Scirocco Central

Hi all
New hear so take it easy on me. I've not long bought a new scirocco R line. Really pleased with the Car!

However, I came to fit the genuine VW roof bars yesterday, and I found the design to be absolutely ridiculous. For starters, how the feet have to sit on the paintwork, then the metal clamp which is totally un-padded clamps above the windows is a rubbish idea for scratches. And lastly, what a ball ache it is prying back the window seals to get the clamp in position, it's a right faff. I actually felt like long term it would damage the seals, either by deforming them, or from constant prying to fit the racks.

Has anyone had any better experiences with scirocco roof bars? How did you protect your paint work, and did you find prying back the seals a PITA?

Thanks in advance guys

I've been using mine for our annual holidays for the last 3 years and never had a problem ?

The feet that lip under the seals have a thick black plastic coating and I've never had any paint damage from fitting and removing them numerous times . I use the thin piece of plastic card that came in the kit (together with a bit of fairy liquid) to flip the seals out over the roof bar feet , and don't really have any issues.

Granted , they're not a straight forward 'slap on and clamp up' , but that's because our cars are styled the way they are - frame-less front doors , no ugly gutter rails or channels in the roof. For what it's worth , i've heard that the genuine VW bars (as i have) are far better than the few aftermarket alternatives.

uklee wrote:I've been using mine for our annual holidays for the last 3 years and never had a problem ?

The feet that lip under the seals have a thick black plastic coating and I've never had any paint damage from fitting and removing them numerous times . I use the thin piece of plastic card that came in the kit (together with a bit of fairy liquid) to flip the seals out over the roof bar feet , and don't really have any issues.

Granted , they're not a straight forward 'slap on and clamp up' , but that's because our cars are styled the way they are - frame-less front doors , no ugly gutter rails or channels in the roof. For what it's worth , i've heard that the genuine VW bars (as i have) are far better than the few aftermarket alternatives.

rocco small.jpg

Thanks for the reply mate. On my genuine VW racks, the feet that sit on the roof have got plastic/rubber on them, but the clamp that sits under the seals and or under the roof pillar has no protection at All, just metal. Is that the same as yours? Or have I bought some duff roof bars off eBay?

The metal clamps should have a plastic/rubber coating on them as Lee as said.

Once this coating becomes damaged it just peels off leaving black painted metal. If you've bought yours off ebay, this may have happened to them and the previous owner has just removed it to tidy them up.

What he said

Here's a close up pic of mine , you can see that the coating is starting to chip off on the corners a little bit -but still perfectly serviceable , and no damage to my paint when fitted.
Lee

has anyone got a part number for the roof bars?

Hi,
Original number would be 1K8 071 126 but they don't seem to be available anymore. Also looking to get some roof bars for myself.