James Dieball wrote:
I'm thinking of buying a Pontiac Vibe to use as a shuttle vehicle. It is
station wagon like, but it has a roof rack covering only on the rear half of
the roofline. Yakima's website suggests a Q Tower mounted front bar, and a
Low Rider rear bar, mounted to the factory rack. Has anyone used this
combination?
I'd like to put two 16' canoes on the Yakima rack. I'd use front and rear
tie offs, and I'd like to stick with my current Yakima hardware.

If you're going to carry long boats, you have no choice but to go with
this configuration. Using just the factory rack would put the load bars
too close together and way too far back. You'd have trouble keeping the
boats secure and probably have horrendous handling in a crosswind. With
a bar over the front doors, you'll at least have reasonable spacing and
be able to get the boats much closer to center.

Is its sister car, the Toyota Matrix, any more Yakima friendly?

The Matrix is more "rack friendly" - regardless of brand - because it
doesn't have the wimpy factory rack of the Vibe. It's a nicer looking
car, too, IMO.