Friend of mine bought a 2013 VW Sharan from an independent dealer a few weeks ago. It hasn’t got bars or rails but when she asked about this she was told that it would be possible to fit them. However once she started trying to get something fitted she has been told they can’t be fitted as that model doesn’t have a strong enough roof. Now it could be a mistake on the sales persons part rather than them being dishonest but what are her rights given that she stated she needed to be able to fit a roof box/bike carriers? Will it be impossible when its a case of her word against hers?

A quick hop on roofbox.co.uk suggests that roof bars and sundries will fit the current Sharan.

Unless she made it clear that fitting roof bars was material then I don’t think she can return it.

But it’s really about how hard she is prepared to push things.

I am not convinced that it isn’t possible to fit roof rails. The only version of the Sharon that came without roof rails was the “S” spec range. Apparently the S-spec had a different roof panel and doesn’t have the neccesary moutings. VW certainly seem to say this if Google is to be believed. Might be worth checking with VW that this is still the case. Therefore you might be looking at a retro fit by a third party. Anyway you do it will be expensive – the roof rails are £500 on their own!

The first point of call would be worth talking to dealer about a vehicle exchange. Otherwise it’s on to the credit card company/bank etc. to see what they can do. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com can be handy for advice in these cases.

She did make it clear that she needed to use the roof to carry things. The salesman even phoned Thule but it seems like there was a communication breakdown. As I said the car has no fixtures so no way of attaching bars. I think its a problem with the S model.

Eh? Check Thule OP

You can retrofit roof rails to the Sharan no problem, it’s not cheap though.

The parts from VW are a bit over £420 and the labour to fit is about 2.5 hours.

VW charged me £80 an hour in 2006. I suspect it’s gone up a bit since then.

Sounds about right, I sorted it out for a customer of mine as I know the local parts guy, the total bill including fitting was about £675.

Eh, Thule Hora? She did speak to someone from VW today who said that roof bars couldn’t be fitted as the roof wasn’t strong enough to take the extra weight. Sounds like it might be possible through somebody else.

I’d be going with what VW say, wouldn’t be risking a potentially dodgy retro-fit on a vehicle in warranty. May well void aspects of it. I had a similar experience when I bought an E Class (new, but already built)
Specifically explained I needed a tow bar and was told one could be retro-fitted. A long and convoluted series of
communications later I had to get written confirmation from Merc’s tech centre in Holland to do it. All the dealer info
Said it couldn’t be done with the wheels it had fitted! So worth checking further.

I’d be going with what VW say, wouldn’t be risking a potentially dodgy retro-fit on a vehicle in warranty.

Me too.

That’s why I recommended my customer to buy VW parts from the dealership, and get it fitted by VW Techs at the same dealership.

Which he did with no problem (apart from the stupid price obviously)

Friend of mine bought a 2013 VW Sharan from an independent dealer a few weeks ago. It hasn’t got bars or rails but when she asked about this she was told that it would be possible to fit them.

tbh Whenever I buy a car I always do a deal so everything I need is in the price, mainly towbars, but roof rails would be no different.

And unless she’s something in writing, not sure she’s anywhere to go…

You’re not based in Edinburgh are you nealglover? So if I’m reading this right, she might want to go to the local VW dealers and ask them.

No I’m in Yorkshire.

Some VW dealers seem to thing you can’t fit them. Some are happy to fit them

I’ve no idea why, but having done the same job on a couple of T4’s, my suspicion is that throes that say you can’t, maybe don’t actually want to. It’s a pain in the arse of a job as you need to remove a fair bit of interior trim including the headliner to get to the roof panels to drill, and then refit everything with new panel fixings so it doesn’t rattle.

I wouldn’t rush to do it again !

she needed to be able to fit a roof box/bike carriers?

Hold on a minute.

Roof RAILS and roof BARS are different things. You don’t need rails to fit bars. Rails just mean you can move the bars fore and aft.

If you don’t have rails then you’ll be able to fit bars using different mounts that fix to the door frame rather than the roof.

This may account for some confusion.

Good clarification there Molgrips, I was getting a bit confused. Roof bars might be the way to go.

new shape sharan has sliding rear doors. would that make a difference to fitting door mounted roof bars?

new shape sharan has sliding rear doors. would that make a difference to fitting door mounted roof bars?

Just climb in through the windows, if them Duke boys can do it……….

new shape sharan has sliding rear doors. would that make a difference to fitting door mounted roof bars?

It shouldn’t matter really, I fitted roof bars to my old T4 that had sliding doors and it was ok.

The last part of the doors movement before it closes, is towards the frame rather than along it, so very similar to a normal door really.

A friend of mine has a Seat Alhambra, and when recently trying to get roof bars for it ( to borrow my roofbox) they were told by the dealership, that unless the car was fitted with either the rails or fittings for rails at the time of manufacture, nothing can be fitted. I don’t know if this is the same for the VW model, but sounds like it could be.

If they stood in the showroom pre sale of the car and asked specifically about roof bars, I would think they has a strong case for mis-selling.

If the roof isn’t strong enough for bars lets hope they never roll it

Am I the only one who finds this incredible? – its a large family car for gods sake – not a track day car or a convertible. It should go without saying that stuff can be put on the roof.

I am willing to bet you can put stuff on the roof.

It might not have roof rails but that doesn’t stop you putting stuff on the roof. The confusion is because some people doubt you can fit ROOF RAILS but you don’t need rails to put stuff on the roof.

As I said above….. you can fit roof rails to a VW sharan

My local VW dealership did it for a customer of mine.

They used genuine VW parts to do the job.

Find a dealer that knows what they are talking about and get them fitted if that’s the way you want to do it.

Otherwise just fit removable roof bars.

Removable bars will be far cheaper I reckon.

Dealerships who are clueless –

When I attempted to get cruise control retro-fitted to my Seat Leon they stated it could NOT be done BECAUSE of the drive-by-wire throttle.

I got it fitted by somebody less clueless – it is very easy BECAUSE it IS drive-by-wire.

Generally, ALL dealers are clueless and cannot be trusted.

Looking on roofbox the only options it shows for the Sharan are the type that attache to rails. I think its the Thule 754 foot pack she wants, but I can’t double check it because the newer Sharan is listed as having rails which hers doesn’t.

My friends Sharan has a bike and a roofbox bolted on the roof using either bars or rails – never really paid any attention. But they’ve been doing it for 7 years and heading to France every summer with no problems so far.

Looks like someone had the same problem here and had the rails fitted at the dealers expense haha. Prob not exactly the same sitch as your friends but it does seem that fitting rails is possible