Roof Rack Recommendation for a 2002 Mazda Protégé5 that has fixed Mounting Points

Question:

I got my car used and I am looking for some roof racks. I am confused however. The roof of my car has to rails with four slits in them 2 on each side, inline with the front and back doors. I pressumed these slits are to be used for a roof rack. I have looked into which racks are compatible online sport rack SR1002 but it looks like they mount via having to open the door and in the internal roof slits?! Any clarifications is great. Thanks! Hope that made sense...

asked by: Maggie

Expert Reply:

What you are describing are called fixed mounting points and some of the roof racks for your 2002 Mazda Protégé5 do use them to mount to the vehicle. SportRack roof rack # SR1002 however does not use them to mount and do clip onto the door frame. The SportRack roof rack is a semi-custom fit roof rack anyway and would not offer the best fit though it can still be used despite the fact that the vehicle has fixed mounting points.

For a true custom roof rack that does use those fixed mounting points I recommend an Inno roof rack using the following parts:

Crossbars # INB117
Feet # INXP
Fit kit # INTR119

expert reply by: Michael H