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My 2003 Protege5 did not come with a roof rack. I was told they stopped putting it on the car since it made too much wind noise.
Questions:
1) can anyone confirm or deny this?
2) does anyone know how I can get one of these racks? I can't seem to find this at any Mazda dealers. I know Yakima makes an aftermarket solution but I thought I would try this route first.

 

Hello,
I have a 2003 Protege 5 with the roof rack. Personally, I love it. It seems to add something to the car. As far as wind noise, I have never heard any. It is quieter than the rest of my car. Where to get one? I would say a mazda dealership, ebay, or keep looking on this site for people selling theirs. I would however, stick to stock, not yakima. It is a pretty permanent mod and stock sometimes seems to fit better. Just my two cents.

 

They changed it to an option in '03 because most people didn't have much use for it, so only people who needed it would purchase it. I had one on my '02 and it was fairly loud. I've heard if you have a moonroof with the little guard in front, the compination of the two negates the wind noise from the rack....anyhow, it'd probably be hard to find anyone with the entire conversion kit...I still have the attachments, but not the rails. Best bet is to check Mazda, or find someone who desn't want theres at all and have it moved over (might be more expensive than just getting the kit...who knows).

 

little late i on the conversation but i have a 04 P5 that did not come with a roof rack, the dealership told me that, that year the cars either came with them or they didnt, you cant add them after the fact unless they are aftermarket. Any truth to this and which one would be the best to get, Yakimia or Thule?

 

No such aminal as an '04 P5.

The reason you can't put OEM racks on a rackless P5 is the rails that they attach to. If you get the rails too, they'lll work.

here's a pic of my P5 with the "rails". I took the roof rack off and was left with these:


Find someone who will include the rails too, and you can have OEM racks on your P5. Check the dismantlers in your area, 'cause the P5s without the rails have a rubber strip in place of them to cover up the mounting points. So if somone was to take off & sell the rails, they'd need the rubber strips, which aren't exactly easy to aquire.

 

nice looking rims, so why is the cali thread so dead, no posts for a couple of years, where does everyone post at?

 

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