wrkngmanByTor said:
Thule doesn't make a rack for our car unless you have the factory rack. I didn't go that route cuz the adapters that clamp on to the factory bars cause the trays to sit higher than the yakima setup w/o the factory bars. A good setup for the factory racks are the Rocky Mount trays, but those sit pretty far back on the car and you'll have to find other options for mounting other stuff, such as skis/snowboards. With the Yakima rack, you can quickly change between bike and ski mounts and whatever other Yakima accessories you want to use.
In terms of fit and impact on the car, the Yakima setup works perfectly. The rubber feet are so soft that they actually leave a little residue on the car when you take it off (similar consistency to a wax residue). It wipes off easily and there are absolutely no scratches or damage to the paint. Just make sure you wash and wax the part of the car that the feet will be mounting on before installing the feet.
To answer your other question, I'm not sure if the Yakima mounts to these cars in the same way your Thule rack mounted to your GTI. My experience with many Volkswagens is that they have mounting slots already integrated into the rain gutter, even on cars without a factory rack. The Thule feet just clip into those slots. I think that is the best setup, but unfortunately our car doesn't have those mounting points.
