservative AWD runners. Banksiana absolutely correct that visibility in Forester is outstanding. Much better than Outback. Outback has smoother ride on freeway and around town than F. Both easily accommodate two canoes and have plenty of room for gear, though would be limited to 3 passengers incl. driver with packs, paddles, rods, etc... in vehicle. Outback profile height relatively low, so lifting canoes to roof rack very easy. Forester a bit taller, but still not F-150 height. Towing limits are on low end especially without additional towing accommodations--trailer brakes, beefed cooling, etc... Tongue weigh limit also low. So if you want to safely increase cargo capacity through use of hitch-mounted cargo tray, be forewarned.

As I describe these two vehicles, I fondly remember all of the advantages of my old Ford wagons for BWCA tripping purposes. Both the LTD wagon and the Taurus wagon were great.

It’s a challenge to find a small vehicle suitable for hauling canoes. I have a 2013 Acadia that I bought new that now has 175,000 miles on it. Best car I’ve ever owned, but the fuel economy is a bit disappointing.

If I had to replace it, I would likely get a new Chevy Traverse, which i understand gets 27 mpg highway. Another vehicle of interest is the new Toyota Sienna van, which is a hybrid and reportedly gets 36 mpg overall.

Whatever vehicle I’ve had, I always build my own canoe carrier, which Is basically a rectangular wooden frame that is then attach to the car’s roof rack. A frame allows me to walk up to the side of the car with the canoe on my shoulders and slide the canoe atop the car, perpendicular to the car’s line of travel. Then I slide/pry the canoe around into its final position. Notches are cut into the frame so the canoe “falls” into place when in the final position. The notches help keep the canoe from weathervane-ing. I use 2x1 oak strips to make the frame which I buy at Fleet Farm. I stack two strip per side.

Jackfish: "

1JimD: "I dread transporting canoes! A cross wind from the left, you meet a semi (some worse than others), and you are in for a rocking. Tie them down well!"

Jim, if you seriously dread transporting your canoes, you need to invest in a better rack system. With the Yakima racks and bars with L-shaped gunwale pads, I could drive to California and back at 80 mph and not worry about a thing. I'm sure Thule racks would offer just as much stability.


Yes, they're pricey, but you cry once and appreciate them every time you're carrying a canoe (or two). With good gear, you never look back and wish you had bought the cheap stuff."

The rack I built has outlasted three and a half Pickups. The rack is fine. Interstate Travel is not a problem, either, as traffic is going the same direction.

It's going against traffic with Port side wind. It rocks my little truck, when meeting a Semi going the other direction.

"Notches are cut into the frame so the canoe “falls” into place when in the final position."

Brilliant!!!