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I have a Thule rack and the quality is nothing short of a hundred percent, especially given the climate I live in, and the environment in which it lives (never gets cleaned, never gets anything). The bike trays I use are unbelievable, and I ran over one of them with my '00 Explorer, which is a heavy truck! And it still works fine and isn't deformed from what I can tell (this is amazing). I have more friends who have Thule systems and are happy with them. The systems are mounted on the following cars:
Volvo
Toyota
Jeep
VW
Honda
and I might have missed one. Everyone here has roof racks for skis and bikes.
I usually remember it when someone doesn't like a piece like a rack, but nobody has ever said they didn't like the Thule system. At least to me. Most of the systems I see on cars at the trails are Thule systems. is there a reason? Maybe.
I've said before, I can stand on the load bar of my car, with the rack mounted, and it doesn't suffer any visible distortion.
As far as fitment goes, there are other feet that will probably "fit". The gutter mount feet are pretty similar, but much of the issue is in height. The rise of the Volvo's roof is a little higher on the wagons and as a result it needs to have a slightly higher foot. Otherwise you can't mount anything that needs to be mounted below the crossbars or it will hit the roof. That's the kind of difference there is. The rest of them are the doorframe/pad mount type and they are dependent on the absence of rain gutters altogether.
Personally, if you're going to buy a system, I would suggest the Thule rack. After all, Volvo might have chosen that system to supply as their own add-on for a reason, right? Also, the feet and locksets are not that expensive if you shop around, especially online.
The only problem I have had with my Thule system (other than running over a tray with the 00 Explorer) is that the vinyl/plastic coating on one of the load bars has split open in a small spot, and is going to need to be replaced at some point. Since I have used the rack for the last six years straight, without ever performing any cleaning or maintenance to it, I feel that the longevity and durability, for something that originally cost only $300 to begin with (new with accessories), is beyond what I expected.
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a Brickboard.com Expat
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