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I used my Yakima rack for years on my old '93 Celica with no problems at all. We got a Honda Fit a couple years ago, switched the Q clips to properly fit it, and noticed the bars would now shift from time to time. A couple weeks ago, with two boats tied flat (to provide maximum lift at highway speed), I heard a "woosh" noise, looked in the rearview and saw the whole assembly (front and rear racks with boats still tied on) flying in the air then tumble onto the highway and safely onto the shoulder. Lucky no one was behind us.
A week later we were telling some other paddlers, and two of them mentioned they had the same thing happen with Yakimas. One of them had it happen to them just the day before. Unlike us though, someone was driving right behind her......in a brand new Porsche 911s. No injuries, but the Porsche needs a new front body assembly.
We've since had Thules installed...seem pretty bomber. The guy at the rack store mentioned he's heard similiar stories about Yakimas (the store also sells Yakima). He thought the issue is most likely because Yakima only uses a single, generic foot pad design on the towers for all cars. It may work great and not slip on some models, like my Celica, but not on others like our Honda. Thule, on the other hand, makes custom foot pads/mounts for each car model, so they are designed to sit properly for each car.
Another thing I've noticed is with the actual clips. Thule rubberizes their metal clips, so the piece is entirely encased in a rubber coating. The Yakimas have vinyl stickers to prevent the metal clips from scratching your car's paint. Over time, if you took the racks off and on a few times, dirt and what not would work its way under the sticker, causing it to no longer stick properly. If the vinyl sticker thing is slipping because it's not sticking, then I assume the clips can start slipping while on the car.
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Just happened to us too New 
BoaterTalk 
